line up merchandising deals?

[keannu]

What is "line up"? Is it "secure" or "plan"?

ex) ....When Michael Jackson died last year, he had nearly half a billion dollars in debt. Since then, it has been a great year for his career: his laywers say they have lined up merchandising deals worth $100 million, and record sales and other income will produce another $100 million.....

[JMurray]

they have lined up merchandising deals
What is "line up"? Is it "secure" or "plan"?

keannu.
In a sense it is both. A deal that's "lined up" usually means an agreed arrangement, possibly a contract, that's ready to proceed. So it's a "secure plan", at the time of speaking anyway.

not a teacher

[keannu]

they have lined up merchandising deals
What is "line up"? Is it "secure" or "plan"?

keannu.
In a sense it is both. A deal that's "lined up" usually means an agreed arrangement, possibly a contract, that's ready to proceed. So it's a "secure plan", at the time of speaking anyway.

not a teacher

Thanks a lot, and also is "merchandising" character products like his doll or just selling technique?

[JMurray]

Thanks a lot, and also is "merchandising" character products like his doll or just selling technique?

Generally "merchandising" just means anything that's done by way of advertising, packaging, promotions etc that boosts the sale of a commercial product. But in areas like music, film and TV it more specifically refers to marketing strategies where a specific brand (Michael Jackson, Avatar, Simpsons etc) is attached to a lot of other products (merchandise) like t-shirts, DVDs, games, and of course dolls, that are sold as spin-offs of the original commodity. Over time this merchandising can often generate much more profit than the original movie.