‘Shadow Excessive’ Video Launch Technique Blends Content material and Commerce

Toy maker MGA Entertainment retains a detailed watch on the superfans for its many franchises by means of its YouTube channels and social media platforms.

The Rainbow High doll line has been successful since its debut in mid-2020. MGA has delivered a gradual stream of short-form content material through YouTube and a Netflix-licensed collection to burnish the model that revolves round feminine characters who attend a performing arts highschool. It’s a primary instance of how content material is changing into commerce in new methods past product placement in a Saturday morning cartoon present. For Rainbow Excessive, the storytelling executed by means of digital content material is woven into their execution and growth of the doll line.

“We needed to create the story behind the dolls make them characters,” Anne Parducci, chief content material officer for Chatsworth-based MGA Leisure, instructed Selection. “We needed to create a highschool and what this world would seem like. Music and content material was essential for Rainbow Excessive as a result of this model is all about creativity and self-expression.”

For positive, MGA additionally leans into releasing music tied to its manufacturers. The Rainbow Excessive storyline has lately targeted on the introduction of a pleasant rival highschool referred to as Shadow High. A track launched in September in reference to the “Rainbow Excessive” collection Season 3 finale is stuffed with sassy name outs from the Shadow Excessive gang to the “bougie excessive throughout the road” the place “everybody’s so good and so neat.” “The College Throughout the Road” carried out nicely, which sparked MGA to stoke anticipation for an animated music video, which dropped on Dec. 26.

MGA makes use of a mixture of conventional TV, digital and social to drive gross sales for manufacturers that embody LOL Shock, Little Tikes, Bratz and Mermaze Mermaidz. However nothing stokes curiosity and engagement like contemporary content material. The “Shadow Excessive” video is full of winks to probably the most ardent Rainbow Excessive followers.

Parducci notes that kids play with dolls to behave out their very own imaginations, so it stands to purpose that strong skilled storytelling enhances the model. The music and music video manufacturing mirror a broad collaboration amongst MGA insiders and employed tunesmiths and producers. The animation was produced by Australian animation studio Pixel Zoo, which MGA acquired earlier this year to help further expand its content operations.

“Our purpose is to have youngsters interact with content material as a lot as potential. That helps to get as many eyeballs on our manufacturers as potential,” Parducci stated. “We’ve got 360-degree view of this model that may interact them by means of content material and music and play at dwelling.”

The Rainbow Excessive dolls are aimed on the 6-10 child demographic. The content material inevitably skews on the older aspect, towards the 8-10 demographic and has confirmed to have broader enchantment with boys than the toy franchise itself. MGA takes the heart beat of its followers by means of its devoted Rainbow Excessive channel on YouTube (about 676,000 followers), they usually make a degree of sustaining local-language YouTube channels for the franchise, which additionally helps them stretch their content material price range.

“We’re in a really distinctive place right here. We will construct consciousness fairly shortly with a technique that aligns our toys, licensing, media, music and social technique all hitting on the similar time,” she stated.

The deal with content material extensions has been essential to the success of the Rainbow Excessive model. MGA has extra to return, with IP-driven methods within the works for the LOL Shock model. The corporate has additionally dedicated to its most formidable unique collection manufacturing to this point, a remake of South Korean dinosaur collection “Armored Saurus,” a mixture of live-action and CG. The venture is on monitor for a 2024 launch.