Hollywood Entertainment Corporation hurtled into 1998 at a screaming expansion pace for its chain of Hollywood Video retail stores—the company planned to open more than 353 new stores in 1998 to bring the total number up to 1,260 by year’s end. The decade-old chain of superstores had quickly become the second largest video-rental chain in the nation, and chairman, founder, and CEO Mark J. Wattles believed that Hollywood Video had ample opportunity for growth. ‘‘[In 1993] we were a 15 store chain and embarked on a very aggressive store opening schedule.’’Wattles announced in a prepared statement. ‘‘Last week [April 13, 1998] we opened our 1,000th video superstore and we plan on opening our 2,000th within the next three years. With over 20,000 employees, and a very strong management team, we are not only focused on growth, but the continued improvement of our operations, as well.’’
To position Hollywood Video as the superlative entertainment store, Hollywood Entertainment launched its first major branding campaign in May 1998. Developed by
New York-based Cliff Freeman and Partners, an agency known for its creative, cutting-edge work, the ‘‘Welcome to Hollywood’’ campaign consisted of nine television spots and eight radio ads. The radio ads followed the theme ‘‘Sixty Second Theater’’ and provided humorous synopses of popular movie plots. The television ads were set in Hollywood Video stores and featured store employees in amusing behind-the-scenes situations. Wattles discussed the purpose of the campaign—estimated to have cost anywhere from $11 million to $20 million—at the company shareholders’ meeting in May 1998. ‘‘We want to be a brand so powerful that when you think of movies you think of Hollywood [Video],’’ he said. President and COO Jeff Yapp agreed. ‘‘We want our customers to think of Hollywood Video as their inside connection to Hollywood and the world of entertainment,’’ Yapp said in a prepared statement. ‘‘As our mission statement says, ‘We are Hollywood. We are entertainment.’ ’’
