DISNEY GOING HOME ENTERTAINMENT, HOME IMPROVEMENT GIANTS SIGN DEAL.Byline: Evan Pondel Staff Writer BURBANK - Walt Disney's media kingdom will be getting a little home improvement from The Home Depot The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services. Headquartered in Vinings, just outside Atlanta in unincorporated Cobb County, Georgia, Home Depot employs more than 355,000 people and operates 2,164 big-box , which has committed to spend more than $100 million in advertising on Disney-owned networks, officials said Thursday. The deal is the biggest cross-platform marketing initiative for Home Depot and Disney's ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. Unlimited. It enables Home Depot to advertise across Disney properties such as ABC, ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network and Lifetime, while allowing the media giant to sell its paint products on the shelves of the home improvement chain. The Disney Paint Program is slated to begin in January, with decorative hardware and lighting products complementing the new line. For Disney, the Home Depot transaction marks yet another cross-platform deal, in which companies seek out the media monolith in order to capitalize on Cap´i`tal`ize on` v. t. 1. To turn (an opportunity) to one's advantage; to take advantage of (a situation); to profit from; as, to capitalize on an opponent's mistakes s>. its advertising breadth. Disney also has the ability to form a deeper relationship with its advertisers, extending far beyond the days of ``a dollar for an eyeball See eyeballs and eyeball driven. ,'' said Bill Bund, a senior vice president of ABC Integrated Sales. Short-lived deals in the world of advertising are becoming a dying breed, as large media companies that own multiple properties stretch beyond network boundaries. ``It's the wave of the future,'' said David Miller David Miller could refer to any of the following:
Burbank-based Disney is not new to the realm of cross-platform advertising after inking deals with Toys `R' Us and EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) A security system for preventing theft in retail stores that uses disposable label tags or reusable hard tags attached to the merchandise. , a sport nutrition company. Still, Bund said, it's simple to create the partnership, but difficult to prolong the relationship. ``Every (cross-platform) deal is unique. Companies have different objectives because our assets are attractive to them for different reasons,'' Bund said. ``And all of these relationships are triangular. ``We're creating partnership with the client, the agency and ABC Unlimited.'' Aside from the inherent benefits of cross-platform deals for companies like Disney, the customer also benefits. The relationship strengthens the brand and creates greater efficiencies for both parties, said Bob Nardelli, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Home Depot. The construction retailer's relationship with Disney comes at a prolific time. Home Depot reported record net earnings of $856 million for the first quarter of 2002, an increase of 35 percent over the comparable period a year ago. ``I suppose the only real question that should be posed right now is how much ad space did Home Depot actually purchase,'' said Tom Wolzein, an analyst with Bernstein in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . Though Home Depot and Disney would not disclose that information, similar deals are taking shape, with Wall Street applauding most of these transactions for their financial fortitude. ``These deals are compelling because they simply make sense for large media companies. And this Home Depot deal is more validation for Disney,'' said George Smith George Smith may refer to: U.S. politics
That validation will bode well for Disney amid a possible deal with OMD OMD Doctor of Oriental Medicine. OMD, n.pr Doctor of Oriental Medicine. OMD 1. Oculomuscular dystrophy 2. Organic mental disorder , the media-buying arm of Omnicom Group Inc, Smith said. The deal calls for OMD to place more than $1 billion of its clients' ad dollars across Disney's properties. Disney shares rose 38 cents to close at $23.83, while Home Depot shares declined $1.35 to close at $42.90 Thursday. WHAT'S THE DEAL? The Home Depot The biggest of the big-box hardware stores with 1,300 locations worldwide. The Walt Disney Co. Second-biggest entertainment conglomerate, with theme parks, TV and film. Disney gets $100 million in advertising for its many television networks. Home Depot gets a slew of parents buying Mickey Mouse paint and Daisy Duck wallpaper for their kids' rooms. CAPTION(S): box Box: WHAT'S THE DEAL? (see text) |
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