ENTERTAINMENT retail specialist, HMV, is set to entice the thousands of Twilight fans through its doors next week by transforming its iconic trademark dog Nipper into a howling wolf – for a special limited period only in the run up to the DVD/Blu-ray release on 22nd March of The Twilight Saga: New Moon.
As UK fans eagerly await its release, film company E1 Entertainment has teamed with the retailer to ‘unleash’ Nipper to reflect the film’s werewolf tribe. Rather than adopting his usual pose of looking enquiringly into his gramophone horn as he listens to his master’s voice, Nipper will instead appear as howling wolf silhouetted against a rising moon.
The ‘revamped’ logo is set to feature in HMV’s national press advertising for the title and also across its shop windows and instore posters in the weekend before the DVD comes out.
The century-old logo has only ever been changed once before in its entire history – in 2007. when Gromit, the animated canine hero of Wallace and Gromit fame, ‘stood in’ for Nipper during a special promotion on children’s DVDs.
Appealing to the so-called ‘Twi-hards’ – the huge following of fans of both Stephenie Meyer’s series of novels plus the two films in The Twilight Saga released on DVD by E1 Entertainment so far – HMV hopes to promote pre-orders of its three retail exclusive DVD sleeves featuring artwork of Edward (played by Robert Pattinson), Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner) plus the range of merchandise available in-store and online.
HMV is also producing a collector’s edition The Twilight Saga: New Moon gift card – featuring Bella, Edward and Jacob, which is likely to be snapped up by fans of the film franchise along with a bespoke paper carrier bag that is also being made available with purchases.
Selected HMV stores around the country, including in London’s Oxford Street and Piccadilly Circus, will be opening at midnight – Sunday 21st March at 00.01 hrs to give fans the earliest possible opportunity to get hold of the film on DVD and Blu-ray, which is now officially hmv.com’s most pre-ordered title ever.
E1 senior product manager, Martin Gough, comments: “With Twilight being the third largest DVD release of 2009, there is a lot of anticipation for the sequel New Moon. HMV’s suitably adapted New Moon logo is an extremely creative way of tapping into the fan interest and we know it’ll strike a chord with the film’s following.”
HMV head of DVD, Rudy Osorio, adds: “There’s no escaping the popularity of The Twilight Saga so we thought we should turn to Nipper – our very own canine icon, to communicate our fantastic DVD and Blu-ray offer on this film in a way that only HMV can.
“The end result for our pre-release advertising is a playful but also striking emblem for the film, which will be seen by a huge audience all over the country. We’ve already had a few instances where fans have removed New Moon pre-order posters from HMV hoardings, so I feel sure they’ll show just as strong an appetite for this one-off Nipper wolf promotion and for the New Moon limited edition gift card.”
With more of the passion, action and suspense that made Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling novels and the first movie smash hits, The Twilight Saga: New Moon is a spellbinding follow-up to the international box office phenomenon. The film topped the UK box office in December 2009 and took over £26 million.
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For further information on The Twilight Saga: New Moon DVD & Blu-ray please contact the press office at Mischief on 020 7100 9999 or e1entertainment@mischiefpr.com
or Gennaro Castaldo, HMV Press & PR on 020 7432 2033 / 07801 194 139 <mailto:gennaro.castaldo@hmv.co.uk> gennaro.castaldo@hmv.co.uk
About E1 Entertainment
E1 Entertainment (AIM: ETO) is a leading independent entertainment content owner that acquires film, television and music rights and exploits these rights in all media in more than 190 countries.
The company currently operates in Canada, the U.S., the UK, Holland and Belgium through its four primary businesses units: E1 Television, E1 Films, E1 Music and E1 Distribution. These businesses collectively represent E1’s extensive expertise in film distribution, television and music production/distribution, Kids content, Licensing and Distribution.
E1’s content library includes more than 3,700 feature films, 2,700 hours of original television programming and 15,000 music tracks.
About HMV
Entertainment retailer hmv is a leading music, film and games specialist in the UK and Ireland – offering the widest selection of titles and products across all genres, formats and channels through over 280 shops – including 15 in Ireland and 11 in Northern Ireland, and online and as downloadable mp3 content via hmv.com.
Hmv also caters to a growing demand for personal and home technology products, such as iPods and other portable digital devices, and popular culture products ranging from books and licensed products to artist merchandising, T-shirts and other ‘cool stuff’.
Since its first store was opened in London’s Oxford Street in 1921 by Sir Edward Elgar, hmv has established an unrivalled heritage in product innovation and in retailing recorded music, film and games products across all formats, symbolised by its iconic ‘dog & gramophone’ trademark, featuring ‘Nipper’.
Hmv has, in recent years, diversified its product offer, whilst also implementing a number of key initiatives as part of an ongoing strategic plan. These include a ‘next generation’ store concept, which offers an engaging, design-led shopping environment; the review of the hmv brand and introduction of the ‘get closer’ identity – a distillation of the company’s vision that ‘no-one gets you closer to the music, films and games you love'; and significant investment in hmv’s online and mp3 downloads offer via hmv.com.
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Contact: Gennaro Castaldo
Phone: 020 7432 2033 / 07801 194 139
Email: gennaro.castaldo@hmv.co.uk
Website: http://www.hmv.co.uk
