Grease is a European Phenomenon
By NICK ROBERTSHAW
LONDON The astonishing way “Grease” has dominated the media and the entire music scene in Britain and Holland even before the film release (Billboard, Sept. 9, 1978), is a success story that is repeating itself even more dramatically in almost every European territory including France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. The sheer scale of this achievement looks set to rival “Saturday Night Fever” itself.
In France for example, sales of “You’re The One That I Want” have reached 80,000 since Polydor released the single on June 7. And this without any special promotion; Polydor having decided to save its effort for the release of “Grease.” The film opens Wednesday (13) in 100 cinemas. Prior to that, every important disk retailer in the country had window displays, posters, logos and T-shirts, and stocked up with the soundtrack album, which has already made a deep impression even without promotion, thanks to massive airplay.
The film bandwagon started rolling with the American Film Festival which opened Saturday (9) in Deauville. The distributors, CIC, have allocated a special publicity budget and, as in Britain and other territories, arranged a tie-up with Wranglers whereby customers buying Wrangler jeans will receive a $2.50 voucher redeemable against the cost of a cinema seat.
Success in France looks certain, since several years ago the stage show did extremely well there. Then it was titled “Gomins,” in French, but the original English title differs in some respects from the show. There is no doubt that those who made the stageshow a hit will want to see the film version too.
The Belgian public has reacted even more strongly. There, backed by a promotion campaign of spectacular normality, with no special marketing activity or exceptional expenditure, “You’re The One That I Want” has nevertheless developed into a record business phenomenon, outselling the best selling single releases from “Saturday Night Fever” by a handsome margin.
Undoubtedly though, the single is still reaping the benefits of the very strong marketing campaign that surrounded “Fever,” and Polydor itself explains the record’s success in terms of the “Travolta phenomenon.” Since its May 22 release, the single has sold a reported 125,000 copies. Since its second week of release it has been on top of both the Flemish and Walloon charts. “How Deep Is Your Love,” “Night Fever,” and “Stayin’ Alive,” by contrast, sold an estimated 90,000 copies. The “Grease” album came out in early June and has so far amassed sales of around 40,000. This is an enormous figure by Belgian standards, hut still pales in comparison with “Saturday Night Fever,” now up to a reported 200,000 units and still selling strongly. The film “Grease” is due for release in October.
Switzerland too is in the grip of “Travolta fever,” and for once German, French and Italian Swiss are all on the same wavelength. Alerted by the success of “You’re The One That I Want,” which climbed to the chart top 3 within a couple of weeks of release, Polydor Switzerland has lined up some unusual promotions for the film’s release.
Five hundred deejays, media people, wholesalers and retailers have been invited to a “Grease Party” in the Volkshaus Zurich. The film, music of the ’50s. a dancing competition and a fashion presentation will be part of the evening, which is presented by radio personality Paul Burckhalter.
“Grease” display material has gone not only into record stores but also into clubs, restaurants and fashion shops. National “Grease” contests abound and CIC’s promotion tie-up with Wrangler and Pepsi-Cola adds further spice to an intensive marketing campaign.
Like many other national charts, the Italian best seller list shows the “Grease” album and singles climbing rapidly to heights still dominated by “Saturday Night Fever” and its singles. With the August holiday period over, a traditional sales low, and the film release set for September’s end, the story is only just beginning. Andrew Floriani, RSO label manager at Phonogram, confidently predicts total album sales of 150,000.
As in Britain, “You’re The One That I Want” was promoted with the help of a film clip supplied by CIC. This was shown by the national TV network RAI during August, and is at present being screened by all the major local stations throughout the country. Radio stations have been competing to devise new “Grease” contests and quizzes.
Greece will go with “Grease,” no question. John Travolta is already idolized by youngsters throughout the country, thanks to massive Greek newspaper and magazine coverage, although “Saturday Night Fever” will not be in cinemas till late October, and “Grease” until December.
Phonogram put out “You’re The One That I Want” in early July, and watched as it was quickly picked up both by Greek radio and by the fashion-conscious disco audiences in Athens, Thessaloniki and the Aegean Islands. Now the single has ousted Italian artist Umberto Tozzi from the No. 1 spot.
The “Grease” soundtrack has only just been released, Phonogram not wanting to harm “Saturday Night Fever,” still top of the album charts and now Phonogram’s best ever international seller in Greece. For similar reasons the company is releasing “Hopelessly Devoted,” but not Frankie Valli’s “Grease,” preferring to leave a strong sales potential for the album.
Scandinavia has had its fair share of “Travolta fever.” “You’re The One That I Want” tops charts in Sweden, Norway and Denmark and is one of four RSO singles currently in the Finnish top 10. Jens Andersen of Polydor Denmark describes it as the biggest selling single for a very long time, outselling even the three Bee Gees singles from “Saturday Night Fever.” Total sales, in a country where 1,000 units is a good average, are estimated at 14,000, thanks to a determined promotion by Polydor covering discos, radio, jukeboxes and all manner of dealer aids. The film has just opened in cinemas all over Denmark, and Andersen reports “quite nice orders” for the soundtrack album.
In Finland the album is already in the Top 10, though the film release has been put back to late November. Advance publicity has been on an unprecedented scale, largely prompted by the “Saturday Night Fever” experience. The “Fever” soundtrack set new records with 30,000 sales and “Grease” will have to do very well to match it, though no one would be foolish enough to bet against.
When “Saturday Night Fever” was released in Sweden it was accompanied by the biggest ever promotion campaign for a movie, coordinated by CIC and Polydor AB. Now the same team is excelling even its earlier efforts to promote “Grease.”
Activities include press advertising, dealer display material; advertising in the underground system; a special Grease News, an eight-page paper distributed in over one million copies; Grease posters on all the 400 vans of the milk distributing company Aria; hamburger posters featuring a scene from the movie in the Clock Hamburger catering chain, together with mobiles of the soundtrack sleeve and a background music cassette from the film.
This cassette is also being sent to discos throughout Sweden, while videocassettes have gone to all major retailers and also to the 400 stores of a Swedish hifi chain. The Ahlens/ Tempo stores, with a further 400 outlets, are mounting special “Grease” activities.
Levi Jeans has produced its own poster from the film for use in its own 1,000 shops and in all record retailers. “Grease” opens Sept. 25 in 20 Swedish cinemas, In its first three months in release the soundtrack has sold an estimated 16,000 units, more than “Saturday Night Fever” in the same period. “You’re The One That I Want” tops the singles chart with 10,000 sales.
The Norwegian campaign shares many features with its neighbor, notably the Levi tie-up. In Norway Levi plans to spend up to $60,000, much of its on newspaper advertising, to reinforce the connection between the Grease image and its own slogan “Grease up with Levi’s jeans.”
Similarly, a “Grease” newspaper is planned, with a 150,000print, and special cassettes have been put together for in-store play, along with a full range of point-of-sale material. A rash of “Grease” parties has broken out, combining previews of film, scheduled for October release, with competitions ’50s dress and free gifts of Brylcreme.