When Authentic Brands Group (ABG) purchased Marilyn’s estate in 2011, a marketing blitz began – and with her centennial just two years away, they’re hoping to go even bigger, as Jean E. Palmieri reports for WWD.
However, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. While some of ABG’s licensed products have been very popular with fans, other items seem spurious or in bad taste.
And there’s also the issue of telling Marilyn’s story accurately, as quotes and factoids posted on her official social media accounts – and elsewhere – aren’t always reliable.
Even in this interview, ABG’s representative claims Marilyn was the second woman in Hollywood to own a production company. In fact, at least 50 actresses preceded her in the silent era alone – see here.
“Marilyn Monroe may have been gone for more than 60 years, but to Authentic Brands Group, she’s alive and well … Since 2011, the year Authentic purchased an 80 percent stake in her intellectual property, sales of product with her name on it have grown fourfold to $80 million in global sales.
Although Authentic also owns the rights to the estates of a number of celebrities including Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali, Marilyn Monroe was the first. ‘Marilyn was the first celebrity brand that we’ve owned 100 percent of, and it really kind of set the tone for how we were going to be in this business,’ said Dana Carpenter, executive vice president of entertainment for Authentic.
In 2011, Authentic teamed with NECA, a global media and entertainment company, to acquire the majority stake in Marilyn Monroe LLC from Anna Strasberg, the third wife of the late Lee Strasberg, the acting coach who was like a father to the actress. Upon her death, Monroe left the bulk of her estate to him. Authentic’s purchase price, sources said at the time, was between $20 million and $30 million.
‘Anna Strasberg was very cautious about how she wanted Marilyn’s legacy to be protected,’ Carpenter said. ‘Originally, we were only able to acquire 80 percent, but we proved to her over time how we respected and trusted and were going to take care of the brand, and eventually we were able to acquire the remaining 20 percent.’
In 2011, apparel represented 56 percent of overall sales of Marilyn Monroe-related product, followed by 10 percent of her name, image and likeness (NIL), 8 percent alcohol, 6 percent art and the remainder spread between home goods, stationery, accessories and games.
But by last year, the mix had shifted significantly. The largest percentage was now intimates, which represented 26 percent of sales, followed by NIL with 23 percent, jewellery with 12 percent, health and wellness with 7 percent, beauty with 4 percent and apparel down significantly to just 6 percent.
On top of that, Monroe still brings a lot of joy and lightness to her brand with her message and her words. ‘We like to use that as a way to connect with current consumers,’ Carpenter said. ‘It’s really important to have her continue to be relevant for that next generation.’
And it appears to be working. Carpenter said there are around 16 million social media followers for Marilyn Monroe — more than 60 percent of which are between 18 and 34. Females account for 72 percent of her followers.
‘That gives us a really strong pipeline of fans and consumers who continue to be interested in what she had to say, and what she continues to say through the projects that we’ve been able to associate her with,’ Carpenter said.
Looking ahead two years to Monroe’s centennial, Authentic is formulating a plan to ‘celebrate her in a 360-degree manner,’ Carpenter said. ‘We’ll obviously do amazing and fun projects from an apparel and merchandise perspective — that’s kind of a given. But the 100th really gives us an opportunity to celebrate her in a bunch of different ways, whether it’s through the arts, events, books, gallery exhibitions. We’re working on a couple of content projects right now. We really want to be able to show that she was more than just this beautiful woman that was in over 30 films, she really was able to permeate the culture on a variety of different levels. And I think our celebration of her going into the 100th is really going to be our way of kind of giving back to that story for her.'”
The Marilyn Report 