Grandmama Super Bowl AD 7th, not overnight! Read the the great History of "Our new Branding "Grandmama" which is key to opening many doors with our 1 of a kind PURE Tea! This Branding is huge and if you are serious investor in HFBG THIS IS A MUST READ!
Converse and "Grandmama VII" Make Super Bowl Commercial Debut
NEW YORK, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The tornado whirls and churns, swirling Grandmama's shoe house around until it lands on a strange basketball court in an even stranger land. Grandmama opens her front door onto an army of munchkins shooting hoops. "Welcome to 3 Point Land!" the referee munchkin shouts at Grandmama, also known as Larry Johnson of the Charlotte Hornets.
And so begins the seventh Converse Grandmama television commercial which premiers on the January 30 Super Bowl. For the first time, Converse has purchased a 30-second spot on the widely-watched Super Bowl broadcast to launch its new top-of-the-line $110.00 Larry Johnson spring basketball shoe the BackJam(TM). The commercial will air during the third commercial break of the first quarter.
"We decided it was time for Converse and Grandmama to enter the Super Bowl advertising extravaganza with this extremely creative and entertaining commercial," said Converse Senior Vice President of Marketing Joanna Jacobson. "The spot was developed and shot before we made the decision to buy the 30-second slot on the Super Bowl. After seeing the finished commercial, the Super Bowl seemed like a natural place to launch Larry's revolutionary new BackJam shoe and Grandmama's latest adventure."
While "3 Point Land" is a variation on the theme of the famous "Wizard of Oz" movie, one of the main actors in the Converse commercial also appeared in the original movie with Judy Garland. Jerry Maren of Hollywood, Calif., now 72, is the referee munchkin who welcomes Grandmama to "3 Point Land," just as, at age 17, in the name of the Lollipop Guild, he welcomed Dorothy and Toto to Munchkinland.
While one 30-second commercial on the Super Bowl may seem insignificant to some, the purchase of a $900,000 spot on the most popular sports event on TV is a landmark accomplishment for Converse.
"Converse has performed exceedingly well over the past three years and has continued to gain market share, while several of our larger competitors have slipped significantly, having to reduce prices on their basketball products in order to remain competitive," said Converse President Gib Ford. "In 1993, Converse realized a 14 percent increase in sales versus 1992, our basketball business grew by 30 percent in a declining market, plus it was our third year of double digit growth in this category, currently resulting in a 10 percent basketball market share. According to the 1993 back-to-school Morgan Horan study, the Converse Run 'N Slam(TM) basketball shoe was the most successful product of the selling season, beating Nike and Reebok."
Ford also noted that the fashion segment of the Converse business, which includes the world-renowned Chuck Taylor(R) canvas All Star(R), continues to show such significant increases in sales that the company has had to open a second U.S. manufacturing facility in Mission, TX to supplement the over 10 million pairs a year produced at the Lumberton, N.C. plant.
"The global demand for the All Star was so great last year that we were unable to supply enough product," Ford continued. "For the third year in a row, we have manufactured over 10 million pairs annually, with some 50 percent of the All Star sneakers shipped overseas. The new Mission facility will enable us to better meet the worldwide demand for this popular fashion shoe which has sold over 530 million pairs since it was first made in 1917."
While the All Star, or Athleisure brand category, grew by almost 12 percent in 1993, the Converse Children's category, including both performance and canvas products, leaped ahead by a phenomenal 62 percent over 1992. "It's easy to see from the most recent sales increases why Converse made the decision to join the crowd on Super Bowl Sunday and launch its seventh in a series of highly successful 'Grandmama(TM)' commercials," Ford added.
ADVERTISING
According to Converse(R) Senior Vice President of Marketing Joanna Jacobson, the company's 1994 global advertising budget has reached nearly $40 million. "The production of '3 Point Land,' its appearance on the Super Bowl, combined with its subsequent three week flight on the FOX network, national MTV, BET, Nickelodeon and ESPN 2, plus in 25 spot markets, represents some 28 percent of our domestic basketball ad budget. The Super Bowl provides us with the perfect consumer audience for the launch of Larry 'Grandmama(TM)' Johnson's new BackJam(TM) shoe with REACT(R) Juice -- the flagship of our spring basketball shoe line -- and the debut of '3 Point Land.'"
"3 Point Land" has all of the fast-paced fantasy elements to keep one's imagination spinning. Once Grandmama discovers she's in "3 Point Land," she panics and declares "I'm a power player...I've got to get home to the low post!" A heavenly image of Larry Johnson appears in the clouds and tells her, "you'll need these," as the magical BackJam shoes from Converse spin toward Grandmama's feet in a bubble. Grandmama's feet, clad in her signature white lace trimmed socks, are zapped into the magical BackJam shoes from the rear, highlighting the alternative entry system of the shoes, as the adjustable ankle straps whip through the air and wrap around Grandmama's ankles. Feet suspended in the air, she gives three electrified heel clicks, complete with lightening flashes, and shoots up from the parquet of "3 Point Land" to return to the low post, as she wistfully says off camera, "There's no place like home."
I cannot stress enough how big this branding will be for us. It won ESPY Award, Countless Spinoff Grandmama's & Countless televised Sit-Com episodes & more still aired to this date starring our Majority Stockholder Larry Johnson as infamous alter retro ego "Grandmama", who will come back to TV as our Brand!
AI
