New LEGO set: Crowdsourced Doctor Who

Finally, Doctor Who fans will be able to assemble the Tardis one LEGO brick at a time. LEGO crowdsourced this new product through its LEGO Ideas website, where brand fans are invited to submit ideas and then the community members vote for their favourites.

Product ideas that receive 10,000 or more votes move ahead to the next stage in the process: A formal review by LEGO's experts, who test each set, assess the potential marketing opportunity and determine how the new product might fit in the current product mix.

Only a handful of ideas are chosen for production during the year and this is the year for Doctor Who. Of course, LEGO had to negotiate a license, because the BBC owns the intellectual property rights. The current Doctor, Peter Capaldi, will be depicted on one of the minifigures, but other decisions (such as a companion figure and other characters) remain to be announced. Will Daleks be included with the set? Stone angels? Stay tuned.

Opera, theatre, ballet, museums and Doctor Who

When Doctor Who's 50th anniversary special was simulcast on BBC channels and in 800 movie theatres around the world, it was only the latest in a growing trend toward selling specially-priced tickets to special performances on the big screen.

The concept of showing a series of live or special events in HD at local cinemas began eight seasons ago with New York's Metropolitan Opera HD Live series of opera performance transmissions. Today, more than 2,000 theatres in 64 nations show Met HD Live performances. Over the past eight years, more than 14 million people have attended an HD Live performance in their local theatre. The ticket prices are far lower than at the Met's opera house, but higher than movie ticket prices. Most important, the ability to reach millions of people in one season was the main marketing reason for starting this project. And yes, the Met HD Live is profitable.

Now all kinds of cultural organizations are bringing their performances or exhibits to larger audiences on the big screen. National Theatre Live brings "the best of British theatre" to local cinemas worldwide. Royal Opera House Live brings opera to cinema audiences in 30 countries. Ballet in Cinema brings performances from the Bolshoi and other renowned ballet companies to theatre-goers. World-class museums are opening special exhibits to cinema goers in many countries. And some rock concerts are showing on the big screen, as well.

Watch for more big screen events, thanks to the success of these cultural pioneers in marketing.

The marketing galaxy of Doctor Who

Finally, Doctor Who and friends (and enemies) will be available to play on Nintendo devices, starting later this year. Shown above, Doctor Who "Return to Earth" for the Wii, featuring (obviously) the Cybermen. For Nintendo DS, Doctor Who "Evacuation Earth" will feature the Daleks.

So far, these Doctor Who games will be available in the UK, Europe and elsewhere but not in the US.

The BBC's downloadable Doctor Who games have been extremely popular, especially the ongoing series of family-friendly interactive episodes featuring Matt Smith and Karen Gillian.

Doctor Who is the marketing engine behind all kinds of goods and services, as you can see on the official BBC site and other authorised sites that sell related action figures, magazines, books and more.

Doctor Who's marketability is as strong as ever, and eager fans worldwide await his Nintendo debut. What marketing galaxy will the doctor and his companion invade (or save) next?