Exclusive Interview: Saban Brands’ Elie Dekel

PREMIUM: A new era of Power Rangers is on the horizon and Elie Dekel, the president of Saban Brands, talks about re-launching this iconic brand with an action-packed TV series, video games, online activity and even social media.

After launching in 1993 on the Fox Kids Network, Power Rangers quickly became one of the most popular children’s television series in the U.S. It featured the humorous adventures of a group of ordinary young people who “morphed” into superheroes. The recurring themes of teamwork, fitness, responsibility, and helping others resonated with children in many countries as well. Consequently the show became an international success and has aired in more than 40 markets.

Elie Dekel was part of the original team that launched Power Rangers. He worked for Haim Saban and was president of Saban Consumer Products/Fox Family Worldwide, where he oversaw the company’s worldwide marketing and branding efforts. He also served as head of licensing and merchandising for Twentieth Century Fox, where he headed the worldwide licensing, promotion and consumer products marketing for many of their film and television ventures, including The Simpsons, Family Guy and Ice Age, among others. He is now back with Haim Saban, as managing director and head of Saban Brands, where he oversees the development of licensing, merchandising and intellectual property opportunities in the U.S. and internationally. Saban Brands is re-launching Power Rangers and Dekel talks about making the show relevant to today’s kids.

WS: What are the priorities in re-launching an iconic brand like Power Rangers?
DEKEL: Our priority is to deliver a great show. We are in production on 43 new episodes. In that regard we have gone back to the originals and looked at them carefully, studied them, analyzed them. We brought back our producer Jonathan Tzachor, who helped us make those original shows, and we produced a new series called Power Rangers Samurai that brings that essence, that DNA, into the new program. So in some respects, kids will be getting the very best of what was but combined with a brand new story and brand new elements. [We plan on bringing] this show to kids around the world, with a whole new collection of broadcast partners; that is our core priority now, finding those new partners.

WS: Even though the show premiered in 1993, are there core values that even today’s multitasking, multiplatform kids can relate to?
DEKEL: Yes, in studying the show we’ve really identified some core essential elements: teamwork is one, being good role models for kids is another, and bringing humor back into the show is essential. The show used to be so much fun and that is what kids really responded to. We also have transformation and action adventure and big giant robot battles in every 30-minute episode. There are plenty of ingredients in the show that help it sustain, year after year, and now with more than 700 episodes and 43 new coming, we know that formula works very well.

WS: At the same time as you are revamping the show, are you planning merchandising and products that can accompany it?
DEKEL: Yes, no question, Power Rangers has always been a very good property for extending into consumer products and promotions and events, so our strategy includes not just going into those areas, but also applying the brand into digital arenas, so interactive products, video games, Internet activity, all of that, even social media is coming into the new era of Power Rangers. And as we approach our 20th anniversary, we’ll look forward to live tours again and more feature films and a whole new collection of partners that will be part of that effort moving forward.

WS: What made you want to come back and work with Haim Saban again?
DEKEL: I first went to work with Haim in 1989 and the company was a very ambitious distributor and producer of content, mostly kids’ content. And that era, the next 12 years of my career, were the most dynamic and exciting and compelling times. We got to experiment in so much and we were blessed with good success. So the opportunity to come back and work with Haim Saban once again on a new venture, one that is fully supported by vast resources, with brands that we know and brands that we have yet to find [is very exciting]. We are very excited about applying ourselves and it’s fun to be back in business with Haim again.