Brian’s Brain: The Marketing Force of 4Kids and Lacey Entertainment

By Entertainment and Deputy Editors Tess O’Regan and Darren Keogh

He’s the brain behind bringing Pokémon to Ireland. The reason names like Yu-Gi-Oh! or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) are known globally. This month, entertainment editors Tess O’Regan and Darren Keogh sat down with Brian Lacey, of Lacey Entertainment, to talk about kids' entertainment, international marketing, and what it means to be responsible for bringing some of the most beloved programmes to our screens.

The year was 1999 and Lacey was consulting for a little known company called Leisure Concepts. They had got odd bits of programming, nothing terribly compelling, but they had one thing to their advantage: they represented Nintendo. Nintendo was trying to push a programme of theirs. Although it started showing two years previously in Japan, it had yet to breach the US and international markets. In fact, as Lacey recalls, 'nobody wanted it internationally. Nobody.’ The “it” in question was Pokémon, and while “nobody” seemed to be interested in it, Lacey saw potential. While Leisure Concepts (who later became 4Kids Entertainment) took up the US distribution rights, Lacey pursued the international ones. 'And', as Lacey says himself, 'once you have Pokémon, the rest is history'. 

Of course, it wasn’t that easy. Lacey has a trick for evaluating a programme, before deciding to acquire it. 'I look at the programme, turn off the sound. I want the picture, right? If the picture tells a story, maybe there’s a chance this will work.' It’s a return to the fundamentals of visual storytelling. During the early days of cinema, silent films had no trouble finding audiences internationally. Because there was no dialogue, it was the picture – the acting, the sets, the lighting – that told the story. In the case of selling Japanese programmes to global audiences, Lacey needed to make sure that the story made sense when stripped to its basic visual language. Of course, in the case of Pokémon, Lacey had more reassurance that the programme would sell than just the quality of its picture. 'At the time, there were 23 million Game Boys in the United States, that’s a network'. Lacey saw that Nintendo had a ready-made market. Combined with the storytelling ability of Pokémon’s visuals, this programme was evidently promising.

That said, today, Lacey is quick to point out that 'you can’t predict how successful something is going to be.' In the early days of trying to sell the programme, Lacey struggled. When he says nobody abroad wanted Pokémon, he means it. 'There was only one broadcaster [that was interested]', he told Motley. This potential buyer was the broadcaster in Italy, who Lacey had a good relationship with, having 'sold some other programs to her that [were] successful.' Still, in the months that followed, Pokémon struggled to find a home elsewhere. 

Lacey tried to place the beloved programme on Irish TV. 'I had never sold a programme to Ireland,' he says, but as Pokémon was beginning to take off he sent a fax to the head of acquisitions at RTÉ. 'I’m going to be in Ireland […] on [a] holiday.' he told the network, and 'I’ve got something that I think might work for you.' Then, doing what Brian Lacey does best, he appealed to the buyer on a personal level. 'How many Irish-Americans do you deal with in the entertainment business? Do me a favour, buy the programme.' RTÉ’s acquisition of Pokémon was just the beginning. Soon Lacey was bringing the network Yu-Gi-Oh!, TMNT, and One Piece. Relationships are key, Lacey stresses, 'the entertainment business is a business of relationships.' 

Lacey had an unorthodox, but perhaps highly advantageous, entrance into the entertainment business. He majored in American Studies – a combination of literature, history, art, and philosophy – during his undergrad, and pursued a postgraduate degree in literature at Clark University, Massachusetts. After a brief period teaching the humanities, Lacey got involved in politics, specifically public relations, working on the executive branch for the Governor of New York and the legislative branch of the New York State Assembly.  Soon, he moved to Estée Lauder, as a marketing consultant. But it was with World Events Productions that Lacey learned his trade when it comes to relationships. 

Working as an Executive Vice President, Lacey entered the world of entertainment just as the 1984 science fiction programme, Voltron: Defenders of the Universe, was at the height of its success in the US. Realising the company was doing very little with Voltron internationally, Lacey applied the creative and marketing expertises he had honed during his studies, and his various roles in the political and beauty fields, to help launch one of the most successful merchandise licensed properties of the 1980’s worldwide. 

One programme followed another, and soon Lacey embarked on a co-venture with fellow Irish-American Peter Keefe, called Zodiac Entertainment. Teaming with British broadcaster Central Independent Television, the pair strengthened their business relationships overseas. Lacey recalls going to international markets in Cannes, with simple one-sheets, that explained what the programme was going to be about, the visual look of the character, the programme’s logo, to sell programmes. Zodiac found success this way, building relationships with broadcasters that would later serve Lacey when trying to place Pokémon in Europe.

In 1993, Central Independent Television was eventually bought out by Carlton Communications, for $1.2 billion and Lacey and Keefe had to shut Zodiac. But Lacey would not be deterred. In 1994, Lacey started Lacey Entertainment. Within a few years, he was approached by the creators of what became America’s Dumbest Criminals. The creators only wanted to get their money back on investment, but Lacey understood the value of the clip show. He brought the show to the international market and did extremely well with it. Twenty-six years and 104 episodes later, America’s Dumbest Criminals is still in circulation. Not only that, but Lacey revealed to Motley that he is currently 'in discussions now about a reboot.' 

If there’s one thing that Lacey sees as the 'connective tissue' of his career, it’s his ability to understand the fundamentals of marketing. 'It’s all about basically knowing how to get into people’s heads’ he says, summarising his career to date. It’s an astute point, but Lacey might be selling himself short. There seems to be less of 'an effort to modify people’s behaviour' in Lacey’s storied career, than a genuine history of building long lasting interpersonal relationships. If it had not been for his connection in Italy, he never would have gotten Pokémon’s foot in the door in Europe. Similarly, it was his proactive nature, and diasporic connection, that helped him land the programme at RTÉ. 

Even in his communications with Motley, Lacey was nothing but gracious. Engaging us directly, as he tries to demonstrate that an adult cannot get inside a kid’s mind, he asks: 'What were you thinking about as a seven-year-old […] an eight-year-old?' And, when the video link cuts out early, Lacey emails us, making sure we have all we need. The man might have an ideal brain for marketing, but it’s his heart that really sells it. This might be the arts student’s bias, but one could attribute these interpersonal skills to his background studying and teaching the humanities. 

This year marks twenty-five years since Pokémon first broadcasted in Ireland. Thirty, since Lacey opened Lacey Entertainment. In those years he has brought many beloved programmes to children (and adults!); his sheer catalogue a testament to his ability to build and maintain professional relationships.