Take a stroll through any mall in any state in America and you're bound to see a few of the same things: The Gap, kiosks selling brass engraved key chains, a Baskin Robbins, maybe a pretzel stand.
And more often than not, people will have to walk past a display selling something with the letters "WPT" emblazoned on it, which, as all poker fans know, stands for the World Poker Tour.
WPT merchandise is everywhere, just as talk of the show is everywhere. Mention the WPT anywhere people gather, and it's rare to find someone who hasn't at least heard about it.
And many of the fans own something - a deck of cards, maybe a T-shirt - that was approved and licensed by the WPT.
"It's really been a thriving part of the business. We've had very good earnings over the last few quarters," said Andrea Green, vice president of Global Consumer Products at World Poker Tour Enterprises (WPTE).
Capitalizing on the World Poker Tour brand through selective merchandising has been the plan since the inception of the show. Since World Poker Tour Enterprises was launched in 2002, a licensing department always existed. Green says one of the founders even had an extensive background in consumer products.
At first, all the ideas for marketing products came from within, but in January of 2004, WPTE selected a New York City trademark-licensing company called Brandgenuity to launch the World Poker Tour brand into everyone's consciousness.
Chances are nobody outside of the marketing world ever heard of Brandgenuity, but everyone knows its clients. Snapple, Sports Illustrated, Orajel, and Meow Mix all have worked with Brandgenuity.
When WPTE hired Brandgenuity, the company came up with a strategy that would make WPT the first thing the casual poker player thought of when he thought of poker. At least that was the plan. And since its products are everywhere, it looks like it's working.
It's All in the Feel Brandgenuity is not just a matchmaker or a doorman for its clients. The company doesn't simply match up the manufactures of products it thinks would be a good fit for the WPT brand, or keep out products that have no chance bearing the brand.
Employees at Brandgenuity are constantly trying to identify companies that not only have the potential to make a cool product bearing the WPT name, but are good companies, period. Companies that are considered to have good customer care, a good product development team, know who their target customers are, and have to have good channels of distribution, are a few examples of what are looked for, said Andy Topkins, the managing director for Brandgenuity.
Even once a company and its product are approved by both the WPT and Brandgenuity, Brandgenuity's work isn't done.
"We not only find the right partner, but we also manage all facets of the relationship," Topkins said.
That includes making sure the packaging for the products all meets a certain standard so that all the products look and feel like they came from once source. In fact, 40 different companies make the hundreds of products that are out there.
"We help create a whole style guide," Topkins said.
Brandgenuity also orchestrates a sort of cross-pollination with WPT products. For example, an advertisement for WPT cards and chips, which are made by the U.S. Playing Card Company, is printed in each WPT book, which are published by HarperCollins. And in each pack of playing cards is a card advertising the line of books.
To find companies and products for its clients, Brandgenuity's employees have attended more than 30 trade shows this year alone. That's where they find the things that the WPT fan can't live without, like the talking bottle opener.
Brandgenuity seems to have done a fantastic job. In June, the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers named the partnership between the WPT and the U.S. Playing Card Company as the Sports/Special Brand Licensee of the Year for 2004, a partnership that Brandgenuity brokered. The two companies received the award after the WPT poker chip set became one of the hottest sellers last Christmas.
Some high-profile products were just released, including a video game and another book, Erick Lindgren's Making the Final Table. That joined Mike Sexton's Shuffle Up and Deal as WPT-branded books. A book by Antonio Esfandiari on cash games will be released in the spring.
"We're certainly looking to be the go-to products for those who play poker casually," said Green. "Not everything has to scream World Poker Tour. We're always looking for products that fit a certain graphic and certain need."
A whole new product line will soon find its way into the commercial stream, joining a collection of products that range from WPT boxer shorts to a talking bottle opener (it sounds like Mike Sexton).
Air fresheners that hang from a car's rearview window, chocolate poker chips, and even a WPT pinball machine will be launched in 2006.
People will have to wait to buy WPT clothes for their pets, though, because they're still in development. But if everything goes well, even pets will be able to sport WPT gear.
Never mind just how many stores carry a WPT product, or how many products are available. The brand has become so popular that Green says about 10 people a day from all around the world call WPTE's Los Angeles office and the folks at Brandgenuity with a product or idea that they think would be perfect for the WPT.
