Summary
D23 2024: The Ultimate Disney Fan Eventis in full swing, and collectors are spoiled for choice when it comes to obtaining exclusive merch from their favorite IPs this weekend. The entertainment behemoth is proudly displaying every side of its vast collection, from fascinating activations from NatGeo andAbbott Elementary’s Ava Festto pop-up stores selling products based on fan-favorite umbrellas like Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar.
BoxLunchis a particularly popular brandwith a close association to Disney, and the fandom-first retailer is going all out for D23. For every $10 spent, BoxLunch donates a meal to Feeding America and helps provide for the food insecure through collaboration with community food banks. Their booth this year offers games and giveaways, as well as intricately designed clothes that celebrate a wide range of characters, fromStar Wars' Darth Vader to Marvel’s Venom.
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Screen Rantdropped by the BoxLunch booth at D23, which was brimming with fans eager to get their hands on the latest exclusive merch. While there, we interviewed SVP and GMM of Merchandising & Marketing, Rick Vargas. He share how his team landed on the black-and-white theme, what takes them fromNightmare Before Christmasto Cruella de Vil, and how fans can actively engage with their communities to help the food insecure.
BoxLunch’s SVP/GMM Of Merchandising & Marketing Goes Behind-The-Scenes Of The D23 Ideation Process
Screen Rant:How long did your team spend choosing the IP and then preparing the specific exclusives that we see here today?
Rick Vargas: It’s actually been over the course of a year that we sat down and thought about what we wanted to do. Obviously, Disney has a wide variety of licenses and characters, and everyone is meaningful. However, for us, we felt that there was a great opportunity to showcase Nightmare Before Christmas, Venom, and a few things that folks aren’t really as familiar with as some of the other IP that Disney has.
It’s a very special niche, and everything that we have this weekend is exclusive to the event, so you’ll find some fantastic opportunities to buy something that nobody else has.
I’m loving the black-and-white theme you guys have got going on. How do you decide which Disney properties match your energy when preparing exclusives for an event like D23?
Rick Vargas: We start about a year out, and we talk about, “What do we think the theme should be for us as a brand? What’s meaningful to us today, and what do we think is going to be meaningful to the fans later on?” It takes a while for us to kind of hone in because everybody has great ideas. We talk about it, and we whittle down what the thought process is, what the look and feel is going to be, and then we come up with a marketing game plan to make sure that we amplify what that moment looks like.
This year, we went with the black-and-white theme, obviously with some pops of color here and there. But we wanted a cleaner aesthetic tp make it stand out from what everybody else is doing, and I think we did a great job executing it.
Do you have a favorite piece of merch available this weekend? Because I cannot lie, that Jack Skellington shirt has caught my eye.
Rick Vargas: The Jack Skellington woven shirt is one of my favorites. I do love the Western vibe that we went after. Obviously, country music is very popular, and we were going after a country vibe.
We have a Venom jacket that just looks amazing, and our Night Before Christmas jacket came out amazing, so there are a lot of great things that are exclusive to the event and just look fantastic. Some of the bags that we did? The detail work in them is just amazing.
I’ve heard about this year’s BLINKO game station. What inspired that addition and how can guests win prizes with it?
Rick Vargas: Our wonderful marketing team came up with the Blinko idea. Obviously, we took it from a popular show [The Price is Right’s Plinko], but it’s an opportunity for our fans to come in, win some free stuff, have a good time playing a game that they’re familiar with, and really bond with the brand.
It’s a lot of fun, but there’s no trick to it. We’ve been practicing; it’s all luck. My luck is very dry today, so yeah, I’ve not won anything.
There’s Plenty More Disney IP To Go Around For The Next D23
D23 has some big announcements and exclusive footage this year. Is there any upcoming Disney IP that you’re able to’t wait to get started on merch for?
Rick Vargas: There are quite a few, actually. We saw a lot of success with some of the IP that came out this year, like Inside Out 2, which was fantastic. We are looking forward toMoana 2 coming up pretty soon; there’s a lot of excitement around that. Obviously, there are some announcements surrounding what Stitch is going to do, so we’re really excited about what that’s going to look like.
I think there’s a lot of great opportunities for Disney fans coming up in the next year or two years. There’s a lot of fun stuff that they’re looking at. I think there’s so much to be had, and so much IP that we haven’t seen in a different light or in a long time. There’s so much to be excited about. Some of the superhero things that are coming up have us excited about Marvel and what Captain America’s going to look like. As a matter of fact, there’s probably too much. It’s hard to rally around everything because there’s so much great content coming out.
Obviously, charity and community outreach are big tentpoles of the BoxLunch brand. What are some ways fans can help out, in addition to buying merchandise?
Rick Vargas: I think the most important thing that our customers can do is go out and volunteer. There’s a great opportunity for everybody to go into the communities and volunteer for those who are food insecure. Go help in your local food banks, go help distribute food; whatever that looks like. You don’t have to give any money, just give a little bit of time, and it makes such a huge impact to the community.
We’re always here to help those folks that come into our stores. You don’t have to spend a penny with us. Come in, and we’ll talk about what food insecurity looks like in your community and lead you in the right direction. We can steer you to those food banks that really help your community. There are people around us that you would never know were food insecure, and we want to help in any way we can. Like I said, you don’t have to spend a penny with us. Just come in, we’ll talk about it, and we’ll lead you in the right direction.
Finally, is there anything else you’d like fans to know about what’s coming up for BoxLunch in 2024?
Rick Vargas: In 2024, we have a lot of great moments that we’re building to. Like I said, the Venom film is coming, and we’re hyper-excited about that. There are things like Wicked. Wicked’s going to be huge, and there’s lot of excitement around that. We’re excited about a product that we’re developing that looks amazing, as well as some of the things that we’re doing for Beetlejuice. It’s great to see Beetlejuice be revived with a lot of the same old feelings, but a lot of new characters. There are a lot of great moments that are coming up.
When it comes to our day-to-day with Disney, I think we always look to reinvent Disney and give their IP a little bit of a different take. I think the team has done a fantastic job in updating and changing things, but still holding to what the core license demographic looks like. There’s a lot of great stuff coming, and every week we drop something new, so come on in and visit.
