Starbucks Just Might Get A Hit Movie Yet

Just recently I posted about Starbucks' unsuccessful forays into the movie business. Turns out a helpful solution was already in the works.

Today comes news that Concord Music Group will merge with the film production unit of Village Roadshow, an Australian entertainment company. CMG has a joint venture with Starbucks' Hear Music, a record label that has found success with a Ray Charles album and recently released Sir Paul McCartney's latest release, Memory Almost Full.

Village Roadshow will get up to $86 million in return for 60% of the newly created entity, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group.

The merger combines a film production company with assets like "The Matrix" franchise and CMG's catalog of albums. The synergies are obvious and should help Starbucks improve its track record in theatrical movies. Since it does so well with music, Starbucks can leverage that strength in the cross-promotion of the movie. For every VREG movie, there may be a companion soundtrack on the CMG label. Demand for a soundtrack, though, does not drive demand for a film. It's the other way around. Still, Starbucks will have a better chance of getting that first hit movie.

Comments

[Jared]

Even if Starbucks can produce a movie appealing enough for mass audiences, do you think they can do enough through their in-store channels to make it "a hit?" Even the best movies (read: oscar-worthy) rely on traditional movie promotions to get the word out. Coffee-clutches alone are not enough to win this one for Starbucks.

[Glenn]

It's not just about in-store marketing. It's about integrating the movies with the record label *and* the in-store marketing and Starbucks' other marketing muscle *and* the know-how of the production company that Concord Music Group (and therefore Starbucks) just merged with. Just because Starbucks is involved doesn't mean they're going to replace all the typical movie promotions with movie-branded coffee cups.