Captain Sabertooth - Adventurous Brand Loyalty

Transcription

Captain Sabertooth
- Adventurous Brand Loyalty
Øivind Nakken
Captain Sabertooth – Adventurous Brand Loyalty
___________________________________________________________________________
2
___________________________________________________________________________
3
___________________________________________________________________________
Acknowledgments
First of all I would like to thank my teaching supervisor, Dr. Polit. Ingunn Hagen from
Media Science and Psychology-NTNU. She presented me for the Norwegian Centre for Child
Research (NOSEB) which made this project possible in the first place. During the whole
research process she has constantly supported me and adviced me.
Further, I am also greatly indebted to this project’s informants on which larger parts of
my analytical work are based. I thank them for their patience and professionalism. Terje
Formoe (copyright owner of Captain Sabertooth), Reidar Fuglestad (Kristiansand Zoo), Stig
Bech (Panvision A/S), Elisabeth Brinch (Barneselskapet A/S), Helge Westbye (Piratprodukter
A/S), and Jack Kristoffersen (Artplant A/S) all participated kindly. Without their help, this
report would have been impossible to write.
Thanks also to my dear friends Erik Hval Olsen, Anders Martinsen, and Eva
Torgersen – and to my dear family – for their invaluable support during the whole period of
work.
4
___________________________________________________________________________
5
___________________________________________________________________________
ABSTRACT
This case study of the Norwegian cross-media phenomenon of Captain Sabertooth is a
part of the larger interdisciplinary project “Consuming Children. Commercialization and the
Changing Constructions of Childhood” developed by The Norwegian Centre for Child
Research (NOSEB) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology
The aim of the case study has been to understand and build a theoretical framework
around the brand loyalty related to Captain Sabertooth among Norwegian children. The
structures and processes of the brand building have been analyzed by employing a qualitative
approach based on Grounded Theory, semiotics, narratives, and ideological critical theory –
and by situating the brand into certain contexts of media developments, commercialization,
and related (local as well as global) child phenomena.
Three key concepts or categories – central in the brand’s encoding processing and it’s
concrete products/texts - emerged as a result of the analysis: synergies, inclusion, and brand
control. The synergies account for the cross-media properties of the brand and the
organizational networking around it. These properties and the networking make it possible
for the audience to consume the phenomenon through a huge array of channels, and lay the
foundation for a stronger experience – across senses. The component of inclusion explains
the brand’s ability to involve an audience of varied nature – through direct or obscure (inter)textual associations, and through an emphasis on closeness, presence, and sources of
identification. During the analysis it became evident that the synergies around the brand and
it’s including nature are not mutually exclusive apsects of the phenomenon. In fact, they both
are a fundament for each other. Further, the component of brand control might be considered
as being the core category in the theoretical framework around the Captain Sabertooth
brand loyalty, or the glue keeping the other components of brand building together and
making them work properly.This brand control is employed both at an organizational and
textual level. It might be concluded that the fragilities in the synthesis of synergies, inclusion,
and control become more visible when a brand is to be globalized or extended. This is due to
the larger area off which the control component must bite
6
___________________________________________________________________________
7
___________________________________________________________________________
CONTENT
1 INTRODUCTION
13
1.1 THE PROJECT: CONSUMING CHILDREN. COMMERCIALIZATION AND THE CHANGING
CONSTRUCTIONS OF CHILDHOOD
13
2 BACKGROUND AND THEORETICAL FOUNDATION FOR THE CASE STUDY
OF CAPTAIN SABERTOOTH
15
2.1 GLOBALIZATION AND COMMERCIALIZATION
2.2 THE INCREASINGLY COMPLEX CHILD CONSUMER
2.3 ACROSS MEDIA AND ORGANIZATION BOARDERS
2.4 THE NEW NATURE OF MARKETING
2.5 CRAZES
2.6 CAPTAIN SABERTOOTH – A NORWEGIAN CRAZE
2.7 WHY STUDYING CAPTAIN SABERTOOTH?
2.8 STUDYING CAPTAIN SABERTOOTH BRAND LOYALTY
- SPECIFYING AND JUSTIFYING THE RESARCH QUESTION
15
17
19
21
23
24
25
26
26
3 METHODOLOGIES
28
3.1
3.2
3.3
A CALL FOR CREATIVITY AND FLEXIBILITY
28
29
THE METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK
STUDYING ENCODING PROCESSES AND MEDIATED TEXTS WITH GROUNDED THEORY
31
3.4 RELATING THE INTERVIEWS TO TEXT/PRODUCT ANALYSIS: RELATING TEXTS TO THE
PRODUCTION STRUCTURE
33
34
3.4.1 SEMIOTICS
3.4.2 NARRATIVE THEORY
37
3.4.3 IDEOLOGICAL CRITICISM – BEYOND THE TEXTS
38
4 RESULTS WITH DISCUSSION
40
4.1 CATEGORY 1: SYNERGIES
4.1.1 THE SUB-CATEGORY OF ”SYNERGIES OF PRODUCTION”
4.1.2 THE SUB-CATEGORY OF “INTEGRATED MARKETING”
4.2 CATEGORY 2: INCLUSION
4.2.2 THE SUB-CATEGORY OF “TARGET GROUP”
4.2.3 THE SUB-CATEGORIES OF “PRESENCE” AND “CLOSENESS”
4.2.4 THE SUB-CATEGORY OF “IDENTIFICATION”
4.2.5 FAMILY ORIENTATION, PRESENCE, CLOSENESS, AND IDENTIFICATION AS BASES FOR
COMMUNICATION AND MARKETING ACTIVITIES
4.3 CATEGORY 3: BRAND CONTROL
4.3.1 THE SUB-CATEGORY OF “LICENSE AGREEMENTS”
4.3.2 THE SUB-CATEGORY OF “SOURCE TEXT ORIENTATION”
4.3.3 THE SUB-CATEGORY OF “COMMUNICATION CONTROL”
40
43
47
55
60
65
67
8
68
71
71
74
76
___________________________________________________________________________
4.4 REFINING THE THEORY ABOUT CAPTAIN SABERTOOTH BRAND LOYALTY:
THE CATEGORIES RELATED THROUGH STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES?
4.4.1 FRAGILITIES IN THE SYNTHESIS OF CATEGORIES
4.4.2 GLOBALIZING?
HOW ARE
80
84
85
5
CONTEXTUALIZING CAPTAIN SABERTOOTH WITH IDEOLOGY,
DISCOURSES, AND COMMUNICATION PSYCHOLOGY
87
5.1 ENCODING PROCESSES, PRODUCT CHARACTERISTICS, AND THE CONTEXT
87
5.2 CHILDREN AND DECODING PROCESSES – ARE THEY VICTIMS OF A COMMERCIAL AND
MANIPULATING CAPTAIN SABERTOOTH?
89
5.2.1 DIFFERENT DISCOURSES, DIFFERENT RESEARCH AGENDAS
90
– AND DIFFERENT REPRESENTATIONS
90
5.2.2 A CALL FOR CONTEXT VARIABLES
93
6 FINAL METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
6.1
6.2
6.3
SENSITIVITY VS OBJECTIVITY
CONCEPTS FROM THE LITERATURE
SATURATION?
96
96
98
98
7 CONCLUDING REMARKS
99
7 REFERENCES
104
8. APPENDIX
111
APPENDIX A: QUALITATIVE DATA MATERIAL
111
BOOKS
111
CD
111
111
COMICS (“KAPTEIN SABELTANN”)
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS
111
DVDS
112
ORAL SOURCES
112
APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW GUIDE
113
APPENDIX C: CONFIRMATION FROM NSD - COPY OF LETTER IN
NORWEGIAN
114
APPENDIX D: PROJECT PARTICIPANTS IN CONSUMING CHILDREN.
COMMERCIALIZATION AND THE CHANGING CONSTRUCTIONS OF
CHILDHOOD
115
APPENDIX E: A BRIEF SUMMARY OF CAPTAIN SABERTOOTH’S HISTORY 117
APPENDIX F: SOME NETWORK COMPONENTS AROUND CAPTAIN
SABERTOOTH
122
APPENDIX G: CAPTAIN SABERTOOTH’S SPREADING ACROSS MEDIA AND
PRODUCT CATEGORIES
124
APPENDIX H: CAPTAIN SABERTOOTH’S SPREADING ACROSS
ORGANIZATIONAL BOARDERS
125
9
___________________________________________________________________________
FIGURES
FIGURE 1: THE FRAMING OF METHODOLOGY. ......................................................................................... 29
FIGURE 2: PARTICIPANTS OF NARRATIVES (KOZLOFF, 1987). .............................................................. 37
FIGURE 3: COMPONENTS OF A STRONG BRAND (LINDSTROM & SEYBOLD, 2003). ......................... 41
FIGURE 4: THE SYNTHESIS OF CATEGORIES FRAMING THE CAPTAIN SABERTOOTH BRAND
LOYALTY. ................................................................................................................................................. 83
TABLES
TABLE 1: THE CATEGORY OF “SYNERGIES” WITH DEVELOPED SUB-CATEGORIES. ...................... 82
TABLE 2: THE CATEGORY OF “INCLUSION” WITH DEVELOPED SUB-CATEGORIES........................ 82
TABLE 3: THE CATEGORY OF “BRAND CONTROL” WITH DEVELOPED SUB-CATEGORIES............ 82
10
___________________________________________________________________________
11
___________________________________________________________________________
12
___________________________________________________________________________
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Project: Consuming Children. Commercialization and the Changing
Constructions of Childhood
The larger etablished project Consuming Children. Commercialization and the Changing
Constructions of Childhood of which my case study is a part, is based on the topic Media,
Consumption, and Globalization -
one of three prioritized topics developed by The
Norwegian Centre for Child Research (NOSEB) from 2005. Media,Consumption, and
Globalization was one of two of these topics receiving larger fundings from the Norwegian
Research Council.
The aim of the project Consuming Children. Commercialization and the Constructions of
Childhood – running from 01.09.06 to 31.08.09 - has been to establish an international and
interdisciplinary research group, and then to develop research-based insights about marketing
to children. Additionaly, it is of interest to assess the role of commercialization and consumer
culture in changing the lived experiences and definitions of childhood.
The project
Consuming Children. Commercialization and the Changing Constructions of Childhood will
complement and draw on the other two projects developed by NOSEB. The three projects will
share many frameworks, concepts, and methodologies. The theoretical focus on the relation
between structure and agency, the analysis of gender issues and childhood identities, and the
use of ethnographic research methods and forms of discourse analysis, are all topics going
like a red thread through all the projects.
The project Consuming Children. Commercialization and the Changing Constructions of
Childhood is a project accounting for several aspects of the increasing commercialization of
childhood. The present project seeks to integrate three aspects of the phenomenon – namely,
marketing, the cultural product/text, and the consumer (Buckingham, 2000) – and to focus on
children in various age groups that are currently a major focus of marketing interest. The
research plan is represented by solid research, the establishment of a local research group, and
cooperation with Nordic and international researchers. In the coordinating research group we
will find researchers from Media Education, Early Childhood Education, History, Media
Science, Psychology, and Sociology. Professor II at NOSEB, Dr. David Buckingham and Dr.
Polit. Vebjørg Tingstad direct the project. This is done in cooperation with Dr. Art.Tora
Korsvold from Historian-NOSEB and Dr. Polit. Ingunn Hagen from Media Science and
Psychology-NTNU. For a more complete list of project participants, see Appendix D.
13
___________________________________________________________________________
Consuming Children. Commercialization and the Changing Constructions of
Childhood consists of several sub-project, and my case study of Captain Sabertooth presented
in this report, is connected to sub-project 1b): Contemporary practices in children's
consumer culture. Overally, this sub-project aims at gaining understanding of contemporary
practices in children’s consumer culture through studying secondary sources and – most
importantly – through interviews with key professionals in the field. These key professionals
may be representatives of toy, clothing, and technology companies, advertizers and
advertizing planners, retail buyers, market researchers, and others. The empirical study
conducted by me of Captain Sabertooth, is the first case study of sub-project 1b).
Totally, Consuming Children. Commercialization and the Changing Constructions of
Childhood accounts for four sub-projects which are meant to contribute to the earlier
described research aims. Sub-project 1 explores the a) historical dimensions of marketing to
children, b) the contemporary practices of the media, advertizing, and related industries, and
c) the competing discourses that circulate within public and policy debate on these issues
More specifically, sub-project 1a) aims at gaining an historical perspective by gathering data
on child marketing over the past century. Analyzing certain instances of marketing discourse
will also be fundamental in this sub-project. The main focus is on Norwegian examples, even
though the contexts to a certain extent will be considered as being global. The first case study
is focusing on the company Proper Toys. 1b) is already presented, while sub-project 1c)
builds on 1a) and 1b). With an analysis of media coverage, public debate, and policy
discourse on marketing to children, it aims at supplementing the rest of sub-project 1. The
first case study here explores the debates surrounding the regulation of “junk food”
advertizing to children in the UK, the US, and Norway. The constructions or definitions of
childhood that are at stake in these debates are focused on as well.
The two age groups of kindergartners and “tweens” (aged roughly 8-12) and the
marketing targeted at them are the main focus of sub-project 2 and sub-project 3. The
different types of products and issues relevant to these age groups are studied. Still, in each
case the goal is to shed light on the interaction between the industry’s practices, the nature of
the products generated, and the children’s way of use and interpretation.
The implications of the abovementioned developments both for media regulators and
educationalists are explored in sub-project 4. Public policy in the areas of children and
families, education, and media regulation – and educational practice in scools are among the
areas of interest.
14
___________________________________________________________________________
A larger project like Consuming Children. Commercialization and the Changing
Constructions of Childhood should be justified by the increasing public concern about the
same topic. The role of commercialization in children’s and young people’s lives in Norway
has been focused on in various governmental publications (BFD 2001; BFD 2003; BFD
2005). A basic assumption in these publications is that consumption is becoming a
fundamental value in the lives of children and adolescents. They stress the fact that
advertizing and marketing influence not only young people’s consumption, but also their
attitudes more generally, for instance when it comes to body shape, appearance, sexuality,
drugs, and violence. These concerns are in good keeping with a larger and international trend,
calling for increased censorship, media regulation, and media literacy (BFD 2001; BFD 2003;
BFD 2005). Additionaly,
despite the scale of public concern about the apparent
“commercialization of childhood”, there is still relatively little academic research in this field,
particularly when it comes to contemporary forms of marketing such as branding, crosspromotion, sponsorship, product placement, and peer-to-peer marketing. In cultural and
educational research, and in childhood studies, there has been a tendency to neglect the
unique issues and perspectives that arise when children become subjects (and objects) in
consumer culture.
2 BACKGROUND AND THEORETICAL FOUNDATION FOR THE
CASE STUDY OF CAPTAIN SABERTOOTH
2.1
Globalization and Commercialization
In one of the abovementioned reports from BFD (2001), the commercialization of
childhood is profoundly discussed. It is claimed that the forces behind the general
commercialization of everyday life, are numerous and complicated. Seen from the perspective
of production, new technologies are being introduced, and organizational re-structuring and
rationalizations are made, with the aim of adapting the various companies to the increasing
globalizing trade, in which every specific country’s economy is more and more specialized.
At the same time, the consumers are characterized by changing attitudes towards needs, and
by increased incomes and disponible economic resources.
These trends are highly related to the developments within the sorrounding media
landscape. In the report from BFD (2001) the fundamental developing media trends are
summarized by commercialization and convergence. The commercialization of media has
taken place in both a direct and indirect way. The media landscape is commercialized directly
15
___________________________________________________________________________
for instance through the constant emergence of commercial TV channels or commercial web
sites finalized by the selling of marketing rights to producers who then present themselves to
potential customers. Examples of indirect commercialization can be found looking at the
public broadcasting in many countries. To receive sufficient financial support from the state
and therethrough survive on a long-term basis, the public television has to adapt to a certain
extent to the commercial environment when it comes to program contents The public media
may also be commercialized by this institution’s search for more and new sources of income,
for instance by allowing marketing to a certain degree or by co-producing internationally.
This is often a consequence of the political-economic context in which these media/TV
channels are situated. In the increasing amount of countries where the market economy rules,
the aim of the government is often low taxes, but at the same time a moderate inflation. To
keep the level of taxes and inflation low at the same time, the public expenses have to be
reduced as well. The economic support to public television may be one of various potential
victims of this. The latter institution will then have to find other sources of income
(Buckingham et al., 1999).
The convergence of media may in short be explained in terms of the increasingly
more diffuse boarders between earlier distinct sectors of the media landscape. The worlds of
telecommunication, broadcasting, and computers have approached each other and merged into
a common digital language (BFD, 2001; Buckingham et al., 1999; von Feilitzen, 2002). In the
report from BFD (2001) the diffusion of digital technology and new communication protocols
for Internet are emphasized as crucial factors in this development. In the same report, it is
described how other trends like globalization, standardization, and ownership concentration,
take place parallellely, but also as a consequence of the commercialization and convergence
within the media world. Globalization of the media landscape means, among many other
things, the development of common codes and symbols that can be interpreted by people all
over the world. This has been made possible by new technology and international agreements,
making cooperation between different countries possible, when it comes to trading of both
goods and capital. The production is then directed more towards the global market than the
local one. Standardization is considerably related to this. Common formats and production
codes make the media consumption easier for a global audience. In addition to this, the
ownership concentration is increasingly high. In the report from BFD (2001) it is claimed that
no more than 5-10 actors in the world market own what is worth owning when it comes to
television, movies, newspapers, magazines, books, and music. Even if these claims are six
16
___________________________________________________________________________
years old, they should indicate that few but big institutions have great power, when it comes
to the possibilities of influencing and gaining profit.
2.2
The Increasingly Complex Child Consumer
These forces accounting for globalization and media convergence have made the
production of goods and services and their circulation increase – and increased has also the
total consumption. In such a context the different institutions of the market will always look
for new customers. A niche of the market which is considered increasingly interesting and
attractive, is that one of children. Children have various characteristics making them “good
business”; they are often able to influence their parents’ spending of money, they have an
increasing disponible allowance themselves, and - not to forget - they are an interesting group
because they represent a possibility for the producers and marketers to create brand loyalty at
a very early stage – securing profit also in the future (BFD, 2001; Buckingham, Davies,
Jones, & Kelley, 1999; Seiter, 1993; von Feilitzen, 2002). Still, this brand loyalty creation
should be a complicated and challenging process. The child market is volatile – accounting
for not only the allowance disponible among the children and their parents, but incrasingly
also for social and psychological processes like individualization, inclusion, and exclusion,
and feelings of identity/belonging or not (BFD, 2001; Lindstrom & Seybold, 2003).
The complexity of the children’s market might be illustrated by La Ville’s (2004)
conceptualization of children’s consumerism. He seeks to understand this consumerism from
a managerial standpoint. He conceptualizes this field as a system of social practices
developing at the cross roads of five intermingled complementary sub-systems. Firstly,
children’s consumerism is a relational system, which accounts for all the relationships
established with members of the family and with persons in charge of raising the child (like
teachers and peers). Secondly, the consumerism is an institutional system including the
institutions surronding the child and providing him/her with the skills to integrate in a given
society. The school and the kindergarten are examples of such institutions. Thirdly, it is a
plurimedia system, encompassing the various kinds of media the children learn to use in the
course of their development. Fourthly, the same consumerism may be conceived as a
narrative system – a system offering concrete and symbolic markers to which the children
refer when trying to explore the meanings of what they live or to express themselves. Finally,
La Ville (2004) describes children’s consumerism as an economic system, which partly covers
the socio-technical design system and the institutionalized consumption contexts mentioned
previously. All children-oriented markets, the different regulatory frames, the different actors
17
___________________________________________________________________________
intervening in the dynamics of new product design process, distribution, and marketing
communication are included. According to La Ville (2004), being simultaneously embedded
in the various sub-systems of children’s consumption, managerial actions seeking to promote
and sell products to children become a very complex task.
Probably we should be careful at this stage to consider some of these sub-systems of
consumption as having more explanatory power than others when it comes to children and
commercializaton. Still, it is very difficult to even discuss the topic of childhood
commercialization without touching the plurimedia sub-system. Let us take a closer look on
this.
The trends within the world of media discussed earlier, are undoubtedly of great
significance to understand the increasing commercialization of the everyday life of people in
general, and probably children in particular. The latter group is namely a heavy media
consumer. Haddon (2004) describes the children’s culture as the “bedroom culture”, by which
he means that many of the activities earlier finding place outdoor, now have been substituted
by indoor activities. In many countries it is now usual that the children have their own rooms rooms which often abound of media equipments, with which the children increasingly
communicate with the world surrounding them. Haddon (2004) illustrates this by claiming
that the children of today, instead of going out in the streets or to the mall to “see what is
happening”, log on to the Internet to meet new and old friends there. At the same time, it is
increasingly difficult to keep control of how the various media channels present themselves to
the children, and it is increasingly difficult to control how the latter group uses these media.
Both parents and governmental authorities find it hard to control and regulate. This is,
according to Haddon (2004), a consequence of the explotion of the numbers of commercial
satellite channels on television that makes statale ruling difficult, an increasing use of mobile
phones, and – more than anything else – the introduction of the Internet, which to a large
extent is unregulated.
The technological and media-related developments presented above have been an
important fundament for profit hunting institutions targeting children all over the world
during the last 10-15 years. The fact that a greater part of children’s social lives has taken
place connected to various but converging media, has made them more available for the
marketers and producers. One of the keys for profit hunting companies to achieve their aims
has often been to stay updated when it comes to technological developments and possibilities.
The Walt Disney Company is a good example of how the achievement of economical success
is highly correlated with the ability to make the most of the technology at hand. In the first 30
18
___________________________________________________________________________
years of the company’s history, Disney had constantly financial worries, but with the help of
technological developments and improvements – and correct and creative use of these – The
Walt Disney Company experienced an enormous economical growth, and the company is
today one of the biggest and richest in the world (Wasko, 2001).
2.3
Across Media and Organization Boarders
Addionaly, the technological possibilities and challenges due to an increasing media
globalization and media convergence, tend to be approached in certain ways at organizational
level. According to Wasko (2001), an essential concept to discuss related to this, is that one of
the synergy. A synergy is created within an organization or between organizations, when
cooperation and promotion find place across different units and departments, and when this
results in a total effect that is better and more powerful than it would be if these units and
departments had been working independently. In big global companies new communication
models based on the aim of organizational convergence have often been the fundament for
synergy creations.The move towards global convergence is rooted in fundamental changes in
organizational communication practices. To meet the challenges it is assumed that the
organizations must become more knowledge intensive, innovative, adaptive, flexible,
efficient, and responsive to rapid change (Cushman & King, 1993). Two-way communication
between different units is necessary in a global climate - and may, according to Stohl (2001),
be accounted for by certain communication models. She mentions two well-known ones:
(global) networking and high-speed management. According to Monge & Mulk (in Stohl,
2001) global networking is built on 1) Flexible emergent communication networks, 2)
development of highly flexible linkages to a network of other organizations, transcending
their local-bound country networks, and 3) a highly sophisticated information technology
system. Poole (1993) describes a so-called dynamic network where we will find organizations
devolved into smaller and more easily tuned units entering into temporary combinations and
contracts with each other to complete projects. He exemplifies with the magazine industry
within which one firm may compose the magazine, another print it, a third mail it, and a
fourth market it.
The theory of high-speed management is presented by Cushman & King (1993). With
this theory they address the revolutions that have taken place within the global economy.
According to them, competitive advantage in the global environment depends upon an
organization’s ability to monitor changes in external economic forces and then to reorder it’s
internal resources rapidly as a response. Cushman & King
19
(1993) present a theory of
___________________________________________________________________________
environmental scanning and value chain theory as information and communication
frameworks for the monitoring of external resources and reordering of internal resources
respectively. The aim is a continuous improvement of organizational coalignment based on
world-class benchmarking. Coalignment is defined as a kind of organizational
interdependence between each firm’s subunits which makes it possible to integrate, control,
and coordinate each organizational unit’s needs, concerns, and contributions, resulting in
mutual satisfaction for the units involved and optimized value-added activities for the entire
organizational functioning. Four dynamic processes of communication are presented that can
enable global organizations to achieve this: Negotiated linking, New England town meetings,
Cross-functional teamwork, and Best practices case studies. Negotiatied linking is based on
the creation of an organizational unit that scans the globe to locate resources, and which then
interacts with the unit holding the potential resources, develops the form of coalignment
preferred by both units, and finally determines the world-class benchmarking targets in
market shares, productivitiy, quality, flexibility, and/or rapid response time. New England
town meetings are based on the creation of an organizational unit which attempts to eliminate
nonessential, nonproductive, or “bad work” and replace it by “good work” In the Town
meetings, which last from one to three days, workers, suppliers, and customers come together
to discuss intensively topics related to productivity, quality, and response time. Crossfunctional teamwork is based on the mapping of important cross-functional organizational
processes, and then asking the individuals involved in those processes to simplify and
improve their functionality. Cross-functional teams are set up and given the task of
identifying the important organizational processes at decision, implementation, and review
level. Best-practices case studies are based on the creation of a unit which scans the globe for
world-class competitors and then studies these competitors as regards setting bench-marking
standards related to productivity, quality, flexibility, adaptibility, and respnse time.
Organizational monitoring of external changes and reordering internal resources are strategies
often employed to achieve this (see also Seibold & Contractor, 1993; Stohl, 2001).
Additionaly, it should be emphasized that processes such as monitoring of external
changes and the reordering internal resources and the two-way communication on which they
are based, may require considerable cultural understanding and communication abilities.
These are aspects not excplicitly discussed in the abovementioned convergence-based
theories. Even if there seems to be a convergence at the macro level, it is argued that the
distinctions of communication and sense-making activities still cannot be ignored, and that,
due to for example cultural differences; the meanings and significance given to many features
20
___________________________________________________________________________
of the new structures and practices may differ a lot (Adler, Doktor, & Reddinig, 1986; Stohl,
2001; Tayeb, 1992; Trompenaars, 1994). According to Adler et al. (1986) there exists – in
good keeping with a divergence perspective - a wealth of research in development
psychology, sociology, and anthropology showing great differences among cognitive
processes of people from different cultures. Therefore: The successful organizations of today,
are probably those which take into consideration both the converging and diverging forces in
the global environment.
However challenging the organizational communication modelling in the globalizing
and commercializing world of today, the structures and processes of certain well-known
companies targeting children – across units and media sectors - have resulted in sensational
synergies.The synergies might take forms as strong brands and symbols suited to various
kinds of media. We will find striking examples of this looking at different products from The
Walt Disney Company from the United States or the well-known Pokèmon craze originating
from Nintendo in Japan (Tobin, 2004; Wasko, 1999). The creation of synergies often results
from what Buckingham et al. (1999) refers to as horizontal integration of earlier distinct
media sectors – another way of defining the converging media landscape where the boarders
betweeen sectors are blurred. More and more often you will meet the same stories, characters,
and symbols in different kinds of media. The same characters appearing at cinema appear also
on television, DVDs, and in comics or books. This may also be described as trans-media
intertextuality; a story in a certain media can easily be assosciated with another story in
another media (Buckingham et al., 1999; von Feilitzen, 2002). In this way, well-developed
brands and symbols may to a large extent be integrated into the everyday life of children, and
the sources of profit may be various and numerous.
2.4
The New Nature of Marketing
The commercialization and convergence of the media landscape and the cross-
organizational operations, have also made considerable impact on the marketing on the part of
producers and promotors. The traditional marketing in printed media and television has been
well-defined, and the sender has been easy to identify. However, new and untraditional kinds
of marketing have now appeared. The new marketing is less distinctive and the sender of
commercial messages is harder to identify. In short, it has become harder to make a
distinction between editorial content and entertainment content. (BFD, 2001).
Product placement, sponsorship, and spin-offs account for three very typical ways of
approaching the potential customers of today. These kinds of marketing are not rarely built on
21
___________________________________________________________________________
connections between various brands and television companies. The core of product placement
is to place certain products or brands in natural settings. For instance, soap series or movies
may be an arena for companies to present the use of their products in natural and everyday
settings. The children may then associate these products with situations and persons in the
programs or the movies (BFD, 2001). Sponsorship is another, though more obvious way of
marketing. Traditionally, sponsorship accounts for companies paying money for having their
name or logo at the beginning or the end of a TV program. Additionaly, sponsorship often
takes place at sport arrangements or competitions. (BFD, 2001). Finally, spin-offs are toys,
books, clothes, and other kinds of merchandize which usually are based on characters or
stories of TV programs or movies. (BDF, 2001). The production of spin-offs could be
exemplified with Disney’s way of working. For instance, Wasko (2001) illustrates how the
movie of Pochahontas was a source of production of an enormous amount of toys and other
commodities both before and after it was launched in June 1997 (for a discussion of similar
aspects of Disney, see also Hagen, 2001).
During the last 10-15 years the Internet has become the probably most important field
of communication between producers/marketers and the children. BFD (2001) conceives of
the Internet as the main media for children and youth. Kjørstad (2000) makes a categorization
of the Internet marketing – according to how easy it is to identify it. She defines the
commercial content of banners (a kind of announcements) and spam (often delivered through
mail without being ”ordered”) as being easy to identify for the receiver. Harder to identify are
usally the commerical messages of ”text announcing” (when positive descriptions of products
make part of material seeming more editorial) or of commercial home pages. According to
BFD (2001), the diffusion of commercial web pages is constantly increasing – and the aim is
often to influence the children These web pages tend to have a mixed layout accounting for
information, entertainment, and market research/analyses, and often they seek to influence the
children through games, competitions, and membership arrangements. To take part in this the
children may have to fill in forms and do registrations about their consuming preferences –
from which the responsible companies later may profit.
The abovenmentioned examples of marketing targeting children are only a few taken
from a wide spectrum. The methods of profit-hunting companies seem increasingly
sophisticated. Ruth Zanker, a researcher in children’s media and academic coordinator of the
New Zealand Broadcasting School, comes up with the following statement: “The best
research on children’s culture at the moment isn’t being done in the universities, it’s being
done by places like Nickelodeon, Disney, Hasbro, and Coca Cola” (Yano, 2004: 118). About
22
___________________________________________________________________________
14 years ago Kline (1993) claimed that the persons producing the marketing very often are
not the same ones as those producing the concrete product promoted. According to Kline
(1993), the marketers are well-educated experts grounding their practices and methods in
careful qualitative research aiming at the identification of children’s “cultural roots”. These
“cultural roots” may account for daydreams, fantasises, worshipping of heroes, absurd
humour, and group identities – or in short: informal social norms within and around the
potential consuming group. The commercial forces can play along on these norms in their
communication, or they can create new norms (BFD, 2001). The aim is often to achieve a
huge promotion machinery carried further from the children themselves through word-ofmouth and peer influence (Seiter, 1993).
2.5
Crazes
The commercial, marketing-intensive, and global media environment discussed so far,
has - despite accounting for several organizational challenges and complex sub-systems of
consumerism - been a fundament for certain kinds of media products targeted at children.
More specifically, it has been a fundament for cross-media products - involving branding
across media boarders, organization boarders, and nation boarders on the part of creators,
producers, and promotors. I have already mentioned Disney (accounting for various
characters, movies, and trends) and Pokèmon, but there are numerous other striking examples
of global cross-media phenomena which have appeared during the last twenty years; He-Man,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Spice Girls, Britney Spears, Lord of the Rings, and Harry
Potter are some of the most well-known ones (see e.g. Burn, 2005; Kinder, 1991; Lindstrom
& Seybold, 2003; ). These are so-called crazes - brands spreading world-wide, based on
intertextuality, and integrated marketing. Most of them first appeared in one form some place
in the world, for instance as a movie or in a CD version, and then they have spread like fire
across countries and media boarders to emerge in a vast array of product categories.
Interestingly, though, after a certain amount of time, these crazes’ fall often has been as
instant and rapid as has their rise.
Even if the layouts are varied and numerous, these so-called crazes arising on the child
market, have certain characteristics in common. Firstly, the products often are products which
lend themselves to be played in a variety of different ways by a variety of demograpics of
players (both boys and girls ranging in certain age groups). In fact, the products might be
described more as a world or universe than single products (Allison, 2004). Iwabuchi (2004)
23
___________________________________________________________________________
claims that to date Pokèmon is the product that has capitalized most efficiently on emerging
marketing trends – the trends accounting for a multimedia business in which animation and
computer game characters play an increasingly significant role. He further describes it as a
multiple product, extending from a Game Boy software and almost simultaneously a serial
comic in Koro Koro (a monthly comic magazine targeted at boys), to the creation of and
further interlinking with trading cards, a TV series, films, and finally also various
merchandize featuring popular Pokèmon characters.
In themselves, Pokèmon and other related/simliar phenomena are not merely a set of
objects possible to isolate and analyze critically. They might more appropriately be
approached as cultural practices – something you do, not just something to be watched, read,
or consumed. This doing requires activity on the part of the children, but still, this activity
might be highly dictated by forces beyond their control. For instance, the practices
surrounding trading cards are to a large extent determined by the designers and also the
market that made them available in the first place. Generally, the crazes might to a certain
degree be results of their ability to speak to shared aspects of childhood experience.
Additionaly, it may easily be integrated into the children’s everyday routines (Buckingham &
Sefton-Green, 2004). The crazes often account for products no longer confined to particular
objects, spaces, or times. In other words, the play related to them usually has become
insinuated into numerous and varied domains of the everyday life (Allison, 2004).
2.6
Captain Sabertooth – a Norwegian Craze
In this context of crazes and increasing intertextuality and cross-branding, something
very relevant has taken place here in Norway during the last 18 years. A national craze
around a certain pirate has developed and spread throughout the country. This craze saw the
light of day when Captain Sabertooth – this (at least for most Norwegians) well-known pirate
appeared for the first time on an outdoor theatre scene in Kristiansand Zoo in the southern
part of Norway on the 9th of July 1990. Since then, the pirate has conquerred more than gold.
In a small country like Norway, he has conquerred hundred thousands, if not millions, of
young (and older?) hearts, creating a bond between him and them seeming to get stronger and
stronger for every day. Captain Sabertooth seems having become a Norwegian children’s
classic and a summer/family tradition.
In 1990, after the first appearance, three more
performances were made, with increasingly more people coming to watch. Two years later, in
1992, an audience of 35 000 people saw the total of 11 performances. The same year, the
music from these theatre perfomances was released on CD in shops throughout Norway, and
24
___________________________________________________________________________
more than 250 000 copies were sold. Since then, a whole Captain Sabertooth industry has
developed in Norway. In a country of 4,6 millions inhabitants, more than 800 000 people have
seen the performances in Kristiansand Zoo, the sale of CD copies has passed the number of
900 000, six videos/DVDs (including one animation movie) have sold to a total of 600 000,
nine books have been published since 1993, a weekly comic has been publised regularly since
1993, and an interactive computer game was released in 1997 and 2007 (a new one will be
released at christmas time 2007). The night shows performed in Kristiansand Zoo every
summer have been shown on Norwegian TV a number of times with high viewing figures,
and in the wake of the success there have also been developed a considerable number of
licensed spin-off products, for including Captain Sabertooth sheets, drinking mugs, bread,
swords, hats, and other textiles. The shows in Kristiansand Zoo have been hugely successfully
performed at night, with children, parents, and grandparents singing along to familiar songs.
A considerable area of Kristansand Zoo is dedicated to Captain Sabertooth. At day time, the
visitors can enter this area named Captain Sabertooth’s World. There they will meet the
familiar places and characters from the stories. Often smaller theater shows take place here at
day time. In Captain Sabertooth’s World there are also lots of shops with spin-offs and
restaurants (with themes and names from the stories). (Appendix A; Hjemdahl, 2001). For a
more complete summary of Captain Sabertooth’s history, see Appendix E
2.7
Why Studying Captain Sabertooth?
In other words, even if not a global craze, Captain Sabertooth is a Norwegian craze
among small children. It is a craze which – up until now – has not been object to a wide
interest among media and communication researchers. A single, but relevant exception is a
phenomenological study conducted by Hjemdahl (2003). She studied certain aspects of the
Captain Sabertooth phenomenon as a part of a larger study of theme parks in Norway,
Sweden, and Finland. Kristiansand Zoo – with Captain Sabertooth included – was one of the
three parks studied. She based her study mainly on the experiences of the children themselves,
but also on interviewing central representatives in the production network around the brand.
Up until now, this is the only research report discussing profoundly Captain Sabertooth.
Despite the seemingly low interest shown among researchers so far related to the
Captain Sabertooth phenomenon, I will strongly argue that it is a phenomenon worth
studying. Compared to some of the crazes mentioned earlier, Captain Sabertooth appears, at
least at first glance, as quite particular. First of all, as already illustrated, it is a national craze,
not a global one. Secondly, a craze like Pokèmon had a huge and powerful global media
25
___________________________________________________________________________
conglomerate (Nintendo) promoting it, making it possible to reach a numerically enormous
audience in a short time. Captain Sabertooth was created by a Norwegian singer and story
writer named Terje Formoe, at that time working as Director of marketing and entertainment
in Kristiansand Zoo – he started this adventure more or less from scratch. And, thirdly:
compared to many of the other well-known crazes, it has a sensational long life span. While
many of the other global crazes – as emphasized earlier - have been characterized by a rapid
initial growth with all kinds of media and spin-off products spreading like a fire to new
audiences/consumers, and then often an even more rapid fall, Captain Sabertooth’s history is
a little bit different. Captain Sabertooth, starting as theater (which also contrasts quite a lot to
the ways in which well-known cross-media products usually appear for the first time) and
then expanding gradually, has had a more or less constant growth for almost 18 years now.
The enthusiasm around and loyalty to this adventurous pirate are worth studying – also, and
maybe particularly, because only a limited range of researchers have done it before me. As
argue Strauss & Corbin (1998), flexibility and freedom are provided to study a phenomenon
in depth when all of the concepts pertaining to a given phenomenon are yet to be identified –
at least not in the certain population or place being approached. In my case, this population or
place is what surrounds the Captain Sabertooth brand – it’s creators, producers, and
promotors, it’s consumers, and it’s relations of productions.
2.8
Studying Captain Sabertooth Brand Loyalty
- Specifying and Justifying the Resarch Question
Some of the earlier mentioned crazes have already been objects to various kinds of
cross-disciplinary studies (e.g. Tobin, 2004; Wasko, 2001). To a large extent this research has
aimed at identifying the building stones of these successful brand stories, and (though less
profoundly) the reasons for some of these brands’ falls. For instance: What was it with
Pokèmon, making it the most successful media product ever? What was it with the specfic
characters and stories making them so appealing? What kind of marketing strategies were
used? What kind of media were involved? What caused the decline of the craze?
The literature focusing on particular children’s crazes originating from Nintendo, Walt
Disney, and others should also be seen in light of and extended by more general theories
about brand building. How is a strong brand created in the most efficient way in the
globalizing and commercializing world of today? What are the opportunities and risks to be
aware of? Why do some brands have a longer life span than others?
26
___________________________________________________________________________
The concept of brand equity has been taken in use to address questions like those put
forward above. According to Farquhar (1989), brand equity is the additional value a brand
can give to a product. He emphasizes that this additional value may be considered from the
perspective of the company, the business, or the consumer. For instance, a consumer’s
perception of a product, depends on more than the pure properties of the concrete product – it
depends also on the company’s reputation and history, it depends on marketing activities, and
it depends on other users of the brand. The attitudes created as implications of this, are
fundaments for values – immaterial values which are not necessarily there in front of us to be
touched physically. Aaker (1991), defines brand equity as a set of assets and liabilities
connected to a brand – which contribute positively or negatively to the value of the concrete
product experienced. According to him, brand equity may be grouped in five categories of
assets. These are named 1) Brand Loyalty, 2) Brand Awareness, 3) Perceived Quality, 4)
Brand Associations, and 5) Other assets (patents, copyright, and relations of distributions).
Brand loyalty accounts for the competitive advantages of having customers who stay loyal to
the same brand. The more loyal the customers are to a certain brand, the more recources are
required among competitive forces when these seek to appeal to the same niches of the
market. Brand Awareness is related to brand loyalty and may be understood in terms of a
tendency among people to buy a certain brand because they feel comfortable with what is
familiar. Because of this, a familiar brand is preferred to an unfamiliar. Perceived Quality is
usually based on expectations. A brand is associated with a total perception of quality – a
perception not necessarily based on knowledge about detailed specifications about the brand.
According to Aaker (1991), the perceived quality influences on buying decisions, brand
loyalty, and brand extensions. Further, the basic values of a brand name tend to be rooted in
certain brand associations connected to the brand name. The competitors in a market might
find it hard to make their mark when a brand is well-positioned related to key properties
within the product class. Other assets account for factors that may reduce the pressure of
competition. Patents and trademark registrations are examples of these. Aaker (1991) argues
that trademark registration is completely necessary to establish brand equity.
As regards Captain Sabertooth, this undoubtedly turns out to be a brand of high
equity. It seems that this pirate adventure has developed beyond the single concrete products
– in fact, it has developed into a particular children’s culture. The questions put forward about
Pokèmon and Disney in the books of Tobin (2004) and Wasko (2001) respectively, are
relevant questions to ask about Captain Sabertooth as well. In my study I wanted to ask:
What is it particularly with Captain Sabertooth that makes Norwegian children take him to
27
___________________________________________________________________________
their hearts? What are the fundamental characteristics of the stories, songs, or products that
appeal so much to so many? Can these characteristics be related to products of other crazes,
like for instance Pokèmon? What are the fundamental thoughts and strategies accounting for
the processes behind this success? Are these thoughts and strategies similar to those of
Nintendo or Disney? What about the structure of the organization(s) behind the success, what
does that look like?
Through my study, I wanted to discuss and hopefully answer these questions as far as
possible. And, I wanted to do that by focusing on the first of Aaker’s (1991) five
abovementioned categories: brand loyalty. The sensational long life span of Captain
Sabertooth and the culture which has developed around the brand, indicates strongly that the
whole phenomenon to a large extent is rooted in a considerable loyalty among the consumers.
In my study I wanted to identify and understand more deeply the fundaments of the
brand loyalty to Captain Sabertooth among Norwegian children. How has the brand
loyalty been created through structures and processes, and how is this loyalty related to
other components of brand building and brand equity? My aim has been to approach
these research questions both theoretically and empirically, and to build a theory about the
structures and processes central in the brand loyalty creation of Captain Sabertooth. I have
attempted to achieve that by relating the phenomenon to existing and relevant research
literature and by gathering a certain kind of empirical data material and approaching this with
different qualitative methods. The nature of this data material and the methods employed are
presented next.
3 METHODOLOGIES
3.1
A Call for Creativity and Flexibility
Early in my study of Captain Sabertooth I realized that this was a phenomenon
requiring different approaches to be understood. Probably this goes also for other phenomena
around the world to which Captain Sabertooth can be related and compared. The channels
from the copyright owners and their producers and marketers to the consumers seem
numerous and complicated, and due to the globalizing and converging media landscape
discussed in the introduction, the products that children consume are various but still often
related. According to Strauss & Corbin (1998), arriving upon a theory calls for the use of
varying methods making it possible to carry out the task in the most parsimonious and
advantageous way. Further, they claim, it is fundamental to show sensitivity to the nuances of
28
___________________________________________________________________________
data, tolerance for ambiguity, and flexibility in design. Also, developing theories requires a
lot of creativity. In my choice of methodological framework, I have tried to keep all this in
mind. Additionaly, I have put an effort in employing methodological approaches which may
- as far as possible - account for various sub-systems of children’s consumerism and the
social practices surrounding it. Using the terminology of La Ville (2004) described earlier, I
have sought to account for the relational, institutional, plurimedia, narrative, and economic
systems of consumption surrounding Captain Sabertooth.
3.2
The Methodological Framework
To understand the adventurous success of Captain Sabertooth, it is probably not
sufficient to interview the people who have created it or to study their concrete marketing
practices. It is also important to study critically and structurally what they have created – the
products. The concrete and abstract contents of the Captain Sabertooth products – the theme
park in Kristiansand with it’s theatre, the films, the music, the spin-offs – have to be looked
closer on and understood. To get a complete picture, the consumers themselves should be
studied as well. What characterizes the Norwegian children who “fall in love” with Captain
Sabertooth? What characterizes their processes of reception and consumption –
psychologically and socially? In my study, mainly due to time restrictions, I have hardly been
able to get a complete picture. I decided to focus on Terje Formoe and his collaborators who
create the products, and on some of the products themselves. The study of children as an
audience and as consumers was not done profoundly in this report - even if I still did, to a
certain extent, draw on earlier research to shed some light on the relationships between
Norwegian children and the Captain Sabertooth products.
The acknowledged communication model presented by Stuart Hall (1980) may picture
my overall approach (see also Hagen, 2000):
Meaning structures 1
Encoding
Meaning structures 2
→
Product/text as meaningful discourse → Decoding
↑
↑
Frameworks of knowledge
Frameworks of knowledge
Relations of production
Relations of production
Technical infrastructure
Technical infrastructure
Figure 1: The framing of methodology.
29
___________________________________________________________________________
This encoding-decoding model, which has the Cultural Studies tradition as it’s
theoretical framework, was used as a framwork and point of reference in my study of Captain
Sabertooth. The model takes into consideration that mediated messages are not transparent. A
message is encoded by the sender, and decoded (“read”) by the recipient, and the recipient’s
interpretation is not necessarily as intended by the sender. Both the sender and the recipient
bring into the communication process their different frames of reference, backgrounds,
relations of productions, and technical infrastructure that form the interpretations. How the
messages are viewed by the different participants of the communication process depends also
a lot on the communication channels (ICT) and the participant’s relation to these, and it
depends on the larger social and economical context in which the communication takes place
(Hagen, 2000). In my study, due to the mentioned time restrictions, I have concentrated
mainly on the encoding process and the products/texts which are sent to the potential
consumers as meaningful discourses. The encoding processes of Captain Sabertooth involve
the creators, or more precisely: Terje Formoe and his collaborators. They have their
frameworks of knowledge and inspiration, they have certain relations of production, and they
have a certain technical infrastructure. Based on these, they have created Captain Sabertooth
as a product or meaningful discourse. In my study I tried to understand the nature of these
processes of creation and production, and I tried to understand the products/texts/meaningful
discourses that are sent to children (and their parents) as consumers. Finally, I tried – in light
of existing research – also to discuss some aspects of the potential decoding processes related
to the Captain Sabertooth phenomenon.
The intention was to discuss the fundaments of
brand loyalty to Captain Sabertooth in light of these processes and discourses.
Such a framework in my study was also chosen to make it correspond as far as
possible to the overall aim of the larger project – Consuming Children. Commercialization
and the Changing Constructions of Childhood - of which it is a part. As emphasized in the
introduction chapter, this larger project seeks to integrate three fundamental aspects of
childhood and commercialization: marketing, the cultural products/texts, and the consumer –
three aspects to which the steps of encoding, text, and decoding presented by Stuart Hall
(1980) should be related. In making my framework correspond with the framework of my
resarch group, I hoped to make a contribution at a more general level of research.
During the first part of my study of the Captain Sabertooth brand, I decided to keep a
certain distance to existing theories of brand loyalty and brand building. This choice was
grounded in a wish to avoid wearing blinkers throughout my project – and in the wish to work
inductively. Of course, I studied more or less deeply the field of commercialization of
30
___________________________________________________________________________
childhood and crazes or phenomena to which Captain Sabertooth might be related, but this
was done mainly with the aim of contextualizing my case – rather than reaching hypothesis or
“in-advance theories”. Later, when I had become familiar with the data gathered and reached
a certain understanding of my specific case, I could theorize further with the help of existing
literature about brand loyalty – and with the help of communication psychological theories
and models. Then, based on this, I had the possibility to go on to gather more data This final
report is in good keeping with the procedures employed during my research report. In other
words, the material about commercialization and branding related to children presented so far,
has been presented mainly to put my project into a larger context and with an aim to justify
my research questions. More theories are presented later as an implication of my results - and
discussed in light of these.
3.3
Studying Encoding Processes and Mediated Texts with Grounded Theory
At the beginning of this project the time was spent to get an overview of the
organization behind Captain Sabertooth. This was done mainly by interviewing copyright
owner Terje Formoe (Kaptein Sabeltann A/S), but also by reading existing literature
(Hjemdahl, 2003). Based on the information gained from this, the collection of qualitative
data was planned. Central representatives in Terje Formoe’s network of partners and
producers were identified and then contacted by phone. In the process of recruiting
respondents, I put an emphasis on covering various levels of both structure and process of the
communication and production network surrounding Captain Sabertooth. Due to the
phenomenon’s cross-media properties, I wanted my interview material to span wide as
regards media and product categories. During the study I made seven interviews; Terje
Formoe from Kaptein Sabeltann A/S was interviewed twice, and additionaly Reidar
Fuglestad, Managing Director of Kristiansand Zoo, Helge Westbye from Piratprodukter A/S,
Jack Kristoffersen from Artplant A/S, Elisabeth Brinch from Barneselskapet A/S, and Stig
Bech from Panvision A/S were interviewed once. For a broader description of these
representatives and companies, see Appendix A and F respectively.
All the interviews lasted for about half an hour (apart from the second interview with
Terje Formoe, which lasted for about 90 minutes), and six of them were taped and then
transcribed The interview of Elisabeth Brinch from Barneselskapet A/S was done by phone
and taped, while the interview of Stig Bech was done by mail. All of my informants were
informed of the background, duration, and aim of the project, and all of them were secured of
a confidential keeping of the data material, and that it was a project registrated at NSD
31
___________________________________________________________________________
(Norwegian Social Scienze Data Services, see Appendix C). Anonymity in the final report
was not agreed upon, but the informants had the possibility to approve of the quotations
before publishment. They were also informed that the data material would not be kept by us
longer than the project’s life span.
The interviews all had a semi-structured nature and – even if being built on certain
basic themes and questions from the very onset of the project – were rooted in a constant wish
to sample theoretically (for a description of theoretical sampling, see Strauss & Corbin, 1998)
– and in a wish to adapt the questions to the organizational and product related backgrounds
of the single informants. As an implication of that, all the interviews were quite different from
each other. However, to give an indication of the kinds of questions being asked, an interview
guide accounting for my initial questions and themes are attached in Appendix B. The
interviews served mainly to gain an overview of and insights about the organizational
structures and functions on which the Captain Sabertooth phenomenon is based. Some of the
interviews, and particularly those conducted with Terje Formoe, were also constructed to
understand the brand more deeply at a textual level.
When transcribed, the interview material was taken to be analyzed and systematized
with an approach of Grounded Theory. There are various versions of Grounded Theory
available, but my work has mainly been influenced by the methodological thoughts and
procedures of Strauss & Corbin (1998). This choice was rooted in their emphasis on an
inductive approach to qualitative research. As stated already, I wanted to develop a theory
about the brand loyalty to Captain Sabertooth – in light of this phenomenon’s structures and
processes Strauss & Corbin (1998) offer a package of systematic tools and strategies to build
(rather than test) theory - and: the coding for structures and processes is emphasized and to a
large extent included in this package. To some researchers this approach might seem too rigid
and systematic – for instance compared to Charmaz’ (2003) version of GT. Still, as argue also
Strauss & Corbin (1998), their techniques and procedures should only be considered as means
to an end. The inductive fundaments of their approach - provided together with well-defined
analytic tools – give a researcher the possibility of being systematic and creative at the same
time.
I tried to use the approach of Strauss & Corbin (1998) as flexibly as possible and to
combine it with other qualitative methods. An emphasis was put on letting the data material
guide me, instead of me guiding the data material into an already methodological framework.
Gathering of data and analysis went hand in hand throughout my whole study – and memo
writing was fundamental all the way during my work. Coding of the transcribed interviews
32
___________________________________________________________________________
was an important part of my analytic work. In keeping with the procedures of Strauss &
Corbin (1998), this coding was made at the three levels of open, axial, and selective coding.
My aim was to arrive at a theoretical framework as regards the creation of brand loyalty
among Norwegian children to Captain Sabertooth. During the open coding central concepts
(or categories) were identified and their properties and dimensions were discovered in the
data. During the axial coding the categories were related to less abstract sub-categories –
through a coding around the axis of these categories in which they were linked at the level of
properties and dimensions. During the selective coding the theory was sought integrated and
refined, and I tried to develop a core category through which the theoretical framework of
brand loyalty building around Captain Sabertooth might be explained. The three levels of
coding were to a large extent conducted parallelly, even if the first period of analysis were
dominated by open coding and a more “narrow” or micro perspective towards the data
material. Logically, the selective and more context-based coding characterized the last part of
my work. The computer program QSR Nvivo 7 was employed as a helping tool in the coding
processes.
Additionaly – and fundamentally - I hoped to extend/supplement/edit essential
concepts and categories grounded in the interview material with concepts and aspects found
during a narrative, semiotic, and ideological critical study of Captain Sabertooth movies,
music, books, comics, and web sites (for a complete overview of the products studied, see
Appendix A). These approaches are presented next.
3.4
Relating the Interviews to Text/Product Analysis: Relating Texts to the
Production Structure
To understand more deeply the concrete products that the Captain Sabertooth industry
provide for their costumers and the media and production structure that makes this delivery
possible, I have employed three different approaches; a semiotic, a narrative, and an
ideological critical approach. The former two have been employed to study more profoundly
the stories and the texts on which the various products are based. The latter approach – that
one of ideological critical theory – has been chosen to make broader the understanding of the
stories and texts and to easier being able to put it all into a larger framework. In short, the
ideological critical theory has worked as a fundament in my attempt to get a more complete
picture of the relations of production. Overally, my aim with introducing these three methods
was to get insights about the Captain Sabertooth brand’s meaning creation, text structure,
33
___________________________________________________________________________
content, and context. Further, these insights might each be a base for tapping into different
sub-systems of children’s consumerism – seen from a mangerial point of view.
3.4.1 Semiotics
According to Vygotsky (1933/1985), children’s ordinary activities – including
consumption - are always mediated through cultural tools such as language, techniques,
symbols, signs, and categories. I have employed a semiotic approach to understand more
profoundly the mediated cultural tools surrounding the Captain Sabertooth brand, or – in light
of La Ville (2004): I have employed a semiotic approach to understand more profoundly the
expression of the plurimedia system in which Captain Sabertooth is situated. Semiotics is the
study of every sign that can be used for communication; like words, images, traffic signs,
flowers, music, medical symptoms, and so forth. The aim of semtiotics is to study these signs’
way of communicating and the rules that govern their use (Seiter, 1987). I have used
semiotics in my study of various kinds of Captain Sabertooth products sold to children.
Different DVDs, including also the cartoon, comics, a book, a songbook ,web sites, and CDs
have been the most important material in this sense (see Appendix A). Semiotics has been one
of the points of reference when studying the layout or expressions of the stories and
characters. This has included, among other aspects, the dressing, sound, and colour effects,
and the use of symbols.
de Saussure (1966) – discussing semtiotics - distinguishes between the signifier and
the signified, where the signifier is the concrete expression and the signified is the content of
the sign (for instance what images or soundtracks represent). According to Peirce (see Eco,
1976; Seiter, 1987), who did not limit himself to linguistics, a sign could be broken down into
three parts: 1) the representament (equivalent to the signifier), 2) the object (the signified),
and 3) the interpretant (the sign used to translate the first sign). Further he claims that no
communication takes place outside sign systems, which means that signs are always
translated into other signs. The meanings produced (the signified) and the range of meanings
available, are based on and limited by the conventions existing inside the sign system. His
work has been a source of inspiration as regards Eco’s (1976) conception of the sign – which
account for everything that, based on a previously established social convention, can be taken
as something standing for something else. The essence in Eco’s (1976) conception, is that it is
through social convention that we learn to interprete natural signs as well as cultural ones.
Peirce (Eco, 1976; Seiter, 1987) categorizes signs into three groups: 1) Symbolic
signs, 2) Iconic signs, and 3) Indexical signs. During my work, I have sought to discuss the
34
___________________________________________________________________________
Captain Sabertooth brand’s content in light of these signs. Symbolic signs are signs where the
relationship between the signifier and signified is an arbitrary one. Language uses this kind of
signs. Additionaly, objects may be symbolic; a rose may signify love, champaigne may
signify celebration, a rainbow may signify hope. According to Seiter (1987), symbolic signs
may sometimes be invested with so much feeling that the conventionality of the connection
between the signifier and the signified becomes hard to grasp. Seiter (1987) exemplifies this
with a cross, where the mistreatment of the signifier may be taken as a direct attack on the
signified (Christianity). Seiter (1987) argues that one of semiotics’ main aims is to make us
aware of the actual historical and changeable nature of the symbolic and seemingly
meaningful signs we meet through the media. In an iconic sign, the signified structurally
resembles the signifier. Still, the recognition of this resemblance must be learned, like
learning to read a map or learning to draw. What is important to bear in mind, is that the
correspondence between the drawing and the signified could take on many forms.
Exemplifying with a movie, convention violations of scale, perspective, camera angle, colour,
lightning, lens focal length, and subject-to-camera distance of focus, may easily lead to an
image completely defying recognition. Iconic signs often become as natural to us as the
symbolic signs of language, seeming to be the most logical and sometimes only possible way
to signify our world’s aspects (Seiter, 1987).
Finally, an indexical sign, involves an existensial link between the signifier and the
signified – a link that relies on a co-presence between these at some point in time. According
to Seiter (1987), drawings do not qualify as indexical signs, as it is possible to make drawings
of something never actually seen. Contrarily, paw prints or smoke are examples of indexical
signs. Also, most images produced by cameras belong to this category of signs, even if a
camera also can lie. Trick photographs, special effects, computer generated graphics, multiple
exposures, and animated pictures may produce images which cannot be classified as
indexical.
Seiter (1987) emphasizes that these three categories of signs are not mutually
exclusive, and that they normally co-exist in the same mediated messages. I have beared this
in mind studying the movies, comics, books, and the music of Captain Sabertooth. Other
general semiotically based concepts that I brought to my work, were those of paradigmatic,
syntagmatic, synchronic, diachronic, connotation, and denotation, Seiter (1987) used these
concepts to discuss television. Though, as emphasized, these are general concepts, which I
have employed to study movies, songs, and comics as well. According to Seiter (1987), the
paradigmatic and syntagmatic are terms relevant to explain editing as a code. She defines
35
___________________________________________________________________________
paradigm as a set of signs that are similar in that they – according to the rules of combination
– may be substituted for one another. A syntagm is defined as a rule governed combination or
an ordering of signs in sequence. These two concepts may be applied at various levels, to
everything from the single shot in a movie production to a more history or context oriented
level. She exemplifies with a paradigm which may consist of a single TV commercial – or it
may consist of all TV commercials broadcasted during a week on a certain TV channel. A
syntagm may select from these paradigms, ordering a sequence according to genres, time, etc.
Seiter (1987) argues that paradigmatic associations are synchronic, by which she means that
signs are grouped together as though they had no history or temporal other. Contrarily,
syntagmatic associations are diachronic Diachronic associations account for signs unfolding
in time – from seconds to years As regards my study, important paradigms may be other
child crazes to which Captain Sabertooth can be related or other pirate phenomena directed to
children. These crazes or phenomena may syntagmatically be ordered according to the points
of time when they have appeared historically, or according to niches of the child market they
try to appeal to.
According to Seiter (1987), one potential short coming of semiotics as an approach is
it’s tendency to be too text-focused – or too synchronic. The signs are understood as existing
at one certain point in time, and because of this semiotics may ignore change. It’s insistence
on every sign’s conventionality implies that this very sign is changeable, but – argues Seiter
(1987) – there is a silence as regards how this change takes place. Other methodological
approaches are necessary to understand this more deeply. The problematic aspects of
semiotics’ synchronic tendencies are illustrated by Seiter (1987) with connotative meanings.
She describes connotation as a second order signifying system in which the first sign, the
denotation, are used as a signifier and attached another and new meaning to it. By employing
connotations to mediated texts, the status of the picture itself (or the first order of
signification) tends to be obscured. The denotation’s meaning is freezed, or fixed, and
ascribed a single (often ideological) meaning to it. Seiter (1987) exemplifies with the fade to
black in television, which has as it’s signifier the gradual disappearance of the picture to black
on the screen. The signified of this is simply “black”. But in the syntagmatic code of motion
pictures this sign has been strongly conventionalized, and it exists as a certain connotative
sign in which the signifier is “fade to black” and the signified is “the end”.
Another semiotic term, that one of channels, have been employed by me to study the
movies of Captain Sabertooth I have chosen to borrow Seiter’s (1987) concepts of image
(facial expressions and close-ups and speech), graphics (logos, boarders, frames, diagrams,
36
___________________________________________________________________________
and computer animated images), and soundtrack (speech, music, and sound effects) – which
she employs to discuss television.
3.4.2 Narrative Theory
The semiotic analysis of Captain Sabertooth was done parallelly with a narrative one.
The field of narrative theory was founded towards the end of the 1920s by the work of
Vladimir Propp and the Russian formalist critics. Since then a general outline of narrative
structure and process has emerged and won a tentative consensus through different
perspectives on a variety of texts from diverse international groups of linguists,
anthropologists, folklorists, literary critics, semiologists, and film theorists (Kozloff, 1987). A
narrative approach to Captain Sabertooth may be fruitful, because so many (if not all) aspects
of this phenomenon are narratives – narratives appearing in different forms in various media.
Further, as we have seen,
narratives have been employed to conceptualize children’s
consumerism at a more general level (see La Ville, 2004). In other words, when studying
brand loyalty to Captain Sabertooth among Norwegian children, it should be important to
account for an aspect or a sub-system
which – in general – is considered relevant in
understanding children’s consumerism.
.
According to Kozloff (1987), we cannot say that something is narrative unless it is
being told by somebody to somebody. The stories of Captain Sabertooth with their particular
structure are being told in a certain way and might be approached by narrative theory. Kozloff
(1987) discusses the theory of narratives and presents the following six participants which,
according to her, always are involved in literary narratives:
Text
Real Author→Implied Author→Narrator→Narratee→Implied Reader→Real Reader
Figure 2: Participants of narratives (Kozloff, 1987).
This model is originally made for literary narratives, but is considered useful for the
study of television, cinema, movies, and computer games as well. As an example, Kozloff
(1987) employs it to study the narratives of television. During my study I have tried to relate
the participants of the model to the narratives of Captain Sabertooth as a cross-media product
- accounting for the stories I have known through various movies, music, books, and comics.
Let us start with the real author which is, in literary narratives, the flesh-and-blood
writer. When it comes to animated comics, music, or screen-based media, questions of
37
___________________________________________________________________________
authorship is complicated, because these are collaborative media products. Movies for
instance, proceed through an unrolling of a series of images and sounds. Someone, though,
has had to choose the exact final arrangement of camera setups, lightning, and sound effects.
Kozloff (1987) in her study of television suggests to use “the camera” as a shorthand for all
the narrative markers. Further, the implied author is an imaginary conception of the real
author constructed by the viewers/readers/listeners of the mediated texts.The narrators are the
characters in the narratives, communicating different values and attitudes. The narratee is the
unspecific you that the narrator speaks to. For instance in songs you may hear the singer
speaking directly or indirectly to you.The implied reader of the mediated texts (by texts I here
mean screenbased mediated messages and music as well as written material), is the
imaginative reader/viewer/listener that the implied author seems to communicate to, while the
real reader is the flesh-and-blood viewer, reader, listener, or consumer, the concrete person
who actually receive the mediated texts.
Also narrative theory – just like semiotics - has it’s limitations. According to Kozloff
(1987), this is a “formalist” approach focusing on the general mappings of the narrative
structure, and because of this it is largely unconcerned about “content” as regards political and
ideological judgements. It is not very concerned about where the story comes from or what
kind of effects it has on it’s audience. The next approach I have employed in my study,
accounts for this to a larger extent – and complements some of the weak points of both
narrative theory and semiotics.
3.4.3 Ideological Criticism – Beyond the Texts
The approaches of narrative theory and semiotics are often employed by a third
approach as tools to ask larger questions about texts. This third approach is named ideological
critical theory This is an approach which I employed in my study to understand – still from a
managerial point of view - the relational, plurimedia, institutional, and economic sub-systems
of the consumerism related to Captain Sabertooth.
The origins of ideological criticism are found in Marxist theories of culture. The major
concern is how cultural artifacts produce particular knowledges and positions for those who
consume these artifacts. The consumers are then linked with and allowed reception of the
economic and class interest of the artifact’s industry Further, this industry is part of a broader
industry In this project, the Captain Sabertooth has been the cultural artifact focused on. A
basic assumption of ideological criticism is that the cultural artifacts are produced in a
particular historical context by and for certain social groups. The historical specificity of the
38
___________________________________________________________________________
context implies that the cultural artifacts express and promote values, beliefs, and ideas that
are pertinent to the contexts of productions, distribution, and reception (White, 1987). Seen in
light of my own study, the Captain Sabertooth phenomenon might be such a cultural artifact.
I want to employ ideological criticism to contextualize the brand in terms of relations of
production – and to gain a certain understanding of how the context components relate to the
processes of production, distribution, and reception.
As emphasized by White (1987), a range of perspectives on culture and ideology have
been developed within Marxism during the history. The most extreme of these perspectives,
classical or orthodox Marxist theory, approaches the society with a base/superstructure model.
This model emphasizes the mode of production (the economic base) as being the primary and
crucial organizing factor of human society. According to who owns, controls, and profits
from the basic mode of production, fundamental class alliances and material interests are
established. The superstructure of society – accounting for political and legal systems, culture,
and ideology – is determined by the dominant mode of production. This implies that the
cultural artifacts produced within a given mode of production, reflect the interests of the
dominant class. No matter what are the positions of eventual viewers/listeners/readers of these
artifacts within the economic system, these are seen as bying into a belief system. In light of
this, ideology has been regarded by Marxists as false consciousness. Oppressed or subsurvient
groups/classes of society mistakenly adopt the interests promoted by the systems of beliefs
and ideas of the ruling class. According to this perspective of classical Marxism, the
consumers of cultural artifacts are lulled into passive inaction and fail to recognize how their
ideas and values are formed for them to serve the interests of others – they are dupes of
ideology.
This orthodox version of Marxism is not the only one available, though. According to
White (1987), other theorists have emphasized more clearly the so-called uneven
development. They do not abandon the assumption that the ruling class interests dominate the
mode of production and the superstructural organizations – but, they give space also to traces
of earlier social forms. These traces, as well as more progressive forces, may coexist
alongside the dominant. This makes the social system a lot more complicated. Although the
ruling class interests will prevail in most contexts, a variety of voices may express conflicting
class interests. The term hegemony – originating from the Italian Marxist Gramsci (White,
1987; see also Laclau & Mouffe, 1985) – is relevant in explaining how the dominant class
maintains control over society. Hegemony is exercised by the ruling class in that their
interests are accepted as the prevailing ones.
39
___________________________________________________________________________
Related to this is Althusser’s (1970) definition of society in terms of the social
formation – described profoundly also by White (1987). The social formation consists of a
variety of interrelated social and intellectual activities or practices. These activities or
practices account for economic, political, and ideological aspects: Economic practices involve
the nature of productive forces and and the relations of productions. Political practices
describe forms of social organizations and social relations. Further, the systems of
representation in which individuals experience their relation to the economic and political
world, are referred to as ideological practices. These three practices are distinct but coexisting
in the social formation – exerting mutual influence on each other, but at the same time
operating with relative autonomy. The aim of ideological analysis is to understand how
meanings are produced by and for individuals within a social formation. As regards my own
research study, I have chosen to approach certain aspects of my data material with ideological
criticism because I wanted to understand how meaning of the Captain Sabertooth brand is
created by certain companies and industries for the consumers – within the social formation of
globalization and media convergence. Althusser’s (1970) theory as described by White
(1987), might be a particularly relevant tool to gain such an understanding of this cross-media
product, because he defines ideology in terms of both systems of representation and
individuals’ relations to their material world. Finally, discussing the brand loyalty to Captain
Sabertooth, I would also like to find out if different stances taken within Marxism might
correspond with different discourses surrounding the Captain Sabertooth brand in Norway.
4 RESULTS WITH DISCUSSION
The Grounded Theory inspired analysis of the transcribed interviews, in addition to
my semiotic, narrative, and ideological critical approaches, made me end up theorizing about
the brand loyalty to Captain Sabertooth in a framework of three categories: 1) Synergies, 2)
Inclusion, and 3) Brand Control. These are presented next, together with developed subcategories – and discussed in light of existing relevant theories.
4.1
Category 1: Synergies
Hjemdahl (2003) claims that children may feel at home in a concept culture
represented by Captain Sabertooth. A concept culture where the same stories are told in
different ways and appear in various forms. The Captain Sabertooth brand unfolding in time,
or it’s diachronic when it comes to product categories and companies/producers involved
40
___________________________________________________________________________
(see also Appendix G and H), indicates the development of some of the organizational
foundations for such a concept culture. Supporting the Captain Sabertooth brand now is
namely a well-developed, network of production and marketing going across media and
company boarders. Captain Sabertooth has moved on from being solely an outdoor theater in
1990 to a huge array of products – spanning wide in category and media.
The production and marketing network – and the cross-media properties this creates,
might be interesting to discuss in light of what Lindstrom & Seybold (2003) argue in their
book BRANDchild. According to Lindstrom & Seybold (2003), building brands is all about
appealing to the senses. A strong brand creates synergy between senses, and this synergy in
the consumer’s mind is stronger the more senses it harnesses and appeals to. Further, they
claim that successful branding strategies of today contrast considerably with more traditional
ones which are commonly based on what we see and what we hear. Now the full sensory
spectrum is embraced. They model it with the following equation:
Sound + Sight + Smell + Taste + Touch = Brand
Figure 3: Components of a strong brand (Lindstrom & Seybold, 2003).
The Captain Sabertooth phenomenon and the concept of synergies should be seen in
light of this equation. Captain Sabertooth is a brand - or a huge array of connected products –
appealing to all senses, and possibly creating a strong synergy between these senses. As
regards sound, the music appearing on CDs, in movies, the theatre, the theme park, the
computer game, and sound books is well-known. The sight factor as well, accounting for
fascinating and powerful images, characters, costumes, scene settings and animation.
Generally, Captain Sabertooth’s components of sound and sight might be studied
semiotically. Particularly interesting should be the relation between image and soundtrack in
the movies/theater shows. Some thoughts put forward by Seiter (1987), discussing semiotics
and television, may be relevant. She talks about an “anchoring” of the image by verbal texts
– verbal texts that direct the “reader” through various signifieds of the image, causing him/her
to avoid some and receive others. According to Seiter (1987), a soundtrack of a movie can
completely dominate the image and determine what we observe on a screen. This may be
crucial to bear in mind analyzing Captain Sabertooth movies and also the theater shows. I
would claim that the songs play a fundamental part in these. In fact, the frequent use of songs
and music in the Captain Sabertooth films makes the associations of musicals come naturally.
41
___________________________________________________________________________
Many aspects of the whole phenomenon are characterized by images (however powerful and
expressive) subordinated to sound. Altman (in Seiter, 1987: 26) emphasizes the importance of
sound effects: “The sound serves a value-laden editing function, identifying better than the
image itself the parts of the image that are sufficiently spectacular to merit closer attention by
the intermittent viewer.”According to Lindstrom & Seybold (2003), sound might be the most
imaginative communication channel existing. It can reach many cheaply, and it speaks to
fantasies without limiting them to a large extent. Further they argue that a product or
communication strategy is doomed to fail if not taking in sound as a component. They also
emphasize that today’s generation of children is not content only with listening to songs, they
want to sing themselves. The whole Captain Sabertooth phenomenon in Norway is a clear
illustration of this. The familiar songs seem integrated to such an extent in the children’s life,
that “everybody” sings along when the they appear on different media channels. As
emphasized also by Hjemdahl (2003), the singing is a fundamental part of the Captain
Sabertooth playgrounds in Norwegian kindergartens and living rooms, and Captain
Sabertooth song books are available to meet this demand of the market. The sound is also an
integrated element on the official web site (www.captainsabertooth.com) where familiar
theme music and Captain Sabertooth’s voice appear as soon as you enter. .
The senses of smell, taste, and touch – which should not be forgotten - are stimulated
in various settings. Firstly, these senses are appealed to through some licensed Captain
Sabertooth products like bread (Bakers A/S), ice cream (Hennig Olsen Is A/S), and fish oil
(Norwegian Choice A/S), but probably more than anything through the theme park of
Kristiansand Zoo. Here the children come close to and have a physical contact with and
“touch the whole adventure”, eating Captain Sabertooth dishes in restaurants, smelling
popcorn, ice cream, and pizza – all this while the familiar voices and songs of their heroes are
floating through the air. When the children come home, putting on the Captain Sabertooth
music or watching one of the movies, this might remind them of the odors, tastes, and
experiences from their visit in the theme park. Synergies between their senses may have been
created, making the experience of the whole Captain Sabertooth adventure stronger than it
had been if only consuming it on one channel.
Hjemdahl (2003) argues that the phenomenon of Captain Sabertooth is characterized
by over-lapping between scene setting, production, promotion, and consumption. She claims
that this over-lapping strenghtens the experiences related to the whole brand and it’s
accessibility.The category of synergies accounts for this overlapping and might be further
explained in terms of two interdependent sub-categories: 1) Synergies of Production and 2)
42
___________________________________________________________________________
Integrated Marketing. These two sub-categories mainly account for the structure of the
networks creating the synergies. Other aspects of these networks - for instance when it comes
to the more concrete content of the integrated marketing and the processes connected to the
various cross-media stories – will be discussed further related to the category of “Inclusion”
being presented later.
4.1.1 The Sub-Category of ”Synergies of Production”
According to copyright owner Terje Formoe, the network around Captain Sabertooth
accounts for a total number of 24-25 companies of different nature and size (see Appendix F ,
E, and F for overviews of the most important network components around the brand – and
these components’ functions, in addition to the array of product categories). Terje Formoe
finds himself in Captain Sabertooth A/S – in the centre of the network. He has also shares in
Piratprodukter A/S and Seven Seas Production A/S. Piratprodukter A/S is the company
managing Captain Sabertooth’s World
(an area dedicated to Captain Sabertooth) in
Kristiansand Zoo. Piratprodukter A/S owns the restaurants and the spin-off shops in this area
of the theme park. Additionaly, up until recently the majority of the spin-offs are licensed to
Piratprodukter A/S. These spin-offs are sold in the theme park, and some of them are even
sold through various wholesalers around in Norway. This latter function of Piratprodukter
A/S is about to being changed – and I will come back to that later.
Seven Seas Production A/S is a film company – playing an important role in the
production of the Captain Sabertooth cartoon in 2003. Svensk Film A/B is another film
company – central in the production, distribution, and marketing of the theater DVDs.
Additionaly, the Norwegian TV channel TV2 A/S has been involved, mainly as regards the
Captain Sabertooth cartoon from 2003.
The books are licensed to the two publishment houses Gyldendal NF and Cappelen
Forlag, while the comics are licensed to Egmont A/S. Further, the licensed owner of all audio
and video material of Captain Sabertooth is Grappa Musikkforlag A/S. Barneselskapet A/S is
a Grappa-Egmont constellation or a daughter company of these, distribuiting and marketing
this materal. The computer game was produced by Artplant A/S and distributed and
marketized by Panvision A/S. Hennig Olsen Is A/S produces ice cream, Torger S. Iversen A/S
(TSI) produces a toy ship (with figures). They are also a wholesaler of textiles (accounting for
caps, t-shirts, and towels), toy swords, and binoculars from Piratprodukter A/S. Norwegian
Choice A/S has produced a Captain Sabertooth fish oil, and Bakers A/S has produced the
hugely successful Captain Sabertooth bread.
43
___________________________________________________________________________
The co-working between the different persons and companies surrounding the Captain
Sabertooth brand makes the association to organizational synergies come naturally. In
particular the concept of synergy may be relevant for the relationship between Terje Formoe,
Kristiansand Zoo, and Piratprodukter A/S. These three components seem quite
interdependent, and the total effect of them working close to each other appears to be stronger
and more profitable than it had been if all of them were working independently. Kristiansand
Zoo was, as already mentioned, the place of birth of Captain Sabertooth, and the theater
shows were the start of the whole adventure. The movies, CDs, computer game, and all spinoffs came later and as a consequence. During the year of 1995 – which is a year being
discussed broadly later on in this report - when Captain Sabertooth moved away from
Kristiansand to Asker, both Terje Formoe and Kristiansand Zoo experienced fewer visitors.
Worst was the scenario for Kristiansand Zoo which had to accept a decrease of 65 000
visitors and a deficit of 17 millions NOK. The year after, when Terje Formoe and Captain
Sabertooth were back, the visitors returned as well. (see also Hjemdahl, 2003) Today,
Captain Sabertooth is still there, and previous Managing Director Reidar Fuglestad describes
it like this:
Kristiansand Zoo has now had a long relationship with Terje Formoe, the copyright
owner of Captain Sabertooth. This has been the status in my whole period here since I
started 01.12.99. And during all this period, the co-working with Terje Formoe has
been very close. Our relation is based on the theater shows…at a number ranging from
21 to 25 every year…under Kristansand Zoo’s direction and Terje Formoe’s
authorship. And we also have a cooperation with Piratprodukter A/S which rents an
area in our park to do entertainment and sell spin-off products. It is essential in our coworking that our ways of thinking are not different from that of the originator in Terje
Formoe. We must all pull in the same direction. (RF, 2007)
According to Samuelsen, Peretz, & Olsen (2007), building a strong brand is
financially very expensive. The process may be simplified and made cheaper by ”borrowing”
brand equity from other brands. Pratically, ”borrowing” brand equity means cooperation
between brands in various settings and arenas – with the aim of mutually transferring equity
between them. The cooperation between Terje Formoe/Captain Sabertooth and Kristiansand
Zoo might be considered a striking example of such equity transfer. Both Captain Sabertooth
and Kristiansand Zoo are two strong brands – and because of their natural fit both of them
might gain brand equity from each other. Further, cooperation between organizations around
a brand, may be motivated by a wish to change the associations of the brand and it’s position
in the market. According to Samuelsen et al. (2007), the associations may be considered
stimuli to which costumers are exposed when approaching the brand. Psychology and
44
___________________________________________________________________________
Pavlov’s theory of classical conditionig are employed to explain these aspects of branding. As
the brand (conditioned stimulus) is connected to an already known effect (unconditioned
stimulus and unconditioned respons), the customers will learn to associate the brand with the
unconditioned stimulus – and in a longer perspective the wanted effect might appear when the
brand alone is exposed to them. In other words, when exposed to the Captain Sabertooth
brand, people might associate it with Kristiansand Zoo, and when exposed to Kristiansand
Zoo they might associate it with Captain Sabertooth. Due to classical conditioning, physical
co-existence in space and time is not always necessary anymore for transfer of equity between
these brands and resulting synergies to find place.
4.1.1.1 In Light of Modern Organizational Communication Models
Overally, the organizational structure behind the Captain Sabertooth brand is in good
keeping with some descriptions put forward by Stohl (2001) of a modern organization
adjusting itself to a global climate – illustrated in the introduction chapter of this report.
According to her, many scholars emphasize the inappropriateness of traditional hierarchical
structuring and thoughts in a globalizing environment. It is argued that the hierarchies do not
contain the complexity and flexibility in which the society of today has to deal. There are
striking examples referred to by Stohl (2001) of global companies which have changed their
structures in dramatic, yet successful ways. For example Coca Cola, IBM, Apple, and Honda.
Some of them today have neither top-down nor bottom-up structures, but instead what is
called middle-up-down, where the management processes rely on two-way communication
between organizational units. Even if operating on a smaller scale than the abovementioned
companies, the organizational build-up around the Captain Sabertooth brand should
undoubtedly be approached to a certain extent with a global perspective. Firstly, because
concrete products like the Captain Sabertooth cartoon and the computer game have already
been launched in a number of countries. Secondly, because some of the companies involved for instance Panvision A/S, Svensk Film A/B, and Kristiansand Zoo – already are doing
business across country boarders. And – thirdly and maybe most importantly – the whole field
of entertainment production targeting children in which Terje Formoe and the collaborators
are operating, is heavily globalizing (BFD, 2001, Lindstrom & Seybold, 2003). The
technological growth and the increasing interconnection between countries result in a constant
rise of new global crazes with which a more local concept like Captain Sabertooth must battle
for market share. To achieve success in such an environment, Terje Formoe and the others
cannot survive without bearing global considerations in mind. Therefore it should come as no
45
___________________________________________________________________________
surprise that some aspects of their organizational structure correspond well with what Stohl
(2001) refers to as fundaments for a modern global organization. As already discussed, the
crucial two-way communication necessary in a global climate may be accounted for by
certain communication models, and Stohl (2001) mentions two well-known ones: (global)
networking and high-speed management. Firstly, the structure behind the Captain
Sabertooth brand has certain characteristics that are in good keeping with such a dynamic
network.
There
are
different
units
for
writing
stories,
animation,
production,
marketing/distribution, and so forth (I refer to Appendix F to get a better overview of this).
Worth noticing is the extent of cross-media involvment around Captain Sabertooth. The
network with Terje Formoe in the middle seems dynamic, flexible, and characterized by twoway communication between him and his various partners.
Further, even if a concrete employment of the model of high-speed management does
not seem very diffused in the network supporting the production and promotion of Captain
Sabertooth, the fundaments of this model, monitoring of external changes and reordering
of internal resources, might be crucial in the branding processes, and should not be
overlooked. In developing his brand, Terje Formoe has all the time been constrained to
compete for market share with both global and local child brands:
Our success is a success that has not come automatically. It is a success grounded in
extremely hard work – and grounded in a demand or requirement saying that
everything we do today, must be better than what we did yesterday. We have to
surprise our audience and create new things – spectacular things. We have to increase
the quality all the time. That is possible, because success generates success – however
you must always take the right choices. During our 18 years of history I have
constantly experienced new and often huge international child crazes appearing. These
have always been there together with us. Then they disappear, and new ones appear….
In the first instance it was He-Man and Teenage Turtles, then came Teletubbies….then
Harry Potter, and now Elias here in Norway. (TF, 2007)
In addition to competing with these external forces and using that as an incentive to
increase the quality of his product, Terje Formoe may also study them and profit from them.
For instance he reveals how both the brand building practices of Walt Disney and also the
very famous Norwegian writer of children books, Thorbjørn Egner
1
(see also Hjemdahl,
2003), have been important sources of knowledge and inspiration.
Earlier in my career I worked with Disney for four years. I had ”Disney Weeks” in
Kristiansand Zoo. I wrote Disney songs and performed Disney shows there with all the
1
Thorbjørn Egner (1912-1990) was a Norwegian writer, animator, and graphic artist. Famous for child stories
and theater, for instance Folk og røvere i Kardemommeby (Egner, 1955). For more source material, see
Hjemdahl (2003).
46
___________________________________________________________________________
characters and so on…. That gave me the possibilities to learn a lot about protecting
my brand. Even more importantly, during a certain period I had a very close
relationship to Torbjørn Egner. I brought him back to his old network. He came back
to the publishment house of Cappelen after not being there for many years. (TF, 2007).
The thoughts revealed above by Terje Formoe correspond to a certain extent with the
fundaments of high-speed management. Terje Formoe emphasizes the needs to stay informed
and also to monitor the surrounding media landscape. Then, in such an environment the
quality of his own product must be improved all the time – something which might imply a
reordering of internal resources. The organizational coalignment taken into consideration by
the theory of high-speed management, even though not overtly expressed by Terje Formoe
and his partners during the interviews, has probably been crucial in organizing the whole
brand and protecting it in an increasingly more globalizing, commercializing, and competitive
surrounding media environment. The coalignment or the organizational interdependence of
the network behind the Captain Sabertooth brand should be more than relevant also when
describing the marketing of it. This marketing is accounted for by the next sub-categoy
developed during my analysis.
4.1.2 The Sub-Category of “Integrated Marketing”
Lindstrom & Seybold (2003) emphasize the need of iterative interactive marketing
plans to succeed in today’s commercialized and globalized media landscape - step-by-step indetail plans will fail before execution. The flexibility and space for unexpected feedback is
crucial. The iterative marketing technique should be based on several milestones that can
constantly evaluate the performances of the campaigns. In light of this, Lindstrom & Seybold
(2003) claim that marketing targeting children has developed beyond an odd single product to
well-organized networked campaigns which they conceive of as network marketing. They
argue that the essense of the brand often is the only visible connection when seemingly
unrelated product categories spanning age and gender segments are being linked together.
According to Lindstrom & Seybold (2003) it has almost become essential to have a crosspromotion strategy in place before products can be launched. Brands will usually only survive
if they are made available on more than one channel.
The nature of marketing conducted by the organizations behind the Captain
Sabertooth products has aspects which are in keeping with the “rules” put forward by
Lindstrom & Seybold (2003). As already discussed, organizational networking - like that one
finding place around the Captain Sabertooth brand – in general is considered as a basis for
47
___________________________________________________________________________
more flexibel communication strategies within and around companies – for instance when it
comes to marketing (Stohl, 2001). Therefore, the marketing of Captain Sabertooth, is a
marketing which should not be overlooked when discussing the brand loyalty related to the
phenomenon. I conceive of this marketing as an integrated marketing.
The marketing strategies are characterized by cooperation between different units and
companies which various campaigns/practices may have an indirect effect on all the others.
As an example, the computer game released in 2004 was licensed to the publishment house
Panvision A/S through Seven Seas Production A/S, the earlier mentioned film company
owned by Terje Formoe, Petter Wallace, and Aage Aaberge. Panvision A/S made an
agreement with the game producer Artplant A/S in Oslo to produce the game. Then the
marketing and distribution of the product were made by Panvision A/S. The campaigns and
ads presented by Panvision A/S may be considered as marketing not only for the computer
game, but indirectly for the whole Captain Sabertooth brand - favouring all the producing ,
wholesaling, and marketing components surrounding Captain Sabertooth involved, like Terje
Formoe and Kaptein Sabeltann A/S, Kristiansand Zoo, Piratprodukter A/S, and
Barneselskapet A/S.
The release of the Captain Sabertooth cartoon in 2003 may account for a similar
marketing story. Then it was Svensk Film A/B having the licensed marketing and distribution
rights to the movie, but still marketized indirectly for the whole Captain Sabertooth industry.
These networks of licensing regarding marketing should be considered to play an essential
role in the creation of synergies, because they promote the products through various channels
and lay the foundations for a ”cross-senses appeal” – while the different organizational units
involved may gain brand equity from each other.
4.1.2.1
Cross-Media Promotion and Online Shops
Interviewing representatives from some of the various companies supporting the
Captain Sabertooth promotion, made it possible to identify certain concrete marketing
channels and strategies. Panvision A/S and Artplant A/S cooperating with the computer game,
mention magazines targeted at children or adults having small children as an important
channel. Stig Bech from Panvision A/S emphasizes that this is a challenge, since direct
marketing to children is forbidden in Norway. According to him, it is important to involve the
parents in the marketing process:
It is fundamental to reach both children and parents – at their different arenas. Our
way of marketing is considerably segmented and targeted at certain groups of the
market. We have to treat every single product in a particular way. Marketing targeted
48
___________________________________________________________________________
at children is very challenging – and mainly it has to go through the parents, who are
the real buyers. Apart from this, it is important to present the products in environments
which the children frequent. For instance kindergartens, schools, and libraries. (SB,
2007)
Also, TV campaigns have been released on Cartoon Networks and posters have been used to
promote the computer game. Panvision A/S also put a great emphasis on making their
products clearly visible in shops.
Piratprodukter A/S, marketing Captain Sabertooth’s World in the theme park,
employs the strategy of sending brochures to people who have ordered tickets to the shows in
Kristiansand Zoo, and they have also had some small ads in general magazines about the
attractions inside the same park. Their licensed spin-offs are not advertized to a large extent
by Piratprodukter A/S themselves – this job instead seems to be done by vaious merchants
selling the same products. The marketing of these spin-offs will be discussed later. Anyway,
just like Stig Bech from Panvision A/S, Helge Westbye from Piratprodukter A/S emphasizes
visibility as a key strategy:
Our marketing of Captain Sabertooth’s World and the licensed spin-offs, is minimal.
More important is our presence and visibility….When 600 000 people…..or
something like that….enter the theme park, it is fundamental being there and making
us known for them. (HW, 2007)
Further, argues Helge Westbye, Piratprodukter A/S has all the time tried to follow the
promotion channels of Kristiansand Zoo, of which it is a part. Kristiansand Zoo on their part,
marketing the theme park of Captain Sabertooth, has - according to previous Managing
Director Reidar Fuglestad - always promoted their products continually in the pre-season of
the theater shows. Reidar Fuglestad claims that the sale of these shows - taking place on the
Internet (www.dyreparken.com) at an increasing extent - is the main marketing. According to
him, other promotion channels are represented by flyers given to the visitors inside of
Kristiansand Zoo. Earlier they used announcements in newspapers (VG) but this practice is
decreasing, since the Internet has become more and more dominant in the media landscape.
Barneselskapet A/S has employed radio, TV, the Internet, and the Captain Sabertooth
magazine/comic as promotion channels. Elisabeth Brinch, the representative I interviewed
there, describes this marketing:
We are very moderate and careful when marketing our Captain Sabertooth products.
We have to be careful when communicating to children. In our view, television as a
media may often be too powerful and demanding. Radio is usually better suited for our
products; as an audio channel for an audio product. Internet is also an option that we
are taking more and more into consideration. We strive to give our marketing an
49
___________________________________________________________________________
informative nature, and communicate rather to the parents than to the children. We
also use the Captain Sabertooth comic magazine in our marketing, to inform our
specific target group about new releases of CDs and audio books. (EB, 2007)
The online marketing of Captain Sabertooth and spin-offs is existent and diffused –
though maybe not completely developed from a mangerial point of view. This is confirmed
navigating on the Internet among certain components of the brand’s network. Firstly, despite
the interactive nature of Captain Sabertooth, the brand has – as opposed to other more global
crazes
-
yet
to
establish
an
official
web-shop.
On
the
official
web
page
(www.captainsabertooth.com) there is no sale of products – apart from a link and a phone
number taking you to the ordering of tickets for the theater shows in Kristiansand Zoo.
Additionaly, the theme park is broadly marketized with descriptions of five shops, five
restaurants, and the other attractions within Captain Sabertooth’s World The web site links
with the web site of Kristiansand Zoo (www.dyreparken.com), which should be considered
one of the potentially most important interactive promotion channels. This site promotes
Captain Sabertooth’s World in more or less the same way as is done on
www.captainsabertooth.com - through descriptions and pictures of the attractions. Also here
there is no sale of Captain Sabertooth spin-offs. They provide an email address to
Piratprodukter A/S (up until now the licensed owner of most of the spin-offs), and they
inform about Piratprodukter A/S’s merchants Brio Leker A/S and Toys R Us. Worth noticing
is that there are no electronic links to these. These sites must be searched up by yourself.
Further, entering the sites of Brio Leker A/S
(www.briobutikken.no) and Toys R Us
(www.toys.no), you will find no online shops, only ads for the shops and descriptions of their
products . Still, it is possible to buy spin-offs online - for instance entering the web site of
another merchant, that one of Leke-hobby (www.leke-hobby.no). Additionaly, CDs, DVDs,
and books are possible to buy online through various producers (see Appendix F). Further, the
toy ship produced by TSI is possible to by directly from this producer’s web site
(www.tsi.no). TSI is also a merchant of some products of Piratprodukter A/S which they
promote on this site, and which are possible to buy online. However, there are no electronic
links to this site neither from the official web site of Captain Sabertooth, nor from the official
web site of Kristiansand Zoo. Piratprodukter A/S does not have an own web site at all, and it
seems like most of the promotion work related to their licensed spin-offs have been taken care
of – to a moderate extent - by the merchants.
These are aspects of the eventual
commercialism of the Captain Sabertooth phenomenon that contrast considerably with other
crazes, like Pokèmon or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Kinder, 1991; Tobin, 2004). In fact,
50
___________________________________________________________________________
the technical infrastructure of these aspects – based on new media - of the integrated
marketing of the Captain Sabertooth brand, still does not seem to be fully developed. It has to
be emphasized, though, that changes might be under way:
In these days I have established a new company named Sabeltannprodukter A/S. I
want that to be a company selling wholesale of my own products. Up until now
Piratprodukter A/S has dealt with some of this, but from now on Piratprodukter A/S
will do business only inside of Kristiansand Zoo. While Sabeltannprodukter A/S will
sell some of these products to merchants in Norway and abroad – and the company is
also meant to deal with online sale. (TF, 2007)
Anyway, at this point of time the direct marketing related to Captain Sabertooth,
although crossing media boarders and well-known companies and creating synergies, seems
to me quite precautious and moderate. Some information about the economic scale may also
shed light on this. For instance, according to previous Managing Director Reidar Fuglestad,
Kristiansand Zoo has, of a total trade of 160 millions NOK, a marketing budget of 7 millions
NOK – and this marketing budget is meant to cover more than Captain Sabertooth; it is meant
to cover all the institutions of the theme park. Another example comes from Terje Formoe.
According to him, the budget – involving marketing campaigns – of the cartoon Captain
Sabertooth in 2003 was of 42 millions NOK, comparing it to Disney which had a budget of
800 millions NOK in the production of Nemo.
Additionaly, the promotion of the Captain Sabertooth brand is only to a limited extent
based on market research involving the children themselves. The examples of systematic and
sometimes also manipulating work referred to by for instance Kline (1993) in the introduction
chapter, should not be generalized to the methods and strategies employed in the network
around Captain Sabertooth. Among the companies I studied more closely, it was
Barneselskapet A/S - represented by Elisabeth Brinch – which seemed to put the greatest
emphasize on market research involving the children:
Well…..observation of the target group is important. Many of the people working with
our products have children of our their own. When hiring new people, we prefer that
they have children. You get different views and frames of reference when you have
children around you every day. That is an important ingredient of observation, which
is part of our work. We have no systematic work related to this, but from time to time
we have focus groups. This may be to see if an audio book appeals to boys as much as
to the girls, or if a photo cover or illustrated cover appeals the most to the children.
Then we bring the products for instance to the kindergarten or to our own children,
and we take notes about what they say. It is all very informal. We must be very
precautious of bringing children into a too serious setting. When the setting is too
serious, the answers tend to be less useful as well…because then they put too much
effort in responding “correctly”…the whole may seem scaring to them…. It is better to
bring the products out to the children in their own environment. I have children
51
___________________________________________________________________________
myself, and so do a lot of my colleagues. We often bring the products home, just to
talk a little bit about them and get the children’s perspective. But we are not having
people in our organization working only with observing the potential consuming
children. (EB, 2007)
Panvision A/S, represented by Stig Bech, answers like this on my question about market
research:
As regards Captain Sabertooth, we have not done any market research – because that
business is largely based on a well-established brand. Still…I know that the producer
and developer of the computer game, Artplant A/S, include the children in the process
of testing out the game and it’s difficulty levels - and to get feedback about content.
(SB, 2007)
Finally, previous Managing Director Reidar Fuglestad from Kristiansand Zoo claims
that their communication mainly is fundamented in dialogues and focus group interviews with
parents. Larger surveys are then made based on these interviews. Dialogues with children
within certain segments to identify their preferences and discover psychological and social
buttons to push in the marketing, do not find place.
4.1.2.2
Press Coverage, Word-of-Mouth, and Diffuse Marketing
According to some of my informants, though, the concrete network of marketing
presented so far, is probably not the most decisive in promoting the Captain Sabertooth
products. More fundamental are the the indirect effects grounded in press coverage and
“word-of-mouth”.
Firstly, the media in Norway seems very interested in Captain Sabertooth, and every
time something new appears, the media coverage of this often has a promotion function in
itself. Previous Managing Director Reidar Fuglestad from Kristiansand Zoo emphasizes this:
We are continually contacted by media, giving us the possibility to tell about our
business and communicate news and present attractions. This makes us deliver an
indirect message. Also, Terje Formoe is a well-known person, and every time
something related to Captain Sabertooth happens, it will for sure appear in the media.
(RF, 2007)
The same aspects of the marketing are emphasized by Jack Kristoffersen from Artplant A/S:
We were lucky to get a wide coverage of the Captain Sabertooth computer game. The
Norwegian game journalists are very good in announcing and covering when
Norwegian games appear – which, in fact, does not happen very often. So they are
very careful to give these games attention and communicate about them…..we got a
very good coverage and nice critiques. (JK, 2007)
52
___________________________________________________________________________
Relevant here should also be some considerations orginating from Hjemdahl (2003).
In her study of Kristiansand Zoo and Captain Sabertooth she emphasizes these entertainment
institutions’ need to always stay in the public. A fundament for success, according to her, is
that these phenomena reproduce themselves all the time – within and outside their natural
context. A certain kind of media coverage might be essential to achieve this. And this
coverage is secured; maybe in particular through the pirate’s strong bonds to Kristiansand
Zoo – his place of birth and daily residence. A more ideal place than this would be difficult
for Terje Formoe to find. Because: Kristiansand Zoo is not only Captain Sabertooth.
Kristiansand Zoo in Norway has become a cultural institution – famous from the beginning
for it’s good core values based on a lot of idealism. In modern time it has become known also
through it’s connections to the beloved Norwegian writer of children literature, Thorbjørn
Egner – who have been dedicated his own area inside the park (Kardemommeby) just like
Captain Sabertooth has. In short, a little piece of Norwegian cultural heritage is built into the
park. Hjemdahl (2003) sheds some light on this: During the history of Kristiansand Zoo,
members of the Norway royal family have stood godfathers and godmothers to animals, they
have been there to lay down foundation stones, and they have become honorary citizens of
Kardemommeby. It is not sensational that such events create headlines in the Norwegian
newspapers. AND: Due to the associations made possible by the history of Kristiansand Zoo
and cultural alliances like those described above, the press coverage tends to be positive. The
cultural context of Kristiansand Zoo in in which Captain Sabertooth is situated might have
been fundamental in promoting the brand – at no cost at all - in the newspapers and on
television
Wasko (2001) discusses the same aspects related to Disney. According to her, the
glorious pictures of Disney often appearing in the media are no mere chance. In fact, the
company puts a great effort in schmoozing journalists and reporters – handing them nice gifts
and free tours. This often may result in great “news” about Disney in the newspapers and on
television. In this way, the media in certain cases might – from an extreme point of view – be
considered co-producers in the branding process. Hjemdahl (2003), in her study of
Kristiansand Zoo, confronts previous Managing Director Reidar Fuglestad with the study of
Disney. He admits that Kristiansand Zoo has a very good relationship with the media, but at
the same time refused employing “Disney methods”. According to him, the media would see
straight through them if they started to be too strategic in their communication. Still, to a
certain extent, he reveals that they naturally are more eager to “place” specific news than
others. And these thoughts may be well-reasoned. Namely, we will see later - in light of the
53
___________________________________________________________________________
category of “Brand Control” - that such cultural institutions and phenomena sometimes may
live on a very thin line in their relationship to media. Kristiansand Zoo, Captain Sabertooth,
and Terje Formoe have experienced also this aspect of the media reality.
Apart from press coverage, Jack Kristoffersen from Artplant A/S quoted above also
draws the attention to another probably fundamental factor in the spreading of knowledge
about Captain Sabertooth. According to him, still talking about computer games, the most
important marketing channel does not go from producers to the children, but between the
children themselves. “Word-of-mouth” makes knowledge spread inside of the consumption
group; children playing the game at their friend’s house, return home wanting to have the
game themselves because they found it entertaining. The marketing of Captain Sabertooth
between children should be regarded essential not only when it comes to the computer game,
but also when it comes to the other spin-offs. Hjemdahl (2003) discusses this in her study of
children playing Captain Sabertooth in the kindergarten. She describes how the children, and
mainly the boys, find themselves in their own “playing culture” of Captain Sabertooth. Some
of the boys are Captain Sabertooth all day long, from they wake up in the morning until they
go to bed in the evening. According to one of her informants working in this kindergarten, it
also might be difficult for a boy participating in play with peers without having knowledge
about Captain Sabertooth.
He actually might find himself socially excluded. Hjemdahl
(2003) argues that Terje Formoe has, instead of aiming at promoting himself and his products
through various media, focused on the creation of stories and songs that correspond with
children’s play and then produced spin-offs which extend this play. In such a way, he has
created a machinery of promotion based on “word-of-mouth”, where the children themselves
play out the stories and spread attention and knowledge about them. Hjemdahl (2003)
describes how the spin-offs instead of undermining the stories and the songs, make them even
more complete and create new adventurous experiences outside the theme park in
Kristiansand Zoo and outside the television or computer. Maybe the stories of Captain
Sabertooth have been so appealing and “play corresponding” to the children, that they do
most of the marketing themselves? The stories might be integrated in their lives and play
grounds to such a degree that massive marketing strategies on the part of the creators and
producers actually are not that necessary?
Further, and perhaps in spite of this, the marketing of Captain Sabertooth should be
discussed in light of some arguments originating from Lindstrom & Seybold (2003). Studying
tweens, they describe successful tween marketing campaigns as representing a complex and
54
___________________________________________________________________________
well-planned grid of media activities all leading to peer-to-peer support. This well-plannend
grid of media activities does not necessarily have to be very visible to or easy to grasp for
researchers and others working outside of the organizations under study. In other words, the
marketing strategies and marketing extent of Captain Sabertooth on the part of the producers
might be more diffused and well-planned than it seems.
The typical aspects of the marketing of today discussed in the introduction chapter,
should also be kept in mind. As stated by BFD (2001), it is increasingly harder in today’s
commercial environment to distinguish between editorial and entertainment content of the
mediated products. The marketing is no longer very distinct – it might be more or less
diffusely integrated into every aspect of the communication between the senders of mediated
messages and the recipients. The communication strategies of Terje Formoe and his
collaborators could be related to this, and I would like to exemplify with an ad put forward by
one of the producers – or more precisely:.Bakers A/S. Bakers A/S produces a Captain
Sabertooth bread (see Appendix F). On their web page www.bakers.no this bread is described
and pictured. “The bread has ingredients from the nature’s own treasure chamber”. What is
worth noticing as regards this ad, is that the beginning of a Captain Sabertooth story is put
into it. We are being told that “Maga Kahn (a villain appearing in the Captain Sabertooth
stories) is looking obsessively for the recipe of this particular bread which gives Captain
Sabertooth a lot of his strength.” There is also the beginning of another story – a story about
how Captain Sabertooth and his men found the recipe in the first place. The rest of this story
is available inside the bread packages for those who actually buy it
Overally, it may seem that instead of aiming at massive traditional direct marketing
campaigns and online shops, most of the energy and resources within the Captain
Sabertooth’s promotion and production network are put in the effort of having a constant twoway communication with children. This two-way communication – which should be
considered essential in the creation of synergies - to a large extent takes place through stories
and songs. The stories and songs on which the phenomenon of Captain Sabertooth is based,
play a crucial role in my next category, the category of “Inclusion”.
4.2
Category 2: Inclusion
During the analysis of my data material, Captain Sabertooth as an entertainment
product turned out to have a very including construction and expression– independent of the
contexts in which it appears. Crucial in developing this category was text analysis with
narratives, semiotics, and ideological critical theory as tools. Such a focus served to further
55
___________________________________________________________________________
shed light on what appeared of information when interviewing central representatives from
the production network. A brief summary of the source text(s) of Captain Sabertooth is
presented next. The summary makes part of the fundament for developing sub-categories of
the whole inclusion category. These sub-categories are presented soon.
4.2.1.1
A Summary of Events, Characters, and Settings
Approaching Captain Sabertooth with a narrative perspective made me study the
stories by three basic components of which they are made up: the events, the characters, and
the settings. According to narrative theory these components exist in every story (Kozloff,
1987).
As regards the Captain Sabertooth stories, the overall setting is the exotic and
adventurous ocean - or Seven Seas - accounting for islands of various nature. A major part of
these islands are quite mystical, undiscovered, and adventurous with steep black mountains
and screaming birds, and with different stories and legends connected to them. Captain
Sabertooth is the most feared pirate on the Seven Seas. The events of the different stories are
quite predictable and easy to grasp. There is a hidden treasure, which Captain Sabertooth
does not know exactly where is, but which he is looking for together with his men during the
story – often with the help of a map. Complications and surprises occur because others might
be looking for the same treasure as well. In the end of the story though, Captain Sabertooth
usually finds the treasure and sails happily and celebrating away with his ship The Dark Lady
– aiming at discovering more gold another place in the world.
The main characters are the same from story to story. There is Captain Sabertooth
himself; outwardly very cruel, aggressive, determinant, and greedy. Captain Sabertooth
always finds what he is looking for and is treated with lots of respect from the other
characters in the stories. He is feared among his crew; which we learn to know mainly
through Longfinger, Wimp & Wally, Benjamin, and the chef Tully. Longfinger is Captain
Sabertooth’s most loyal man (also called Captain Sabertooth’s shadow). He is elegantly
dressed and has a mystical appearance. Wimp & Wally are two twins who – according to
Captain Sabertooth – are quite hopeless in their work and would be better off with their
mother nearby. They are easily scared, yes often they get even more scared than small
children would be. These two are sources to a lot of the humour on which the stories are
based. Benjamin is a little bit more respected by Captain Sabertooth, sometimes he is even
given some more or less important tasks. Still, he tends to make a fool of himself often
speaking before thinking. The chef Tully is responsible for the cooking on The Dark Lady.
56
___________________________________________________________________________
His cooking is quite questionable, though. The crew should not be too surprised if they find
both rats and insects on their dinner plate. Overally, Captain Sabertooth is not always
overwhelmingly content with his men. Complications and difficult situations often occur due
to the incompetencies of the crew. Often this turns out to be catastrophic, because Captain
Sabertooth is, as already mentioned, confronted with certain challengers, various villains
appearing in the different stories. These villains are often even more cruel than Captain
Sabertooth himself, and they are fighting to get their hands on the same treasures as he wants.
In addition, Captain Sabertooth himself, who might be discontent with his crew’s abilities in
his search for gold, is not without defects either. Below his threatening and scaring surface,
he often fails and sometimes he actually also gets scared. To achieve his goals, although he
never would admit it – he often needs help from Tiny – the small but real heroe in the stories.
The relationship between Captain Sabertooth and Tiny might be considered the core of the
whole adventure. Tiny is the small galley boy aboard on the pirate ship. At the beginning Tiny
dreams about one day becoming a feared and respected pirate like the rest of the crew. But
life is hard for him, and he feels left out from the rest. None of the older pirates seem to take
him seriously, even though he often turns out to be very smart and usually plays an essential
role in the successful achievements of Captain Sabertooth and his men. He seldom gets much
credit for this – instead the credit is stolen by Captain Sabertooth himself, which then may be
considered a “false heroe” (for a discussion of real and false heroes in narratives, see Kozloff,
1987). Tiny misses someone he can share his thoughts with and someone who understands
him and respects him. In the story of “Kaptein Sabeltann og jakten på Grusomme Gabriels
skatt” (Captain Sabertooth and the Treasure of Gory Gabriel) Tiny goes with Captain
Sabertooth and his crew to find gold in Luna Bay, a utopian beautiful, sunny, peaceful, and
friendly place. The setting of Luna Bay contrasts considerably with the dark, scaring, and
mystical Abra – the invisible island of Captain Sabertooth and his men, where Tiny has grew
up. In Luna Bay Tiny meets Veronica for the first time – a little cute girl at his own age, living
in an environment completely different from the world he has known until then. Even though
Veronica finds herself in this kind and beautiful place, she has more or less the same worries
as Tiny. She is the “little hopeless girl” that nobody takes seriously and listens to. In each
other Tiny and Veronica find something they have not found before – love and friendship
from someone who is at the same age as their own, love and friendship from someone who
might be able to see the world from their point of view. Tiny is then confronted with a hard
choice – should he follow his heart and stay with Veronica in a safe and friendly world or
should he do like Captain Sabertooth always has told him to do: remain loyal to his “family”
57
___________________________________________________________________________
aboard on The Dark Lady and dedicate his life to looking for richness in gold? He follows his
heart and abandons many of the truths of life that the fearsome Captain Sabertooth has taught
him. This is an act of braveness And additionaly, this might be considered the core act of the
whole Captain Sabertooth adventure. Through this act of Tiny, the author of Terje Formoe
communicates certain fundamental values – certain fundamental values which also go like a
red thread through all the various cross-media stories of Captain Sabertooth: Richness cannot
be measured in gold. You do not have to find gold in life to be happy. Friendship and love are
the real treasures of life.
4.2.1.2
A Summary of the Discourse
The difficult choice Tiny has to make when he meets Veronica, is – seen from a
narrative approach - an example of what is called different story lines in the same story (see
also Kozloff, 1987). One or more of the characters have different tasks at the same time. Tiny
here is involved in the search for a certain treasure together with Captain Sabertooth, but at
the same time he is involved in the love/friendship affair with Veronica. A similar situation is
experienced by the abovementioned Wimp in the story “Kaptein Sabeltann og jakten på den
magiske diamant” (Captain Sabertooth and the Magical Diamond) While trying to help
Captain Sabertooth to find the attractive diamond, he gets “seduced” by the queen of the
villain Maga Kahn who tries to play a trick on him to get the diamond herself. Wimp falls
immediately in love with her, and then he – like Tiny in the other story - is confronted with a
hard choice. Shall he abandon his duties to Captain Sabertooth and dedicate himself to the
beautiful princess?
The use of different story lines in the same story is a way to make the plot less
predictable and increase it’s suspense, which means that a single event may open up a number
of possibilities: the viewer will then be kept in a kind of constant anticipation wondering
“what’s next”. The complexity and excitement of the story increase with more story lines. It
has to be emphasized, though, that this strategy is not used to a very large extent in the stories
of Captain Sabertooth. It seems that Terje Formoe as the writer of the plots has been very
careful not doing it. Instead he has adjusted the complexity of his stories to his audience
which to a large extent is very young. He has been good in simplifying the stories as much as
possible, making them easy to follow for the children – and in that way inclusion processes
are facilitated. As far as I can see, there rarely exist more than 2-5 storylines in the same story
- involving very few of the characters. In other words, Terje Formoe’s stories employ a quite
58
___________________________________________________________________________
non-complicated structure, which seems well-adjusted to the cognitive abilities of his
audience. Described narratively, Captain Sabertooth is dominated by kernels
– or simplicity.This simplicity goes like a red thread through all the story structures. The way
Terje Formoe, together with his collaborators, communicates this story structure through
events, characters, and settings, is very interesting and can be approached narratively as well.
Seen in light of the narrative model presented in the last chapter (see Figure 2;
Kozloff, 1987), it has been possible to make a certain categorization of the discourse in the
Captain Sabertooth stories. As regards the real author, this is - even though Terje Formoe
always is the brain behind the stories and the music - mainly a collaborative activity involving
many flesh-and-blood persons with different knowledges. The cartoon film Captain
Sabertooth (2003), for instance, was created with the help of professional drawers from
Hungary – while also Seven Seas Production A/S, TV2 A/S, and Svensk Film A/B were
involved (for further descriptions of these companies, see Appendix F). The conception of the
implied author of Captain Sabertooth may account for a considerable variety depending on
the person seeing, reading, or listening. Some readers of Captain Sabertooth may for example
be led to believe that the persons behind the brand with it’s stories and songs are cynical
commercial-minded persons looking for profit. While others, on the contrary, have created the
impression of a great story teller conveying important values. Captain Sabertooth has been
subject to endless different opinions throughout the Norwegian society (Hjemdahl, 2003), and
therefore the representations of the implied author are numerous and differentiated. Grounded
in my data material, I have, as many others, created my own implied author. This subjective
picture of the real author that has appeared in my mind during my study, is influenced by
everything I have read, seen, and listened to – but also it is influenced by my methodological
approaches, and I will come back to it towards the end of this report. As illustrated earlier, the
implied reader of Captain Sabertooth “texts” (by texts I here mean screen-based mediated
messages and music as well as written material), is the imaginative reader/viewer/listener that
the implied author seems to communicate to. In this case, the implied reader should be
someone who is willing to and able to enter this imaginative universe and identify with it’s
characters and values. Finally, the real reader is the flesh-and-blood viewer, reader, listener,
or consumer, the flesh-and-blood person who actually consumes the products of Captain
Sabertooth in a variety of ways. According to Terje Formoe and the partners of him that I
interviewed, these are mainly children from 2-8 (a majority of boys). Still, as we will see
soon, many of these children experience the world of Captain Sabertooth together with older
persons of their family.
59
___________________________________________________________________________
What is particularly interesting about the discourse in the Captain Sabertooth stories,
though, is the relationship between narrator and narratee. The characters in the stories, might
be considered the narrators of the Captain Sabertooth phenomenon. They communicate the
stories through their dialogues and actions. As regards the movies, these also start with Terje
Formoe himself introducing with a few words about events and the settings. Kozloff (1987)
describes this as use of voice-over, by which the viewers are being told about what they are
seeing and what to think about what they are seeing. The voice-over has a guiding function,
which may be especially important when communicating to children. But still, seen overally,
Terje Formoe speaks considerably more through Captain Sabertooth and his characters than
about them. This goes for the books, comics, and music as well as the theater and the films.
The way he speaks through the characters is a base for a quite particular bond between the
narrators and narratees – a bond which may have high explanatory power when it comes to
Captain Sabertooth’s including nature. This will soon be discussed further. Firstly, though,
the category of inclusion should be discussed and understood in light of who are actually
included in this pirate universe. Who are they, and – seen in light of managerial strategies and
textual characteristics: why and how?
4.2.2 The Sub-Category of “Target Group”
This sub-category might be described with properties like age, gender, and family –
and these properties’ dimensions. During the interviews I conducted around in the network of
production surrounding Captain Sabertooth, I was informed about characteristics of the actual
group of consumption – and how these characteristics correspond with those aimed at.
The main consumption group consists of boys from 2 to 8 years olds. The girls still
have not been present to the same degree, but according to Terje Formoe, they are not
forgotten:
It has been a majority of boys so far, probably because boys in general play in a
rougher way. Yet, I am working quite consciously and intensively to appeal to more
girls. In my next show, I will present more female characters. And actually….I have
already noticed more and more girls dressing up like Captain Sabertooth when they
come to Kristiansand Zoo…painting their faces white and even painting a moustache.
But still….many of the female characters being presented in my stories so far, have
been very traditional girls…in traditional roles. But in my next show you will meet
rougher girls….who can be tough just like the boys. And that is quite important for
me…to represent both boys and girls. (TF, 2006)
According to Buckingham & Sefton-Green (2004) the child market is a market
notoriously difficult to reach. The child market is highly fragmented in terms of age and
60
___________________________________________________________________________
gender. Differences of as little as one or two years may carry enormous significance as to
what the children like, as they repeatedly and fiercely reject former enthusiasms. The boys
usually are resistant to anything “girly”, and the girls - even if being more likely to take share
in boys’ pleasures - tend to be less enthusiastic about traditional “boyish” occupations such as
playing computer games (see also Cassel & Jenkins, 1998). As a consequence of this
fragmentation, the market turns out to be very volatile, and manufacturer’s attempts to cater
for these distinctions’ within the market usually result in a less profitable business. Seen in
light of these statements, one might claim that Terje Formoe and his collaborators have
succeeded very well in including an audience of a wide range – catering for certain
distinctions. A reason for that might be the manner in which he presents both boys and girls.
In fact, the universe of Captain Sabertooth encompasses both what is considered traditional
“boyish” and traditional “girly” – and: the universe encompasses also what is not traditional
“boyish” or “girly”. I mean, in good keeping with the gender trends within today’s
commercialization of childhood (see e.g. BFD, 2001; Lindstrom & Seybold, 2003), we find
the typical blue-pink division represented by the relalionship between Tiny and Veronica.
Further, we find potential “heroe worshipping” usual among boys grounded in brave acts and
confident and scaring surfaces (both when it comes to Tiny and Captain Sabertooth). We find
the sweet dreaming little girl of Veronica. And: actually we find some untraditional and
scaring girls/women as well, for instance represented by the witch Miriam – and we find the
easily scared grown-ups Wimp & Wally. In other words: A wide spectrum of personalities –
traditional and untraditonal when it comes to age and gender – are represented.
Additionaly, apart from continually trying to represent both genders and a rather large
age group, Terje Formoe has a wish to include not only the smallest children, but also their
families with parents and grandparents. That may be fruitful in many ways because it is
mainly the adults paying for the fun. And further - various DVDs, CDs, and spin-offs apart the theater shows are highly dependent on (such small) children going there together with
grown-ups. Formoe is clear on his visions about this:
What is very important in my shows in Kristiansand Zoo, is to create not only
entertainment for the children, but a happening for the whole family. One of my
greatest interests is that the children can experience Captain Sabertooth together with
adults. I want it to be an experience for several generations. I want parents and
grandparents to join the play. When children watch their parents having fun as well,
the positivity of these children’s experiences will increase. I try to reach all
generations – but everything through the children. Because it should all be on their
premises. During the theater shows it is not allowed to smoke in the stands even if
everything takes place outside in free air! The children are the guests of honour. But I
think that the total experience turns out to be stronger for the children when they see
61
___________________________________________________________________________
that their parents have fun as well. I think the children would have noticed very easily
if the adults had been sitting there bored to death. Eveything becomes a nice and
common experience, though, when the children hear grandfather laughing – or when
they see that their parents enjoy. (TF, 2006; TF, 2007)
There are examples related to other brands where the role of family inclusion is
emphasized. The most obvious one might be Walt Disney. Research indicates that parents
(maybe particularly in the Nordic countries) not rarely have positive associations to certain
Disney characters and films grounded in memories from their own childhood – very often
connected to the Disney shows broadcasted on television during Christmas time. Such
memories and associations may make the brand “sacred” in the family context – and parents
may to a certain extent ”promote” the products to their children. (Hagen, 2001; Wasko, 2001).
Contrarily, other products may have a considerable lower status among parents. This usually
requires from the commerical forces an ability to change the whole dynamics around
consumption inside the family; they have to reach the children and at the same time change
the attitudes and habits of the parents (Kline, 1993). Terje Formoe may have succeeded quite
well during the last 18 years in influencing the consumption dynamics of families with small
children. As emphasized earlier, his theater shows in Kristiansand Zoo have become a
summer tradition among many Norwegian families. It seems that he now has turned the
phenomenon into a children’s classic – with certain Norwegian family-related aspects similar
to those of Disney. He describes it like this:
At our anniversary in 1999, I was asked about what I thought we had achieved. And I
felt I could claim that Captain Sabertooth had become a children’s classic in Norway.
That implies that it is a character and a universe being passed on from one generation
of children to the next one. In 2009 we will celebrate our 20th anniversary…and…then
children who were in the stands on the shows in 1990, will be there as parents. The
circle is about to be completed. (TF, 2007)
How has Terje Formoe succeeded in pulling the parents and grandparents along? How
has he managed to activate also the parents and grandparents to such an extent that also they
appear dressed-up and singing in Kristiansand Zoo every summer? According to himself, a
key factor may be found in his way of telling the stories: “When I write my stories, I am
careful to always include some lines which the grown-ups will find funny” (TF, 2007). This is
confirmed by reading his stories or watching the films. Much of the humour derives from
adult characters’ short-cominngs and sometimes also from the “battle between the sexes”.
These are entertaining nuances in the stories with which also the parents/grandparents may
identify directly. Additionaly, the stories of Captain Sabertooth probably should be discussed
62
___________________________________________________________________________
in light of some statements originating from Katsuno & Maret (2004). According to them, a
more diverse audience can be drawn into the narratives and a dialogue between children and
their caregivers can be encouraged when writers or producers are skillfull in using obscure
intertextual associations and double meanings in a children’s media text. Such skillfull use
may make it less likely that parents will take an oppositional position towards furher
consumption. As regards Captain Sabertooth, an ideological critical approach together with
semiotics and narrative theory helped me to identify certain potential intertextual associations.
Associations to Norwegian folktales are the first of these. The character of Askeladden
2
in
the Norwegian folktales sees his own dreams come true about a nice life. He is both clever
and lucky, but also kind-hearted. At least, he ends up with gold…. Captain Sabertooth has the
same dream. In the songs and the movies it is communicated clearly that his great aim is
richness and then an idle life. These are aspects of the stories which should be recognized
easily by the parents. In Norway, who has not enjoyed the fantastic stories about Askeladden
in their childhood? In Norway, who does not dream about the great lottery prize? Terje
Formoe referring to established themes and quotes (for instance: “When we find the treasure,
we can relax for the next 100 years” – a phrase appearing more than any other in the
Norwegian folktales) known and highly respected by the Norwegians for generations, may
make the parents of the children more open to the mediated messages and products related to
Captain Sabertooth. Terje Formoe’s choice of Bibel related (Benjamin and Gabriel) and
Norse related (Odin) character names in Norwegian may also account for a similar effect
among adults.
Further, another intertextual association might be represented by what I would call
”The Harmless Robber” In Thorbjørn Egner’s (1955) story about Folk og røvere i
kardemommeby (also this story is - as emphasized earlier - part of the Norwegian cultural
heritage)
there are three robbers. These have quite harmless and non-threatening
personalities. At bottom they are kind and not violent. Captain Sabertooth has a scaring
surface, and he has an image to protect as a frightening pirate. He sharpens his sword, but
actually he never causes the dripping of blood. His inflated ego is emphasized over and over
again when he presents himself as “Captain Sabertooth himself!”.Suddenly he becomes more
like the robbers from Kardemommeby. He becomes acceptable among the parents – who are
to decide if the children should watch Captain Sabertooth or not. Captain Sabertooh is
2
Askeladden, known also as Espen Askeladd, is a fictional character figuring in the Norwegian folktales. He is
these folktales’ heroe. Through acts of smartness and braveness he ends up with the princess and lots of gold.
For source material, see Asbjørnsen & Moe (1975).
63
___________________________________________________________________________
further contrasted to real villains, for instance the Happy Jack in the cartoon. These people do
not draw back for killing Captain Sabertooth. Through the villains Captain Sabertooth may
actually become even more edible among the parents.
Additionaly, the relationship between the children Tiny and Veronica might be
important to pull the parents along with the stories. As illustrated earlier, Tiny and Veronica
play a crucial role in the development of the story plots. Their common dream about
something new happening and about meeting someone to feel love to, and the subsequent
meeting, will be seen as both beautiful and harmless among the parents. Contemporaneouly,
the children will consider Tiny and Veronica the heroes of the stories and identify with them.
This will be discussed considerably related to a new sub-category later. Anyway, both the
children and the parents are reached through the stories.
Finally, both Tiny and Veronica are two characters representating certain very
traditional Norwegian National traits. In short, the real heroes of the Captain Sabertooth
stories are represented by these blond-haired (Veronica also with pigtails) and blue-eyed
children. Overally, the appearance of these two main characters make associations to the
national romantic literary period of Norway3 - represented for instance by the character and
story of Synnøve Solbakken4 - come quite easily.
Such associations may seem quite
farfetched, but anyway: these “very Norwegian children” are children that the parents
themselves have met in their own childhood in comics and films. In oter words, Terje Formoe
might be playing on cerain well-established traditions which are created and developed
through hundreds of years of Norwegian literature and art history. The kind side of life
represented by blond-haired and blue-eyed children, hardly provokes ethnical Norwegian
parents - contrarily it might actually attract them.
Overally, the stories of Captain Sabertooth seem constructed to please the parents
nearly as much as the children. Through the stories the parents are secured that they can allow
their children having a robber as a role model without feeling guilty about it. At the same
time, the stories are far from boring to the children. Probably it has to be a little bit scary and
challenging to appeal to the children at all. The mimic of Captain Sabertooth is comical to the
parents – while eliciting a nice shudder among the children. The parents feel comfortable
3
An epoch of art developing around Europe at the beginning of 19th century. Accounting for an emphasis on
romanticism – and national history, values, and traditions. For source material, see Beyer & Beyer (1970)
4
Synnøve Solbakken is one of two main characters in a novel with the same name written by Bjørnstjerne
Bjørnson in 1857. In the story she represents the bright and sunny side of life. The other main character,
Thorbjørn, lives on the dark and shadowed side of the valley separating him from Synnøve Solbakken in which
he is in love. Every day he stands there in the dark looking over to Synnøve Solbakken in the sunshine, realizing
that his love for this girl is considerably complicated by their different social backgrounds. For source material,
see Bjørnson (1932).
64
___________________________________________________________________________
about Captain Sabertooth, and then the children may live out their “illegal fantasies” –
without fearing reprisals.
When discussing brand loyalty to Captain Sabertooth in light of it’s including
construction, the abovementioned both concrete and diffuse efforts of the creators in reaching
a huge and mixed audience, are probably not the only ones having explanatory power, though.
To get a better picture of Captain Sabertooth’s including/involving nature, we should move
from the sub-category of “Target Group” to some other highly interrelated sub-categories of
inclusion. The more profound approach based on narratives and semiotics to the brand’s texts,
has paved the way for these sub-categories.
4.2.3 The Sub-Categories of “Presence” and “Closeness”
The already mentioned relationship between narrators and narratees has often not been
given much attention in media research (Kozloff, 1987). Still, as far as I can see, this is an
essential relationship when it comes to the stories of Captain Sabertooth. Creating a strong
bond between narrator and narratee (see Figure 2) may have been fundamental in the creation
of loyalty to the Captain Sabertooth brand – through an emphasis on presence and closeness.
As already stated, it seems that Terje Formoe has created a universe of pirates which
to a large extent involves it’s audience. This involment is visible at various levels, but
Captain Sabertooth’s World in Kristiansand Zoo is probably the most striking example. Here
the children themselves can dress up and enter this adventurous universe outside their own. In
a common and well-known “pirate language” they can communicate and sing along with all
the flesh-and-blood characters walking around there.
Overally, the theme park in Kristiansand Zoo, the stories, the songs, the official web
site, the computer game, and the theater in general all have a layout and an expression that put
the children close to them. For instance, the songs we get to know through the various
Captain Sabertooth products, are also very involving. Often they communicate directly to
some unspecified you. In the Norwegian version of Veronica’s song the text goes: “When the
problems get too many, you will need help from someone from outside yourself” In a quite
impressive and subtle way, the stories and products of Captain Sabertooth succeed in both
involving and actually also flattering their audience; the strong bond that exists between
narrator and narratee makes the children come closer to the characters and this universe of
pirates. Previous Managing Director of Kristiansand Zoo, Reidar Fuglestad, explains it like
this:
65
___________________________________________________________________________
It is logical that a loyalty is created when the characters from the stories make
themselves seen when the children come to the theme park in Kristiansand Zoo. There
they can meet their heroes and watch them in small theaters. The characters from the
stories are very available. That makes the loyalty and excitement stronger among the
children. The theme park is a unique meeting point. (RF, 2007)
The discussion of presence and closeness - grounded narratively in the particular
relationship between narrators and narratees – might be explained further from a semiotic
perspective. Seen in light of the different kinds of signs – symbolic, iconic, and indexical –
presented earlier (Seiter, 1987), the cross-media phenomenon of Captain Sabertooth turns out
to be very interesting. I would claim that all three of these signs are employed. Symbolic signs
exist all the way; invested with a limited amount of feelings, making the significance of
images, graphics, and soundtrack easy to grasp for a very young audience. Additionaly, the
iconic signs can be exemplified with comics, books, computer games, and a cartoon. Still, the
use of indexical signs may have been the most fundamental in the creation of a universe and
characters with which the children can identify. As described earlier, an indexical sign
involves an existensial link between signifier and signified – or more concretely: a link which
relies on a co-presence between these at some point in time. The theater shows of Captain
Sabertooth, both when they are performed live or launched on DVD’s – or broadcasted on
TV, correspond to a large extent with the definition of indexical sign employment. The same
do numerous aspects of the theme park, in which the “flesh-and-blood” characters walk
around.
Compared to a wide use of symbolic and iconic signs – where certain convention
violations may lead to images defying recognition – an emphasis on indexical signs in general
may be easier for the children to grasp, recognize, and identify with. Making the whole
Captain Sabertooth adventure as “alive” as possible, might have been fundamental in coming
close to the children and pulling them along into an exciting universe through recognition and
identification. Terje Formoe shares these thougts:
Actually…I do not think that animation is the best solution as regards Captain
Sabertooth…I think that here in Norway – in Norway particularly – the people have a
relation to the faces, the voices, and the surroundings of Captain Sabertooth’s universe
that is very authentic. They have been to the Captain Sabertooth’s World in
Kristiansand Zoo, they have seen the theater shows, they have seen the DVDs and the
broadcasted versions of these shows. I think that is what they associate with Captain
Sabertooth. So…I think …my dream is to make a feature film of Captain
Sabertooth…out on the ocean. And that is a dream which may come true. (TF, 2007)
Lindstrom & Seybold (2003) refer to other brands, for instance NOKIA, using
audience involvement as a successful strategy in marketing targeting children. Further they
66
___________________________________________________________________________
claim that there is a general trend in today’s commercial environment of brands moving
increasingly closer to their audience. According to them, to create a strong brand today, it is
crucial to be visible at a grass-rot level to tap into the passions of the audience. This is exactly
what characterizes the whole Captain Sabertooth phenomenon. Interviewed by Hjemdahl
(2003), Reidar Fuglestad explains how important it is to take seriously the respons of an
audience. Listening to the needs of the audience is an essential part of brand loyalty creation.
Additionaly, Reidar Fuglestad, in the same interview with Hjemdahl (2003), claims that it is
essential to have a fundament consisting of more than economic competence for a theme park
to survive. Because the products of these parks are highly related to the feelings of their
visitors, it is important for the producers to listen to and understand these feelings. It may
seem that Kristiansand Zoo and the other components of the network around Captain
Sabertooth have succeeded well in listening to and understanding the feelings of their
audience through the emphasis on closeness and presence illustrated above. Closeness and
presence may have become a platform for them to stay constantly up to date about the
feelings and wishes of their audience.
4.2.4 The Sub-Category of “Identification”
Further, identification is strongly related to and made possible by the Captain
Sabertooth brand’s characteristics of closeness and presence – and by the textual aspects
taking a wide spectrum of consumers into it. The children may identify with various aspects
of the phenomenon of Captain Sabertooth, and I would claim that the characters – as we have
seen represented by a wide range of personalities - are crucial in this connection. The high
availability of the universe of Captain Sabertooth makes it come close to and well-known by
the children and gradually these may feel at home there - identifying themselves with
different characters, different personalities, and different situations. Tiny and Veronica, the
two children appearing in the stories, are probably the most important ones. As already
emphasized, they are the heroes, and many of the problems and dilemmas with which they are
confronted, might be relevant for children in general in their everyday life. One usual
characteristic of strong brands, are that they often are well-placed and offer hope and convey
the fact that they understand the children’s situation (Lindstrom & Seybold, 2003). This
applies to a large extent to Terje Formoe’s stories and songs. Tiny and Veronica, regardless of
their completely different backgrounds, have some problems and worries in common that we
learn to know through the stories. They miss someone at their own age that could understand
them and appreciate them. And at the same time they would like to have a little bit more
67
___________________________________________________________________________
exciting and adventurous everyday life. The day Tiny and Veronica meet each other, they both
get their dreams fullfilled, but at the same time, due to their different backgrounds, they are
confronted with certain dilemmas. Terje Formoe describes it like this:
Tiny meets Captain Sabertooth and his men looking for gold, but he also meets
Veronica and her world. In a way, he is confronted with a choice regarding values. I
think many children may identify with this. They are attracted by goodness and safety,
but also by aspects of life that are exciting and a little bit dangerous. (TF, 2006)
Although Tiny and Veronica are the two main heroes of the stories, other sources of
identification exist as well. Certain traits and ways of thinking of the older characters of the
stories may be well-known and recognized also among children. A lot of the humour in
Captain Sabertooth derives from the short-comings of someone striving to be something he
(yes, these aspects of the stories of Captain Sabertooth usually are represented by a “him”)
actually is not – for instance brave and tough. Previous Managing Director of Kristiansand
Zoo, Reidar Fuglestad, emphasizes this:
I think children easily can identify with the role pattern of Captain Sabertooth. I
mean… the tough guy who actually is a little bit dumb in the end….and who
sometimes is confronted with his own attitudes.….and therefore turns out to be quite
harmless and normal in the end….having good values at the bottom. I think many
children can identify with this and keep hold of it. () It is something really
fundamental with identifcation related to Captain Sabertooth. (RF, 2007)
4.2.5 Family Orientation, Presence, Closeness, and Identification as Bases for
Communication and Marketing Activities
The category of “Inclusion” may account for certain aspects of indirect marketing as
well. The presence and closeness that characerize the whole phenomenon might have been
fundamental strategies by Terje Formoe and his partners when integrating Captain Sabertooth
into the everyday life of Norwegian children. Being available and visible for the children and
having a two-way communication with them through a universe in which they feel at home
and may identify with, might be considered an indirect marketing strategy. This two-way
communication could be seen to be in accordance with some more general statements
originating from
Schultz (1996). He argues that the traditional models of one-way
communication from the marketers to the costumers are use-less. With the introduction of the
internet and technological growth, the marketers and consumers find themselves in an one-toone communication in which the costumers can provide their needs for the marketers and the
marketers can respond to this needs. The buyer has become the marketer, and the marketer
has become the responder or the customer.
68
___________________________________________________________________________
Lindstrom & Seybold (2003) refer to today’s generation of children as the interactive
and instant generation – it is a generation of children demanding accessibility immediately
when they hear about something. Additionaly, Lindstrom & Seybold (2003) conceive of
today’s children as the KGOY (Kids Grow Old Younger) generation – a generation which
demands to be treated with respect and enough freedom to make up their own minds. Because
of this, it is important for a marketer to speak up and not down when communicating with the
children. The children must be respected and listened to; a close dialogue should be created
with them. Terje Formoe tells a little bit about how this is accounted for in his brand:
Well….We in Captain Sabertooth A/S do not use marketing….I mean direct
marketing to children….marketing in it’s traditional sense. But we communicate in a
different way; we get a lot of questions and letters here from children and their
parents. For instance, we have a comic named “Kaptein Sabeltann” (Captain
Sabertooth), which is a comic/magazine of activities through which we communicate
with the children sending us letters and pictures that we put in. And we get a lot of
letters from….different people…for instance related to Captain Sabertooth’s Pacifier
Heaven, which is an offer from us to the youngest children at about 4 years who are
about to quit using their pacifier. They can send their big treasure here to Captain
Sabertooth who promises to keep it and take care of it in his Pacifier Heaven – a
treasury with seven chests full of pacifiers. Everybody who sends their pacifier to
Captain Sabertooth, receives a letter from him saying he will keep an eye on their
treasure…. So we communicate at various levels, but we try to communicate through
the stories and the universe that we represent. (TF, 2006)
Some crucial points may be drawn from what Terje Formoe tells above. Firstly, The
Pacifier Heaven should be regarded as nothing less than a striking example of bond binding
between Captain Sabertooth and “all the other small pirates out there”. A strategy to put the
children close to the universe of Captain Sabertooth – creating loyalty. Terje Formoe
explains:
Captain Sabertooth….He is the worst pirate on the Seven Seas…And that is a horrible
message to small children. Therefore I realized quite early that I had to assure the children
that, ok……Captain Sabertooth is the worst of them all – but he loves small pirates like
you. And because of this, I came up with The Pacifier Heaven. That was a way for me to
tell all these 3-4 years old children that Captain Sabertooth is your friend, and when you
are not to use your pacifier anymore….you can send this treasure of yours to Captain
Sabertooth. He has an own chamber where he will keep it safe and keep an eye on it.
So…we have printed cards where it is written: ”Remember that we take care of your
pacifier. Nobody can steal them from here….” This is a way to confirm to the children
that Captain Sabertooth is their friend. You can trust Captain Sabertooth. (TF, 2007)
Secondly, the statement from Terje Formoe about communicating through the stories is
obvious also for us studying the phenomenon from outside. Much of this communication
takes place, in addition to on the official website (www.captainsabertooth.com) and in
69
___________________________________________________________________________
comics, in the theme park in Kristiansand Zoo. Apart from the main theater shows at night
time, there are, as already described, several smaller shows with the well-known characters at
daytime, and there are shops and restaurants (with names and meals named correspondingly
with the stories). These happenings and places may bring the children closer to the products
and have an indirect – but considerable - marketing effect.
Another example of this communication through stories in which the audience can
enter, we will find on the web site http://www.skattejakt.no/. Here Kristiansand Zoo with it’s
relations to Captain Sabertooth has been involved in a general marketing activity accounting
for Kristiansand and the region around it, named “Skattejakt på Sørlandet” (or Treasure Hunt
in the South of Norway). This concept, developed among others also by Terje Formoe, aims at
attracting tourists to spend their holidays in Kristiansand and it’s region. On the
abovementioned web site this marketing appears – in good keeping with Terje Formoe’s
intentions with Captain Sabertooth - as a family activity or competition, with expressions
associating with Captain Sabertooth. One of the song themes of Captain Sabertooth is also
used. There is a treasure map, and with the help of this the site visitors are supposed to enter
the roles of pirates and find gold coins. Finding a certain amount of them may make them win
a trip to this southern region. As is typical to many aspects related to Captain Sabertooth, this
marketing strategy – apart from being an example of co-operation across companies described
in the category of synergies - is built on activating and involving the potential consumers;
putting them closer to an adventurous universe of pirates. Having explanatory power in these
processes of activation and involvement, are probably the brand’s cross-media properties.
Terje Formoe and his partners have, in quite an impressive way, created a brand that makes
shifts between so-called passive and active media possible. This is also a fundamental
principle referred to by Lindstrom & Seybold (2003); the shift between passive and active
media ensures that you always link the different channels’ traffic together. A passive media,
for instance a movie, should direct the audience towards an acitive/interactive media (for
instance the computer or the playground where they can “play out” or “sing out” the stories) –
involving them with the brand. Such a combination allows for immediate response – which is
crucial to avoid the brand fading away from memory. In other words, the involving and
including nature of the Captain Sabertooth brand should be seen in light of the brand’s crossmedia properties discussed earlier and the category of “Synergies”. Additionaly, it should
probably more than anything be seen in light of a third and final category: The category of
“Brand Control”
70
___________________________________________________________________________
4.3
Category 3: Brand Control
According to Hjemdahl (2003), Terje Formoe is the only person in Kristiansand Zoo
trying to slow down on the business-related aspects of his product, emphasizing instead it’s
cultural parts. He claims that is the only way he can develop further his stories and songs and
make them survive in a long term perspective. The execution of strict control is fundamental
in Terje Formoe’s product development, and accounts for his thoughts about Captain
Sabertooth’s business-related aspects.
The synergies of the network around Captain Sabertooth and the including nature of
the organizations and their products, would probably not have been possible to achieve
without carefully controlling the brand What characterizes this network of producers and
distributors, is the strict control as regards copyright and product layout. In all media and
forms the Captain Sabertooth products stay close to their origin, and Kaptein Sabeltann A/S
represented by Terje Formoe plays the main and decisive role (see Appendix F):
I have very strict rules which say that I shall approve of everything related to Captain
Sabertooth, that means the proper expression and also the way the children are
communicated to. And of course, it is absolutely required to obey Norwegian laws. I
think I may have been contacted by almost all producer groups in Norway, and
everybody….almost everybody receives a “no” from me. I try to accept those I
consider to be serious, and at the same time these are bounded to license agreements
with me. We in Kaptein Sabertooth A/S work as a sort of police controlling the
products. We “clean up”….all the time trying to improve the quality. During our
history of 17 years we have also been guilty in presenting some products failing to be
up to standard…and that has ended with me doing a short process. The producers have
to obey our rules to be permitted to go on producing. (TF, 2006)
The category of “Brand Control” has been developed in my study into three sub-categories: 1)
License Agreements, 2) Source Text Orientation, and 3) Communication Control.
4.3.1 The Sub-Category of “License Agreements”
Reidar Fuglestad from Kristiansand Zoo and Helge Westbye from Piratprodukter A/S
both reveal the same aspects of the network around the Captain Sabertooth brand. They
actually claim that the strict control employed by Terje Formoe is fundamental for the success
of Captain Sabertooth. Reidar Fuglestad argues that controlling the brand is essential to
survive on a long term basis. Slatterness when it comes to strictly controlling the brand,
according to Reidar Fuglestad, may end with the brand being used improperly and in the
worst case scenario completely disappear. What he also emphasizes, is that the
communication of the organization behind Captain Sabertooth is constructed in a way that
71
___________________________________________________________________________
makes good controlling possible. As emphasized earlier, it is obvious that Terje Formoe has
an intense and close two-way communication with his partners and producers. This
communication seems to involve mutual respect between him and various collaborators, and a
mutual respect for the concrete products and for long term perspectives.
The production rights to all Captain Sabertooth products are licensed from Terje
Formoe to various companies in his network. According to Lindstrom & Seybold (2003),
licensing has proved to be one of the most effective ways to develop a brand’s potential. They
define licensing as an extremely effective way to add life to a brand. Additionaly, they
emphasize two more problematic aspects of the same strategy – two aspects which both
seemingly have been taken into careful and successful consideration by Terje Formoe from
the very onset of the Captain Sabertooth adventure. The first of these aspects regards
slatterness when it comes to the various media products’ economic potential. Not being
careful when licensing the rights to diverse producers, may result in sensational economic
losses. An example from Tobin (2004) about Pokèmon may illustrate. According to him the
main strength of Pokèmon is it’s multidimensionality; it is an interrelated set of products and
activities. However, Tobin (2004) claims that Nintendo made some fundamental mistakes
during the craze. Even if the company made quite a lot of money owning and selling
marketing rights, the value of the rights of the TV show and trading cards was
underestimated. As a consequence of that, much of the money was made by companies other
than Nintendo which had bought these rights.
The second problematic aspect of licensing regards the concrete content of the
products. This will be discussed next.
4.3.1.1 Brand Alliances and Risks
Related to the category of “Synergies” it was discussed how components of a
production network might profit from brand alliances. The cooperation between Terje
Formoe/Captain Sabertooth and Kristiansand Zoo was identified as the most striking example
of this. Still, building a brand also accounts for certain risks related to these alliance
strategies. Actually, unsuccessful brand alliances may result in quite opposite effects of those
being aimed at. The consequences may turn out to be a reduced knowledge of the brand, and a
more diffuse brand image (Hem & Iversen, 2004). According to Keller (2003), the risks of
alliance branding are that the intended positive associations do not find place, and that the
originator of the brand loses control of it. Therefore, it should be considered essential to be
72
___________________________________________________________________________
careful when letting co-producers into your brand. Terje Formoe has been very focused on
these aspects of his business from the very beginnning:
I think that the success of Captain Sabertooth to a large extent is rooted in some of my
early decisions. Very early I made a choice between aiming at creating an ephemeral
phenomenon or a children’s classic. I wanted to create a children’s classic. One of the
best examples of this should be my choice of publishing house. After some time
several publishing houses came to me with a wish to produce Captain Sabertooth
books. My first publishing house was Hjemmet Bokforlag A/S. They produced a song
book….but that was before Captain Sabertooth’s popularity had taken really off. Then
with the increasing interest I also got an offer from Gyldendal NF, another publishing
house. The people were nice both at Hjemmet Bokforlag A/S and Gyldendal NF, and
their offers were more or less the same. But still…..I chose to accept the offer from
Gyldendal NF, because I wanted to create a children’s classic. I considered the name
of Gyldendal NF to be filled with more historical and cultural weight than Hjemmet
Bokforlag A/S – which is a more commercial publishing house. There are heavier oak
doors into the Gyldendal NF publishing house….. (TF, 2007)
Since then, Terje Formoe has been contacted on a regular basis by a huge amount of
producers who have wanted to profit from a further development of his brand. He has
constantly had to evaluate these offers in light of his own aims with his brand. It is not
necessarily an easy or self-evident task to always match potential partners with his brand in a
correct way. The following example, accounting for Cappelen (another publishing house
which Terje Formoe now cooperates with) convincing him to involve McDonald’s in his
brand for a certain period of time, might shed some light on this:
Yes….once I cooperated with McDonald’s. My publishing house Cappelen convinced
me. We made two small campaigns with to small books. Actually, those books were
quite allright. So….I thought….if they sell out….or give out a bunch of those books –
which we already had sold out in the shops – that might be a very good promotion of
the whole Captain Sabertooth concept. However, these campaigns became such a
success for McDonald’s…that they returned to me and asked for CDs and other stuff
as well. But then I was clear on the issue: Now it was enough McDonald’s. In fact,
McDonald’s is not what I want to be associated with first of all….Actually….it think it
turns out a little bit wrong connecting Captain Sabertooth to McDonald’s. But – as I
said – it was Cappelen who convinced me, and Cappelen for me is a very serious
company. I let me convince because I found the product quite good. (TF, 2007)
The risks of brand alliances and other challenges and dilemmas connected to controlling a
brand, should be related to and discussed in a framework of text orientation, accounted for by
this report’s next sub-category.
73
___________________________________________________________________________
4.3.2 The Sub-Category of “Source Text Orientation”
From the very beginning I wanted Captain Sabertooth to become a children’s classic.
For instance, I was frequently contacted by different arrangements – wanting me to
enter there as Captain Sabertooth and sing. They wanted Captain Sabertooth to stand
there between the trees on a local scene – with a silver microphone in his hand…. My
answer was always no, even if they offered me a lot of money. If I had accepted, I
would have ruined my chances to create a children’s classic. Captain Sabertooth
would have forgotten his part. (TF, 2007)
The so far successful control of the Captain Sabertooth brand illustrated by Terje
Formoe’s statements above has, among other things, implied stories and products always
staying close to their origin. Lindstrom & Seybold (2003: 291) emphasize the importance of
always staying true to the brand’s DNA. According to them, “the risk is not to produce a
product, but to produce one that fails to match the brand’s history, it’s promise, or it’s
philosophy”.The stories of Captain Sabertooth which have appeared across media boarders
since 1989, have rather few variations, the same kind of language with certain and
recognizable words and phrases are used over and over again, and the main characters are the
same and behave in more or less the same way in every story This becomes evident reading
the comics or watching the movies. Formoe has created a universe of pirates where the
children easily will get to know the characters and their nature. The universe of Captain
Sabertooth is predictable and recognizable. According to Terje Formoe, this has been crucial
in the creation of a strong and long-lasting brand. Related to this, what should be interesting
to discuss about brands in general and maybe Captain Sabertooth in particular, is the longstanding argument in translation studies between source text-centered and reader-centered
approaches (Hatim & Mason, 1990; Hermans 1985 in Katsuno & Maret, 2004; Katsuno &
Maret, 2004). A source text approach remains as faithful as possible to the source text. This
approach attempts to retain elements of the source text that are exotic as seen from the point
of view of the target language or population. To make sense of the elements, the reader must
stretch. Contrarily, it is the text being stretched in a reader-centered approach: the text’s literal
and allegorical meanings are inevitably altered. A translation process usually is oriented both
to the text and the reader, but tends to lean in a certain direction. How can Captain Sabertooth
be seen in light of this? Well, firstly, Captain Sabertooth is yet to become a huge international
brand. It’s scale, as emphasized earlier, is considerably smaller than that one of for instance
Pokèmon or Disney. In other words, localization processes of the product accounting for
complicated translation have not taken place to the extent that characterizes some of the
brands to which it could be compared. But still, maybe it is exactly because of this that the life
74
___________________________________________________________________________
span is sensationally long? Maybe localization processes in an intense international
promotion, tend to be too much reader-centered; making an instant, considerable, and
profitable appeal, but simultaneosly modifying the texts to such an extent that they finally go
”into pieces” – moving the brand too far away from it’s origin? I would claim that the
production network around Captain Sabertooth has been very source text-oriented in their
work. By this I do not refer to an internatinal promotion work, but I refer to the way the
stories have been “localized” or “translated” across media borders. The stories have always
stayed close to their origin; this making the whole product or brand easily recognizable
among the small children consuming them. This may be essential to explain Captain
Sabertooth’s longevity.
According to Terje Formoe and my other informants, the strict control employed is not
necessarily grounded in economic motives. It is more grounded in the wish to create a solid
and strong brand with a long life span. It might have been possible for Terje Formoe and the
others to cash in considerably more money on Captain Sabertooth on a short time basis
letting in a wider range of producers. But, then at the same time, it would be a greater risk for
the brand to be dissolved, and after some time also disappear. A comparison with Pokèmon
might be relevant to explain this. Particularly interesting is it to discuss potential reasons for
Pokèmon’s fall. The enthusiasm about Pokèmon among children all over the world has been
falling for quite a few years now. Before Pokèmon children in general had abandoned Power
Rangers, and then Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Discussing Pokèmon moving toward it’s
demise, Buckingham & Sefton-Green (2004) point to the fact that it is logical that new
generations of children want to “discover” new cultural practices. The children may claim
these new cultural practices as their own, distinguishing themselves from preceding
generations. Still, the fall of crazes should be considered as more than a matter of the passing
of time. According to Buckingham & Sefton-Green (2004), there is a gap in academic
research when it comes to accounting for the life cycle of a phenomenon such as Pokèmon.
During a short time the products of Nintendo’s Pokèmon were spread from Japan to all over
the world. The economic success was enormous. But it’s rise was not everlasting, and the
popularity was never stabilized. There are probably many reasons for it’s fall, but comparing
the strategies behind Pokèmon to those employed by Terje Formoe and his co-workers, makes
certain thoughts come to my mind. The multiple Pokèmon product has constantly reinvented
itself. An example is the use of different main characters for different text species. The main
characters employed in the Game Boy software are not the same as those employed in the TV
cartoon and the comics (Iwabuchi, 2004). Further, when the stories on which the Pokèmon
75
___________________________________________________________________________
craze was based, went abroad, they were also changed quite a bit to localize them in new
cultures and societies. For instance, in the USA both the stories and some of the characters
originating from Japan, were made “more American” to better suit the audience there. In the
media landscape we find ourselves, with texts and pictures floating freely on the internet, such
localization and editing processes may be economic very profitable on a short time basis. But,
in the end, the same processes may also make brands become increasingly diffuse and
dissolved as the stories and characters remove themselves from their origins. Iwabuchi
(2004) claims that the American involvment in Pokèmon has not been limited to distribution;
it has accounted for aspects of the production as well, in the form of alterations in the
substance of Pokèmon. The international marketing of Pokèmon, except in Asia, was done by
Nintendo of American. Nintendo of America in fact is a Japanese company, but still, it does
not necessarily import what Nintendo in Kyoto wants to export, and it’s staff is local –
making it’s own decisions in selecting commodities for the American and international
market. The translation processes of the TV series and films have been under the control of
Americans. The result has been significant changes, like scenes and even whole episodes
being cut, and the background music being changed to suit better what the localizers believed
to be the taste of American children and parents.
A localization process can also be seen in a framework of semiotics. According to
Katsuno & Maret (2004), the components of the sign system accounting for verbal signs
transmitted accoustically, non-verbal signs transmitted accoustically, linguistic signs
transmitted visually, and non-verbal signs transmitted visually all may be modified in a
localization process. This has consequenses on image, graphics, and soundtrack. According to
Iwabuchi (2004), the cultural odor of images and commodities tends to be lost as processes of
local appropriation and negotation recreate their meanings and purposes. Additionaly,
Katsuno & Maret (2004) claim that the various authors, producers, marketers, and localizers
of Pokèmon – due to fan Web sites providing an avenue of grass-roots advocacy and finally
influencing the official releases - did not have exclusive control of the global circulation of
the product. Such aspects are truly important to bear in mind before trying to globalize or
expand a brand’s market.
4.3.3 The Sub-Category of “Communication Control”
As regards phenomena like Captain Sabertooth, the employment of strict control is
important also for other reasons. Hjemdahl (2003), speaking of Captain Sabertooth related to
the theme park in Kristiansand Zoo, claims that the businesses of Terje Formoe, Reidar
76
___________________________________________________________________________
Fuglestad, and the others are based on concepts and ideas that are easily undermined by
themselves if they are unbalanced. Without strictly controlling the production and use of
brands and symbols, and the way these symbols are presented to the outside world, such
unbalance may appear. Theme parks such as that one accounting for Captain Sabertooth in
Kristitansand are, according to Hjemdahl (2003), based on a very complicated and difficult
business idea – a business idea which aims at hiding the business-related aspects. Therefore,
she claims, these parks tend to undercommunicate their business connections, which often
may be well-organized and fundamental for the parks to survive at all. The latter aspect is
certainly also something we should keep in mind as regards my study, where a considerable
source of knowledge comes from the interviews of central representatives in the production
and promotion network of Captain Sabertooth. The importance of control may not only be
related to the production aspects of the brand, but also to what is communicated to the outside
world - often being there eager to ask critical questions.
What occurred between Terje Formoe and Kristiansand Zoo in 1995 should really
shed some light on this tricky aspect of brand control. As emphasized earlier -
when
discussing positive media coverage as a component of the promotion machinery and the
synergies – Captain Sabertooth had an ideal place of birth in Kristiansand Zoo. An institution
generally regarded as a “sacred cow” in the media. But, at the beginning of 1995, a conflict
between copyright owner Terje Formoe and Kristiansand Zoo saw the light of day. This
conflict lasted for several months and constantly increased in width, and - to be emphasized:
the conflict to a large extent took place in the media – being there in the public visible for
everybody. The sources of conflict were disagreements between Terje Formoe and
Kristansand Zoo about copyright and royalties. Accusations in public between the parts
involved, misunderstandings, and distortions of the real picture – facilitated considerably by
less impressive journalism – were some of the ingredients of what was referred to as the
“Sabertooth war”- a “war” that contrasted considerably with the values conveyed through
children adventures inside Kristansand Zoo and the world of Captain Sabertooth (Hjemdahl,
2003). Terje Formoe today speaks openly about what happened back in 1995, and what made
him finally hand in his notice in Kristiansand Zoo – and then bring Captain Sabertooth to
Asker in the eastern part of Norway instead:
It was first towards the end of 1992 that Kristiansand Zoo started to wake up and
realize the potential of Captain Sabertooth. Until then, they had been sceptical about it
and considered it to be my business and not theirs. But then, in 1992, they wanted to
sign a deal with me – even if I already was an employee – about the rights to use
Captain Sabertooth. Then I spent 50 000 NOK from my own pocket to finalize a deal
77
___________________________________________________________________________
with my own employer, so that they could get their own theater performance. So I
thought: “Fine. Now everything is in place with clear lines” The copyright was mine
but Kristiansand Zoo was allowed to use it. But….I realize now that other forces
dominated Kristiansand Zoo back then compared to how it is today…. Living through
1994, Kristiansand Zoo had been quoted on stock exchange and had a surplus of about
5 millions NOK. This was not enough to satisfy them….and the new Director claimed
that I earned too much on Captain Sabertooth. Then I said: “That is not your business.
What I do in my spare time, is my business. You should instead be happy about your
rights to use it. In that way you can earn money as well.” Then a discussion arose and
they wanted a new agreement and so on….I said: “No. We have an agreement already.
I do not intend to negotiate a new one. The rights are now distributed.” And then, on
the 14th. of January 1995, after quite a lot of arguments – while I was reported sick – I
woke up to my life’s greatest shock. I woke up to an article in Fedrelandsvennen (the
local newspaper of Kristiansand)…..Half of the front page and one page inside….all
about me…. I have never – before or after – experienced that a newspaper wrote one
and a half page about me without contacting me….. I had no possibilities to reply or
defend myself. I remember for instance that they wrote: “The clever business man has
secured himself deals making all the Captain Savbertooth millions go directly into his
own pocket.”….and….”in the corridors of Kristiansand Zoo there are whispers about
the entertainment boss’ ethics”….nicely written….and a little bit strange – because
nobody wants to be held responsible for that statement. Actually I mean it is
completely untrue – because I had a very good relationship to the other employees in
Kristiansand Zoo. A third statement I remember from the newspaper article, was “The
only thing Kristiansand Zoo has got from Terje Formoe, is a wretched t-shirt”….That
is…that is a lie. The truth is that at an earlier stage I had told them: “Ok…you did not
want any spin-offs as long as I offered you them. But why can’t you at least take the
production rights to a Captain Sabertooth t-shirt that you can sell in the park and take
the incomes from?” That was used against me when the conflict blossomed. The day
after this chocking article I was contacted by Fedrelandsvennen and they wanted to
interview me. I let them interview me, but demanded to read it all before publishment.
And….again….the article was formulated in a very tendentious way. I
remember….yes, for instance they came up with the following quotation: “I am an
honest man,”claims Terje Formoe. Claims! Not says, but claims! Well, well…I sent
them a fax and refused to be quoted. Instead I wrote my own article, which was in the
newspaper the day after. And this was the beginning of a several month-lasting battle
in the media. The press coverage of this case employed back then by
Fedrelandsvennen, is among the worst I have experienced by any media. Right now I
have a good cooperation with Fedrelandsvennen and our relationship is of a
completely different nature. But what happened back then, is a striking example of
how wrong things can be done. Fortunately I am used to dealing with media, so I
survived. But I do not want to have such an experience again. Never. And I resigned
from my job in Kristiansand Zoo in January 1995. (TF, 2007)
What happened around Captain Sabertooth back in 1995 illustrates clearly what is
discussed by Hjemdahl (2003): What are good news stories are not necessarily good for
the business. As emphasized also by Terje Formoe, “the media tends to surf superficially on
conflicts like that one we lived through” (TF, 2007). When copyright owners and license
partners start arguing about royalties in public, the consequences might be too severe to bear.
78
___________________________________________________________________________
It has a damaging effect on all the actors involved. Hjemdahl (2003) discusses this
profoundly. According to her, during the 1995 season after the “divorce” with Terje Formoe
and Captain Sabertooth, Kristiansand Zoo had an audience decrease of 65 000 – and a deficit
of 17 millions NOK. Further, she employs the conflict between Terje Formoe and
Kristiansand Zoo as a point of departure to ask larger questions about theme park production
and producers. A key concept identified by her, is that one of credibility. In the framework
encompassing Terje Formoe, Captain Sabertooth, and Kristiansand Zoo, this concept has
various components. Credibility as a cultural institution/attraction, credibility as a conveyer of
good and traditional values, credibility as a story teller – and credibility as a profitable
business. These components of credibility, argues Hjemdahl (2003), do not necessarily work
in the same directions. For instance, emphasizing too much the economic/business related
components, may lead to an undermining of the credibility as a cultural institution. Contrarily,
emphasizing too much the components based on culture and idealism, may result in a lower
profit or economic losses. But, even more importantly, when the institutions involved argue
about money, and - particularly – when they argue about money in public, this has a very
negative impact on all the abovementioned components of credibility According to Hjemdahl
(2003), the production context of Kristiansand Zoo in which Captain Sabertooth is situated, is
very complex – much because of the cultural and economic components which often work in
different directions.
Therefore, the concept of control is fundamental. It is fundamental when it comes to
the concrete content of the products produced. It is fundamental when it comes to licensing
these products to the right people/companies. It is fundamental when it comes to having clear
lines in the deals signed about the rights and royalties. AND: It is fundamental when it comes
to what are being communicated to the outside world. When an internal conflict like that one
between Terje Formoe and Kristiansand Zoo in 1995 goes to the newspapers, this aspect of
the control has failed.
After one year in Asker for Captain Sabertooth and a miserable year for Kristiansand
Zoo, Terje Formoe was convinced to go back negotiating in Kristiansand – where key
representatives related to the conflict had resigned since he left them. The ending was good,
and Captain Sabertooth returned to Kristiansand Zoo as a heroe and a saviour. The stock
market reacted positively and Terje Formoe was handed a good deal. The conclusions were
many after this chaotic year, but the probably most important one – and agreed upon by every
single part involved in the conflict – can shortly be summarized like this: bringing the conflct
into the newspapers was not a good idea…. (Hjemdahl, 2003).
79
___________________________________________________________________________
4.4
Refining the Theory about Captain Sabertooth Brand Loyalty: How Are
the Categories Related through Structures and Processes?
According to Strauss & Corbin (1998: 22), “a theory denotes a set of well-developed
categories (e.g. themes, concepts) that are systematically interrelated through statements of
relationship to form a theoretical framework that explains some relevant social,
psychological, educational, nursing, or other phenomenon”. Additionaly, they call for the
development of a central explanatory concept – or a core category – around which the other
categories can be organized. Do I have such a theoretical framework and such a core concept
explaining the brand loyalty to Captain Sabertooth? I would be careful to claim that too
confidentially, in particular because my study does not include to a sufficient extent the
perspectives of the children – or the consumers - themselves. Further, an abstract and wide
phenomenon like brand loyalty may hardly be fully explained by a theoretical framework or
model, basing the insights on categorization and relations of concepts. As a matter of fact,
such a framework or model is nothing more than a simplified version/representation of the
reality. Bearing this in mind, based on my results and observations, I have nonetheless made
my thoughts about the whole phenomenon’s structures and processes – and, I have made my
thoughts about how the emerging categories of “Synergies”, “Inclusion”, and “Brand
Control” are related in their common contribution to Captain Sabertooth loyalty. The latter of
these categories actually might seem to be the core of the whole framework. Let us
summarize and synthesize
In short, the category of “Synergies” accounts for how the production related
structures and processes of the brand configurate a base for appeal. The category should shed
light on how the components of various units and companies and their appeal are related. The
category may have explanatory power as regards how the organizational networking and
cooperation behind the Captain Sabertooth products create synergies across various units and
media boarders and make integrated marketing possible. As characterizes also other and more
global cross-media products to which Captain Sabertooth can be related (see e.g. Tobin,
2004; Wasko, 2001), the synergies of production and the integrated marketing further may
lead to another potential form of synergies – synergies between children’s senses. They can
experience the adventures of Captain Sabertooth through a number of channels, and they can
experience it in various settings of their everyday life
In this way, the synergies may
strengthen the experiences related to the brand among it’s audience. The content and
processes of these experiences are accounted for by my second category: the category of
80
___________________________________________________________________________
“Inclusion”. The synergies make the content and including/involving nature of the brand
stronger – for instance through the shift between passive and active media finding place - and
also more wide-spanning, accounting for a larger audience and an increasing range of media
users.
Additionaly, in my view, the including nature of the Captain Sabertooth products
could be generalized from these products to a higher or more abstract communicative level. I
would claim that the inclusion and activation of the Captain Sabertooth audience are not only
made possible and empowered by synergies due to organizational networking and integrated
marketing, but inclusion is a fundament in these networks of communication themselves. For
instance, it is obvious that the integrated marketing puts an emphasis on involving and
activating the potential consuming children and their potential consuming parents. In other
words, the categories of “Synergies” and “Inclusion” are not mutually exclusive. In this case,
they both should be considered as a fundament for each other.
At last, we might have the core category; the most crucial fundament of brand loyalty
creation around Captain Sabertooth. This fundament is accounted for by the category of
“Brand Control”. The strict control employed by copyright owner Terje Formoe, should have
explanatory power as regards both the structures and the processes related to the Captain
Sabertooth brand. He has been clever in controlling the underlying business structure through
license agreements and partnerships with the right people and companies/institutions, and he
has been clever in controlling the content/expression through always securing that the brand
has not distanced itself from it’s origins – facilitating social and psychological processes like
inclusion and identification among the audience. Both the category of “Synergies” and the
category of “Inclusion” – and the brand loyalty which we seek to understand - must be seen
in strong relation to this third category of “Brand Control”. A strict control of the brand’s
business structures and it’s uses and expressions on the part of Terje Formoe, makes synergy
creating possible and takes the children and their families closer to the stories through
involving texts and plots, and through an emphasis on closeness, presence, and easy
identification. The brand control of Captain Sabertooth might be considered the glue that
keeps together all the other economic, organizational, social, psychological, and textual
components of brand loyalty creation.
On the next two pages I present a summarized overview of the categories emerging
from my analysis and then a graphical illustration of their interrelations.
81
___________________________________________________________________________
Synergies
Synergies of production:
Integrated Marketing
- 24-25 companies involved
- Moderate but diffused
- Organizational networking
- Crossing media boarders
- Components pointing in
- Story telling in marketing
the same direction
Table 1: The Category of “Synergies” with developed sub-categories.
Inclusion
Target Group
Presence
Closeness
Identification
- A wide specter included
- Stories taking the audience “into them”
Table 2: The Category of “Inclusion” with developed sub-categories.
Brand Control
Licensing
Source Text Orientation
Communincation Control
- Brand extension
- Brand stays close to origins
- Balancing the media image
- Control of
Expression
Table 3: The Category of “Brand Control” with developed sub-categories.
82
___________________________________________________________________________
Brand Loyalty
Brand Control
(core category)
Control a fundament
for synergies
Control a fundament
for inclusion
Synergies and inclusion are
fundaments for each other
Synergies
Inclusion
Figure 4: The synthesis of categories framing the Captain Sabertooth brand loyalty.
83
___________________________________________________________________________
4.4.1 Fragilities in the Synthesis of Categories
The conflict between Terje Formoe and Kristiansand Zoo in 1995 discussed
previously, may shed light on potential fragilities of the relationship between the three
categories upon which I have arrived during my analysis (see Figure 4). When certain aspects
of the brand control fail or are negatively influenced, for instance through disagreements
about copyright and royalties, this has an damaging impact on the other components of the
brand building process. On a short-term basis, the synergies will suffer. A crucial building
block of synergy creation accounts for units or companies working together, and all pulling in
the same overall direction. When Terje Formoe left Kristiansand Zoo, the latter had serious
economic difficulties. Terje Formoe on his part may have achieved – probably due to an
already well-established brand loyalty among Norwegian children - success with his shows
also when he brought Captain Sabertooth to Asker in the east of Norway. But still, he left a
profitable partner in Kristiansand Zoo – Captain Sabertooth’s place of birth. He had to start
establishing this fraction of his business elsewhere. As he admits himself, this was not a
process free from risks and problems:
After what happened in Kristiansand, I brought Captain Sabertooth to the east of
Norway, first to Aker Brygge in Oslo. We had our first night of performance quite late
that year. We had to build grandstands…..we….yes…we ran a big risk. We had no
money…we only had 200 000 NOK in share capital. We built a huge grandstand of
2250 seats on the beach, a grandstand in the water, the flats of Luna Bay, and we
rented a ship from the local authorities of Oslo at an fee of 18 000 NOK a day.
And….yes…we just started building, conting on selling tickets. (TF, 2007)
In other words, a conflict like that one experienced by Terje Formoe and Kristiansand
Zoo in 1995, may ruin certain aspects of a brand’s network of partners, causing smaller or
bigger set-backs when it comes to production and promotion – and in this way reduce the
potential of creating synergies. Further – as illustrated - this potential may be reduced also
when conflicting units of the brand’s network violate the organizational structure and this
results in sensational news stories in the media.
Additionaly, an seen in a more long term perspective, the category of “Inclusion” may
also suffer from conflicts like that one in 1995. I would be careful to claim that 2-8 years old
children themselves would give much notice to newspaper articles about copyright and
royalties, but Captain Sabertooth as family entertainment is probably dependent on a constant
communication with the outside world. Controlling this communication might be fundamental
to keep alive the including nature of the brand – or, as emphasizes Hjemdahl (2003): it’s
credibility as a certain kind of product. Newspaper articles describing “The Captain
84
___________________________________________________________________________
Sabertooth War” – in which Terje Formoe and Kristiansand Zoo argue about money – may
easily distort the picture of the adventurous universe with good and healthy values on which
the audience inclusion is based.
4.4.2 Globalizing?
Up until now Captain Sabertooth is not a very globalized brand. The cartoon from
2003 was bought by many foreign distributors, but so far there is not a huge international
network of producers around Terje Formoe. Still, he has international ambitions:
I work systematically and slowly when it comes to the international market. I do not
have a huge network around me. But still I am very optimistic. I think something will
happen – sooner or later. I have been to the world’s biggest book fair in Bologna. I
tried to look if there were some similar concepts out there, but actually I found
nothing. My concept is very cultivated for the smallest children. I think it is very
possible to gain a footing. It is just important to meet the right people at the right time,
and make them aware of my product. I have already received some interest and offers,
but usually I have said no. (TF, 2007)
As we have seen related to the sub-category of “Source Text Orientation” controlling a
brand becomes even more challenging in a globalization process. If Terje Formoe wants to
globalize Captain Sabertooth more than he has up until now, the fragilities of the synthesis of
control, synergies, and inclusion illustrated above might be clearer. Much of the secret so far
may have been to create a strong brand on a small or local scale – avoiding some potential
dilemmas often appearing when globalizing or expanding a brand. The dilemma regarding
source text orientation versus reader orientation when it comes to the content of the products
is already discussed. Up until now Terje Formoe has been very source text-oriented. During
my conversations with him, he seems to have a clear vision to keep on being that. He seems
more concerned about creating a children’s classic, than to maximize the sale at any cost. This
is, according to him, one of the reasons for being moderate in expanding his brand across
boarders and letting foreign producers into it.
It will be interesting to follow Captain Sabertooth on an eventual global trip.
Discussed in light of the semiotic concepts of paradigmatic and syntagmatic (see Seiter,
1987), his brand should turn out to be quite particular. The “pirate genre” is well-known both
inside and outside of Norway. During the history various pirate related concepts like Peter
Pan,Master and Commander, Hornblower, and now recently Pirates of the Caribbean have
been launched and established a certain genre – or a paradigmatic. In the syntagmatic code of
this genres, certain themes and phrases have been strongly conventionalized, and these exist
85
___________________________________________________________________________
as certain connotative signs within an own sign system. Terje Formoe and his partners have
truly been speculating in the sign system of this paradigmatic. And they have succeeded very
well – maybe because their product is similar to these particular products already at the
market, but at the same time it is still different from them. As emphasized already by Terje
Formoe, you will probably not find any similar concepts appealing to such an extent to the
same age group as does Captain Sabertooth. International pirate stories to which Captain
Sabertooth may be related, are generally more violent and also more complicated for the
smallest children to follow. In light of narrative theory and the employment of several story
lines discussed earlier (see also Kozloff, 1987), a pirate movie like for instance The Pirates of
the Carribbean is considerably more intricated – accounting for a larger amount of story
lines. Terje Formoe has succeeded – through simplifying language and plots - in bringing the
most well-known set phrases of the pirate paradigmatic into the world of the smallest children
in Norway. Considering the universal characteristics of his genre, and considering the
seemingly unsaturated niche of the “pirate market” he aims at appealing to – Captain
Sabertooth might have a bright future also outside Norway. Still, during an eventual
globalization of Captain Sabertooth, Terje Formoe will be confronted with certain challenges
and dilemmas.
Firstly, will the brand eventually keep on staying close to it’s DNA? And if so, will
Captain Sabertooth get through in a global market where other pheonomena targeted at the
same age group tend to be - though often short-lived - very reader/audience-centered. Or will
Terje Formoe losen up his grip and move the focus away from the source texts? How far is it
actually possible to control the content of a brand when making it international? Will Captain
Sabertooth’s life span suffer as a consequence of it’s eventual globalization? Will the
including character of the brand – which may be based a lot on the presence and closeness
represented by the theme park in Kristiansand – decrease as the distance between the audience
reached and Kristansand increases? As we have seen in this report, Terje Formoe himself
doubts if animation is an ideal way of representing Captain Sabertooth. Discussed in a
framework of semiotics, the employment of indexical signs – involving a physical presence of
what is being seen and heard – may have been crucial in the processes of identification and
inclusion among Norwegian children in their relationship to Captain Sabertooth. Will a brand
expansion across nation boarders complicate this?
These should all be considered relevant questions to ask in a globalization process.
The questions all have in common that they are grounded in challenges at product/text level.
Additionaly, though, there will be organizational and structural challenges. As illustrated
86
___________________________________________________________________________
earlier, globalizing the organizational structure may account for a tricky tension between
organizational convergence and divergence (see Stohl, 2001). Particularly relevant in light of
this tension shoold be the categories of “Control” and “Synergies”. Maintaining control of the
brand in a global network of producers would necessarily require a certain standardization and
common codes. At the same time, this standardization may easily be complicated by
divergence inside this network – due to cultural differences and different sense-making
activities. In short, the control component will have to bite off a larger area. This area might
account for both economic, geographical, cultural, social, and psycological challenges. A lot
more coordination will be necessary to create synergies between different units behind the
Captain Sabertooth brand and to include/involve the audience to the same extent.
5 CONTEXTUALIZING CAPTAIN SABERTOOTH WITH IDEOLOGY,
DISCOURSES, AND COMMUNICATION PSYCHOLOGY
5.1
Encoding Processes, Product Characteristics, and the Context
Time has come to grab the synthesis of categories upon which I have arrived
(see Figure 4) and put it into a larger framework. In my study of Captain Sabertooth I wanted
to employ an ideological critical perspective as part of my work. This was done with the aim
of widening the focus. With the help of an ideological critical approach I sought to place my
analytical results - accounted for by the three categories presented and their synthesis – into a
broader context of communication, which accounts for trends of production and relevant
discourses. Then, these components of the communication context might be related to the
structures and processes of production, distribution, and reception of the Captain Sabertooth
brand. The communication model of Stuart Hall (1980) presented earlier (see also Figure 1;
Hagen, 2000) offers a framework in which linking between context components and the
structures and processes embedded in the Captain Sabertooth brand is possible.
Firstly, in light of this study’s results, one might say that various aspects of the
encoding processes of the Captain Sabertooth products/texts, and the content and expressions
of these products/texts, have explanatory power when it comes to brand loyalty created
among the audience. These encoding processes and products/texts - accounting also for the
originator’s and producers’ frames of reference, the relations of productions, and technical
infrastructure that form interpretations - can be discussed in light of both synergies, inclusion,
and brand control. In these encoding processes, brand control might be the fundament for the
other two components two work properly. Further, the controlled co-working in production,
87
___________________________________________________________________________
promotion, and integrated marketing - fundamented to a large extent in including and
activating widely the audience, and at the same time empowering this inclusion/activation –
characterizes strongly the encoding processes. In other words, the encoding processes account
for organizational/marketing networking and audience inclusion working in concert, and this
concert takes place in – apart from an internal well-controlled framework - a general context
of commercialization and media convergence Further, this well-working concert might be an
absolute must – due to certain challenging characteristics of the same context. The media
context of today is characterized by a constant battle for market share – referred to by
Lindstrom & Seybold (2003)
as the “brand war room”. Additionaly, as emphasized
throughout this report, the consumerism of children involves more context variables than
those conditioned by the media – it involves institutional, relational, narrative, and economic
variables/sub-systems as well (La Ville, 2004). This complexity might be seen in light of a
more profound illustration of the commercial landscape of today, put forward by Hjemdahl
(2003). She discusses the new economy or the experience economy. According to her, this
economy is an economy where the producers aim at creating not only goods and services, but
also symbols, atmospheres, experiences, and happenings. She refers to Rolf Jensen (1999)
describing the trends of the new economy as developing from a society of information to a
society of dreams - where emotions, feelings, experiences, and stories connected to different
products are more important than the products themselves. Such an economy promotes
persons who are creative, playful, and fantasy oriented, and with the willingness to think big
and in new ways. Jensen (1999) claims that the two most important raw materials in the future
will be the image - which communicates feelings in a short time like a situation or a drama –
and the stories. To achieve success in a future market, argues Jensen (1999), it is of great
significance to be a good story teller. The stories and experiences have to be put into the
products you want to promote and sell.
The latter is exactly what Terje Formoe and his co-workers have done – resulting in
texts/products with a content that probably is fundamental for the brand loyalty and brand
equity created. The whole Captain Sabertooth success is to a large extent based on the stories
appearing for the first time on a theater scene in Kristiansand Zoo almost 18 years ago. Then,
these stories – always staying close to their origin, but also told in different ways – have been
put into various products presented in various media and various settings. The products/texts
– through their characteristics - seem to reflect synergies, inlusion, and control to the same
degree as their encoding processes.
88
___________________________________________________________________________
The last component of Stuart Halls (1980, see also Figre 1) model, that one which
accounts for decoding of the products/texts – mainly by the children, but also the people and
institutions surrounding them - is not studied to a large extent in this report. Still, this
component is situated at the cross roads of intermingled and often conflicting discourses –
discourses about children and commercialization, discourses about children and brands.
Captain Sabertooth can be related to the majority of these discourses. It is a brand heavily
discussed in the public, in light of it’s eventual commercialism – and in light of it’s young
target group’s eventual vulnerabilities. Parents, teachers in schools and kindergartens, and
music/literature critics, and researchers have all had their say during the last 17 years. As
Captain Sabertooth has become an increasingly bigger commercial success, these voices have
tended to become more negative-ladden. Terje Formoe and Captain Sabertooth have been
accused of increasing the buying pressure among children and their parents – and the stories
and songs have to a certain extent been considered – instead of artful expressions - nothing
less than cheap and simple commercial products (see Hjemdahl, 2003). Interestingly, though
– and absolutely worth mentioning: these accusations, even if often coming from researchers
themselves, are not grounded in research of the very phenomenon of Captain Sabertooth. As
stated previously, empirical research around Captain Sabertooth is more or less non-existent –
with the study performed by Hjemdahl (2003) as the single exception. In her project, she
takes the view of the children to discuss the Captain Sabertooth phenomenon She empasizes
some very important aspects when it comes to the discourse of children and their consumption
of commercial mediated products in general and Captain Sabertooth in particular. These
aspects will be discussed next – in the context of prevailing discourses about children and
commercialization.
5.2
Children and Decoding Processes – Are They Victims of a Commercial
and Manipulating Captain Sabertooth?
According to Kozloff (1987), strong narratives – commercial or non-commercial
- may run away with their events, characters, settings, and discourses – and they may sweep
the reader/viewer along too. In extreme cases, the narratives may even be so powerful and
omnipresent that they are an evil distraction from careful reasoning. Narratives may have a
“magnetic pull”. Could this have any relevance as regards children’s consuming of
entertainment products in general, and – in this case – Captain Sabertooth in particular? Or,
seen from an extreme point within Marxism: Is Captain Sabertooth a cultural artifact or a
89
___________________________________________________________________________
belief system typical of the new experience economy into which viewers/listeners/readers and
parents are bying? Are the ideology prevailing around Captain Sabertooth and other child
phenomena a false consciousness – which the subservient and vulnerable customers
mistakenly have adopted due to smart, diffuse, and sophisticated marketing? And, even more
importantly: Are children a particularly vulnerable and weak group when it comes to
consumption like that one surrounding Captain Sabertooth? If so, are these eventual
vulnerabilities and weaknesses central in the creation of brand loyalty to Captain Sabertooth
through synergies, inclusion, and control?
5.2.1
Different Discourses, Different Research Agendas
– And Different Representations
According to discourse theory – and in good keeping with the theory of uneven
development (see White, 1987) discussed in chapter 2 - the discourses that prevail in society
structure social contexts such as peer groups, family, and public spaces (Laclau & Mouffe,
1985). Even if there will always be several competing discourses, it is usual that one or a few
discourses achieve a hegemonic position. An example of such a hegemonic discourse is the
one which has been based on the perception of children as different from other media
audience groups, and which assumes that they are particularly vulnerable to, for instance,
commercial messages. According to Rydin (2003), a dominant view in media research also
has been that of childhood as a transitional phase – a phase that must be passed before
entering adulthood. One of the consequences of this has been that children often are regarded
as vulnerable victims of influences, instead of active agents. The emphasize has been on the
developing child instead of the social child, and a perspective grounded in essentialism has
been taken most often as a base for research. The diciplines of biology, psychology,
pedagogy, and sociology have tended to be confirming for the assumption that children are
best understood by looking at the differences between children and adults. This trend was a
dominant perspective for years and determined the research agenda, resulting in many effect
studies - where the recurring focus has been on the television and it’s potential negative
effects on children (Buckingham, 1993; Hagen, 2000; Hake, 2003; Olesen, 2003).
Gradually, there has also emerged another discourse, giving space to media reception
research. The focus has changed from the text (and it’s effects) to the recipient, giving the
latter a more active and competent role – children as well as adults. We might say that there
has taken place a constructivistic turn in the research and the general representation of the
media audience (Olesen, 2003). Instrumental in extending our understanding of age-related
90
___________________________________________________________________________
differences
in
children’s
responses
to
mediated
advertizing
has
been
Piaget’s
conceptualization of children’s cognitive abilities and the research based on his work. Piaget
explains age differences in information processing in terms of stages. In his theories the
cognitive structures indicate limits on chilren’s capacities in information processing, but the
theories have often been criticized for not explaining how or why children process information
within these limits. The mechanistic details are lacking (Ginsburg & Opper, 1988; Roedder,
1981).One approach which has emerged to provide these mechanistic details lacking in
Piaget’s theories, is information processing theory. The information processing approach
interprets the age differences in children’s reactions to mediated advertizing in terms of their
cognitive abilities to store and retrieve information. According to Roedder (1981), speaking
from the view of information processing, a documented short-coming of children in their
meeting with commercial messages is their failure to evoke and use cognitive plans for
information storing and information retrieving. Roedder (1981) refers to two kinds of shortcomings, namely production deficiencies and mediational deficiencies. Production
deficiencies mean that the child is able to use storage and retrieval strategies, but only when
they are promted to do so. Mediation deficiencies mean that the child can follow instructions
to use storage and retrieval strategies, but cannot use these strategies to enhance remembering.
In her paper, Roedder (1981) distinguishes between three different types of processors, all
reflecting different processing deficiencies; namely strategic, cued, and limited processors.
The strategic processors are older children (10/11+ years old) that typically use the skills
necessary to store and retrieve informaion. The cued processors are younger children (5/610/11 years old) that exhibit production deficiencies. They are capable of using storing and
retrieval strategies only when promted to do so. The youngest children (-5/6 years old) are
limited processors and exhibit mediational deficiencies. Even when promted to do so, they
cannot use storage and retrieval strategies to enhance learning.
In thread with the constructivist perspective, the approaches of Piaget (Ginsburg &
Opper, 1988) and the information processing theories by Roedder (1981) presented above
conceive of the children as active cognitive agents, structuring meaning from mediated
commercial texts. In many ways, this picture of the cognitively active and manipulating child
contrasts with the essentialized, weak, and vulnerable child often presented in the effect
research earlier. But still, this model is also more or less essentializing. It is relating the
cognitive abilities and development to age stages, and by this they might seem to
communicate a “universal law” about at which age the child will be able to understand in an
appropriate way certain commercial messages. The younger the child, the less developed the
91
___________________________________________________________________________
cognitive abilities to deal with incoming information and structure meaning, and therefore;
the younger the child, the more vulnerable it is when confronted with commercial material.
Roedder (1981) gives minimal space to contextual variables; the child and the commercial
message are more or less considered to find themselves within a “social vacuum”. The social,
cultural, and historical contexts are not given much space in the models. Essentialism and
constructivism in many ways are two quite different perspectives, but they converge in
marginalizing the dimensions of time and space (Olesen, 2003). In other words; the cognitive
models of Piaget (Ginsburg & Opper, 1988) and Roedder (1981)
are in keeping with
essentialism because they emphasize the universally childlike, and with constructivism by
emphasizing the actor status restricted to the situational moment
Based on models like those put forward by Piaget (Ginsburg & Opper, 1988) and
Roedder (1981), some might conclude that the children, even if actively manipulating the
incoming commercial informatiom and despite the fact that they from a rather early age may
show a high degree of scepticism, cynicism, and perspective taking (see also Buckingham,
1993), have quite limited interpretetive abilities compared to grown-ups, and that they
because of that are vulnerable and susceptible in a commercial world. The models
communicate that younger children in particular may not have the necessary cognitive tools to
deal with mediated commercial material in an optimal and critical way. This is certainly
important to bear in mind, especially in these days when – generally speaking - increasingly
younger children are considered as a potential source of profit by producers and promoters
(BFD, 2001, Hjemdahl, 2003). This is also important to bear in mind related to a concept
culture like that one of Captain Sabertooth. As we have seen from this study, Captain
Sabertooth is in good keeping with the new trends within marketing – in which the boarders
between commercial and non-commercial content are increasingly blurred. Stories are put
into commercial as well as non-commercial products, and therefore the real and concrete
commercialism might be hard to identify. The concept culture of Captain Sabertooth accounts
for the smallest children, or – seen in light of Roedder’s (1981) framework – the limited
processors and the youngest of the cued processors. In other words, the Captain Sabertooth
phenomenon encompasses children who – in research terms – are considered to have
mediational and production deficiences in their relation to media messages. Such deficiences
might for instance make it harder for them distinguishing between editorial/commercial and
entertainment content; distinguishing marketing and non-marketing.
92
___________________________________________________________________________
5.2.2 A Call for Context Variables
However, it has been argued from more than one part that the abovementioned models
hardly give a complete description. Buckingham (1993) and Rydin (2003) suggest that the
cognitive approaches which often focuse on understanding/comprehension, might be a little
bit too narrow, because children’s media use involves affective and emotional processes as
well. In an empirical study conducted by Buckingham (1993), there were noticed several
responses from the children exposed to media messages which rarely are articulated
explicitly, for instance enthusiasm about ads were conveyed through laughter, singing along,
or miming and acting out what happened. In general, these responses appeared to be
unconnected with the concrete advertized product – they were more connected to the social
contexts of advertizing (see also Seiter, 1993). This should be seen in light of the study of
Captain Sabertooth conducted by Hjemdahl (2003). In her phenomenological study she
follows the children in their daily relations to this pirate’s world – inside and outside of the
theme park of Kristiansand Zoo. By studying children’s decoding processes related to
Captain Sabertooth she conveys how Captain Sabertooth accounts for more than
consumerism and marketing. According to her, the Captain Sabertooth products are like an
entrance to new and strange adventurous worlds for the children – where they actively “play
out” the stories on which the products are based. These “playing out processes” are all
different and experienced differently from child to child, much depending on their daily social
and cultural contexts and their life stories.
Buckingham, Banaji, Burn, Carr, Cranmer, & Willett (2004) discuss these themes
more profoundly. They argue that “dealing” with a mediated message involves more than
protecting oneself from potential negative effects. There are a wealth of emotional,
entertaining, and cultural aspects of the commercial everyday life of the children – and these
aspects, argue Buckingham et al. (2004), often have been overseen in the child media
research. They emphasize that the children’s ability to understand and interprete mediated
messages, or their media literacy, apart from having the biological, age-related, and cognitive
components already described, also is considerably influenced by the historical, cultural, and
social context, and have emotional and affective aspects connected. They argue that this
research area is still in it’s infany, and that the relationship between biological, cognitive, and
social components has to be more concretely determined in the future. For example there is
still not much research on children’s relationship to new media like the Internet (see also
Nysveen & Pedersen, 2002), especially when it comes to their understanding of commercial
content. Yet, they have a rather optimistic view on children and their abilities. For instance,
93
___________________________________________________________________________
they consider it quite probable that children will be increasingly more sophisticated and
critical media users as their everyday life is filled more and more with commercial media
messages. Because of that, they hypothesize that the generation of tomorrow will have a
higher degree of media literacy and be more critical and sophisticated than the generation of
today, and that the generation of today is more critical and sophisticated than the generation
of yesterday. They also argue that certain aspects of the new media are developing the child
by activating them. They use the construction of web pages as an example. Children who
become good at constructing web pages, according to Buckingham et al. (2004), might
develop a critial attitude to other web pages they will meet when navigating on the web and
make them more critical media users, for instance when confronted with commercial content
on these web pages.
In good keeping with the abovementioned thoughts, are some reflections originating
from Kline (1993). According to him, there is a big hole in the research when it comes to the
social processes of commercialization among children; for instance the social processes
related to shopping, toys, television, music, and economics. Kline (1993) argues that these
social processes might play a crucial role in children’s development. According to Olesen
(2003), children might appear as a distinct group with special traits, but this is not due to their
inherent psychological, or biological make up and cognitive understanding, but is due to
social and cultural processes.
It is claimed that the recent ethnographic turn in media research, where media use is
studied as an interpretetive process embedded in wider cultural and social contexts, has not
influenced children media research. Ethnographic studies in media research are studies of the
everyday life of the audience and how the media use is integrated into their social and cultural
relations, for instance a study like that one conducted by Hjemdahl (2003). Still there is a lack
of such research related to children (Buckingham et al., 2004; Hjemdahl, 2003; Olesen, 2003).
The models presented so far often describe the children as cognitive agents, but it is suggested
that the picture would be more complete if the children could be considered more as social
and cultural agents as well. The dominant discourses focusing on children’s development
through stages and ages tend to emphasize most what the children are not and what they are
yet to become. According to Buckingham (1993), this essentialist perspective has been
important to gain a better understanding of children and the use of media, but still: it’s narrow
focus might often obscure the complexity of the research field and prevent a greater in-depth
exploration of what the children themselves have to say about their relationship with media
and the text messages they meet there. According to the new discourses and trends, it is of
94
___________________________________________________________________________
greater relevance to conceive of the children as citizens of today, and to consider the use of
media as an integral part of their everyday life. This may make the picture of the child
consumer more complete.
In other words, at this point of time we probably should be careful claiming too much
about children’s reception and decoding of Captain Sabertooth as a media product. There are
so many aspects of these processes yet to be studied, and therefore it might be difficult to
know if children’s eventual vulnerability to commercial products - due to cognitive,
biological, and/or social short-comings – has played a certain role in the brand loyalty created
to Captain Sabertooth. Still we know too little about these Norwegian children about which
we are talking. What we might claim, is that the Captain Sabertooth phenomenon, compared
to other crazes to which it can be related, actually has some considerable non-commercial
aspects connected to it. The small amount of research which is already available, indicates
that the play surrounding this brand, is a quite non-manipulated one – and maybe also a noncommercial one (Hjemdahl, 2003). Sure, the theater shows, the CDs, the DVDs, the computer
games, and all the spin-offs have a price connected, and as we have seen, Terje Formoe and
the rest of the network behind the products have been clever in spreading the stories across
media boaders and different settings, and in that way earned more money But still, the play
surrounding the stories and universe presented by Terje Formoe, does not necessarily have a
price in money. This comes to the surface in Hjemdahl’s report (2003). During her
observations in a Norwegian kindergarten, she found children playing Captain Sabertooth all
day long, but this play was not a play conditioned by their parents’ willingness or possibilities
to spend money on Captain Sabertooth, into which only those having the “right spin-offs”
could enter. In fact, the play could take place without any spin-offs at all; the play was instead
often based on the familiar body language, songs, and expressions from the stories. The
children could “play out” the stories even without bringing with them swords, hats,
binoculars, or other stuff that their parents might have bought them. A comparison with the
craze of Pokèmon should be fruitful related to this. A striking difference between Captain
Sabertooth and Pokèmon, is that the former to a much larger extent can be made sense of in
terms of one or a few original texts and spin-offs coming later exploiting the success. As
regards Pokèmon, the “source texts” are much harder to identify. As emphasized also by
Buckingham & Sefton-Green (2004), it seems much more being planned as a cross-media
product from the beginning, placing a premium on collecting – both in terms of the different
species within the texts (the game, cartoons etc.) and of different physical commodities as the
cards and the merchandize. Seen in light of this, one might also consider the play related to
95
___________________________________________________________________________
Captain Sabertooth as much less constrained on the part of it’s creators. The processes
surrounding both Pokèmon and Captain Sabertooth have children’s activity (or agency) as an
indispensable part of them – yes, in fact they probably depend upon activity. But still, the
activities related to the two phenomena seem to be of rather different natures. One might say
that the play surrounding Captain Sabertooth is complemented or extended by the various
spin-offs (see also Hjemdahl, 2004), while the Pokèmon play is completely dependent on
them. The doing of Pokèmon which is required on the part of the children is, according to
Buckingham & Sefton-Green (2004), highly dictated by forces beyond their control. The
practices surrounding the trading cards are to a large extent determined by the designers and
also the market that made them available in the first place. The practices surrounding Captain
Sabertooth seem much more open to negotiation and change. Seen economically, the play of
Captain Sabertooth appears to be easier for “everybody” to enter, it may seem more
including. This makes me ponder the following question: Is it really due to commercial
manipulation on the part of the designers and the producers of Captain Sabertooth that the
children take him to their heart? Are eventual commercial manipulations and children’s
eventual vulnerabilities to these really fundamental in the creation of the brand loyalty to
Captain Sabertooth? I doubt it. But still, more phenomenological studies of the Norwegian
children consuming it, would be necessary to get a better picture and better possibilities to
answer these questions.
6 FINAL METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Some important points from Strauss & Corbin (1998) should be taken into
consideration at the end of this study.
6.1
Sensitivity vs Objectivity
As emphasized earlier, analysis and gathering of data was performed parallelly during
my study of Captain Sabertooth. My analysis started with the first interview and with some
observations, then I went on to more interviews and more observations based on my first
analysis. Then more analysis, then more interviews and observations, and so on. As stated
earlier, I wanted to create a process in which the data guided me all the way until arriving
upon a final theoretical framework. Contemporaneouly, the data gathered and my
observations of these, guided me all the way in my choice of literature readings. All the way
along the literature and the existing theories I chose to focus on, were grounded in my
96
___________________________________________________________________________
observations and interpretations of the data gathered. In such a process an interplay between
me as a researcher and the material under study is created. Strauss & Corbin (1998)
emphasizes that such an interplay makes the researcher sensitive to the issues and problems of
the persons or places being studied. The problem in this process could easily be to maintain a
balance between sensitivity and objectivity. As argues Strauss & Corbin (1998), objectivity is
very necessary to interprete events impartially and accurately. At the same time, sensitivity is
fundamental to perceive the subtle nuances and meanings in data and to recognize the
connections between concepts. Both objectivity and sensitivity are necessary to make
discoveries, but these two fundaments in theory building do not always collaborate. This is
very important to bear in mind – yes, perhaps particularly in a study like this one of Captain
Sabertooth, during which I have tried to gain some of my understanding of the pheonomenon
by listening to music, watching movies, and reading comics. What if I have been swept along
with narratives as well – just like so many children might have been (see Kozloff, 1987)?
That may have increased my sensitivity but obscured my objectivity. Or, contrarily, what if I
only to a limited extent have succeeded in entering the universe of Captain Sabertooth, seeing
it too much from outside – for instance by not letting in the children themselves or their
parents in the study? This may have increased the objectivity of my results, but at the same
time restricted me from seeing crucial nuances and meanings playing an important part in the
creation of brand loyalty to Captain Sabertooth.
The balance between objectivity and sensitiviy is a hard one, and therefore this study,
like many others, for sure has some weak points. Still, I have tried to avoid these traps as far
as possible by approaching the whole phenomenon from different angles. To use diverse
methodological approaches may be a way to achieve objectivity without restricting the
sensitivity. Additionaly, according to Strauss & Corbin (1998), all researchers carry with
them some recognized and unrecognized assumptions (forming our approach to the data)
which have to be dealt with to make any advantages in knowledge. The potential meaning
distortion due to human elements in analysis has been taken into consideration as far as
possible in my study. I have as a consequence, apart from using different methodological
approaches, constantly compared one piece of data to another – all grounded in a wish to
validate my interpretations
97
___________________________________________________________________________
6.2
Concepts from the Literature
In this study three main categories appeared to have explanatory power as regards
brand loyalty to Captain Sabertooth; 1) “Synergies”, 2) “Inclusion”, and 3) “Brand Control”.
The first one of these, and maybe also the third one, are established concept(s) figuring
frequently in the research literature about brand loyalty in general (e.g. Wasko, 2001). Strauss
& Corbin (1998) discuss the use of established concepts in qualitative research. They
emphasize that this may be valuable; development of such concepts may be taken further
making them more important for the profession or discipline. At the same time, they argue,
“borrowing” concepts may pose a serious problem. Because borrowed concepts not rarely
bring with them commonly held meanings and associations; certain images might come to our
mind when we think about them. This could bias the researcher’s interpretations of data and
prevent him/her and the readers from seeing what is new in the data. I hope that I have used
established concepts with care during my study; I have tried to the utmost to make certain that
these concepts really are embodied in the data, and I have tried to be precise about their
meanings when it comes to similarities to, differences from, and extensions of established
concepts.
6.3
Saturation?
According to Strauss & Corbin (1998), a category is saturated when no new
properties, dimensions, conditions, actions/interactions, or consequences are found in the
data. Further they argue that this statement is a matter of degree, and that in reality it would
always be possible to find new properties and dimensions if looking long and hard enough.
Saturation is more a point where new data do not add that much to the categories’ explanatory
power; or when more data gathering seems conterproductive. Saturation may also be the point
when the researcher has no more time or money. My saturation point suits mainly the last
description, particularly because Captain Sabertooth is studied to such a limited extent earlier.
A larger study also accounting more for the brand’s audience and the “decoding processes”
(see Figure 1; Hagen, 2000; Hall, 1980), would probably be very fruitful to get better
developed categories – or potentially even new categories with new relationships between
them. In that way, the brand loyalty to Captain Sabertooth might have been even more deeply
understood.
98
___________________________________________________________________________
7 CONCLUDING REMARKS
This research project has sought to understand the fundaments of the brand loyalty to
Captain Sabertooth among Norwegian children. In a globalizing and commercializing
country like Norway – characterized by media convergence and the proliferation of
experience economy – Terje Formoe and his collaborators have created an increasingly
stronger brand. The adventure of Captain Sabertooth has turned into a children’s classic,
being passed on from one generation to the next.
Grounded in the data material of my project, I have come up with a theoretical
synthesis of three categories in light of which the brand loyalty to Captain Sabertooth may be
understood more deeply (see Figure 4). Firstly, the category of “Synergies” accounts for the
networking between organizations and units when it comes to production and marketing. This
networking crosses media boarders, laying the foundations for iterative, flexible, and
interactive production and promotion plans, and making it possible for the children and their
parents to experience the Captain Sabertooth brand through various and complementing
channels. An effect of this may be synergies between their senses, which implies an even
stronger and more powerful experience. Secondly – and accounted for by the category of
“Inclusion” - the network around the brand and the content of it’s products/texts have a very
including nature. The synergies make this inclusion aspect stronger, and additionaly the
inclusion aspect is in itself a fundament for the synergying activities to take place. First of all,
it is including because of the wide spectrum of audience(s) it communicates to. Both boys and
girls are given space in the stories and the play surrounding them, and through (inter-)textual
associations – both obvious and obscure ones – parents and grandparents are included as well
The including nature is further reflected through the very easy reach within which the whole
universe of Captain Sabertooth is for the audience. Concepts like presence, closeness, and
identification are probably fundamental to discuss and develop when explaining this brand’s
expression and consumption. Captain Sabertooth’s including nature paws the way for a
crucial audience activation. It becomes possible for the children themselves to enter an
adventurous universe and create their own meanings from it. Like related and more worldspanning crazes, Captain Sabertooth is not merely a set of objects possible to isolate and
analyze critically. Contrarily, it should be approached as a cultural practice. Captain
Sabertooth is something being done, not just something being watched, read, or consumed. It
is a product requiring activity on the part of the children. The activity and
99
___________________________________________________________________________
involvement/inclusion
created around the brand, is partially made possible by the
phenomenon’s cross-media properties, which make the shift between active and passive
media possible. Finally – and accounted for by the category of “Brand Control” - Terje
Formoe has succeeded in casting a broad net of communication channels without losing
control of his brand – both when it comes to it’s structure and it’s content. He has been
careful in choosing the right partners and creating the right brand alliances. An orientation
towards the source text of his products has been – and still is – a crucial aspext of the
development of his brand. The control component of the brand building behind Captain
Sabertooth, might be considered as the glue keeping in place the two interrelated components
of synergies and inclusion – or the glue keeping in place the framework of structures and
processes fundamental in the loyalty creation around the Captain Sabertooth brand. In other
words, the “Brand Control” emerges as the core category of this study’s resulting theoretical
framework; a fundament necessary for all the other components of brand loyalty building to
function properly.
Overally, Terje Formoe and his partners communicate more through the concrete
stories and the predictable (though exciting) universe which these stories account for, than
through direct visible marketing and massive promotion campaigns. The well-controlled
network around Captain Sabertooth seems to aim more at “no-cost” promotion through wordof-mouth and press coverage, than expensive campaigns of marketing. The commerical
aspects of Captain Sabertooth have been exposed to criticism for many years in Norway.
Those commercial aspects addressed through the criticism, are aspects to be aware of maybe particularly because a major part of the target group is very young and exhibit certain
cognitive short-comings - and it is evident that Terje Formoe has been a clever business man
at the same time as being a clever author and singer. However – grounded in the results of this
study - I do not think Captain Sabertooth would still be alive if Terje Formoe’s intentions
from the very onset were mainly commercial ones. If so, I guess the “Sabertooth market”
would have been saturated a long time ago and the brand’s source texts would have been
completely dissolved – just like what has happened to Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles, Pokèmon, Spice Girls, and Britney Spears before it. It might be hard to believe him
when Terje Formoe talks about his non-commercial intentions – it might be hard to believe
him more than anything because he actually has experienced a huge commercial success. But
studying the processes of brand building and brand loyalty related to Captain Sabertooth in
light of other surrounding brand building processes targeting children – might alternate the
fully-commercial picture often drawn by it’s critics.
100
___________________________________________________________________________
The brand loyalty to Captain Sabertooth among Norwegian children might be
considered as the most crucial part of Terje Formoe’s fundament when he seeks to develop
further his brand – in a social formation of globalization and media convergence. Reaching
new costumers should usually be a more expensive task than keeping old ones – particularly
when these old costumers are content with the brand. Having a loyal audience, Terje Formoe
has an advantage when confronted with competitors – who might feel discouraged when
considering the huge amount of resources (of both psychological, social, educational, and
financial nature) required to attract this particular audience. In fact, one might claim that a
well-established brand loyalty does not only increase brand equity directly, but also indirectly
through influencing other assets of brand equity, for instance perceived quality or brand
awareness. To a large extent these are assets based on expectations and familiarity – aspects
of consumption which should be considered central in brand loyalty. In other words, the
strong brand loyalty among Captain Sabertooth’s audience is directly contributing to a higher
brand equity, and it is also there as a fundament to increase this equity through various other
assets/channels. Additionaly, the influence may go the other way around as well. The brand
loyalty in itself can easily be empowered by increased brand equity – for instance due to an
improvement in product quality.
These considerations about brand building and brand loyalty related to Captain
Sabertooth may have some explanatory power when it comes to the long life-span of the
phenomenon. Ever since his first success, Terje Formoe seems to have used a success as a
fundament for a new success. He has constantly improved the quality and equity of the brand
and the loyalty among the audience has increased. Then this increased loyalty has been used
as a new fundament for an even bigger success – with increased quality….leading to
increased loyality…and so on. Now he finds himself preparing a globalization of his brand – a
process which inevitably will challenge and complicate the relationships between components
of the brand building like synergies, inclusion, and control. A globalization of Captain
Saberooth might imply a diluted glue between these three components of the brand building
process – due to an enlarged area to be controlled. However, a Norwegian brand loyalty
established through 18 years, and a concept now being passed on from one Norwegian
generation to the next, should at least be considered a good point of departure.
Further, the three categories related to brand loyalty arrived upon during my work,
should be discussed in light of the larger project Consuming Children. Commercialization and
101
___________________________________________________________________________
the Changing Constructions of Childhood – of which it is a part. As emphasized in the
introduction chapter, this is a project seeking to integrate three aspects of childhood
commercialization: marketing, the cultural products/texts, and the consumer. With my
research project of Captain Sabertooth I have sought to shed some light on all these three
aspects – adding empirical information to the former two. The aspects of marketing and
cultural products/texts might correspond with the encoding and text components respectively
of the framework of communication (see Figure 1: Hagen, 2000) into which I have sought to
situate this study’s results. More specifically - and seen in light of sub-project 1b) – my
results might tell something about contemporary practices in Norwegian children’s consumer
culture. Synergies, inclusion strategies, and brand control are important aspects of the
encoding of cultural texts and the content of these – or: they are important aspects of the
marketing of the cultural texts. Overally, these three categories should be considered relevant
concepts with explanatory power when it comes to brand building and brand loyalty The
ability to employ various channels accounting for networking across units, organizations, and
media boarders seems to be a fundament also in all the the other phenomena discussed related
to Captain Sabertooth. The same might go for the strategy of inclusion – which is rooted in
certain assumptions about the children on the part of producers and promotors: The potential
consumers are taken seriously, and the stories and songs put into various products take the
viewpoint of the children instead of “talking down” at them. As regards Captain Sabertooth,
the component of inclusion should be considered as accounting for the parents as well. When
communicating to the youngest group of children, it is probably essential to involve the
parents in this communication. This has been done successfully by Terje Formoe – both at
organizational level and textual level.
The limitations inherent in this study present opportunities for future research. To
make the communication framework of Captain Sabertooth more complete and illustrative,
empirical research involving the children themselves should be conducted to a larger extent.
Knowledge of children’s way of using and interpretating Captain Sabertooth might increase
the knowledge about the other components of the communication framework as well – and it
might increase the knowledge about these components’ interactions.
Additionaly, this study has used as points of departure mainly frameworks and
conceptualizations seeking to understand children’s consumerism from a managerial
standpoint. The methodological approaches were chosen to cover as far as possible subsystems of children’s consumerism like the relational, institutional, plurimedia, narrative, and
102
___________________________________________________________________________
economic system – seen from a managerial point of view. The understanding of these subsystems could be further developed by taking different kinds of approaches. To get a more
complete understanding of the sub-systems’ relations to the brand and brand loyalty, a more
“decoding-oriented” study – involving the children themselves - should be conducted. This
might add further knowledge about the children’s culture surrounding Captain Sabertooth –
and other cultures surrounding other related phenomena.
The social and psychological
aspects of processes like inclusion and identification connected to a brand – and the aspects of
marketing based on peer influence and word-of-mouth - should possibly be more deeply
understood.
103
___________________________________________________________________________
7 REFERENCES
Aaker, D., A. (1991). Managing Brand Equity: Capitalizing on the value of a brand name.
New York: The Free Press.
Adler, N., Doktor, R., & Redding, S. (1986). From the Atlantic to the Pacific century: Crosscultural management reviewed. Journal of Management, 12, 295-318.
Allison, A. (2004). Cuteness as Japan’s millennial product. In J. Tobin (Ed), Pikachu’s global
adventure. The rise and fall of Pokèmon (34-52). Durham and London: Duke
University Press.
Althusser, L. (1970). For Marx, trans. Ben Brewster. New York: Vintage Books.
Asbjørnsen, P., C., & Moe, J. (1975). Samlede eventyr (1,2 og 3). Oslo: Gyldendal NF.
Beyer, H., & Beyer, B. (1970). Norsk litteraturhistorie. Oslo: Aschehoug & Co.
BFD, Barne- og familiedepartementet (2001). Oppvekst med prislapp? Om kommersialisering
og kjøpepress mot barn og unge. NOU. Barne- og familiedepartementet. Downloaded
18th of February, 2006, from
http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dokumentarkiv/Regjeringen-Stoltenberg-I/Barne--ogfamiliedepartementet/242324/244138/oppvekst_med_prislapp.html?id=244999
BFD, Barne- og familiedepartementet (2003) Nei til kommersielt press mot barn og unge –
Tiltaksplan. Q-1052B. (No to commercial pressure against children and young people
– an action plan / The Ministry of Child and Family Affairs)
BFD, Barne- og familiedepartementet (2005) Satsing på barn og ungdom. Regjerningens mål
og innsatsområder i statsbudsjettet 2005.
Bjørnson, B. (1932). Bjørnsons samlede verker (bind 1). Oslo: Gyldendal NF.
Buckingham, D. (1993). Children talking television. The making of television literacy.
104
___________________________________________________________________________
London: The Falmer Press.
Buckingham, D., Davies, H., Jones, K., & Kelley, P. (1999). Children`s television in Britain.
London, NJ: British Film Institute.
Buckingham, D., Banaji, S., Burn, A., Carr, D., Cranmer, S., & Willett, R. (2004). The media
literacy of children and young people. A review of the research litterature on behalf of
Ofcom. Ofcom. Downloaded 3rd of April, 2006, from
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/advice/media_literacy/medlitpub/medlitpubrss/
Buckingham, D., & Sefton-Green, J. (2004). Structure, agency, and pedagogy in children’s
media culture. In J. Tobin (Ed), Pikachu’s global adventure. The rise and fall of
Pokèmon (12-33). Durham and London: Duke University Press.
Burn, A. (2005). Potter-Literacy – from book to game and back again; literature, film, game
and cross-media literacy, Explorations into Children’s Literature, 14 (3).
Cassell, J., & Jenkins, H. (1998). From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and computer
games. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Charmaz, K. (2003). Grounded Theory. In J. A. Smith (Ed.), Qualitative Psychology: A
Practical Guide to Research Methods (81-110). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Cushman, D., & King, S. (1993). High-speed management: A revolution in organizational
communication in the 1990s. In S., A. Deetz (Ed.), Communication yearbook 16 (209236). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
de Saussure, F. (1966). Course in general linguistics. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Eco, U. (1976). A theory of semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University.
Egner, T. (1955). Folk og røvere i Kardemommeby. Oslo: Cappelen.
Farquhar, Peter H. 1989. Managing Brand Equity. Marketing Research, 1 (3), 24-33.
105
___________________________________________________________________________
Ginsburg, H., P., & Opper, S. (1988). Piaget’s theory of intellectual development. Englewood
Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Haddon, L (2004). Information and communication technologies in everyday life. A concise
introduction and research guide. New York: Berg.
Hagen, I. (2000). Medias publikum. Frå mottakar til brukar? Oslo: Ad Notam, Gyldendal.
Hagen, I. (2001). Norway – Norwegian memories of the Disney universe. In J. Wasko, M.
Phillips, & E., R. Meehan (Eds), Dazzled by Disney? (222-256). New York, NJ:
Leicester University Press.
Hake, K. (2003). Five-Year-Olds’ Fascination for Television. A comparative Study. In I.
Rydin (Ed), Media Fascinations. Perspectives on young people’s meaning making
(31-49). Göteborg: Nordicom.
Hall, S. (1980): Encoding/Decoding. In S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe, & Paul Willis
(Eds), Culture, Media, Language (128-139). Birmingham: Routledge.
Hatim, B., & Mason, I. (1990). Discourse and the translator. London: Longman.
Hem, L., E., & Iversen, N., M. (2004). Perspektiver på merkevareledelse. Bergen:
Fagbokforlaget Vigmostad & Bjørke A/S.
Hjemdahl, K., M. (2003). Tur-retur temapark. Kristiansand: Høyskoleforlaget.
Iwabuchi, K. (2004). How “Japanese” is Pokèmon? In J. Tobin (Ed), Pikachu’s global
adventure. The rise and fall of Pokèmon (53-79). Durham and London: Duke
University Press.
Jenssen, R. (1999). The dream society. Hvordan det kommende skift fra facts til følelser vil
påvirke erhvervslivet og vor hverdag. Danmark: Jyllands-Postens Erhvervsbøker.
106
___________________________________________________________________________
Katsuno, H., & Maret, J. (2004). Localizing the Pokèmon series for the American market. In
J. Tobin (Ed), Pikachu’s global adventure. The rise and fall of Pokèmon (80-107).
Durham and London: Duke University Press.
Keller, K., L. (2003). Strategic Brand Management. Building, Measuring and Managing
Brand Equity. 2nd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Kinder, M. (1991). Playing with power in movies, television, and video games. From Muppet
Babies to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of
California Press.
Kjørstad, I. (2000): Barn og Internett-reklame, Rapport nr. 3, SIFO. Downloaded 11th of June,
2007, from
http://www.sifo.no/page/preview/preview/10081/48442.html
Kline, S. (1993). Out of the Garden. Toys, TV and Children's Culture in the Age of
Marketing. New York, NJ: Verso.
Kozloff, S., R. (1987). Narrative theory and television. In R., C. Allen (Ed), Channels of
discourse. Television and contemporary criticism (42-73). Chapel Hill and London:
The University of North Carolina Press.
Laclau, E., & Mouffe, C. (1985). Hegemony and socialist strategy. Towards a radical
democratic politics. London: Verso.
La Ville, V., I. (2004). L’activitè de consommation enfantine: les prèmices d’un dialogue
transdisciplinaire? In N. Diasio (Ed), Au palaise de dame tartine – Regards
Europèens sur la consommation enfantine (27-41). Paris: L’Harmattan.
Lindstrom, M., & Seybold, P. B. (2003). Brand child. Remarkable insights into the minds of
today’s global kids and their relationships with brands. UK: Kogan Page Ltd.
107
___________________________________________________________________________
Nysveen, H., & Pedersen, P., F. (2002). Individual and cross media communication in
converging media environments. A review of research on the antecedents and effects
using various media in marketing contexts. Downloaded 1st of November, 2006, from
http://bora.nhh.no/bitstream/2330/832/1/A65_02.pdf
Olesen, J. (2003). Why Do We Study Children’s Media Use the Way We Do? Discussions on
Methodological Reflexivity. In I. Rydin, (Ed), Media Fascinations. Perspectives on
Young People’s Meaning Making (15-29). Göteborg: Nordicom.
Poole, M., S. (1993). On the joys and sorrows of predicting the future of organizational
communication. In S., A. Deetz (Ed), Communication Yearbook 16 (247-251).
Newvbury Park, CA: Sage.
Roedder, J., L. (1981). Age Differences in Children’s Responses to Television
Advertising: An Information-Processing Approach. Journal of Consumer
Research, 8, 144-163.
Rydin, I. (2003). Introduction. In I. Rydin (Ed), Media Fascinations. Perspectives on
Young People’s Meaning Making (9-14). Göteborg: Nordicom.
Samuelsen, B., M., Peretz, A., & Olsen L., E. (2007). Merkevareledelse på norsk.
Oslo: Cappelen Akademiske forlag.
Schultz, D., E. (1996). The inevitability of integrated communications. Journal of Business
Research, 37, 139-146.
Seibold, D., & Contractor, N. (1993). Issues for a theory of high-speed management. In S., A.
Deetz (Ed), Communication Yearbook 16 (237-246). Newvbury Park, CA: Sage.
108
___________________________________________________________________________
Seiter, E. (1987). Semiotics and television. In R., C.Allen (Ed), Channels of discourse.
Television and contemporary criticism (17-41). Chapel Hill and London: The
University of North Carolina Press.
Seiter, E. (1993). Sold separately: Parents and children in consumer culture. Brunswick,
NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Stohl, C. (2001). Globalizing organizational communication. In F., M. Jablin, & L. Putnam
(Eds). The New Handbook of Organizational Communication. (323-375). London:
Sage Publications.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research. London: Sage Publications
Ltd.
Tayeb, M., H. (1992). The global business environment. An Introduction. London: Sage
Publications.
Tobin, J. (2004). Pikachu’s global adventure. The rise and fall of Pokèmon. Durham and
London: Duke University Press.
Trompenaars, F. (1994). Riding the waves of culture: Understanding the diversity in global
business. Chicago: Irwin.
von Feilitzen, C. (2002). Times are changing and youth with them – on young people’s media
use in Sweden. In F. Hansen, J. Rasmussen, A. Martensen, & B. Tufte (Eds), Children
– consumption, advertising and media (91-108). Frederiksberg: Samfundslitteratur
Press.
Vygotsky, L. (1933/1985). Pensèe et langage. Paris: Editions Sociales.
Wasko, J. (2001). Understanding Disney. Cambridge, NJ: Polity Press.
109
___________________________________________________________________________
White, M. (1987). Ideological analysis and television. In R., C. Allen (Ed), Channels of
discourse.Television and contemporary criticism (134-171). Chapel Hill and London:
The University of North Carolina Press.
Yano, C., R. (2004). Attacks: anti-Pokèmon voices in global markets. In J. Tobin (Ed),
Pikachu’s global adventure. The rise and fall of Pokèmon (108-140). Durham and
London: Duke University Press.
110
___________________________________________________________________________
8. APPENDIX
APPENDIX A: QUALITATIVE DATA MATERIAL
Books
”Kaptein Sabeltann og Pinky på skattejakt i Kjuttaviga” (Captain Sabertooth and Tiny
Treasure Hunting in Luna Bay). Cappelen, Picture book illustrated by Egil Nyhus,
2005.
“Hiv O’ Hoi. Snart er skatten vår! Kaptein Sabeltann Sangbok 1” (Ship O’ Hoy. Captain
Sabertooth’s Songbook 1). Cappelen, Song Book illustrated by Egil Nyhus.
CD
“Hiv o'hoi!: Kaptein Sabeltanns favoritter” (Ship o’Hoy!: Captain Sabertooth’s Favourites).
Grappa, 2006.
Comics (“Kaptein Sabeltann”)
Number 5 2006, Egmont Serieforlaget
Christmas version 2006, Egmont Serieforlaget
Number 2 2007, Egmont Serieforlaget.
Electronic products
www.bakers.no Official web site of Bakers A/S
www.barneselskapet.no Official web site of Barneselskapet A/S
www.briobutikken.no Official web site of Brio Leker A/S
www.cappelen.no Official web site of Cappelen.Forlag.
www.captainsabertooth.com Official web site of Captain Sabertooth.
www.captainsabertoothmovies.com Captain Sabertooth site produced by the American
distributor of the cartoon Captain Sabertooth (2003).
http://home.disney.go.com/ Official web site of The Walt Disney Company.
www.dyreparken.com Official web site of Kristiansand Zoo.
www.gyldendal.no Official web site of Gyldendal NF.
www.leke-hobby.no Official web site of Leke-Hobby A/S.
www.norwegianchoice.no Official web site of Norwegian Choice A/S.
www.panvision.com Official web site of Panvision A/S.
http://www.Pokèmon.com/ Official web site of Pokèmon.
111
___________________________________________________________________________
www.skattejakt.no Interactive marketing activity.
www.toys.no Official web site of Toys R Us.
www.tsi.no Official web site of Torger S. Iversen A/S
DVDs
”Kaptein Sabeltann : jakten på den magiske diamant” (Captain Sabertooth: The Hunt for
the Magical Diamond). SF, 2003.
“Kaptein Sabeltann og Grusomme Gabriels skatt” (Captain Sabertooth and the Treasure of
Gory Gabriel). SF, 2005.
”Kaptein Sabeltann” (Captain Sabertooth). Cartoon, Seven Seas Production, 2003.
“Den Levende Parken”. Documentary about Kristiansand Zoo. Produced by Media Service
A/S, 2006.
“Pirates of the Carribean – Dead Man’s Chest”. Walt Disney Pictures, 2006.
Oral sources
Stig Bech. Publisher from Panvision A/S. Interviewed in Oslo 2007.
Elisabeth Brinch. Market Chief of Barneselskapet A/S/Egmont A/S. Interviewed in Oslo 2007
Terje Formoe. Copyright owner of Captain Sabertooth, and owner of the company Kaptein
Sabeltann A/S. Writer of more or less all the stories and songs of Captain Sabertooth.
Interviewed in Kristiansand 2006
Terje Formoe. Interviewed in Kristiansand 2007.
Reidar Fuglestad. At that time Managing Director of Kristiansand Zoo. Interviewed in Oslo
2007.
Jack Kristoffersen. Producer from Artplant A/S. Interviewed in Oslo 2007.
Helge Westbye.Manager of Piratprodukter A/S. Interviewed in Oslo 2007.
112
___________________________________________________________________________
APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW GUIDE
What kind of relation does Your company have to Captain Sabertooth?
Which niches of the child market are targeted with your Captain Sabertooth products
(gender, age, social background, etc)?
What kind of media are employed to promote and sell the products?
Are some of these media considered to be more powerful than others?
What assumptions about children as media users and consumers are taken by Your
company?
How do You gain info about the child market?
What are the most important points to bear in mind to keep hold of the customers?
How can a success story like that one of Captain Sabertooth be explained?
113
___________________________________________________________________________
APPENDIX C: CONFIRMATION FROM NSD - COPY OF LETTER IN
NORWEGIAN
114
___________________________________________________________________________
APPENDIX D: PROJECT PARTICIPANTS IN CONSUMING CHILDREN.
COMMERCIALIZATION AND THE CHANGING CONSTRUCTIONS OF
CHILDHOOD
Staff
Professor David Buckingham, NOSEB and University of London, Centre for the Study of
Children, Youth and Media, UK
Associate Professor Vebjørg Tingstad, NOSEB
Senior Researcher Tora Korsvold, NOSEB
Associate Professor Ingunn Hagen, Institute of Psychology, NTNU
Post doctoral student Gry Mette Haugen
PhD student Ingvild Kvale Sørenssen, NOSEB
MA student Linda Bomann, Institute of Sociology and Political Science, NTNU
MA student Øivind Nakken, Institute of Psychology, NTNU [email protected]
MA student Megan Sommer, NOSEB
Affiliated PhD-student Christan Dreier Eriksen, NOSEB
International collaborators
Andrew Burn, University of London, UK.
Daniel Thomas Cook, University of Illinois, USA.
Heinz Hengst, Hochschule Bremen, Germany.
115
___________________________________________________________________________
Barbro Johansson, Göteborg University, Sweden.
Joseph Tobin, University of Arizona, USA.
Valerie Inés de la Ville, University of Poitiérs, France.
Rebekah Willett, University of London, UK .
116
___________________________________________________________________________
APPENDIX E: A BRIEF SUMMARY OF CAPTAIN SABERTOOTH’S
HISTORY
1989:
- Terje Formoe writes Captain Sabertooth for the first time. Then he sits down lining up a
plan about how to make the brand known in Norway within three years.
1990:
- Only theater performed in Kristiansand Zoo
1991:
- Theater shows performed in Kristiansand Zoo. One night show.
- A cassette ia released locally in Kristiansand Zoo with the theater and the songs.
1992:
The theater shows are now only performed at night time.
-
Captain Sabertooth goes to television – first time ever “live” in front of 1,3 millions
viewers. Performs at the yearly “Spellemannsprisen” show at Chateau Neu in Oslo.
“Spellemannsprisen” is awarded yearly in Norway to great Norwegian musicians.
-
Released all over Norway: “Kaptein Sabeltann og skatten i Kjuttaviga” (Captain
Sabertooth and the Treasure in Luna Bay). CD with music and stories. This one sells to a
number of 62 000 the same year.
1993:
Theater shows performed in Kristiansand Zoo at night time.
-
Terje Formoe signs a deal with Kristiansand Zoo about the theater shows. Kristiansand
Zoo has up until now been sceptical about these shows’ potential.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann og 24 andre sanger” (Captain Sabertooth and other 24 songs), Song
Book.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann og skatten i Kjuttaviga” (Captain Sabertooth and the Treasure in
Luna Bay). VHS
117
___________________________________________________________________________
1994:
-
Theater shows in Kristiansand Zoo at night time.
-
Kristiansand Zoo with a benefit of 5 millions NOK.
-
Terje Formoe is awared the prize of “The Children LP of the Year” in Norway at the
yearly award of “Spellemannsprisen”.
-
The theater show “Grusomme Gabriels Skatt” (The Treasure of Gory Gabriel) in sold out
evenings. A computer game is later produced based on this story.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann og hemmeligheten i Kjuttaviga” (Captain Sabertooth and the Secret
in Luna Bay). Music CD.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann lukter gull1” (Captain Sabertooth Smells Gold). Book.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann og jakten på sultanens skatt!” (Captain Sabertooth and the Sultan’s
Treasure). Comic, illustrated by Morten Myklebust.
1995:
-
The divorce between Terje Formoe and Kristiansand Zoo.
-
Formoe and Captain Sabertooth go to. Asker. They achieve a huge success also there. 37
000 tickets sold.
-
Kristiansand Zoo contemporaneouly with a huge loss. 18 millions NOK.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann og Joachim: på eventyr med Den sorte dame” (Captain Sabertooth
and Joachim on Adventures with The Dark Lady). Picture book, illustrated by Morten
Myklebust.
1996:
-
Back in Kristiansand.
-
-
“Jakten på den magiske diamant” (Captain Sabertooth and the Magical Diamond). A CD
with the same name also released.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltanns store sangbok” (Captain Sabertooth’s Great Song Book). Illustrated
by Egil Nyhus.
118
___________________________________________________________________________
1997:
-
-
New aims: making Captain Sabertooth international. Interest from Holland as regards the
the international rights. Formoe says no.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann og den store ildprøven” (Captain Sabertooth and the Great Ordeal by
Fire). Interactive computer game, directed by Simen Svale Skogsrud.
1998:
-
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann. Drømmen om Kaptein Sabeltanns rike” (Captain Sabertooth: The
Dream about Captain Sabertooth’s Empire).VHS and later DVD (2001)
-
“Kaptein Sabeltanns verden” (Captain Sabertooth’s World). Double Music CD.
1999:
-
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann og den forheksede øya” (Captain Sabertooth and the Bewitched
Island). Music CD.
2000:
-
-
Reidar Fuglestad enters Kristiansand Zoo as Managing Director and signs a 15 year long
deal with Terje Formoe.
-
“Kaptein Sabeltann og den forheksede øya” (Captain Sabertooth and the Bewitched
Island). Music CD, double version.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann og hemmeligheten i Kjuttaviga” (Captain Sabertooth and the Secret
in Luna Bay). VHS and DVD.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann og den forheksede øya” (Captain Sabertooth and the Bewitched
Island). VHS and DVD.
119
___________________________________________________________________________
2001:
-
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann og gutten som ville bli sjørøver” (Captain Sabertooth and the Boy
who Wanted to be a Pirate). Illustrated by Gro Vik Fiadu and Morten Myklebust.
“Kaptein Sabeltann og heksegryta” (Captain Sabertooth and the Witches Cauldron).
Teem book with idea, text, and animation by Egil Nyhus.
2002:
-
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann og Sultanens skatt” (Captain Sabertooth and the Sultan’s Treasure).
CD.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann og jakten på den magiske diamant, ny versjon” Captain Sabertooth:
The Hunting for the Magical Diamond, new version). Music CD
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann : hvor er nøkkelen?” (Captain Sabertooth: Where’s the Key?). A teem
book with ideas, texts, and animations by Egil Nyhus.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann : jakten på den magiske diamant” (Captain Sabertooth and the
Magical Diamond) VHS and DVD
2003:
-
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann” (Captain Sabertooth) CD with movie sound track.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann og Pinky på tokt med Den sorte dame” (Captain Sabertooth and Tiny
on Adventures with The Dark Lady). Picture book illustrated by Egil Nyhus.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann” (Captain Sabertooth). Animated cinema movie, under Stig
Bergqvist’s direction. Later launched on DVD.
2004:
-
-
”Syng med og syng selv II”. (Sing along and Sing Yourself). Music CD.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann” (Captain Sabertooth). Computer game, produced by Panvision A/S
in Stockholm – in cooperation with Artplant A/S, based on Terje Formoe’s characters.
120
___________________________________________________________________________
2005:
-
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann og Pinky på skattejakt i Kjuttaviga” (Captain Sabertooth and Tiny
Treasure Hunting in Luna Bay). Picture book illustrated by Egil Nyhus.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltanns sangbok” (Captain Sabertooth’s Songbook). Illustrated by Egil
Nyhus.
-
”Kaptein Sabeltann og Grusomme Gabriels skatt” (Captain Sabertooth and the Treasure
of Gory Gabriel). DVD, filmed version of the show performed in Kristiansand Zoo during
the summer of 2004 and 2005.
2006:
-
-
“Hiv o'hoi!: Kaptein Sabeltanns favoritter” (Ship o’Hoy!: Captain Sabertooth’s
favourites). Music CD.
-
A monthly Captain Sabertooth comics is launched in 2006. The comics are written by
Dag E. Kolstad and animated by Arild Midthun, Asbjørn Tønnesen and Jimmy Wallin.
121
___________________________________________________________________________
APPENDIX F: SOME NETWORK COMPONENTS AROUND CAPTAIN
SABERTOOTH
Artplant A/S: Norwegian producer of computer games. Producer of the computer game in
2004. In cooperation with Panvision A/S.
Bakers A/S: Norwegian bakery. Producer of Captain Sabertooth bread
Barneselskapet A/S: A daughter company of Egmont A/S and Grappa Musikkforlag A/S.
Central in the marketing and distribution of CDs and songbooks.
Cappelen Forlag: Publishing house of books. Sells Captain Sabertooth books online and in
book stores.
Egmont A/S: Publishing house of comics. Produces the Captain Sabertooth comics – with
Dag Kolstad being the editor.
Grappa Musikkforlag A/S: Norwegian record company. Licensed owner of audio products
of Captain Sabertooth - like CDs and songbooks. Has also played a certain role also in the
production of the theater performances available on DVD’s
Gyldendal NF: Publishing house of books. Sells Captain Sabertooth books online and in
book stores.
Hennig Olsen IS A/S: Norwegian producer of ice cream. Produces a Captain Sabertooth ice
cream.
Kaptein Sabeltann A/S: The center of the network – represented and owned by Terje
Formoe. The base of story writing. The main unit of control and coordination.
Kristiansand Zoo A/S: A huge Norwegian theme park cooperating with Terje Formoe and
Piratprodukter A/S. The place of theater performances, spin-off shops, and restaurants. The
122
___________________________________________________________________________
place of Captain Sabertooth’s World. Accounts also for other entertainment areas and units –
and a zoo.
Norwegian Choice A/S: Norwegian producer of fish oil. Produces a Captain Sabertooth fish
oil.
NRK: The Norwegian public TV channel. Has broadcasted some of the theater performances
available on DVD’s
Panvision A/S: Norwegian publishing house. Licensed owner of the computer game Captain
Sabertooth from 2003 – which was produced in cooperation with Artplant A/S. Panvision A/S
marketized and distributed this computer game.
Piratprodukter A/S: The managing unit of Captain Sabertooth’s World in Kristiansand Zoo
- accounting for spin-off shops and restaurants. The licensed owner of numerous spin-offs,
and up until now a fundamental center in the network of wholesalers outside Kristiansand
Zoo.
Sabeltannprodukter A/S: A new company established by 100 %-shareholder Terje Formoe.
A company which is meant to relieve of Piratprodukter A/S work with whohlesalers outside
Kristiansand Zoo. It is also meant to facilitate the process of distribution abroad and to
develop the online sale of Captain Sabertooth products.
Seven Seas Production A/S: Film company.in which Terje Formoe is a 34 % shareholder.
Central in the production of the Captain Sabertooth cartoon in 2003.
Svensk Film A/B: Film company.
Central in the production of theater performances
available on DVDs.
Torger S. Iversen A/S: Norwegian toy manufacturer. Wholesaler of Captain Sabertooth toys
and producer of a toy ship.
TV2 A/S: Norwegian TV channel. Central in the production and promotion of the Captain
Sabertooth cartoon in 2003.
123
APPENDIX G: CAPTAIN SABERTOOTH’S SPREADING ACROSS MEDIA AND PRODUCT CATEGORIES
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
01
03
04
05
06
07
Web Site
Web Site
Toy
Toy
Toy
Toy
Toy
Ship
Ship
Ship
Ship
Ship
Bread
Bread
Bread
Bread
Bread
Bread
Teem
Teem
Teem
Teem
Teem
Teem
Book
Book
Book
Book
Book
Book
Swords
Swords and Swords and
Swords and
Swords and
Swords and
Swords and
Swords and
Swords and
and
Binoculars
Binoculars
Binoculars
Binoculars
Binoculars
Binoculars
Binoculars
Binoculars
Binoculars
Theater
Bed
clothes
Bed
Bed
Bed
Bed
Bed
Bed
Bed
Bed
Bed
Bed
Clothes
Clothes
Clothes
Clothes
Clothes
Clothes
Clothes
Clothes
Clothes
Clothes
Picture
Book
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Book
Book
Book
Book
Book
Book
Book
Book
Book
Book
Song
Book
Song
Book
Song
Song
Song
Song
Song
Song
Song
Song
Song
Song
Book
Book
Book
Book
Book
Book
book
book
Book
Book
CD
CD
CD
CD
CD
CD
CD
CD
CD
CD
CD
CD
CD
Theater
Theater
Theater
Theater
Theater
Theater
Theater
Theater
Theater
Theater
Theater
Theater
Theater
Theater
Cassette
Cassette
Cassette
Cassette
Cassette
Cassette
Cassette
Cassette
Cassette
Cassette
Cassette
Cassette
Cassette
Cassette
TV
TV
TV
TV
TV
TV
TV
TV
TV
TV
TV
TV
TV
VHS
VHS
VHS
VHS
VHS
VHS
VHS
VHS
VHS
VHS
VHS
VHS
Comics
Comics
Comics
Comics
Comics
Comics
Comics
Comics
Comics
Comics
Comics
Textiles
Textiles
Textiles
Textiles
Textiles
Textiles
Textiles
Textiles
Textiles
Ice Cream
Ice Cream
Ice Cream
Ice Cream
Ice Cream
Ice Cream
Ice Cream
Ice Cream
Ice Cream
Computer
Computer
Computer
Computer
Computer
Computer
Computer
Computer
Game
game
game
game
game
game
game
Game
DVD
DVD
124
DVD
DVD
DVD
DVD
DVD
Cinemia
Cinema
Cinema
Cinema
Cinema
Cartoon
Cartoon
Cartoon
Cartoon
Cartoon
Fish Cod
Fish Cod
APPENDIX H: CAPTAIN SABERTOOTH’S SPREADING ACROSS ORGANIZATIONAL BOARDERS
89
91
92
93
Hjemmet
94
95
96
97
98
01
03
04
05
06
07
Norwegian
Norwegian
Choice
Choice
Artplant
Artplant
Artplant
Artplant
TSI
TSI
TSI
TSI
TSI
Idun Ind./Bakers
Bakers
Bakers
Bakers
Bakers
Bakers
Høie
Høie
Høie
Høie
Høie
Høie
Høie
Høie
Høie
Høie
Høie
Gyldendal
Gyldendal
Gyldendal
Gyldendal
Gyldendal
Gyldendal
Gyldendal
Gyldendal
Gyldendal
Gyldendal
Gyldendal
Bokforlag
Formoe
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
SF
Kr.sand
Kr.sand
Kr.sand
Kr.sand
Kr.sand
Kr.sand
Kr.sand
Kr.sand
Kr.sand
Kr.sand
Kr.sand
Kr.sand
Kr.sand
Kr.sand
Zoo
Zoo
Zoo
Zoo
Zoo
Zoo
Zoo
Zoo
Zoo
Zoo
Zoo
Zoo
Zoo
Zoo
Formoe
Formoe
Formoe
Formoe
Formoe
Formoe
Formoe
Formoe
Formoe
Formoe
Formoe
Formoe
Formoe
Formoe
Grappa
Grappa
Grappa
Grappa
Grappa
Grappa
Grappa
Grappa
Cappelen
Grappa/
Barneselsk.
Cappelen
Grappa/
Barneselsk.
Cappelen
Grappa/
Barneselsk.
Cappelen
Grappa/
Grappa/
Barneselsk. Barneselsk.
Cappelen
Cappelen
Pirat-
Pirat-
Pirat-
Pirat-
Pirat-produkter
Pirat-
Pirat-produkter
Pirat-
Pirat-
Pirat-
produkter
produkter
produkter
produkter
produkter
produkter
produkter
Hennig
Hennig
Hennig
Hennig
Hennig
Hennig
Hennig
Hennig
Hennig
Olsen Is
Olsen Is
Olsen Is
Olsen Is
Olsen Is
Olsen Is
Olsen Is
Olsen Is
Olsen Is
Seven Seas
Seven Seas
Seven Seas
Seven Seas
Seven Seas
TV2
TV2
TV2
TV2
TV2
Panvision
Panvision
Panvision
Pamvision
Gyldendal
produkter
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
125
127

Captain Sabertooth - Adventurous Brand Loyalty

Transcription

Similar documents

PDF of this page - Peel`s Prairie Provinces

9.15.14 Footwearnews.com

Captain`s Cabin in Izu

Thrislington Cubicles - design management europe award

fsyc newsletter summer 2015

July 2016 - Bush River Yacht Club

Web Services - Deep Fried Productions

Multichannel Brand Immersion for Trelleborg

Spirella Shiny ideas for the entire bathroom. Rebranding of a

12 - Super Brands