How To Monetize Octopus Paul?

There Is Life After Retirement For Octopus Paul

If you think that Octopus Paul is going into quiet retirement with nothing to do but clowning his way into children’s hearts, think again.  Now owner Sea Life Acquarium in the German town of Oberhausen is open to hearing proposals on how to monetize Octopus Paul, and there is shortage of proposals.  Octopus Paul is going to be busy afterall.

Selling Octopus Paul Won’t Maximize The Return On Investment

Offers are beginning to come in for the outright purchase of Octopus Paul.  Miguel Sebastian, the Spanish Minister of Industry started the ball rolling by cheekily called on Germany to allow Octopus Paul an “immediate” free transfer from Germany to Spain to “ensure his protection.”  This was followed by an offer from a group of businessmen from a small village near Orense in north-western Spain called Carballino who tabled a combined bid valuing Octopus Paul at €30,000 (approximately $38,000). But Sea Life Acquarium is not interested in this offer. 

Now another bid for Octopus Paul has been tabled, this time by the Madrid Zoo Acquarium.  To underline its seriousness in acquiring Octopus Paul, the Madrid Zoo Acquarium launch an open-ended bid.  Madrid Zoo Acquarium asked Sea Life Acquarium to name its price for the transfer of Octopus Paul.  It said that it has started making the “necessary arrangements” to effect the transfer once the transfer price is agreed. 

And as in the case of a football club determined to get its acquisition target, the Madrid Zoo Acquarium said it would beat any offer already on the table!  And as it sometimes happen in football club deals, Madrid Zoo Acquarium added that it is ready to offer other animals to sweeten the transfer deal for Sea Life Acquarium. Javier Diaz, spokesperson for the Madrid Zoo Acquarium said: “What they might need is coral or small sharks. But if they don’t want any of that we might offer some money.”

But an outright sale will only benefit Sea Life Acquarium once.  This will not maximize the return on investment, unless the transfer price is out of this world. Not surprisingly Tanja Muzig, spokeswoman for Sea Life Acquarium said: “We’re very glad that Paul will stay here.” Tunja Munzig said further that any other possible bids from abroad would be rejected.  So what can Sea Life Acquarium do to get the most out of Octopus Paul’s sudden fame?

Image Rights Is The Answer

Any successful football club knows that there is big money to be made in managing the image rights of its most famous players.  So Sea Life Acquarium is now listening to proposals from marketing gurus on how to manage the image rights of Octopus Paul. There are apparently a “host of offers from around the globe”.

As to how much Octopus Paul could earn, PR guru Max Clifford said that Octopus Paul could potentially become the planet’s first multimillion-pound octopus through commercials.  Max Clifford said: “If you get it right, and remember Paul has had worldwide success … you’re talking about an earning potential of £2 or £3 million (up to $4.5 million), maybe more. It’s got to bring a smile to everybody’s face. You’ve got the world’s first multimillion-pound octopus here.”  Phew!  That’s big money!

Commercials

Max Clifford said of Octopus Paul: “He could be used in TV endorsements and adverts: ‘We’re the best in the world. How do we know? Because Paul says so.’”

As an example, supposing you want to launch a worldwide chain of fish restaurants, you might want to use Octopus Paul to say this: “If you think I was good on football, when it comes to fish I’ve got no competition.”

Allyson Steward-Allen, director of International Marketing Partners in London said concerning Octopus Paul: “Obviously he has a short shelf life but there are many options. A good use for him would be in adverts featuring two competing brands, such as Coke or Pepsi. Which does Paul prefer?”

Allyson Steward-Allen went on to give more examples.  She said: “The gaming industry would be the logical use for Paul, or marketing a service that compares the market. Or he could just be an icon, marketing a company like Octopus Travel, for instance.”

Allyson Steward-Allen added: “I think it would be too frivolous to advertise financial services, but you could licence Paul for children’s toys. He could be an icon for a brand, an image for cartoons or video games.”

Think About It

Octopus Paul became such a international sensation because of his very accurate prediction of the outcome of football matches during the recently concluded 2010 FIFA World Cup competition.  And suddenly, Octopus Paul is thrust into big money.  It is one thing to monetize the image rights of a successful footballer.  It’s quite another thing to do the same for an octopus.  Unlike a footballer, Octopus Paul gets no share of the money from monetization of his image rights – except perhaps in the form of a supply of tasty mussels. Are the marketing gurus right in saying that Octopus Paul could earn Sea Life Acquarium multimillion-pounds from commercials?  If so, wonder what the insurance premium for Octopus Paul is going to be like?

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