Life after death
Muhammad Ali, Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley — long gone, but still earning
In April, Shannon Gagliardi, a 48- year- old nurse practitioner from Louisville, Kentucky, took the holiday of a lifetime. She’s an Elvis Presley fan and still considers missing a 1976 New Year’s Eve concert by the King one of the biggest regrets of her life — even though she was only 6 at the time. So it was a dream come true when she stayed three nights at the Guest House at Graceland with her sister, brother, niece, and grandniece.
Missing from the family pilgrimage to Elvis’ famous estate in Memphis was Gagliardi’s 17- year- old daughter: she didn’t know what Graceland was.
The distance between a mother’s excitement about a trip to Elvis’ homestead, and her daughter’s lack of interest, shows both the business promise and the generational risk facing Jamie Salter, whose Authentic Brands Group recently completed a US$ 137 million ($ 189m) makeover of Graceland, four years after buying a majority stake in the Elvis name.
Late last year Authentic opened the 450- room Guest House hotel next door, a notable upgrade to the worn strip of dollar stores and petrol stations flanking the 5.7ha property.
A rundown motorhome park and “Heartbreak Hotel” nearby are scheduled for demolition. A new museum complex was opened across the street in March, quintupling the space to showcase all things Elvis, including 22 ( out of 88) of the King’s jumpsuits.
Some might call that excessive adulation for an entertainer who died almost four decades ago and whose music and movies were hits long before the arrival of millennials.
But if Salter knows anything, it’s how to raise the dead — at least financially. His company owns the commercial rights not only to Elvis’ name, but also Marilyn Monroe’s and Muhammad Ali’s. It also manages the licences for Michael Jackson’s estate. “This will be the biggest year that Elvis has had in a decade,” Salter says proudly.
Since setting up shop in 2010 with the financial backing of private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners, Salter has built Authentic into a US$ 5 billion business by snapping up the brands of dead celebrities as well as living stars such as basketball player Shaquille O’Neal. The company also owns faded retail names such as Frederick’s of Hollywood ( lingerie) and Aropostale ( casual clothing).
It takes a lot of work to keep even a good brand going, and it’s that much more difficult when the celebrity is no longer in the public eye, says Derek Pitts, head of restructuring at Peter J. Solomon Co., a consulting firm with a retail focus. “It’s a hamster wheel: once you get on it, you’ve got to keep running,” he says.
Salter says he deals with that problem by working with studios and other media to create new content. Take Monroe, who Salter says i s “more relevant than she ever was”. He says her biggest fans today are 15 to 25, in part because of the actress’ continuing presence on social media.
She was the first deceased celebrity to be verified on Twitter, where she boasts 258,000 followers on an account run by Authentic; 14.6 million users like her on Facebook. A Marilyn Snapchat “selfie lens” introduced last year has been used more than 300 million times.
Her subway grating scene from The Seven Year Itch appeared in a 2016 Super Bowl ad for Snickers candy, and her image has adorned goods from brands including Converse.
Authentic also started a sub- brand featuring an animated version of Monroe, called Mini Marilyn, to capture audiences in China. Besides the younger fans the campaign targeted, Mini Marilyn has caught on with Chinese women in their 30s. Elvis, meanwhile, is in the midst of a European tour. The Wonder of You features the King on screen, a live orchestra, and an appearance by former wife Priscilla. A 2015 album of the King’s vintage hits, accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, was released in Britain, where it sold more than 1 million copies. Luxury goods maker Coach’s limitededition Elvis- themed Rogue handbag, released in February, sold out, and there’s a new instalment in the Elvis Lives video slot game series from Scientific Games. Still to come is an HBO documentary, a Baz Luhrmann biopic from Warner Bros., and a TV series from Weinstein Co. Dead celebrities have their advantages: there’s no risk of them showing up late to events or lighting up social media with an out- of- character faux pas. They don’t cycle in and out of fashion like current idols. And those who passed away in their prime will never age. Still, some of Authentic’s names inevitably change status. Ali signed with Authentic during his lifetime, sparking deals such as Ali- branded Under Armour tee- shirts. But after his death last year, Authentic started a campaign, “Ali in All of Us,” which will include an app that helps people find outlets for volunteer work, touching on the boxing legend’s extensive public service.
Salter says he uses a “moneyball” system that weighs a brand’s or name’s social media presence, its demographics and the income level and involvement of followers.
Celebrities account for about 25 per cent of Authentic’s revenue, with sports licences kicking in 15 per cent, clothing 30 per cent, and the remainder from what Salter calls “lifestyle”, such as shoes and handbag brands.
Salter won’t disclose how much he and partner Joel Weinshanker paid for 85 per cent of Elvis’ intellectual property, with the remainder retained by Priscilla Presley.
Since 2013, when they bought in, royalties have grown 20 per cent, including a 50 per cent rise in music revenue.
Then there’s the new Graceland. Revenue has more than doubled since Authentic’s acquisition, and more than 600,000 visitors came last year, about a fifth from outside the United States.
With its textured wallpaper, chandeliered conference areas and sleek guest rooms, the Guest House could be any up- market property, except for some singular touches: sconces in the shape of Elvis’ initials; the 464- seat theatre that screens Elvis films nightly and hosts corporate events; the angled backs of the lobby chairs that evoke the collars of the singer’s jumpsuits. The hotel includes 20 suites, one which Priscilla Presley helped design, modelled after Elvis’ lodgings in Las Vegas. Separately, for US$ 30,000 guests can join the Founders, which gets them discounts and access to special events. About 45 have signed up so far.
Apart from the hotel, visitors now have other reasons to extend their stay beyond a day, Salter says. Across the street, the 18,000sq m Elvis Presley’s Memphis museum complex includes an 1800- seat soundstage and concert venue. There’s a room devoted to jumpsuits and another to Elvis’ pink Cadillac and other signature cars. Visitors can sign up for the VIP tour, which includes a guide and a meal, for US$ 159, or a basic museum package for US$ 57.50.
Among those taking a recent VIP tour was Thefnie Boyce, a retired labour- and- delivery nurse who started listening to Elvis growing up in Barbados and heard about the hotel on the all- Elvis station she listens to at home in Brooklyn, New York.
Her two sons obliged with a weeklong trip, and she insisted on t wo things: staying at the Guest House and taking the more elaborate tour. Besides the tour, “I have no plans,” Boyce says. “I am moving with the flow.” For Salter, that’s just fine.
This will be the biggest year that Elvis has had in a decade. Jamie Salter, Authentic Brands ( above)