CKX (NASDAQ:CKXE), the entity that controls the licensing rights to the king of rock 'n' roll, Elvis Presley, has created a fresh advertising campaign to keep his name alive and to reinvigorate the brand status of the famous mansion he used to call home -- the Memphis landmark known as Graceland.
According to a press release, the campaign will be executed over all the media that matter -- print, TV, outdoor, and the Web. The theme of the initiative is captured in the slogan "Discover Your Inner Elvis." I had no idea I had an inner Elvis, but it's nice to know that I do (I guess). An interesting commercial spot uses a "soccer mom" who is inserted into the famous "Aloha from Hawaii" concert wearing a replica of the King's iconic jumpsuit; she is then back at Graceland. The purpose here is to distinguish the mansion as a fun place for the family and to show how fun it is to be Elvis.
Judging by the spot and the cable platforms that will be used during the marketing time frame -- examples include E!, Oxygen, Lifetime, and SoapNet -- CKX is clearly going after the maternal head of household. This is smart, since moms make many consumer decisions. If Mom's inner Elvis thinks it might be exciting to head to Memphis to see exactly what all the fuss is about, chances are she could persuade the rest of the family to make the journey. According to an Associated Press article on this subject, CKX wouldn't mind seeing Graceland turn into a significant tourist destination, a la major theme parks.
CKX has its sights set on more than just Mom, though. As useful as she is, it's probably even more important to win the hearts and minds of the younger folk -- indeed, CKX understands this. Back in January, I discussed the company's use of social networking to seed a whole new generation of Elvis aficionados. Who would have thought, for instance, that Elvis would someday have something like a MySpace account? The King has apparently proved that his brand will adapt to new technologies as they become available.
This company is interesting not only for its Elvis business. It also owns the American Idol operation, and it controls the licensing rights to Muhammad Ali. According to the latest 10-K, CKX earned $0.08 per diluted share in fiscal 2006; looking at Yahoo! Finance, we see that analysts think CKX might earn $0.21 per share in 2007 and $0.28 per share in 2008.
That kind of growth potentially might make the stock cheap at its current price, but there are issues to consider that could cause such valuation to be questioned. CKX doesn't have a long earnings history behind it, for one thing. For another, earnings have been quite volatile if you look at the data for CKX as a public company and the Elvis business as a predecessor entity. Finally, any of the content CKX owns is not guaranteed to remain viable in terms of attracting the fickle public.
If this new campaign packs 'em in at Graceland, and News Corp.'s (NYSE:NWS) Fox continues to see high ratings from American Idol -- assuming the whole Sanjaya thing doesn't bring the whole franchise down -- then CKX could be an interesting idea to add to a more speculative watch list.
Past Foolishness on CKX:
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Fool contributor Steven Mallas owns none of the companies mentioned. He hasn't found his inner Elvis yet, but he's pretty sure he has an inner Fool lurking within. As of this writing, he was ranked 14,642 out of 27,150 investors in the CAPS system. Don't know what CAPS is? Check it out. The Fool has a disclosure policy.
