Marketers for the Elvis Presley estate, Graceland, are responding to decreasing visitors with their first national ad campaign. Graceland was the primary residence of Elvis for 20 years.
The theme of the campaign will be called "Discover your Inner Elvis" and will go on for the duration of the summer, which also commemorates the 30th anniversary of Elvis' death.
Attendance for 2006 came in at 544,193, which was flat. The reason given, was for the most part, high gas prices.
The estate is an important source of income for Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE) and its parent company CKX, which also markets American Idol and Mohammad Ali.
In spite of the flattening of attendance, Graceland was still able to increase revenue by 12.1 percent, reaching $13 million in 2006. A lot of that came from premium prices people were willing to pay for VIP tickets, which allows them to go to the front of the line, along with other benefits.
Some of the details of the marketing effort will be an "Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest," a la American Idol, where the winner will receive over $10,000 in prizes and a recording session.
Elvis will also appear on a limited edition Reese's candy for the summer, where customers will be able to win instant prizes, which will include a trip to Graceland and an Elvis car.
American Greetings will increase its Elvis lins of Christmas tree ornaments, which will include 3 decorations in the shape of jukeboxes that will play Elvis songs as he appears on the screen.
Cirque du Soleil will also a tour with an Elvis theme and has signed a deal with EPE to have a permanent show based upon Presley's life, times and music.
They have also created a new Discover Elvis Web site to get more information.
"We consider it our responsibility to share the legacy of Elvis with visitors," says Paul Jankowski, chief marketing officer of Elvis Presley Enterprises.
Comment Preview