Syfy’s upfront event for advertisers, held yesterday at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, celebrated a cohort its research team is calling Igniters — “those highly imaginative people who shape the world in which we live and move brands forward faster,” and the key audience that has made the brand a top media destination for imagination-based entertainment.

The brand's on-air/online pitch to media buyers and brand marketers on the Syfy Igniters microsite: "Syfy sparks the imagination, inspiring curiosity and creativity among an influential audience who believes the world is full of possibility. By opening doors to new ideas, and opening eyes to thrilling new perspectives, we make the unbelievable...believable."

The NBC Universal-owned Syfy, which launched in 1992 as the Sci Fi channel (and shortened to Sci-Fi from 1999-2009), has held steady as a top 10 cable entertainment network among adults 25-54 for 16 consecutive years, and its bumper crop in original programming, digital and gaming media portend many more years to come.Continue reading...

When you Google "Hasbro," the company is identified as “Hasbro Toys, Games, Action Figures and More.” While the first three have dominated the company’s business for most of its 89 years, it’s that last part that is getting a lot of the company’s attention these days.

The “and more” has taken the form of TV and film productions related to Hasbro products. Thanks to the success of the Transformers films, which have grossed $2.6 billion worldwide and are based on the toys that were strewn across the playrooms of little boys in the mid-’80s, Hasbro has begun delving deeper into the worlds of television and film production, according to the New York Times.

Helping to build Hasbro’s confidence in this area is the success of its G.I. Joe movie, which grossed $302 million worldwide. Now a sequel to that film is coming out this summer as well as an action-adventure film based on the Hasbro game Battleship, which was promoted with a Super Bowl commercial (at top).Continue reading...

The toy industry and Hollywood have been bedfellows for decades, back to the era of Saturday-morning cartoon shows. And the synergies between the two businesses nearly always have been significant, sometimes even explosive.

Now Mattel, the world’s No. 1 toy company, aims to take this “transmedia” symbiosis to its logical conclusion. New York magazine reports that Mattel has challenged its designers to come up with a toy line that can simultaneously be turned into a TV show, feature, film, or game, creating a powerhouse brand from the start. No more waiting for the toy or the movie to come out.Continue reading...

According to the Motorcycle Industry Council, the number of American households that own motorcycles jumped 26% between 2003 and 2008. This trend is global, evidenced in a recent Harley Owners Group (HOG) in Beirut. But no rider group is growing faster than women, which increased from about 9% of the total in 2003, to more than 12% in 2008. Hollywood has taken notice.

Harley-Davidson, well aware of the trend, has partnered with celebrities like star fitness trainer Jillian Michaels and singer-songwriter Jewel in a recent advertising spread in upscale glossy mag Vanity Fair. The move accents Harley's dedicated resources such as its Women Riders web presence.Continue reading...

Sorry, paparazzi. You may be chasing brands instead of stars from now on.

Hollywood studios are investing heavily in toy and game brands, in an effort to capitalize on the power of nostalgia and instant brand-name recognition. The Los Angeles Times reports movie moguls are reallocating money usually spent on big-name stars toward the purchase of established brands such as Asteroids, Stretch Armstrong, Monopoly and Barbie.

Creating movies based on popular toys and games doesn't reflect much originality or creative depth, but the practice is sound business—particularly in an economy where consumers are reluctant to spend money on the unknown. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," the summer's top hit movie, was based on action figures from the 1980s. Yes, the toy created Megan Fox, not the other way around.Continue reading...