Can’t Miss for Young Girls

When people asked me this holiday season what my daughter would want for Christmas, I told them they couldn’t go wrong with merchandise for either Hannah Montana or High School Musical. I was right. She got tons of merchandise from both of these, from jewelry to board games to DVDs to lip gloss. Surely, Disney is profiting in a big way.

My daughter will leave the Disney channel on TV all day if I allow her to, watching everything from teenage sitcoms to cartoons to movies. Hannah Montana is on at least twice a day, and from the merchandise out there, it seems my daughter isn’t the only one watching. High School Musical has now put out a sequel, and it appears they are both just as popular. It seems like at least weekly there is some incarnation of one of the movies on, whether it’s a karaoke style one, or one with pop-up notes issuing trivia about the film and its stars.

The most unique thing about High School Musical is that with both of the films, they did it in reverse. They aired the film first on television, and after it enjoys much success there, it’s then released on DVD and CD. Girls eagerly buy this, despite the fact they live in a world with not only VCRs, but also TiVos and could-easily record it for free on their own. But it doesn’t stop there anyway, as along with the DVDs and CDs, there’s every other kind of merchandise available, including clothing, posters, jewelry, makeup, and toys and games. My daughter got High School Musical cologne, lip gloss, a wallet, a DVD, and a karaoke CD for Christmas.

Disney made a good bet on Hannah Montana’s star, Miley Cyrus. They were looking for a 15 year old star, but liked her so much when she was only 11, they decided to wait a few years on the series, holding out for the girl they knew would be a star. They were right, as she’s the biggest thing going for preteen girls right now. As a reward for biding their time, they now have rights on all of her merchandise, which is nearly too numerous to mention. My daughter received shirts (yes, that’s plural), a necklace, a bracelet, a small purse, a game, and a karaoke CD for Christmas. In addition, a 3D movie of a Hannah Montana concert will be making the rounds in theaters early next year.

Believe it or not, all this merchandise wasn’t overkill for her. My daughter loves each of these things that she received, and would have gladly accepted much more. Disney has always been one to be able to nail the merchandise rights on their characters, but it just seems they have an even bigger gold mine in this market for young girls, with no end in sight.

Popularity: 2% [?]