Remember the Teletubbies?

By Stuart Elliot

"If nostalgia isn’t what it used to be, a major reason may be efforts by marketers to encourage consumers to look back sooner rather than later. Three agencies are collaborating on the campaign on behalf of Ragdoll, the British company that owns the rights to the Teletubbies. Elements include a microsite, or special Web site, at taketheteletubbiestest.com, with features like a trivia quiz, blogs and podcasts. There will also be a temporary retail store in Manhattan, to be open from Wednesday through April 7, appearances by the characters at landmarks like the Apollo Theater and Times Square and fund-raising for charities that help the autistic.
To signal older audiences that the Teletubbies are not just for bib-wearers any more, the campaign also includes handbags designed by Isaac Mizrahi, which will be auctioned on eBay to raise money for the charities; T-shirts, underwear and other apparel priced as high as $28; social networking features on the Web site; and a rock concert at a Virgin Megastore."

I think this idea to relaunch the Teletubbies is very interesting. I believe it will have some success, but I do not think it will meet expectations. It will raise a lot of interest and a lot of buzz, but I don't think consumers will be motivated to spend their money on it. Young tweens won't be interested because they won't want to seem like babies and young adults might find the merchandise cute, but not enough to go out and buy it.
In order to make this licensing agreement successful the companies should have stuck with the original target, young children and remarketed their products to them. It would have been new to the younger generations and they would have had an interest in it.

BY Alexandra Verni