Clare O'Connor, Forbes Staff
11/06/2013
Duck Dynasty's Brand Bonanza: How A&E (And Walmart) Turned Camo Into $400 Million Merchandise Sales
If you live south of the Mason-Dixon, you won’t have been able to miss the irrepressible creep of camouflage into homes and wardrobes in recent months. Even if you’re not a fan of A&E’s reality hit Duck Dynasty, you probably recognize the bayou-based cast, the Robertson family, with their stars-and-stripes bandanas and trademark long beards.
For legions of devoted viewers — 11.8 million for August’s season premiere, a reality TV record – these duck-hunters-turned-millionaires are the new faces of the American Dream. And boy, do their faces move merchandise.
By the end of 2013, Duck Dynasty product tie-ins will have raked in a massive $400 million in revenues according to industry sources. Sales in Walmart alone account for about half of that bounty, with some stores devoting entire aisles to Robertson-themed merchandise. Other major chains selling Duck Dynasty goods include Target and Kohl's.
“Growth has been phenomenal,” said Kate Winn, A&E’s senior vice president of consumer products, who’s overseen the speedy rollout of all things camouflage. “We’ve seen 50% growth in revenues quarter by quarter.”
Duck Dynasty debuted in spring 2012, but didn’t “pop”, to use Winn’s term, until a special holiday episode in December last year. Both A&E and Walmart pounced, with the help of Brandgenuity, a branding agency overseeing more than 75 licensing deals for everything from rain boots to antibacterial bandages.
Walmart was the first major retailer to recognize the money-making potential of the Robertsons, cementing a relationship back when they were simply the offbeat Louisiana clan behind Duck Commander, their family business, a successful manufacturer of duck calls crafted from cedar.
At Walmart’s annual shareholders conference in June, the retail giant announced that their bestselling piece of apparel across every category over the past year — men’s, women’s and children’s — was a Duck Dynasty graphic t-shirt. At the time, products based on the show could be found in six Walmart departments. Today that number is 13 and growing.
Walmart stocks “hundreds” of the 1,200 pieces of Robertson paraphernalia now available, said a spokesperson; new Duck Dynasty merchandise aimed at holiday shoppers will be hitting 2,800 of their stores this week. There’ll be a focus on stocking stuffers, like headphones, earbuds, and USB drives, as well as cast member / sage uncle Si Robertson’s bestselling book Si-cology. In total, said Winn, there’ll be 100 brand new Duck Dynasty products on shelves between now and Christmas.
Universal Music is in on the action too, having teamed up with A&E to record Duck The Halls, an album of holiday music featuring the Robertsons singing songs with names like ‘Ragin’ Cajun Redneck Christmas’ alongside the likes of guest acts George Strait and Allison Krauss. The album looks set to debut on Billboard’s top 10 this coming weekend.
Not to be left out, Hallmark will be shilling greeting cards and ornaments adorned with the cast’s faces and catchphrases.
One might reasonably ask how a show based on a duck call company in West Monroe, Louisiana became a retail business worth hundreds of millions of dollars. For Charlie Anderson, CEO of retail marketing agency Shoptology, the answer is tied to Walmart’s demographic.
“The cast members pray at the end of the show,” he said. “That’s very Middle America and resonates with Walmart customers. It’s the rural consumer. It’s the American dream: they made themselves into millionaires. Yet people working for $8 an hour can still relate to them.”
Anderson noted that retailers are often hesitant to jump on board with such bold characters. “Look at what happened with Paula Deen,” he said, referring to the Southern chef’s racism scandal and resulting loss of lucrative partnerships. “It’s a huge risk, taking on personalities. The Duck Dynasty guys have flaws, but they’re wholesome.”
Michael Stone, CEO of licensing agency Beanstalk, said the success of Duck Dynasty as a brand echoes that of Comedy Central’s cartoon mega-hit South Park in the early 2000s. For a few years, the show’s “I killed Kenny” catchphrase was as ubiquitous on bumper stickers and t-shirts as the Robertson’s “Happy, Happy, Happy” is becoming today.
“South Park broke onto the landscape, and the merchandise was unbelievably popular,” said Stone. “It was fresh, and new — you couldn’t put it on the shelves fast enough. It appealed to adults, and you rarely get a licensed property that appeals to adults. But the American population is very fickle. They still watch the show, but the merchandise is finished.”
He advised A&E to “make hay while the sun shines,” raking in as much as they can this quarter. “They definitely have enough steam for the holiday season, but it’s a merchandising fad, and I’ve seen it before,” he said.
Andy Topkins, a partner at A&E’s licensing agency Brandgenuity, sees the show’s wholesome appeal across ages and genders as part of the reason for the whopping revenues it generates.
“We realized the show was about much more than just duck hunting,” he said. “If you’re based in New York, you’re not exactly the sweet spot for the show. But even if you’re not a hunter and don’t live that lifestyle, you can still find the show funny. Part of the appeal is the Southern lifestyle, and their redneck humor is a huge part of it.”
Topkins is capitalizing on the show’s 50/50 male-female viewership breakdown by signing on licensees who make products aimed at women and kids. He singled out the cookbook Miss Kay’s Duck Commander Kitchen, co-written by a cast member and full of recipes for crawfish fettucine and sweet potato pie, as a prime example.
Next up: products for the casual outdoorsman — that is, not a serious hunter or fisherman, but perhaps a fan of the show inspired to give camping a try. Think branded Igloo coolers, said Topkins, as well as Duck Dynasty fishing rods and reels by Zebco.
Topkins agrees that eventually Duck Dynasty will hit a saturation point in the merchandise market, but it hasn’t happened yet. With this holiday season expected to be the brand’s biggest quarter to date, there’s no immediate end in sight. “We’re turning down licensing opportunities,” he said. “People can’t get enough products.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2013/11/06/duck-dynastys-brand-bonanza-how-ae-and-walmart-turned-camo-into-400-million-merchandise-sales/
Boy is he suffering. 
