Creating Long-lasting Brand Loyalty — or a Passing “Craze”?: Lessons from a “Child Classic” in Norway

Abstract

This chapter explores the popularity of a Norwegian “craze” centred around a fictional pirate called Captain Sabertooth (Kaptein Sabeltann). As a series of theatrical performances, TV shows, books, music, toys and other merchandise, and now an animated feature film, Captain Sabertooth is distinctively different from most global crazes. As Ellen Seiter (2008) has noted, it represents “a rare success story of a brand that has survived despite being restricted to one nation of less than five million people”. Indeed, it is a phenomenon that has sought to establish itself as a long-lasting “children’s classic” rather than merely a passing “craze”. In this chapter, we explore the strategies that have been used by the producers of Captain Sabertooth to create and maintain brand loyalty, and to ensure its longevity, among Norwegian children and their parents.

Children (like adults) are vulnerable to media manipulation and to clever marketing plans. But for each carefully orchestrated product launch that succeeds, many others fail. Children may be prone to consumer crazes, but they choose which crazes, and they decide when a craze is over (Tobin, 2004: 10).