Elvis Inc., Enjoying A Sweet Hereafter

EPE executives always knew that to keep Elvis's memory alive, they would have to market to a younger audience. They licensed material to the Disney Channel "for practically nothing, just to get it out there," longtime EPE CEO Jack Soden says. And the plan worked, he says: Up to 50 percent of Graceland's 600,000 annual visitors are 35 or younger.

More than 10 percent of those pilgrims are expected to descend upon Graceland during the annual Elvis Week, which started yesterday and lasts until Aug. 19 (God needed only a seven-day week to get things done; the King, apparently, gets nine).

As the Presley conglomerate expands its sources of revenue, it is trimming licensees, which have dropped from 200 to about 150 over the past two years. Only one of every 50 licensing idea makes the cut.

For example, you will not find an Elvis Chia Pet. "You know, where the grass would grow out the sideburns and the hair," Soden says. "Maybe two or three times the idea has been brought to us enthusiastically and breathlessly, just convinced that we're just going to jump up, kick our chairs over and go 'Hallelujah.' "

Given Presley's tendency toward weight gain during his latter years, EPE has stayed away from licensing his image to food products, with the exception of Russell Stover Candies, which produces commemorative holiday chocolate tins (think "Love Me Tender" and "Burning Love" for Valentine's Day, as opposed to "Suspicious Minds").

But EPE said yes when Hershey's reps came calling with a special banana-cream-filled Reese's Cup as a 30th-anniversary collector's edition homage to the King's affection for grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

Meticulous experimentation went into building the perfect Elvis Reese's Cup. "The white coats in research and development started with 15 different versions from a really ripe banana to a very green banana," Reese's Marketing Director Brandon Solano explains.

The Presley promotion is the biggest in Reese's 80-year history and includes more than 100,000 retail displays for the duration of the six-month campaign. There is, however, no evidence that Presley was a Reese's fan. "We could only imagine that he liked them," Solano says, "but we don't know that he did."

A careful blend of quality and kitsch may be essential to moving the legacy forward. "Kitsch has become part of the Elvis franchise," says analyst Kiley. "Velvet paintings of Elvis are an important part of the brand. You have to take care of that just as you take care of the really soulful part."

It's a tricky balance. But Sillerman says he also gained some insights from another client: the Greatest of All Time. "Muhammad Ali said to me, in his own way: 'Once a king, always a king. Make sure you keep him a king.' "