Timing of treasure's discovery is as good as gold for Disney ( McClatchy-Tribune Information Services -- Unrestricted )
May 19, 2007 (The Sacramento Bee - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Call it "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Mystery of the Black Swan."
Odyssey Marine Exploration announced Friday that it had discovered probably the most fruitful sunken ship treasure in history, hauling gold and silver coins worth about $500 million in a project so hush-hush it has its own secret code name, "Black Swan."
The announcement comes just a week before the opening of "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," the last swashbuckling caper of the blockbuster Disney trilogy and a movie awash in yarns of unclaimed treasure and skeletal sunken ships.
Coincidence? Maybe. Box office gold and real gold are seldom so much in the same boat.
Turns out Odyssey and Disney are business partners, according to Cherise McVicar, senior vice president of National Promotions for Disney, and had been working on a marketing partnership well before Odyssey found the X that
marked the spot.
"It's so serendipitous, I can't get over it," she said. "They are an innovative company that we've so enjoyed getting to know and being in a relationship with."
McVicar said working together has lent authenticity to "Pirates" publicity, and Odyssey has even offered some of its real-life treasure for promotional giveaways.
As to whether Odyssey may have timed its announcement to capitalize on the film, McVicar cited the I've-got-a-secret rule of human nature. "I would suspect that when you find something that cool, it would be very difficult to keep it under wraps," she said.
Odyssey spokesperson Laura Lionetti Barton confirmed the partnership and that the timing of the announcement and movie opening was a happy coincidence.
But Odyssey didn't mention the connection during the publicity blitz surrounding the discovery of 17 tons of gold and silver coins from a colonial ship that went down somewhere in the Atlantic.
The company stated in news releases and briefing materials this month that it's trying to bank on the current popularity of pirate movies and public interest in shipwrecks to bolster its sagging stock and finances.
In briefing materials the company made available to investors for its annual meeting Friday, Odyssey said its efforts to build its name brand and boost sales include "the collaboration with several Fortune 100 marketing partners on highly visible campaigns centering around Disney's 'Pirates of The Caribbean: At World's End.'
"That will give us exposure to millions of potential customers," the briefing materials stated, without providing further details or identifying the Fortune 100 marketing partners.
The investor materials also mention unidentified "media partners" working with the company "on various projects and documentaries portraying our work." No further details were provided on those efforts.
McVicar said Disney was one of the companies mentioned.
The two have crossed paths before. At least two members of the management team for Odyssey's entertainment arm are former Disney executives, including Executive Vice President Roger Kurz, who was director of marketing for Walt Disney World for six years, and Sam Hutchins, vice president of merchandise programs, who worked in retail operations for Disney for 22 years.
But the courtship between the two companies did not involve either executive, McVicar said.
In 2005, Odyssey launched Odyssey Marine Entertainment, a division aimed at parlaying its deep-sea discoveries into books, merchandise and tourist attractions. The Tampa-based company's interactive exhibit "Shipwreck! Pirates & Treasures" is to open June 22 at the Tampa Museum of Science and Industry.
Its first attraction, "Odyssey Shipwreck & Treasure Adventure," was barely two days in its New Orleans home when Hurricane Katrina wiped it out.
Odyssey Marine Exploration has lost $34 million over the past two years. In 2006, the company lost $19 million on revenue of only $5 million. That followed a $14.9 million loss on $10 million in revenue in 2005, according to filings the company made to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company has lost $3.8 million in the first quarter of this year.
Odyssey's shares on the American Stock Exchange sold for as low as $2 last June. In January, the company raised $6.6 million in a private stock sale to investors through two hedge funds. Those Odyssey Marine Exploration shares are now worth $14.3 million, according to SEC filings.
And now that word is out about the company's haul, Odyssey Marine shares jumped 80 percent, closing at $8.30 a share -- up $3.70.
Which pretty much proves what music video directors have known for years: If you've got the booty, it pays to flaunt it.
