Dubai
If the tourism board of Ireland is to be believed, visitors to the Emerald Isle stand a chance of bumping in to one Luke Skywalker, hanging around the jagged, ancient cliffs of Skellig Michael, on the country’s west coast.
That’s right: The Star Wars circus is back in town.
December has been, for the past two years now, a time when every company has scratched their head and asked how they might be able to partner with the legendary brand.
This year has been no different, and with the eighth episode in the canonical series launching on Thursday in the UAE, the emirates have been awash with Star Wars branded toys, cars, posters, and people.
While it may seem odd to talk about branding people, that’s effectively what local car booking company Careem did when they turned their drivers in to Storm Troopers, the iconic soldiers of the evil Galactic Empire.
One of the more notable partnerships this year has been between the Dubai-based ride-hailing app and the film franchise, with Careem telling customers that “Storm Troopers have taken over our Sleighs (cars) BUT they come bearing Premiere tickets & gifts!”
According to Clemence Dutertre, general manager of Careem in the UAE, the company “jumped” at the chance to partner with Star Wars.
“Our customers love it when we pass on the opportunity to get close to iconic brands ... Through our service, not only can we engage customers through our app, but also … in-car with a physical experience,” Dutertre said.
“The excitement and buzz over the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi is phenomenal, so when the opportunity came up to be a part of it, we jumped at it,” he added.
The value of Star Wars merchandise was estimated by Forbes in 2012 to be $30.57 billion, and Disney sought to capitalise on this legacy when it purchased the brand for roughly $4 billion in 2012.
Dutertre said that for a new brand like Careem, being associated with such a strong name helped to introduce the company to a broader spectrum of customers. While reviews for the latest film have been overwhelmingly positive, and box office projections estimate the film could rake in a gargantuan $440 million on its opening weekend, things are significantly quieter on the retail front.
Neither Virgin Megastores nor Hamleys were stocking merchandise for the latest film on Wednesday, a day ahead of the film’s release.
Staff at both stores expressed surprise at the lack of new merchandise, with the displays at both relatively low-key. At Hamleys, Toy Story largely dominates the shopfront, while Virgin has only a small section dedicated to Star Wars, made up mostly of the Lego collection.
Despite this, staff at both stores said that merchandise from the space opera always sold well, especially around the release of a new film.
As expected, the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015, the first instalment of the Disney era, saw a whole new range of retail products flood the market.
However, despite the highs of the 2015 release and its accompanying merchandise, a year later Disney sought to temper expectations for the commercial success of Rogue One, stand-alone movie about the wider Star Wars universe.
According to data from Euromonitor, Star Wars was the second fastest growing licensed brand within traditional toys and games in the UAE, experiencing 50 per cent growth in actual sales from 2014 to 2015. In 2015, the brand reached a market share of nearly 10 per cent in value in the UAE.
