LICENSING MAGAZINE Sept 2019

#04 | 201 9

LICENSING | BRANDING | MEDIA&DIGITAL | PUBLISHING TRADE MAGAZINE

INTERVIEWS WITH INDUSTRY KEY PLAYERS

BLE AND MIPCOM SPECIAL REPORTS

INNOVATIVE PRESCHOOL AND LATEST BROADCAST CHALLENGES

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Editorial

Dear reader The issue that you’re about to browse through looks at what’s new on the market and some unmissable industry events, but, above all, it’s about trends, research and in-depth analysis.

From the timeless trend of unicorns to the more recent global emergence of Girl Empowerment up to the new frontiers of broadcasting, where OTT platforms are booming, there’s a lot to discuss – and in this issue we try to cover all the main talking points.

We also look at innovative approaches to the preschool market: how to create preschool content that is suitable for today’s children, increasingly multi-platform-oriented but linked to the traditional concepts of value and content.

BLE and MIPCOM are the two main events previewed in this issue – and we will be present at both, although the autumn issue of Licensing Magazine is going on a particularly varied tour: starting from BLE in London it will go to Cannes for MIPCOMJr and then MIPCOM, then travel to Asia for the China Licensing Expo, the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair, the Asia Television Forum and finally the Asia Digital Entertainment Summit.

Last but not least, in this issue you will be able to enjoy some fascinating interviews with leading industry players, as Susan Bolsover of Penguin Ventures, Kate Dwyer of The Coca-Cola Company and Jamie Stevens of Sony Pictures Consumer Products, among the others, to discuss the latest trends and the development strategies of their brands for the near future.

As always, have a great read!

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Contents

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Cover story 14

PLANETA JUNIOR Here come the autumn hits!

Interview 20 20

PENGUIN VENTURES Interview With Susan Bolsover

News 22

CPLG ITALY CPLG presents the latest franchises

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RAINBOW What’s new for the next season

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THE POKÉMON COMPANY INTERNATIONAL The Pokémon success continues

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MONDO TV Mondo TV: new directions, new ideas

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VIACOM NICKELODEON CONSUMER PRODUCTS LM meets Simone Fenu

Licensees 42

PEA & PROMOPLAST Pea & Promoplast to announce toy deals and logo launch at BLE

Entertainment

ATLANTYCA A new mission in 2019

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FORFUN MEDIA Forfun Media presents its new distribution arm

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KIMBE Live and licensed: a rich calendar of events

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FORFUN MEDIA Forfun Media goes to Wonderland with Alice&Lewis and many other news coming soon

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P&B Promotional products in a sustainability-focused age

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PUBLIEVENT New licensed live events coming soon

News 36

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Interview

News

PANINI Panini: 15 years of Brand Licensing MAURIZIO DISTEFANO LICENSING Maurizio Distefano Licensing announces line-up at BLE

Focus on 48

ZINKIA ENTERTAINMENT Pocoyo turns 20 years in 2020

Contents

Media&Digital 84

COLTO High-quality digital app for kids

Entertainment 85 76

86 SPANISH LICENSING MARKET What’s new from Spain

THE COCA–COLA COMPANY Interview with Kate Dwyer

CARTOON FORUM What’s new from the European animation

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THE TOY ASSOCIATION Compound Crazy Toys Bring Next-Level Excitement to Kids

Events Events 90 58

SPIELWARENMESSE 2020 A leap into new business ideas

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ASIA TELEVISION FORUM ATF 2019: Spotlight on China and India, media Powerhouses of Asia

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CHINA LICENSING EXPO China Licensing Expo boosts licensing industry in China

Trends 96

BRAND LICENSING EUROPE 2019 BLE Special Report

BOLOGNA LICENSING TRADE FAIR BLTF2020: a look ahead

Focus on 98

PRESCHOOL ENTERTAINMENT Innovative preschool

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BROADCASTING Challenges from ott platforms...

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BROADCASTING ...And the response of broadcasters

Trends

Interview 74

UNICORN-MANIA HITS THE MARKET! Flying high with unicorns

Trends

Interview 56

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Events

Focus on 50

FRED ROGERS PRODUCTIONS ODD Squad: a new season ready to air

Events

SONY PICTURES CONSUMER PRODUCTS Interview with Jamie Stevens

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TIPS RICERCHE Girl empowerment

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KIDS INSIGHTS Youtubers in the retail world

Events 76

MIPCOM SPECIAL REPORT What’s new in Cannes

Save the date 96

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WHAT’S NEXT

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Cover Story

PLANETA JUNIOR

HERE COME THE AUTUMN HITS! Leading European children’s and youth entertainment company Planeta Junior is set to present its latest news at some of the autumn’s biggest trade events, beginning with Brand Licensing Europe.

POWER PLAYERS: THE NEXT BIG THING! Planeta Junior has acquired the rights to manage the licensing and merchandising programme for POWER PLAYERS, a brand-new fun action-comedy show

featuring big laughs and over-the-top action. Starting in the everyday world of Axel and his friends and family, the mind-blowing visuals take hold when Axel crosses over into the world of his toy teammates. The comedy element springs from the wild and whacky characters–

and Axel’s unwitting role in bringing the smart toys to life in the first place!

Now Axelmust save the world (and his friends) while somehow keeping his role in the rescues a complete secret. Humans perceive The Power Players as they would any other toys – but they’re much more than that – and only Axel knows…

PUCCA IS BACK! Iconic character Pucca was a hit in 170 countries – and now she’s back, thanks

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to an agreement signed by Planeta Junior, Vooz and CJ E&M. Planeta Junior is working on a massive digital campaign using traditional and new formats to reach new targets. The deal includes also disruptive advertising initiatives –including street marketing and unconventional publicity – to offer audiences a truly immersive experience.

Pucca is the star of a hilarious animated 78 x 7’ TV series created by South Korean producer Vooz. This curious, adventurous and cute girl works at the world’s last healthy restaurant. She is head over heels in love with Garu, the restaurant’s main ingredients supplier, who just happens to be one of the best ninja warriors around.

The first two 2D seasons are already available. Season 3 will be launched in CGI 3D between 4Q 2019 and 2Q 2020.

But that’s not all. Last February Planeta Junior celebrated Valentine’s Day alongside this iconic brand, spreading Pucca’s funny messages of love to millions of users throughout the brand’s digital environment.

The funny and affectionate Pucca has been picked up by major European influencers, who have shared the brand’s entertaining essence with over 2.5 million users. Influencers like Carla Laubalo in Spain, Vittoria Deganello in Italy, Laly SNL in France and Connie Glynn in the UK were just some of the key online figures who dedicated their Valentine’s Day posts

ABOUT PLANETA JUNIOR Planeta Junior, a company within the Grupo Planeta / De Agostini Group, is one of Europe’s leading companies providing entertainment for children and family audiences.

It focuses on producing and distributing animated series and the rights derived from these IPs. The company has offices in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Central and Eastern Europe. Planeta Junior has joined forces in Germany, Benelux and Northern Europe with S100/m4e.

The company continues to invest in its own productions featuring series like Gormiti and Squish, and it has produced in the past more than 200 hours for children aged 2 – 14 years old like Mutant Busters, Egyxos, Bubble Bip, Sendokai, Maya 3D, Heidi 3D and Magiki, among others.

Find more information on www.planeta-junior.com

to this delightful Korean character. Not only that but dedicated campaign videos were shared via YouTube and Facebook and reached over 2 million people in all launch territories.

GORMITI, A HIT ON AND OFF THE SMALL SCREEN Adventure story Gormiti is a big hit with boys in Italy and abroad. Giochi Preziosi is the global master toy licensee for the property and Planeta Junior handles TV sales and consumer products worldwide.

During Christmas 2018 Gormiti was the number one brand in the action figures and accessories category and the property that best performed in terms of turnover during that period. The brand also supplied five of the ten best-selling products, with Gormiti Tower of the Elements at the very top of this list.

As far as consumer products are concerned, in Italy Gormiti’s licensing program is almost completely covered, with 90% of categories secured at the moment. There are now 18 licensees on board, including Panini, Ravensburger, Suncity, Mondadori, Preziosi Food, Sodico

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Cover Story

and Playpress, to name only a few. The official app for the series is a big hit among children, with more than 200,000 downloads and 4 million battles played on Gorm’s field.

This success follows the impressive performance of the series, which is broadcast on Rai Yoyo and Rai Gulp. Some 300,000 viewers watched the show premiere in October and it has continued posting good viewing figures since release day. RAI Gulp broadcasts Gormiti every day at 5.30 pm and RAI YOYO every day at 8.45 pm.

Gormiti tells the story of four kids who discover a hidden Tower – the One Tower –and how their dreams of heroic feats suddenly become reality. Together with the One Tower they also find the Elemental Bracers, which allows them to fight alongside the legendary Gormiti.

But the Tower revealed itself for a reason: the Darkans, Gormiti’s ancient enemies, are back, threatening all living beings in Gorm. Unprepared, the kids need to learn how to become true heralds. With the help of Ao-ki, the girl tasked to train them, the new heroes will master the Elemental Bracers, call on the legendary Gormiti and save their world. Gormiti is a series about teamwork, friendship, achieving goals and having fun!

ODDBODS TO GROW IN EUROPE THANKS TO PLANETA Planeta Junior is building a licensing program in Europe for preschool comedy series Oddbods that includes apparel, accessories, back to school products, home-ware, giftware and publishing.

Oddbods is a twice-Emmy-nominated global phenomenon with a broadcast presence in over 180 countries around the globe. It’s also officially recognised as a major influencer in the digital space,

having amassed a staggering 9 billion views and 8 million subscribers on YouTube. The show is also broadcast on major networks around the world, including Disney, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Netflix and Amazon. In 2018, Oddbods received its second Emmy nomination in a row, the first-ever property to do so in its category.

FIND ME IN PARIS – MAKING WAVES IN ITALY Planeta Junior has joined forces with

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Planeta Junior is taking on the licensing rights to the series, concentrating on the extraordinary opportunities provided by a tween live action series revolving around music, ballet and modern dance – set against the backdrop of the most iconic opera house in the most famous city in the world.

FIND ME IN PARIS is produced by Federation’s sister company Cottonwood

Federation Kids & Family in Italy for its premium time-travelling ballet series FIND ME IN PARIS. Now in its second season, FIND ME IN PARIS (52 x 26) launched on the Disney Channel Italy in November 2018, alongside a worldwide debut on the most important platforms across the globe, including NBC Universal Kids and HULU (US), Nickelodeon (UK), France Télévisions (France), Disney (France), ZDF (Germany), ABC (Australia), and VRT (Belgium), among others.

Media with ZDF, ZDF Enterprises, B-FILMS, and the Opera National de Paris. Producers include David Michel, Zoé Carrera Allaix, Cecile Lauritano and Pascal Breton, along with co-executive producer Leila Smith. Written and coexecutive-produced by Jill Girling and Lori Mather-Welch (creators of Nickelodeon’s hit series “Ride”), the show stars Jessica Lord, Eubha Akilade, Rory J. Saper,

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Hannah Dodd, Castle Rock Peters, and Hiran Abeysekera.

FIND ME IN PARIS is the story of Lena Grisky, a time-travelling ballet dancer from 1905 Russia trapped in modern-day Paris, and the dilemmas she faces being part of two worlds. Filled with world-class ballet, modern dance, music, drama and comedy, the series is filmed on location in Paris and the iconic National Garnier Opera House, with a production budget to match. FIND ME IN PARIS has already taken the tween genre by storm enjoying worldwide sales and critical acclaim.

Recent accolades include the Washington Post’s listing of the series as a top choice for parents to watch with kids, noting, “this international series also features a lot of really impressive dance sequences from the talented cast.”

ZAG HEROEZ MIRACULOUS™ LADYBUG & CHAT NOIR WINNERS OF THE SPECIAL AWARD FASHION KIDS AT LAST #BLTF19 ZAG HEROEZ MIRACULOUS™ - TALES OF LADYBUG & CAT NOIR, created

by ZAG and Method Animation, received the 2019 Bologna Licensing Award for the project MIRACULOUS by GUESS, thanks, in no small part, to the hard work of Planeta Junior in Italy.

The collection GUESS X “Be Miraculous” Ladybug Fashion kids capsule is inspired by the iconic superhero and Parisian styling seen throughout the popular animated TV series ZAG HEROEZ™ Miraculous™- Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. It has been brought to life with a modern GUESS-supplied twist, combined with the quality and design for which the GUESS brand is known. The “Be Miraculous” Ladybug capsule collection features 50 skus designed for girls and boys aged from 6 to 12.

The success of Miraculous Ladybug continues. After a 2018 full of collaborations, 2019 started by doubling last year’s success in consumer products. With more than 35 licensees in Italy (and 350 around the world) and 1500 products inspired by the brand, Miraculous has found its way to the number one spot in the girls target market. Ferrero, De Agostoni, Panini, Suncity, Sicem, Sabor, Lisciani, Sodico, Clementoni, Mondo Walcor, Multiprint and Warm up are just a few of the licensees on board with the brand.

The number of events the brand is involved in is impressive too: it has just finished an important brand initiative in more than 400 Oviesse stores to celebrate Carnival. Mondadori and Carrefour also have Miraculous Ladybug events planned, and in the next few months there will be many more, including Easter celebrations with Miraculous Kinder Gran Sorpresa and another Easter (and Easter cake)-focused event with Paluani.

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Interview

PENGUIN VENTURES

INTERVIEW WITH SUSAN BOLSOVER Stories have always been at the heart of Penguin Random House and Penguin Ventures was created to bring together the Licensing, Consumer Products, TV Production, Retail, Exhibitions and Live events strategies in new ways to tell the world’s favorite stories.

Penguin Ventures manages a portfolio of licensed literary brands and characters which, together with an archive of original art, provide the magic and wonder for all kinds of different consumer products, media and experiences.

To learn more LM had the pleasure to interview Susan Bolsover, Director of Licensing and Consumer Products.

Could you tell us how the Consumer Products division at Penguin Ventures is structured?

I started the Consumer Products division in Penguin Random House in 2013. We have grown from 3 people to 11 in the current team. Our remit is to represent those brands that are published bythe children’s division within from Penguin Random House UK. Although we are based in London we manage the licensing directly in a number of global markets or we work through agencies in other territories where relevant.

In Penguin’s rich portfolio, which properties are more relevant for your licensing development?

We look after properties which already have a strong and established publishing presence. For example, I am referring to Peter Rabbit, a world famous property with an international presence. We also work across The Snowman, winner of Best Classic Licensed Property Award at the recent Licensing Awards, and we also manage Eric Hill’s Spot, (we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original picture book Where’s Spot? next year) just to name a few titles from our rich and international portfolio.

Susan Bolsover who will then pass their favorite stories down to their own children, who receive the cultural heritage from their family.

They don’t necessarily need to be first a movie or a TV series to engage children.

They will love the shared experience of a story from books again and again.

According to you, what is the power of book based properties?

Mainly, book based properties are different from any other kind of IP. We can say that they form part of a family’s DNA. In fact, books are read first by grandparents and then followed by the parents The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

Classic Peter Rabbit Afternoon Tea with Le Meridien Hotel Piccadilly Which strategy do you apply to develop book based IPs beyond books?

We developed the Peter Rabbit IP into three separate iterations, the Classic Peter Rabbit; a TV series and the newest movie franchise, each offering different opportunities for licensing development.

We created a brand new licensing programme for Movie Peter Rabbit which gave a completely new dimension to the brand. Our existing programmes remained focused on Classic Peter Rabbit for the nursery sector with the TV Series has a preschool audience. There was no conflict because the brand iterations have distinct audiences and style guides so the licensing programmes reflect this.

Interview

Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2020 Beyond the UK territory, which other territories are more relevant for you?

Outside the UK we are very established in the Asian market. Again with Peter Rabbit we have a very strong presence in Australia, Japan and a growing presence inChina.

The Snowman limited edition Barbour plush from Steiff exclusively for Fenwick Which are the most important categories?

Toy, gift and apparel categories are strongest for our brands. Because the characters and stories we represent are beloved by multiple generations we have been able to establish our brands in a variety of categories and we are now looking to extend into the millennial market. We are interested to see how our brands can perform and appeal to that audience.

Which are your main objectives for the future?

To grow our brands. Very often with a heritage property people have strong preconceived ideas about it. So, the challenge for us is to allow the brand to evolve in a way that will appeal to

Penguin Ventures, part of Penguin Random House will be showcasing their entire portfolio of iconic children’s brands at BLE this year including Peter Rabbit; The Snowman; Spot; Ladybird: The Vintage Collection and Flower Fairies.

PETER RABBIT™ 2, the second live-action/CGI movie from Sony Pictures Animation is scheduled to release in the US on February 7, 2020 followed by UK on March 27. Penguin Ventures is delighted to have secured high calibre licensees in all key product categories including plush, apparel, food and gifting.

Ten Minutes To Bed is a stunning picture book series which takes inspiration from the latest toddler trends and Penguin Ventures are now looking for licensees to join them on this exciting new adventure in storytelling!

2020 marks also the 40th anniversary of Where’s Spot? - the original liftthe-flap picture book by Eric Hill. Penguin Ventures, will be celebrating this milestone for Spot through a series of promotional partnerships, brand new publishing and a range of licensed consumer products.

Following the incredible success of the 40th anniversary of The Snowman last year and a recent win at The Licensing Awards for Best Classic Licensed Property Award, Penguin Ventures has secured a raft of new licensees and partnerships for 2019 and looks forward to discussing new initiatives for 2020 and beyond at BLE. STAND AT BLE: C240

contemporary audiences but still retain the original charm of the IP. An example of this was our partnership with Le Meridien Hotels who launched a licensed Classic Peter Rabbit Afternoon Tea earlier this year. We worked with them to host an influencer event showcasing the best of our licensed product and bringing the brand to life with celebrity storytelling, facepainting, dressing up and of course, a delicious themed and beautifully styled afternoon tea.

We are also working on a new property coming from our publishing colleagues in Penguin Random House Children’s books in the UK. This is a brand-new and original IP called Ten Minutes to Bed that has originated from a best-selling and stunning Ladybird Books series. It focuses on current trends and parental needs and we are excited to will be introduce it at BLE.

Where is Peter Rabbit? Theatrical stage show has completed its second West End run

New range of Spot plush by Rainbow Designs How do you see the development of kids habits in reading and watching TV and how, according to you, will they impact on the kids publishing attitudes?

Now we have to compete with brands coming from not only TV but also games and apps. We have to focus on content and we have to understand our audiences.

We have the task of looking for the right story and the right format. Publishing is evolving to think of different ways to bring content to children. It’s about cultural acknowledgment. Stories can be told through a variety of mediums from TV and film or live events, through to apps and games. The business of publishing is to identify brilliant stories and characters and to think carefully about how we are reaching audiences and telling those stories.

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CPLG ITALY

CPLG PRESENTS THE LATEST FRANCHISES CPLG is one of the main European licensing agencies and represents some of the most popular franchises internationally – from great classics to new films. LM interviewed Maria Giovanna Gurrieri, Managing Director Southern Europe, to get an update. the new animated film version of the Addams Family, which is much loved in Italy. This hits the big screen on 31 October. To tie in with the launch we have many promotions planned, including one with Golosino. Among the confirmed licensees we can reveal that the publishing partner is Harper Collins.

On 7 November, the highly anticipated animated film inspired by the Ugly Dolls will be released. In Italy the licensing program is already highly active, with an important partner on the confectionery side as well as others such as Walcor, Leolandia and Mc Donalds.

Maria Giovanna Gurrieri What are the strengths of CPLG? CPLG is an agency that responds to the main needs of licensors, and partners with whom it works– from licensees to retailers– and it can cover a huge number of territories, allowing even greater uniformity in brand management. Our structure allows us to deal with areas that do not fit conventional linear broadcasting through the subsidiary Wildbrain, a company specializing in creating dedicated content for digital platforms, such as those for Miffy and the Smurfs, among others. We therefore manage– digitally – a library of licensors and majors worldwide. There is also DHX Media, a leading global content provider. Last but not least, on the retail front, CPLG has a dedicated division that studies current customers acquisition trends.

Can you tell us about the main releases for next season?

Among many new features, we have a series of upcoming films that reintroduce our important franchises. These include

Big majors increasingly tend to repeat famous IPs, relaunching them with an updated programme. These are properties that already have a base but that are given a contemporary spin, expanding the target market.

At the end of November a brand-new movie version of Charlie’s Angels will be released, with an incredible all-female cast directed by Elizabeth Banks. Girl power is truly front and centre of this franchise, for which the famous underwear company Tezenis has already brought out a vintage collection inspired by the brand’s history.

Another important franchise is Ghostbusters, which celebrated its 35th anniversary this year. In the summer of 2020 the new film, directed by Jason Reitman, son of the director of the original film, Ivan Reitman, will be released. The story starts where the first movie ends

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children and families with very highquality production. It will be presented officially at MIPCOM and we will soon see it on Rai Yoyo. This property is an extraordinary success on YouTube – a real phenomenon waiting to make a major impression yet again.

Finally, we always do very well with the classics such as the Pink Panther, which is still a very important brand for us.

Recently we launched a new collaboration based around social activities and shop windows, with Monnalisa. We are also working with AW-LAB.

and it contains some scenes from the old movie. However, this is not a remake but a sequel. We’ve already announced important partnerships with Hasbro, Mattel, Playmobil and Lego. What makes this brand unique is that it has a very broad target market –from children to adults across a wide range of categories. it’s an important property making a welcome return to the market; we manage it for all the countries in which we have a presence. In Italy, we will soon be announcing the results of a collaboration with AW-LAB. Besides the movies?

On other fronts, in Italy we now represent Topo Gigio, a classic children’s property that is back in a new animated series, produced by the Italian Movimenti Productions company. This is a delightful new TV series, an action comedy for

In your opinion, how are fashion and branding linked?

The fashion world has always been important to licensing. Fashion companies are looking for new incentives to create special capsule collections that can surprise the market and, in turn, becoming tools of communication in their own right.

How do you deal with changes in retail?

Purchasing increasingly happens online because it is faster and more immediate.

But for our part, we create exclusive

collections that can only be found at the point of sale, as well as activities, competitions and entertainment, as well as special installations. Together these factors create a unique reason for going to a store.

Below and above Monnalisa x The Pink Panther

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RAINBOW

WHAT’S NEW FOR THE NEXT SEASON Rainbow is set to present many new shows that will be among the highlights of next season. We talked to Cristiana Buzzelli, SVP, Content & Consumer Products Licensing at Rainbow SpA on the second season, which will probably be ready for launch in Q1 2020.

Winx is a great classic. It’s also evolving!

Tell us about the live action version.

The live action series is a natural evolution

Cristiana Buzzelli Series 44 Cats is an extraordinary preschool success. Can you tell us the latest news?

The series continues to enjoy excellent ratings on RAI YOYO in Italy and impressive numbers on YouTube, where we have almost reached half a million views on the channel. The show is available from July on Netflix and will also be available on Amazon’s Prime Video service in the coming months. There are over 30 licensees already on board and we can also announce that live show will be touring the main Italian cities starting November 2nd. Some products are already on the shelves, such as books from Mondadori.

These entered the bestseller charts on the first week of launch. Simba’s toys have enjoyed an excellent retail response and the magazine is among the best sellers in the category with over 30,000 copies sold per month. In the wake of these first data, we have already started production

based on the success of the long-running Winx animated series. Fans around the world who watched the first series of Winx in 2004 are now in their 20s, so the series is ready to become a live action property aimed at a young adult audience.

It will embrace both long-time fans, and a new audience that, with its strong reach, Netflix can attract. The series will be shot in English and launched in over 190 countries worldwide at the same time.

On the live front, you have also launched the brand new live action Club 57…

Rainbow is a studio that combines experience in animation with the creative skills needed for live action. Club 57 is a series co-produced with Nickelodeon that Rai was keen to undertake following on from the success of Maggie & Bianca Fashion Friends. The idea is highly original.

It’s based on the concept of time travel with the protagonists finding themselves catapulted into the 1950s. In addition to

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music and dance, both contemporary and from the 1950s, the themes of science and technology are touched on for the first time in a live action series. As well as Italy’s Rai Gulp, the series is being aired in Latin America and other European countries.

Among your other innovations is SOS PETS. What is it about?

SOS Pets is a new IP that shows that Rainbow is focused on all-round creativity – and not linked exclusively to the world of television or the big screen. SOS Pets was born as digital content – a web series composed of short animated clips whose protagonists are small animals.

The brand has already become a toy line of 48 collectible animals which combine surprise – and the unboxing factor – with collectability.

Rainbow is always an exhibitor at MIPCOM and this year has some important news. What is it?

We will present two new animated series, both linked to universal themes, and both using CGI animation. One is a new and contemporary series inspired

by Pinocchio, for an audience of fourto-eight-year-olds. The other is a series dedicated to the world of farm, seen through the eyes of children, with animals as the stars. This is gaining interest from all over the world because it deals with a topic familiar to children from two to five years, but also dear to parents – and without geographical boundaries.

Rainbow is among the most important global licensors. At what stage is your international development today?

Rainbow has always looked at the world as its own market, focusing on investments in high-quality series production even in the most sophisticated markets, such as the United States or non-European countries. In particular, 44 Cats has undisputed top-level television coverage and we’re very proud that not only have many particularly demanding television networks acquired the series (Super RTL in Germany, France Télé, Nickelodeon in the USA, POP in the UK , etc) but also that the series has performed exceptionally well in countries where broadcasting has already started. In the current framework, Russia is a consolidated market for us, Latin America is growing both for Winx and 44 Cats, and we have important expectations for both English-speaking countries and the countries of central Europe (such as France and Germany).

Last but not least, you are also a licensing agency for third parties. What are the properties that you represent in this capacity and what trends do they reflect?

We do not represent many properties, but we do select quality projects for which we can find the right space in our brand portfolio and to which we can pay the

utmost attention. Today we represent Gorjuss by Santoro, which is a leader in the lifestyle sector, and Diabolik, which is a great series of Italian classic comics for adults and young adults. They will have a particularly high profile next year due to the launch of the Diabolik film through Rai Cinema. In animation, we are also agents for Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty, an American animated series for kids aged 6 to 11 years old, noteworthy for its humour and broadcast on Nickelodeon around the world.

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ATLANTYCA

A NEW MISSION IN 2019 This Fall Atlantyca launches BERRY BEES, a TV series based on its own IP. Three Bees-Spies on a mission fly in action! A new TV series ready to win over audiences around the world. LM interviewed Marco Piccinini, Licensing Manager of the group, to learn more.

Atlantyca’s Animation division has announced a new production, Berry Bees, can you tell us something more about the plotline of this new project?

Bobby, Lola and Juliette, aka the Berry Bees, are three girls who lead a seemingly normal life, at least when they are not committed to saving the world on behalf of the BIA, a secret agency that has chosen them for the missions in which the adult agents can’t take part.

Whether it’s protecting a young princess and family pearls from a fake photographer, or discovering why remotecontrolled sneakers force the wearer to steal, the Berry Bees are always ready to for action.

Bobby, a technology expert and a bit of a nerd, Lola, a skilled contortionist and acrobat, and Juliette, a talented actress, are the perfect trio when it comes to

infiltrating the criminal’s lair, finding out plans and intervening before it’s too late.

All strictly in incognito of course!

With the support of the amazing gadgets that the head of the agency, Ms. Berry, provides them the Berry Bees always manage to get the better of the bad guys and show them that saving the world is not just something for big heroes.

What promotional activity are you expecting for the launch of this new series?

The original Property is owned by Atlantyca. The TV series consists of 52 x 12 minutes and is a of Atlantyca co- production with Australian SLR Productions, Irish Telegael and the Indian animation studio Cosmos Maya.

In addition, thanks to the partecipation of Rai Ragazzi and Channel Nine, we are expecting to achieve great things in both the international television market and in the licensing market.

The series is aimed at a male and female target aged 7-10 years. It will soon be airing on TV and expect great interest from the licensing world.

Bat Pat. What is the latest news and what do you expect for Halloween?

Bat Pat is returning to TV with a second season of 52 new episodes, in addition to the first season which has been sold in more than 100 territories, there are a 104 episodes of 11 minutes.

In the new season the friendly talking bat, together with three siblings Silver Leo, Martin and Rebecca, will launch into new adventures full of fun and comedy, always with the aim of helping the supernatural creature on duty struggling with some problem .

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Some of the incredible creatures seen in the first season will return, but Bat Pat and his gang will meet so many new people around the world thanks to Engine 13 the train driven by zombie Molly and will travel the whole world to discover new supernatural creatures.

Atlantyca re-launches Bat Pat producing a new capsule style guide entirely dedicated to Halloween. New posters of Bat Pat, new funny supernatural creatures and new graphic elements, are available to licensees who want to ride this constantly growing anniversary, exploiting a character constantly on TV and loved by the large public of children.

Tell us about the further developments of School of Roars.

School Of Roars has been confirmed as an important success in Italy. The TV series produced by Dot to Dot and by the BBC, and distributed in Italy by Atlantyca, has won the hearts of children at a special age since the first months of the TV launch.

Soon we will announce the partnerships concluded with some of the main Italian licensees who have recognized this success and have decided to believe in this TV series, also focusing on the fact that the second season is already in production and will soon be available in Italy.

The episodes continue to be broadcast on Rai YoYo and Dea Junior, with massive programming that continues to feed the passion of children, who in fact require more and more products with their characters to be able to have the little monsters always with them.

The green theme is increasingly relevant.

How do you deal with your properties?

For example with the Hello Maestro edutainment line?

Exactly the year ago the Conad promotion began - Class Writers Save the Planet in collaboration with the WWF and starring Geronimo Stilton, which involved the children of thousands of Italian classes, bringing them closer to the themes of environmental protection.

For Atlantyca this promotion was a source of pride, as education for the protection of the earth is increasingly important and the new generations are very careful and very aware of it.

For this reason, Atlantyca is proud to have

a Hello Master portfolio, the legendary 7-season TV series - the most famous of which is We Are Thus Exploring the Human Body – including Once Upon

a Time the Earth. A TV series of 27 26-minute episodes dedicated to the defense of the environment and nature, broadcast on Cartoonito .

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THE POKÉMON COMPANY INTERNATIONAL

The Pokémon success continues Global phenomenon Pokémon is enjoying another groundbreaking year. The first-ever live-action Pokémon movie was released to huge success at the box office, while new mobile games, apps and innovative connected hardware are creating exciting new experiences for Pokémon fans.

Pokémon My Partner Pikachu by Wicked Cool Toys Distributed by Giochi Preziosi Master Toy licensee Wicked Cool Toys’ new products have proved extremely popular, helped by strong partnerships with strong distributors – in Italy it’s GiochiPreziosi.

Pokémon ran several successful retail promotions in Italy this May, including with hypermarket chain Bennet for toys, and with Toys Center, the leading toy retailer in Italy, for toys and TCG.

Pokémon by Geox Pokémon’s partnership with the Italian footwear and apparel company Geox resulted in a prestigious award for their special Autumn/Winter 2018/19 collection of footwear – Geox’s first-ever kids entertainment character collection.

The Bologna Licensing Award Licensing Category Kids (Boys 6-10 years) was presented at the Bologna Licensing Fair in April. The innovative range, suitable for boys and girls, featured a host of Pokémon characters on the 14 colourful different styles of sneakers and trainers. The collection, all featuring Geox’s renowned patents, was launched at retail across Europe in Geox stores and stores selling Geox products from July 2018, supported by a strong marketing campaign that included pop-ups, in-stores events and Pokémon branded windows in Geox’s flagship stores. Following its success, Pokémon and Geox collaborated again on a Spring/Summer 2019 range featuring eight vibrant new designs created for endless adventures, including trendy lightup sneakers, which was launched across Europe in January.

Pokémon collaborated with luxury Italian

streetwear brand GCDS on an adult capsule range for both men and women in their Spring/Summer 2019 collection, presented at Milan Fashion Week.

Iconic characters Pikachu and Jigglypuff appeared on exciting urban apparel and accessories, which were sold globally from specialist boutiques, high-end department stores and GCDS’ website from this January.

Pokémon’s first-ever live-action movie, POKÉMON: Detective Pikachu was a huge hit at the box office. In addition, it also achieved phenomenal exposure from its promotional programme, which resulted in a significant sales lift for the associated licensed products including toys, TCG and apparel. The halo effect from the film has also benefitted the brand as a whole, with sales of non-film related products also growing.

In Italy, movie-inspired collections included those from Sicem, the Italian licensee for Pokémon kids and adult apparel and accessories, Difuzed – including a GameStop exclusive cap – and GB Eye mugs and posters.

Pokémon by GCDS

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Other exciting activity in the Italian market this year includes a 1000-piece puzzle from Ravensburger, innovative electronics from Teknofun and stylish storage and lunchware products from Stor.

strategy and battling game release on smart devices. Pokémon Masters, launched this summer, enables players to team up with famous Trainers for thrilling Sync Pair battles in a unique, all-new region.

The hugely successful Pokémon GO continues to introduce exciting new elements, the latest being this summer’s mission to battle the mysterious troublemakers Team GO Rocket and purify their shadow Pokémon.

Looking ahead, the highly anticipated new games Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield launches exclusively on Nintendo Switch on 15 November. New tie-in TCG and plush are among the associated products coming for the release, including Wicked Cool Toys’ interactive and touch sensitive My Partner Pikachu and Flame Action Charmander featuring light, sound and fiery flame action!

And further forward, 2020 sees more exciting innovation with two new apps.

Cloud service app Pokémon HOME will allow fans to manage their Pokémon collection across multiple games, whilst the much-hyped Pokémon Sleep aims to turn sleeping into entertainment, with sleep time affecting game action.

And following the popularity of the POKÉMON: Detective Pikachu movie, a new Detective Pikachu game for Nintendo Switch is in the pipeline.

Pokémon by Bershka On a global scale, Pokémon expanded its successful collaborations with leading fashion retailers H&M and Zara and began a new collaboration with Berskha.

Zara Kids extended their line with more new products available this year. In May here were retail tie-ins with: H&M for kids’ apparel, and Bershka for adults, supported with in-store point-of-sale displaysand a promotional photoshoot.

Primark stores across Europe stocked an exclusive range of women’s apparel featuring denim jackets, T-shirts, hoodies and sportswear, all featuring iconic Pokémon characters, created by urban lifestyle companies Difuzed and Global Brands Group. The collection was supported at launch in May with a powerful campaign featuring a styled photo shoot, online support and branded point-of-sale displays.

A partnership between mobile game developer DeNA and The Pokémon Company saw a new mobile Pokémon

Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield for Nintendo Switch

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News

MONDO TV

Mondo TV: new directions, new ideas It’s going to be a busy BLE for Mondo TV – but that reflects a busy 2019, in which one of the largest European producers and distributors of animated content has enhanced its core product while exploring new and very different directions.

Even within its highly successful animated output, Mondo TV is demonstrating its ability to innovate in the themes and ideas it is promoting – most notably sustainability and the environment.

These themes are key in particular to MeteoHeroes, a Mondo TV co-production with Meteo Expert Center – Italy’s leading weather forecasting group.

Featuring six superhero kids who work together to prevent pollution, global warming and climate change, the series

aims to offer 4-7-year-old kids fun and excitement but also to help them better understand environmental issues and what they can do to help the planet.

With this in mind, MeteoHeroes is a multifaceted project: a compelling 52 x 7’ series scheduled to premiere in spring 2020, an information-packed website, and a content-rich app. Its aim is to inform, educate and inspire – and of course thrill, amuse and entertain! Mondo TV’s plan for the licensing campaign is not just to

deliver fun products but products that are sustainability-friendly (a theme of the show) with, for example, plastic packaging replaced with compostable paper.

Favourable market feedback has boosted a licensing programme that is attracting major European companies active in a number of categories, who see in MeteoHeroes not just a high-quality project but the chance to play their part as ambassadors in the fight against climate change.

The show has also gained the patronage of three important Italian public institutions – the ministries of the environment and education as well as Legambiente, a leading Italian environmentalist association. It has also received numerous letters of support and endorsements from international weather forecasting centres in the US and Europe.

There’s an environmental theme to YooHoo to the Rescue as well. The firstever Netflix Original Series from coproducers Mondo TV and Aurora World, this is a new 3D CGI 52 x 11’ children’s show based on the globally successful line of Aurora World YooHoo plush toys, more than 80 million of which have been sold since the worldwide launch of the line in 2007. This is a funny, exciting and beautifully designed animated series with strong environmental themes, in which YooHoo and his friends, Pammee, Roodee, Chewoo and Lemmee, confront threats to nature and wildlife and meet many different endangered animal species.

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YooHoo to the Rescue has been available worldwide from March 2019 exclusively on the Netflix platform. Starting from April 2019 the series premiered exclusively on free-to-air channels in Italy (Frisbee),

Poland (TVP ABC from September 2019), Russia (Carousel from July 2019), and Portugal (Canal Panda from autumn 2019). With the recently confirmed news that Spain’s Clan TVE will premiere

episodes 1-26 of YooHoo to the Rescue in prime time starting in autumn 2019, and that Frisbee (Italy) will be launching new episodes in October, preceded by reruns of the first series, awareness of this

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News

content and marketing companies and producer of series one and co-producer of series two, will retain ownership of the original property and have a 10% stake in the third season.

Mondo TV will continue to take care of distribution worldwide (except Asia but including China) for both audiovisual rights and licensing and merchandising.

CJ E&M will take care of the distribution of the new show in Asia (except China).

The themes and storylines of series three are still under wraps but the introduction of new characters, concepts and locations in series two is proving very popular with broadcasters and more innovation can be expected for series three of this highly successful show. engaging and magical show is set to be greater than ever in 2020.

Licensing activity is also strong, boosted by a renovated plush toy line based on the new series, along with the rollout of a licensing and merchandising programme across many other categories. In Italy, a recent promotional agreement will see Mondadori Retail showcase YooHoo plush and books in four Mondadori Megastores and distribute plush across Mondadori’s franchises. Mondo is also planning four instore events in four megastores, featuring YooHoo costume characters along with an engaging format to allow kids and their family to experience a unique interaction with the brand. This exposure will be further strengthened by a TV campaign from toy distributor Rocco Giocattoli to promote the plush line.

A second season of Robot Trains, the exciting animated series for children aged between three and five years, is rolling out across Europe, and a third season (52 x 11 eps) has been announced with a launch date of autumn 2020 for the first 26 episodes of series three.

Season three of Robot Trains is a first for Mondo TV, which was the distributor and licensing agent for series one and added co-production to its portfolio for series two. For series three, Mondo TV will be in charge of the whole production, with an ownership stake of 90% in the new series.

CJ E&M, one of South Korea’s largest

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Robot Trains is now firmly established as a long-term licensing prospect with licensing activity now strong in many territories, where Silverlit’s toys, as well as confectionery and snacks, books, puzzles, confectionery decorations, live characters and events, stickers and trading cards, carnival costumes, personal care products and paper handkerchiefs, are just some of the items in shops or soon to appear at retail. This year has also seen the launch of the innovative new Robot Trains augmented reality app that works with product from Robot Trains licensees and allows kids to play games and experience live interactions with their favourite characters.

But Mondo TV is today even more than a major name in animated entertainment.

The 260 x (approximately) 10’ House of Talent Web Series, which began on 9 September, is a major new undertaking for Mondo.

This web-based show allows fans to see over 20 talented Italian online influencers aged between 13 and 19 in a whole new way! It doesn’t involve acting; presenters and guests are themselves, testing their talents in different areas, such as cooking, science, fashion, music and more, in the rooms of a real house! During the teaser campaign started one week before the

show arrived, the trailer reached 55,000+ views in less than 24 hours, an incredible result that allowed the videoclip to rank 37th on the YouTube trending list.

The role of influencers and marketing of products used during the show by these popular young talents will inform some of the approaches to licensing, but the unique format will also offer a number of new opportunities for licensing partners.

House of Talent is certainly different. But one of the biggest changes for Mondo TV since BLE 2018 has been third

“Mondo TV is really branching out this year at BLE, with thrilling, environmentally aware animated shows, a major push into the teen online entertainment market and one of the hottest toy brands on the planet. We’re also getting together with Toon2Tango in a major new alliance. It’s going to be a busy, exciting BLE” - Matteo Corradi, Mondo TV CEO -

party licensing, notably for Feisty Pets, interactive plush toys that transform from friendly to ferociously funny when squeezed. Simple to understand and very effectively developed, the Feisty Pets range has been a massive hit online, in the media and at retail. There are now 80 characters in the line, which has sold in the millions. Mondo TV is the Italian and Iberian sub-agent, working with the global licensing agent Surge Licensing and regularly announcing new licenses, now including toys, fashion accessories for girls, puzzles, books, live events and much more.

BLE will also be an opportunity for Mondo TV to tell visitors more about a major strategic cooperation agreement between Mondo TV Group and German company Toon2Tango GmbH & Co. KG., the new kids and family entertainment venture founded by television and movie industry legend Hans Ulrich (Ulli) Stoef.

The alliance will focus on developing, producing and distributing unique and high-quality programmes with strong merchandise appeal and will target the international market.

It’s been a busy 2019 for Mondo TV, then. But, with the company continually working on new directions and new ideas, 2020 promises to be even busier!

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Entertainment

FORFUN MEDIA

FORFUN MEDIA PRESENTS ITS NEW DISTRIBUTION ARM ForFun Media came into being when four Italian companies – MoBo Digital Factory, Studio Bozzetto & Co Srl, Movimenti Production, and Doghead Animation – decided to team up and compete on the international market. The company is still evolving, and this autumn will be debuting a new distribution arm, ForFun Distribution.

From left to right: Valeria Quattrini, Francesco Mozzetti and Elena Picco The head of this new division will be Francesco Mozzetti. LM interviewed him in the run-up to MIPCOM, where ForFun Distribution will make its official debut.

What is ForFun Distribution?

ForFun Distribution (FFD) is the distribution arm of the ForFun Media Group. It was created to add value and strength to the productions made by the other companies in the group and to create a unique and winning library for the international market.

What are the strengths of FFD? The strength of ForFun is its ability to conceive, develop, produce, and now distribute TV series and feature films, maintaining high standards of quality and reliability at every stage of the process.

This versatility and diversity allows the

group to work effectively with a wide range of potential international partners.

What is FFD highlighting today?

FFD is fortunate that its launch coincides with the arrival of the new animated series “Topo Gigio” (52x11’), a production entirely financed by Italian companies. Of course there is no lack of international players interested in the project; Topo Gigio is a character known all over the world. The series will be presented to the international market during the next MIP Junior and MIPCOM, where the first two or three episodes will be ready to show to broadcasters.

What projects are in the pipeline or the future?

We are looking at many projects with an eye to the international market. The next

MIPCOM will be a good opportunity to develop a number of ideas. Clearly the plan is to work on synergies and partnerships with many market players in order to best position the products that we feel will be most effective and successful at any given time. We’re lucky to have the support of Valeria Quattrini, who has worked with the most important national and international companies (Mediaset, SKY, Disney, Rakuten) and with whom Is hall be promoting and managing contacts with TV and international groups. We can’t wait to develop our first initiatives to get her under the name of ForFun Distribution!

Entertainment

FORFUN MEDIA

FORFUN MEDIA GOES TO WONDERLAND WITH ALICE&LEWIS AND MANY OTHER NEWS COMING SOON ForFun Media is co-producer and part of the creative team behind the new TV series Alice & Lewis, working alongside Blue Spirit. The new show will be ready in the autumn of 2020.

and Amazon Prime Video. The popularity of the series continues to grow: the third season will be launched in 2019, making a total of 104 x 7’ episodes. Tip the Mouse is co-produced by m4e Ag, Studio Bozzetto, Giunti Editore, Studio Campedelli and Rai Fiction.

Topo Gigio Naive, curious and always enthusiastic Topo Gigio wants to experience every single thing in the human world! Topo Gigio, co-produced by Movimenti Production and Topo Gigio Srl, will debut broadcasting in Italy on Rai YoYo starting in 2020.

Alice & Lewis In this new take on the popular tale, six-year-old Alice has found a magic key that leads her to Wonderland. In this “other realm”, she meets a delightful rabbit, Lewis, and the two become best friends, Alice loves going to Wonderland and teaming up with Lewis and her other friends, even if it means having to deal with the whimsical, hot headed Queen.

In fact in every episode there’s a visit to Wonderland, where Alice has a wacky adventure with Lewis, trying to cope with the crazy, eccentric rules and conventions of this parallel kingdom. However, Alice’s adventures always begin in the “real world”, where she is faced with a particular situation. Her experiences in Wonderland help her to gain the insight

that will resolve her dilemma in the real world, to which she returns happily at the end of each episode.

Spooky Wolf Fantaville is a place where dreams and Fairy Tales come true – and the perfect place for a wolf to be not to just a wolf, but a detective, along with other fairy tale heroes and heroines. The series is coproduced by Movimenti Production and Millimages.

OTHER PROJECTS Tip the Mouse Tip the Mouse debuted in 2014 in Italy on Rai YoYo and is currently a part of the daily programming on DeAJunior, Netflix

The Game Catchers Produced by Studio Bozzetto & Co, The Game Catching Team is a group of friends who take incredible journeys to the four corners of the universe to find out what the typical games of every planet’s children are.

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PANINI

Panini: 15 years of Brand Licensing Since Panini’s first high profile deal in the apparel industry with the Adidas Century Low Y3 Super Calciatori sneaker nearly 15 years ago the company has grown a significant international corporate brand licensing program.

The program has extended to various industries and has strengthened Panini’s presence in consumer product sectors outside its key core business areas of collectable stickers, cards and publishing.

Over the years the Modena based company has worked hard to develop brand manuals and captivating style guides enabling them to partner with international leading outfits such as Only The Brave, Puma, Mattel, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Chelsea Football Club and Zippo alongside with longterm partners like Franco Cosimo Panini Scuola for back-to-school and Dolfin in the confectionary sector.

Most recently Panini announced popculture product experts Bioworld International as its new licensee for apparel and accessories. They are developing apparel, sleepwear, headwear,

TO FIND OUT MORE Panini will be exhibiting at Brand Licensing Europe Booth #B386 To connect with them: Tony Verdini – Senior Manager, Business Development & Partnerships – tverdini@panini.it Debora Bonisoli – Marketing Executive – dbonisoli@panini.it

Panini Kid T-shirt by Bioworld International

Panini Sport Collection bags and accessories to hit shelves in 2020. New licensing agreements have also been signed with Dutch football clothing experts Copa Football and Germanybased tech company Butterfly-Effected.

Famed for its European made nostalgic, high-end football apparel, Copa will team up with Panini to develop Panini garments to be sold through Copa’s own outlets and online store as well as international shop–in-shops. Butterfly-Effected will develop themed digital wallpapers, AODs and digital stamps that will be available globally soon on the app stores of world leading Android mobile phones and tablets

manufacturers, allowing Panini’s true fans to personalise their user interface.

2018 was Panini’s biggest and best year ever as the company exceeded one billion US dollars in global turnover, with its collectable products being sold to over fifty million active collectors across one hundred and fifty territories worldwide.

In 2021 the company marks its 60th birthday timed right between two main international football tournaments UEFA Euro Cup 2020 and FIFA World Cup in 2022 – an anniversary that the company expects to celebrate with an ever growing number of partners and licensees.

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MAURIZIO DISTEFANO LICENSING

Maurizio Distefano Licensing announces line-up at BLE Maurizio Distefano Licensing (MDL), which manages licensing for a number of global and regional brands in both Italian-speaking markets and Eastern Europe, has announced its line-up for this year’s BLE, where for the second year in succession the company will be at its own dedicated booth: E183.

Ciao for carnival costumes, Diramix for sticker albums and a monthly magazine from Centauria, not to mention a dedicated Bing show at Leolandia, one of Italy’s most popular theme parks.

Only five years after its formation by respected industry veteran Maurizio Distefano, the agency that takes his name has an extensive list of properties and clients, including some of the most popular names in entertainment around the world. This year’s focus will be on Bing, Masha and the Bear, Angry Birds, ZAFARI, Gigantosaurus and Kit’n’Kate, although MDL will also be discussing other major brands from the large and successful portfolio it has built in only a short time.

Bing is a leading pre-school hit in Italy.

The animated stories of young Bing, his friends and how he experiences the world around him, produced by Acamar Films, have clearly struck a chord with Italian preschool viewers and their parents, with 15 episodes per day on Rai YoYo,

regular showings on DeA Junior and a strong presence on social media. MDL has already signed a number of major licensing agreements for Bing, including Grabo for balloons, Lisciani for educational games,

After only three series, the latest of which premiered on Rai YoYo in early June, Masha and the Bear is now a true children’s classic, pulling in big audiences on both DeA Junior and Rai YoYo for new episodes, repeats and two spin-off tales – Masha’s Tales and Masha’s Spooky Stories. It’s also popular on mobiles, PCs and tablets, Infinity, a dedicated YouTube channel and a Facebook page.

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puzzles from Clementoni and bicycles from Dino Bikes. A toy line and a video game are on the way. MDL is targeting a number of other categories, including homeware, apparel, gifts, games and stationery.

Kit^n^Kate is a very special kind of educational cartoon for pre-school kids, packed with fun, adventure and important educational messages that are incorporated into every episode.

The series is currently on air in multiple territories – in Italy it appears on Rai YoYo – and online. Alongside Ferly, which acts as master publisher worldwide, MDL has already awarded two licenses for Italy – with Edizioni Playpress, which will develop a line of activity and colouring books, and with Multiprint, which will offer a set of wooden and rubber toy stamps.

Angry Birds, brand of Rovio Entertainment, is in theatres now with Angry Birds Movie 2. New characters, new fabulous locations and a new island will bring the adventure to the next level. Leading Italian travel company Alpitour S.p.A has signed a special Angry Birds Licensed Experience contract through which this summer had promoted its seaside resorts across the Mediterranean Sea and themed the livery of one of Neos’s airplane with the characters from the eagerly awaited new film.

Co-produced by ZAFARI Holdings and DreamWorks Animation Television and distributed worldwide by NBCUniversal/ Dreamworks, ZAFARI, a story of the rather unusual animals who live in a valley near Mount Kilimanjaro, has already enjoyed a strong reception in France, Latin America and the UK and is about to launch in a number of other territories. Appearing for the first time in June in Italy on Rai YoYo, and aimed at an audience of both boys and girls aged four to nine, ZAFARI celebrates difference and friendship through funny and exciting stories, appealing characters and high-quality production values.

Based on a highly popular book, Gigantosaurus is an innovative and entertaining new CGI action-comedy series which follows the adventures of four young dinosaur friends – Rocky, Bill, Tiny and Mazu – as they explore their world and try to find the Gigantosaurus – the biggest, fiercest dinosaur of all.

Themes of fun, friendship and facing your fears, plus endearing characters, witty scripts, attention to historical detail in the animals and landscape and, of course, a lot of dinosaurs, make this a potent player for licensing partnerships across multiple categories.

The show has been airing in Italy and worldwide on Disney Junior since January and will soon arrive on national public broadcasting company Rai and major networks around the world, as well as on Netflix in most territories.

The show has already inspired a line of

“Last year was our first BLE at our own stand and a great success for the agency. The three days of BLE are always a key period for meeting our partners, and potential partners, and showcasing all the great opportunities we can offer them – and this year there are more opportunities than ever”.

- Maurizio Distefano, President and Founder of MD Licensing -

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Interview

VIACOM NICKELODEON CONSUMER PRODUCTS

LM MEETS SIMONE FENU LM interviewed Simone Fenu– Senior Director Licensing, Italy, Greece & Malta, shortly after he joined the Viacom Nickelodeon Consumer Products Italian team. He told us more about his company’s goals for the near future. in a dynamic company that works with some of the most famous properties in the world – and has some marvellous new projects on the horizon. Viacom’s strategic Consumer Products division is one of the fundamental growth drivers for accelerating the business aligned to our core work on brands and channels.

Simone Fenu

What are the main goals for the near future?

Viacom Nickelodeon Consumer Products (VNCP) has a diversified portfolio of brands and properties, including Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and Paramount Pictures. Our goal has always

Tell us about your new role in Viacom In this new role at Viacom I will be in charge of managing the Viacom Nickelodeon Consumer Products business unit for the Italian and Greek market. Based on my previous experience, especially in Warner Bros and Planeta Junior, I have been able to build on my knowledge of the market and of the players in the sector.

This new challenge is a fascinating one

Octopus for Spongebob Retailers ask us to create experiences using our characters to create unforgettable moments, so, for us, retail is an essential extension of the fantastic stories we tell on the screens.

We are working on a local digital strategy through the selection of influencers that will help us to build or reinvigorate licensing programs. Viacom already has an amazing interaction with fans and consumers worldwide: it is present in 183 markets, across 4.4 billion subscribers, 600 million houses and 1 billion fans on social networks. We have set ourselves a major goal for the next two years and we are convinced that we can achieve it with the important synergies that we can implement in our company – and of course with the content produced by the company itself.

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been to develop innovative products for “Every age, every physical place and everywhere in the world”.

In particular, we will plan to build on our leading positionwithin the Italian licensing market. We will do this by implementing our corporate strategies, the first of which is to be present wherever our consumers and fans are through the diversification of our portfolio of properties. A major focus will be on retail, which we consider the “third screen” through which we continue to tell the stories of our characters.

Interview

Whatarethe top properties that you will work on?

In the kids’ market the priorities include SpongeBob. It’s a classic now with 122 million followers, but with new content always available. Since July 1999, SpongeBob has reigned supreme on TV as an animated series, generating a universe of characters loved by all, slogans and symbols that have entered pop culture, and memes, cinema releases, consumer products, a Tony-awarded Broadway musical and a global fanbase.

The twentieth anniversary of SpongeBob started in July 2019 with the premiere of “SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout”, a special original with live-action mixed media and animation. The celebration will culminate with the Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon film The SpongeBob Movie: It’s a wonderful Sponge, coming to screens in summer 2020.

Then there’s Paw Patrol, which remains a benchmark in the pre-school market.

Loved by millions of children, the brand is boosted by new episodes and special content, among which I must mention Paw Patrol Mighty Pups. The new Ninja Turtles series (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles),now launched on Rai Gulp, is another high priority with three new apps created to support the launch. As for Top Wings, in the light of its success on Cartoonito and the launch of the master toy, we’re looking forward to new

AW LAB for MTV

products for next year.

In the adult target market, MTV, Comedy Central and Paramount Pictures offer us strong opportunities to create fashion and lifestyle lines for superfans.

The MTV brand in particular has already been an inspiration for designers, including Marc Jacobs, Jeremy Scott and Fyodor Golan, as well as high-fashion brands such as Forever 21, American Eagle and ASOS. It continues to enjoy huge success with teenagers and adults – it boasts 320 million fans on social media.

MTV represents music and youth culture throughout the world and the MTV logo translates perfectly into fashion and lifestyle programs. We have a creative team dedicated to keeping up with the latest trends, but incorporating retro themes and nostalgia will also be a great opportunity for MTV. The addition of Paramount Pictures gives us access to iconic IP, including “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, “Clueless” and “The Godfather”, as well as upcoming releases like “SpongeBob” and “Top Gun: Maverick”, a sequel to the 1980s film

for which we plan to develop an ad hoc licensing program.

And what are the main product categories that you will want to develop?

Let’s look at the consumer products categories in their entirety. In the apparel sector we have for years been building incredible collaborations on brands like SpongeBob – with Octopus to name only one. MTV and Paramount are two major points of reference for the adult target market. In the field of toys and publishing, all our properties are linked with the most important master toy licensees: Top Wings with Hasbro, Spongebob with Alpha Toys, Ninja Turtles with Playmates and of course the ongoing Paw Patrol collaboration with Spin Master. The role of Giochi Preziosi is also very important.

We collaborate with Giochi Preziosi in the Italian market both on distribution and completion of the product ranges. We are continuing to develop and build repeat or continuing business in the FMCG area.

On promotions, the loyalty partnership with Eu Promotions is an essential part of growth.

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Licensees

PEA & PROMOPLAST

Pea & Promoplast to announce toy deals and A NEW logo launch at BLE Major announcements from multi-sector leader in collectibles, promotions, toys, entertainment and loyalty.

Pea & Promoplast, a multi-sector group with international reach and a global leader in collectibles, promotions, toys, entertainment and loyalty programmes, is making a number of major announcements at BLE. The company’s Toys & Licensing Division, which comprises original, high-output

toy lines for clients, working with major brands and partners worldwide, will announce important deals with some of the main global toy players.

Details of the deals, involving the creation of new pocket money toys for the 2021 collections, will be revealed at BLE. The first results of this work will be launched

“With all four Pea & Promoplast divisions very much in demand and major toy deals in the news, this year’s BLE is a good time to highlight our offer and launch our striking new logo. We’re very much looking forward to seeing potential partners at stand F180 and letting them know how our four departments can help them to expand their properties across multiple sectors.”

- Gianluca Aprile CEO, Pea & Promoplast at the main toy fairs in January 2020.

The four divisions of Pea & Promoplast Promotion & Loyalty is offered as a dedicated service to clients. Each project is developed by Pea & Promoplast’s staff of illustrators, creatives, engineers and accountants.

The Collectible & Kiosk division offers timely, turnkey projects producing partworks and multichannel editorial content for major global publishers.

Toys & Licensing comprises original, high-output toy lines for clients, working with major brands and partners worldwide. Focusing on creating its own IP, the company covers all distribution channels (including kiosks and high street retail) and continually seeks new partners and new retail outlets to work with.

Innovative Projects is, as its name suggests, future-facing and technologyfocused, incorporating new technologies, complex mechanical devices, the unboxing craze, and original projects. This is also a sector that will lead the way in environmental awareness, strongly emphasising projects and product making use of recycling plastics and reusable or biodegradable materials.

Visitors to stand F180 can also hear more about the company’s brand-new logo, introduced in the weeks leading up to the show and highlighting a confident and striking new style to signal the growth and expansion of the brand.

The announcement of the toy deals comes less than 12 months after the launch of the Pea & Promoplast Toy Division.

Potential and existing partners will be able to hear more about developments in this division, along with the other Pea & Promoplast divisions – Promotion & Loyalty, Collectible & Kiosk and Innovative Projects – as they build an expanding portfolio of both licensed and unbranded projects.

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Licensees

KIMBE

LIVE AND LICENSED: A RICH CALENDAR OF EVENTS For Kimbe, a leading Italian company in live events for shopping centres and large-scale retail, 2019 is already a year of great news – both in terms of licensing deals and in terms of new formats and prestigious brand collaborations.

The portfolio of Kimbe events has been greatly enriched during 2019. For example in partnership with the Italian Public Broadcaster Rai, Ciak! (licensed

by RaiCom with the participation of Rai Ragazzi), brought the popular educational format to an event that involved more than 13,000 children from Italian primary schools. It helped to teach them, using the ‘learning by doing’ method, a few things about the ‘backstage’ operations of mass media. There has also been a RaiYoYo Corner (under license from RaiCom and in collaboration with RaiYoYo), an entirely Rai YoYo-branded edutainment area inside the Bennet Commercial Galleries, in which children can, for free, enjoy many activities and games linked to the stars of the kids network.

In addition, together with The Pokémon Company International, Kimbe has organized a series of engagement and animation events in the Bennet Hypermarkets and Commercial Galleries to coincide with the launch of the movie

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu.

National Geographic was at the centre of another event, The Giants of the Oceans, an interactive exhibition with life-size reproductions of sea creatures, all supported by scientific content from the leading US natural history licensor.

Working alongside WarnerBros, Kimbe has also created animated events with the LooneyTunes brand during the prestigious Waterfront 2019 event in the beautiful setting of the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia.

It was an ambitious project in which Kimbe called on its experience in managing kidsand-family-oriented events, with excellent results. Also in collaboration with Warner Bros, this year Kimbe continued a partnership with Moby tourist ships.

Throughout the summer, on board the routes to and from Sardinia, passengers could meet live characters based on some much-loved WarnerBros cartoons for which Kimbe holds the exclusive license for Italy.

There’s one more partnership that really needs highlighting: a few months ago, the Milanese agency became the exclusive licensee for Marvel for Spider-Man events in Italy, further consolidating its position as a leading company in licensed events.

And 2019 is not yet over. Expect some more Kimbe news long before the year’s end!

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Licensees

P&B

PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS IN A SUSTAINABILITY-FOCUSED AGE P&B is a leading company in the supply of promotional items created for companies in such areas as consumer goods, publishing and loyalty market.

Paola and Guido Benardelli P&B, which is now entering the world of licensing, has a long history in the promotional sphere, one that runs parallel to the development of the promotional items sector in Italy in the 80s and 90s alongside the large communication agencies and working also with the brands themselves. It’s a company that bases its know-how on creativity, an experimental approach to products and complete product management, thanks not least to

Piero Benardelli, founder of the company in 1986. The quality of the company’s work was underlined when, in 2007, P&B gained ISO 9001 certification.

Also in 2006, the founder’s son, Guido Benardelli entered the business; he proved a highly effective recruit, bringing in new product materials and more effective production processes.

In 2017, his sister Paola joined, having completed a degree in Economics and Languages and worked in Moscow to perfect her Russian and build on her marketing studies. Although familyrun, the company has a team of over 20 employees between Italy and China (supported by external consultants), turnsover sales of more than 12 million euro and has a customer base that includes major companies in Europe.

These are clearly solid foundations for expanding the business further and in particular serving loyalty agencies. One way forward is the study of characters aimed at the crowded kids’ market. This demographic increasingly requires the ability to study and develop mechanisms, game dynamics and original design along with storytelling that can excite, be

remembered easily and have a lasting effect beyond its original impact. This will lead to improved results for loyalty agencies seeking ever more creative, engaging and effective concepts.

With a background in innovation, it is not surprising perhaps that today P&B is working with environmentally friendly products and materials. This approach was behind the introduction of the P&Bio brand: articles and packaging produced with raw materials that add value in the form of sustainability.

“In P&B the choice of materials has always been an integral part of the creative process. An eco product does not have the same characteristics as a standard product. It involves a much more calibrated design and the imposition of much more stringent limits on the product.”

- Guido Benardelli -

Licensees

PUBLIEVENT

NEW LICENSED LIVE EVENTS COMING SOON CAROLINA AND TIP THE MOUSE:A CHANCE FOR KIDS TO DANCE WITH THEIR HEROES!

It’s not just photos and autographs this time, but a real live show with a unique performance featuring Carolina Benvenga, presenter of The Post Office on Rai YoYo,

FEISTY PETS: LIVE EVENTS AT HALLOWEEN Feisty Pets arrived in Italy following the global viral success of these unusual plush characters that began on the web and which the Feisty Pets are preparing to replicate in Italy with the help of some major campaigns by Giochi Preziosi, the

ZAFARI

Aired since last June on Rai YoYo, this entertaining and enlightening animated show is now bringing its message of tolerance and respect to live audiences thanks to the arrival of the first costume character – a made-in-Italy Zoomba, the elephant/zebra star of the animated series. Thanks to the show’s partnership with WWF, Zoomba will be part of the upcoming events linked to the awardwinning Animals educational exhibition.

The launch of the Publievent live show is planned for 2020.

LAURA CARUSINO: THE LIVE SHOW

The tour of Tutti in Fiaba continues– with a little something extra included. The show, written and performed by Laura Carusino, popular presenter of L’Albero Azzurro, will, from mid - October, include signing of copies of her second book, published

by Lavieri Eglefino. It’s called ChaChaCha: it’s a children’s book about discovering oneself and one’s talent.

Tutti in Fiaba is on tour until April 2020.

Carolina Benvenga and Tip The Mouse and the cuddly Tip Mouse in the delightful new dance they are bringing to the under10s market.

After the success of the videos on YouTube featuring Carolina Benvenga and Tip the Mouse, the best-loved preschool cartoon character in Italy, Publievent is planning a series of associated live events.

They will begin with a signing of exclusive copies of the associated music CD and the children taking part will be taught the dance routines. Then Carolina and Tip the Mouse will appear and dance with the children!

Following the big success of the YouTube videos, Sony plans to launches the CD of this new preschool musical phenomenon with an amazing program of events starting from 29 September.

The show will continue in a number of venues until spring 2020.

Laura Carusino

official toy distributor partner in Italy.

Publievent’s first live events will offer a Halloween theme. Children can look like their favourite Feisty Pets with a little help from a photo-booth where it will soon become clear that this is one of the most original and cheeky trick or treats ever.

Expect an amazing tour for this property!

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Focus on

ZINKIA ENTERTAINMENT

POCOYO TURNS 15 YEARS IN 2020 2020 will be a big year for Pocoyo’s owner, Zinkia Entertainment.

And with the return of the company’s original General Manager, Victor M. López, this year will be special for the brand’s strategic partners and the licensing community in general, throughout the world.

To be in contact with Zinkia Licensing Team: licensing@zinkia.com

Pocoyo, the endearing classic that explores a 3 year-old’s unique vision of a wide-open world, was first aired in 2005, meaning he will be celebrating his 15th anniversary in 2020, and he’s ready to do it in a big way!

A new production of a 26x7’TV series has just begun, where Pocoyo and all his friends will be back to explore the world and entertain the youngest members of our households, while bringing a smile to their parents and caregivers, too. Zinkia is

than 40 VOD platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime, PlayKids and Docomo Digital. Digitally, it has accumulated over 16 Billion views on YouTube (at a current pace of 3 billion/yr). There are also more than 16 million subscribers on YouTube, and almost 2 million Facebook fans. Zinkia has also created 50+ Apps that have been downloaded over 50 million times, at a current rate of one million downloads per month!

Pocoyo has been broadcast in over 15

also producing 10 new Holiday specials for 2019 and 2020, plus 20 new video clips of sing-along classic kids songs joining other 10 songs for the launch of the new Pocoyo Music Channel on YouTube Kids.

By the numbers, Pocoyo is broadcast by 30 free to air and cable TV channels, plus more

languages, and in more than 150 different TV Channels throughout the world. In Italy, RAI TV is currently broadcasting between 3 and 7 slots per day with Let’s go, Pocoyo, introducing youngsters to funfilled English Learning through laughter.

Clan TV continues airing the series in

Spain, where our exposure is fantastic.

In Mexico, Zinkia has expanded its agents network with La Panadería. They have helped to secure a deal with Azteca7 free to air TV and the show is on the air in a kid-friendly primetime slot.

Zinkia has also signed an Agreement with Brands and Rights 360 as Worldwide non-exclusive Agent, and together with them, have signed on new Agencies in China and North America, with Reesee Entertainment and Epic Story Media.

The Agent Reesee has placed the series with CCTV and its country-wide affiliates.

Pocoyo got a great performance in CCTV in China and once reached Nº1 audience share and ranking top 5 for several times this year. Zinkia is really happy about these results and hope to continue growing like this at this territory.

With all these exciting news on the way, Pocoyo is looking for new partners. There is still room for some selected product categories and market areas available for the right partners.

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SPANISH LICENSING MARKET

WHAT’S NEW FROM SPAIN Spain is one of the European key licensing markets. It is a point of reference for many brands which land in Europe from Latin America and it is also “test” area for many IPs which will become soon a success in the South-European territories. LM has collected some of the latest news from the most relevant Spanish licensors and licensing agencies.

ANIMA

Anima is a leading animation studio based in Mexico City, Madrid and the Canary Islands. Specialized in 2D and CGI animation, it creates, produces and manages high quality brands and develops original projects for children and the whole family alike.

Cleo & Cuquin is their main successful property, co-produced with Televisa. It is a transmedia brand based on a two TV series seasons (76 x 7’). Since its premiere in 2018, the TV series has got a big success in Mexico and Spain, and

throughout Latin America and Brazil. The series is broadcast also in other territories such as Russia, Canada, Portugal, Greece.

As for VOD platforms, it is also available worldwide on Netflix.

On YouTube, the Spanish channel Cleo

& Cuquin has established itself as one of the fastest growing preschool channels, with almost 5 million subscribers. It also has channels in English, Portuguese and Russian.

On the licensing front, since its debut on TV, the property has developed an international program based on Mattel toys in Mexico and Spain, books in Spanish and Portuguese via Penguin Random House, BTS with local licensees, and new categories that will soon be launched onto the market. In the area of promotions, in Mexico, Cleo & Cuquín together with Colgate, promote proper dental hygiene for children. As part of the development strategy in the licensing area, Cleo & Cuquin has the support of licensing agents in key territories, such as: Tycoon in Mexico and Argentina, CPL in Colombia, Peru and Central America, Nelvana in Canada, Animaccord for distribution in Russia and Eastern Europe, Nottingham Forest in Spain and Portugal and B-rights in Greece.

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BRANDS & RIGHTS 360

B&R360 is a Madrid based marketing and commercial platform specialized in the integrated management (TV, digital, licensing and merchandising) of multimedia brands and content (animation and live action), geared towards children, youth and family audiences in Europe and America (in Spanish and Portuguese language). The agency currently manages a portfolio of 20 properties.

Actually B&R 360 is focusing its efforts on ROBOCAR POLI, the global successful pre-school & family tv series (104 X 11’), distributed in over 125 countries and with a new season coming up on 2020, The series co-produced by Roi Visual and EBS Korea, under the philosophy of children’s healthy mind and safe life, tells the adventures of super transforming Robocar rescue team who is always there to save their neighbours and friends from danger. Through the rescue process of each episode, children get to know the message of ‘cooperation’ ‘consideration’ ‘understanding’ and ‘safety’. Robocar Poli has two roles intended for both children and parents, ‘the first hero in life’ and ‘the must-see animation excluding violent’ respectively.

The series is number one in L&M in Asia with an established fan base and it has a proven track record in Italy on FTA kids’ channel Cartoonito, supported by Rocco Gioccatoli’s toys on the shelves.

B&R360 has come to terms with Toy Partner as master toy for Iberia. Thus, Silverlit’s manufactured toys will get on shelves through Toy Partner with a soft launch at Christmas.

CARAVANSERAI

Caravanserai is a brand new Spanish licensing agency in response to the challenging environment of this business, based on a team which has more than 40 years of experience in licensing, retail and marketing.

The agency is based in Barcelona looking

for a new approach to the licensing industry where rules and tools have changed. The agency, together with the licensors it represent, look for new trends and wishes from consumers, trying to understand new ways of selling and creating loyalty.

The agency represents in Spain licensors as King Features, Mercis, Little Prince and Rovio. Moreover Caravanserai represents internationally The International Space Archives, Rosebonbon, Louis XVI and Gaudí Barcelona.

The 90th anniversary of Betty Boop and Popeye and the 100th anniversary of Olive Oyl are milestones that the fashion industry companies like Inditex are using for their designs and collections for all targets. Miffy, a worldwide design icon appealing to both infants and women, is an evergreen property that licensees like Women Secret keep using after more than 10 years. The Little Prince was born more than 75 years ago and since then his never ending journey brings new generations and new licensees on board such as Stor or Lladró with worldwide success.

Always open to new opportunities and partnerships Caravanserai will be present in all the major licensing shows, local and international trade shows to team up and help building brands through the upcoming years.

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has been appointed as the European licensing Agent for Kawanimals. It’s a life style brand born in Colombia which will be officially introduced for the first time at BLE this year.

EDEBÉ LICENSING

Edebé is absolutely one of the leading Spanish licensing agency and actually it represents some of the most influential brands in the Spain.

Its most successful license is SANTORO®

by Gorjuss™. Spain is one of the strongest international markets for this brand, with the collection becoming a huge phenomenon throughout the territory.

Another new acquisition is Mariadiamantes, a graphic design and illustration studio whose heart, head and hands lie in Clara Mercader, an artist and designer based in Barcelona.

Finally, the latest acquisition is Yo, Elvis Riboldi: a TV series based on the successful books collection published in Spain, France (Hachette), Czech Republic, Tukey, South America and currently spreading all around the world and soon on air in Spain on TV3.

KUKUSXUMUSU

Kukuxumusu is more than just a design brand. It is a lifestyle brand for teenagers and young adults (+16) who celebrate life, laughing and joking about ordinary issues. It is a boutique brand, created in Pamplona (Spain) in 1989, with a history of 30 years in the consumer product market.

The brand is present in 98 countries all around the world and have more than 75 licensees on board.

Creativity and the Kukuxumusu’s values are at disposal to brands, associations, NGOs and institutions for co-branding activities. In fact, many of them have managed to strengthen their brand image or give their marketing campaigns a boost thanks to their creative experience. The Kukuxumusu brand, thanks also to its peculiar and unique design, adds great There are more than 80 licensees already on board covering the majority of the categories and the sales performance is amazing!

Edebé represents also other brand from Santoro family, as Poppi Loves and Mirabelle, collecting new exciting deals for the Spanish territory.

Catalina Estrada is another key-brand in the portfolio of Edebé, with more than 50 licensees on board. Also Nina & Other Little Things®, the premium design brand that has captivated the people for its minimalistic and cute style, is growing in Spain after the good sales figures gotten from the current Licensees.

Within its rich portfolio, Edebé Licensing

Focus on

market value to each branded initiative.

On the licensing front, Kukuxumusu is active in different sectors that want to stand out from the rest by marketing products with their images. For every partner they create tailor-made images, that may originate the coolest and the most original product to place on the shelves.

With Victoria they created pure Spanish sneakers for girls and babies as Marie Claire produced very original lingerie and pyjamas. The Catalan Miquelrius produced stationary as Brasileras does flip-flops. Also Clima (umbrella), Arsamar (suitcases), Laken (outdoor) and Ascendeo (mobile cases) are among the other main partners of this unique Spanish brand.

YPSILON LICENSING

The Barcelona based brand management agency Ypsilon Licensing – an Ypsilon Films and Multitrade Group company – is a boutique agency that deals key international partnerships to manage iconic brands for Iberia and the European market.

Among the brands represented in Spain and Portugal by Ypsilon Licensing, there are Grumpy Cat, Emoji as Godzilla and Beyblade are represented only for Spain.

In Europe Ypsilon Licensing intend to expand Jane Foster´s footprint, excluding the UK and Eire. Jane Foster is a British illustrator, author and textile designer that illustrates, screen prints, sews and writes books. In this field, Jane Foster has sold over 300,000 books since the launch in 2015.

Ypsilon has also recently announced the

partnership with Meritxell Duran, an artist with a wide career across illustration, animation, design and 3D sculpture.

With this representation as Master Agent worldwide, Ypsilon is looking for experienced agencies to partner in key countries to capitalize on the potential of Meritxell’s art across selected product categories and build with Ypsilon Licensing the business internationally.

Ypsilon Licensing is also the exclusive licensing agent of the Spanish Lacasa and Lacasitos. Lacasitos tablet and sugar coated chocolate is one of the most beloved Spanish brand, founded in 1982. Ypsilon has recently negotiated agreements with the Inditex Group to develop an exclusive collection of footwear and shirts with Lacasitos. During this year, ZARA has launched the first product of Lacasitos, sports boots of sizes 26 to 39 for children. Also PULL&BEAR launched T- shirts with the Lacasitos logo for the young target, available for sale in their physical and on-line stores.

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Interview

THE COCA–COLA COMPANY

INTERVIEW WITH KATE DWYER Coca-Cola is certainly one of the most iconic brands in the world. A brand that has led the way in the communication and licensing fields. A global brand that speaks to both young adults and adults, and that is also among the most valuable brands in the fashion world. To find out more, we interviewed Kate Dwyer, Sr. Group Director, Global Licensing at The Coca-Cola Company

Kate Dwyer What is the positioning of the Coca-Cola brand today, and how is the licensing business performing globally?

Our main goal is to think about the consumer first and foremost when we showcase our brands. We recognize the differences in consumer needs and attitudes. Each territory has its own priorities, and in some territories, Coca-Cola is the number one brand, and in others, Sprite might be the market leader.

As we are a global brand, we are focusing heavily on growth in international markets and have made significant progress. We have seen really solid growth in markets like Russia and Australia; as well as the wider Asia-Pacific region. The US still represents 30% of our overall business.

What about the development of Coke as a reputable fashion brand?

The company has a large fashion imprint and is focused on establishing itself as a credible fashion player across multiple categories - from runway to street, high

to low. We have a large fashion program that we build on year over year, thanks to our iconic brands and the strategic partnerships we undertake with fashion designers. In the Brazilian market, for example, we are one of the leading fashion labels. The fashion business is roughly 10% of our global licensing business and it keeps growing, supporting not only Coca-Cola but all of our portfolio brands.

Fashion also encompasses categories like accessories and footwear, the latter of which is doing exceptionally well.

In footwear in the Brazilian market, Coke-branded shoes are arguably more important than the likes of Puma and Converse. Looking ahead, we continue to look for new partners and new licensing ideas to maintain current growth levels.

What about the other categories?

Of course, drinkware is still a significant part of our business. We produce

Kith x Coca-Cola

Kith x Coca-Cola approximately 300 million drinking glasses every year. This licensing category is the highest in terms of overall revenue it brings in.

What about future plans for your brands?

We are always looking at new trends and exploring how these relate to our core business needs. We are prioritizing the sustainable sourcing of our products and raising awareness of the importance of eco-friendly production with our partners and retailers. Inclusivity and diversity are also key themes for how we approach our apparel partners. We recently did a collection with Facetasm. It is a brand known for a playful and bold approach to self-expression. They create unique, gender neutral fashion that speaks universally to youth culture. As a brand that’s tapped into a global style youth audience, Coke has to work with labels that embrace diversity and inclusiveness.

Interview

KITH X COCA-COLA 2019 Kith reprises their partnership with the iconic Coca-Cola brand for the fourth time to create a co-branded collection that channels a vintage inspiration through a modern lens. Over the last four years, Kith and Coke have traveled together to Miami, Aspen, the Hamptons, and Malibu before finding their latest home in Hawaii.

This 105-piece collection is comprised of men’s and women’s apparel styles that draw inspiration from the Coca-Cola archives fused with the island lifestyle of Hawaii. The eight colors that represent

Kith x Coca-Cola each island of Hawaii serve as the palette of the collection, while items such as swimwear and surfboards are a testament to the tropical setting. Silhouettes include

denim truckers, camp shirts, board shorts, short sleeve rugby shirts, windbreakers, and more.

This collection also includes collaborations with other staple Kith partners to create special product for this moment. Mitchell & Ness is tapped to create retro athletic apparel, such as mesh batting practice tops and basketball shorts that feature a custom Hawaiian print, as well as a range of headwear. Orlebar Brown’s signature Bulldog swim trunk is reimagined through the Kith x Coca-Cola lens to offer two luxury renditions. Golden Bear returns with an updated version of last year’s varsity jacket, this time featuring a colorblocked design and leather sleeves.

Eyewear is made with Garrett Leight, which features special Coca-Cola branded lens and custom frame. Two sizes of very limited custom surfboards are also offered in partnership with Channel Island.

The collection is rounded out with footwear crafted with Converse. After

Kith x Coca-Cola being debuted as a Friends & Family pair in 2017, Kith brings back the vintage washed blue denim Chuck Taylor 1970 to be offered to the public for the first time. Details include puffed Coca-Cola embroidery, green translucent outsoles, removable interior bottle cap-shaped All Star patch, and custom packaging.

The launch of this collection coincides with a very special pop-up shop experience in Oahu, Hawaii. The Kith x Coca-Cola Oahu Shop is located in the Royal Hawaiian Center at 2201 Kalakaua Ave in Honolulu and is now open with the full collection.

Consumers who purchase an item from this collection on kith.com will be gifted a very special Kith x Coca-Cola glass bottle while supplies last. These bottles will never be sold.

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Events

BRAND LICENSING EUROPE 2019

BLE SPECIAL REPORT BLE is definitely the most important trade fair where the European licensing industry meets every year. It is the main event where are presented all the main novelties of the next season and LM is pleased to be one of the Media Partners of this prestigious event. Here there are some previews of what we will find at the London ExCel from 1 through 3 October.

ACAMAR AT BLE: IT’S A BING THING! Following its successful show debut in 2018, Acamar Films returns to BLE2019 with its award-winning and consistently top-rating pre-school show Bing.

Bing has enjoyed extraordinary success since it launched on CBeebies in 2014. In the UK, Bing continues to be a top-rated show on CBeebies with full year ratings for 2018 confirming that it was the #1 preschool programme on BBC iPlayer.

Bing is also conquering new markets including Italy where the launch of

official consumer products and locationbased entertainment earlier this year has triggered exponential growth making Bing already one of Italy’s most popular preschool properties.

Major investment in digital, including Acamar Films establishing its own inhouse YouTube studio in 2018, has seen YouTube watch time minutes of Bing content exceed 3 billion and demand for official licensed consumer products grow. This digital focus will now extend to

e-commerce with exciting announcements to be made at the show.

STAND AT BLE: A300

ACTIVISION: ESPORTS LEADER ABCPG continues to deliver against its goal of providing fans engaging, relevant and innovative experiences through consumer products, while continuing the brand’s overall growth via a 360-degree approach.

Activision Blizzard is also at the forefront of competitive entertainment. The goal is to continually raise the bar for esports via consumer products. Leagues such as The Overwatch League, and the next iteration of the Call of Duty esports, are becoming prominent fixtures within the licensing business through elevating the standard

for esports gear and collectibles, similar to what has been done in the sporting world.

This includes the ongoing relationship with Fanatics, the leader in sport merchandising. In fact, Activision is building an international ecommerce and mobile shopping experience for Overwatch League, offering fans the opportunity to engage with their favorite teams and players through trend-right merchandise.

STAND AT BLE: D300

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BULLDOG LICENSING: A RICH PORTFOLIO OF BRANDS AT BLE19 Continuing to demonstrate the reach of its licensing programmes for properties that range across multiple age groups and multiple media, Bulldog Licensing is yet again showing the strength of a very diverse and successful portfolio at this year’s Brand Licensing Europe from 1-3 October at the ExCel in London.

games, books and films, classic and new TV shows, legendary magazines, dolls, collectibles, card trading games and more.

Bulldog Licensing MD Rob Corney says: “We’re proud to be representing some truly amazing brands with origins in TV, publishing, games, films, cards and toys, which are extending their astonishing reach and awareness to multiple licensing categories”.

STAND AT BLE: A282

LICENSING LINK: UNIQUE BRANDS, UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES Licensing Link is the agency to meet at BLE to find out more about Chic & Love, Van Gogh Museum, Molang, Pirata & Capitano, North Coast 500, IFL Science and Football’s Coming Home 1848.

Kindi Kids With a list that includes the sensational new Moose Toys line Kindi Kids, along with established hits Treasure X, Sesame Street, Angry Birds, Care Bears, Miraculous, Match Attax, LIFE, and That’s not my… there’s an enormous variety of licensing categories being targeted by a list of properties that encompasses hit

Chic & Love is a new fashion and lifestyle brand originating from Spain, aiming to promote style and self-confidence among young adult consumers.

Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum, founded in 1973, houses the world’s largest collection of Vincent van Gogh and welcomes every year over 2mln visitors.

Molang, from Millimages, is a cuddly, funny, kind-hearted, kawaii-inspired rabbit whose animated series is a massive

Events

TV and online hit. Always from Millimages, Licensing Link represents in UK also Pirata & Capitano.

Licensing Link will manage the global licensing for North Coast 500, over 500 miles of coastal touring route become a global phenomenon with an audience of over 8 billion from around the globe.

IFL Science began life as a Facebook page, started by founder Elise Andrew in March 2012 to share her passion for science and making science accessible to everyone.

range is rolling out across major markets in Europe and Asia at the same time as the new show continues its successful run on Netflix and expands its reach on linear TV channels in key European markets.

Among the licensees, Aurora will be highlighting the worldwide launch by Italian company Panini, the world leader in the trading cards and sticker album categories, of a range of YooHoo-inspired stickers, mini figurines, children’s books

and activity books. The launch will take place this autumn across a number of European countries.

Several other licensees are due to launch ranges soon in a number of territories, including Nuvita (baby products), Apple Beauty (toiletries), Kennedy Publishing (magazines), and Dev Games & Yea Studio (digital apps).

STAND AT BLE: B260

STAND AT BLE: A302

AURORA WORLD: GLOBAL LICENSING GROWTH FOR YOOHOO Aurora World will be celebrating YooHoo’s success in plush and newly licensed products as well as the successful launch of YooHoo to the Rescue, the new children’s animated series starring the popular character.

Aurora’s brand-new YooHoo plush range has been refreshed to reflect the themes and characters of the new series. The

YooHoo to the Rescue, the Animated TV Series

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JEWEL BRANDING: A PORTFOLIO RICH OF TOP LEADING DESIGNERS Global brand management and licensing agency, Jewel Branding & Licensing (JBL), continues to bring a wide range of distinctive designers and internationally recognized brands to market. JBL is excited to feature popular brands, including The New York Botanical Garden, EttaVee, Bouffants & Broken Hearts and Rachael Hale, at Brand Licensing Europe in London ExCel. These brands are experiencing tremendous success, as JBL has secured deals with a multitude of European licensees in key product categories. JBL’s Creative Services division continues to grow with a suite of services for manufacturers, retailers and brands, that streamline the design, development, and go-to-market processes.

STAND AT BLE: B364

new and unique product categories through licensing. Global Icons is excited to showcase at BLE 2019 its latest news.

Following recent client successes such as the Vespa T-shirt collaboration with Uniqlo and the development of Lamborghini Bags and Small Leather Goods, the UK team will spotlight their new brands and properties at the show including Nokia, Sparco, The Big Issue and the PSA Groupe.

CAPCOM

Additionally in March 2019, Global Icons acquired the acclaimed Fred Segal brand, which is well known in the US as a LA based fashion store with a great reputation for introducing new, emerging and exclusive designer brands. Awarenessin Europe is growing, and given the nature of Global Icons’ business and their touch-points in the major global consumer markets, they see a real opportunity to expand the brand worldwide, with some European markets being key to the expansion strategy.

Capcom started 2019 with the ever popular and much anticipated launch of the remake for Resident Evil 2™, which has gone on to outperform the original game release in terms of console sales and has totally lived up to all the anticipation of the fans for this amazing horror gaming franchise. This gaming success at the start of the year was not all, because it was followed up with a stunning performance from Devil May Cry™ 5 in March. At E3 2019, Capcom delighted fans and press alike with the reveal of the playable version of Monster Hunter World: Iceborne™. The new title is also anticipated to be a big hit at Gamescon in Cologne this year in August. Licensees and retailers alike are lining up to create and stock original merchandise ranges from apparel, accessories, homeware, bags, plushies and all sorts of collectible items and more.

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GLOBAL ICONS: HIGHLIGHTS ON NEW BRANDS Global Icons is the largest independently owned agency with offices around the world. The agency has attracted worldclass clients by consistently developing

CYBER GROUP STUDIO Cyber Group Studios is exhibiting at BLE, with its laugh-out-loud-funny CGI preschool series Gigantosaurus. The award-

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happiness through her brand, The Happy News, and the last year has seen a surge in newspaper subscriptions and social media following.

UK Greetings’ lovable knitted pup, Boofle continues to enjoy an enduringly wide appeal. Having featured on a staggering 70 million greetings cards since the brand first launched, this super-cute character appears across a multitude of product categories, with the brand continuing to see success in ladies’ nightwear.

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EDUTAINMENT LICENSING: PANDA PANDA AT BLE Gigantosaurus winning animation brings to life Jonny Duddle’s best-selling book, which features four fiercely-fun dinosaur friends – Rocky, Bill, Mazu and Tiny.

Gigantosaurus already airs on Disney around the globe. In terms of free-toair channels, the show is confirmed to broadcast on France TV, Germany’s Super RTL plus Italy’s Rai Yoyo. An announcement with a major UK broadcaster is also lined up for BLE. The studio has already appointed Jakks Pacific as master toy licensee with the range going into USA retail now and launching across Europe in 2020, and partnered with Outright Games for the video game which will be published on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Steam in Spring 2020. Publishing remains a priority for the IP, with Templar planning to publish the first of 40 new TV tie-in books across Europe in 2020.

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DRi LICENSING DRi Licensing’s brands take centre stage with retail successes and a host of new signings. 2020 will mark the 65th anniversary of Miffy, Dick Bruna’s iconic white bunny, and plans are underway to celebrate this landmark occasion, with exciting product launches, events and press scheduled throughout the year.

A leading brand for World Book Day, Roald Dahl’s popularity keeps on growing, with Smiffys extensive dress-up range a major highlight. Many new product ranges launch have been planned along 2019.

Emily Coxhead continues to spread

This year Edutainment Licensing will be showcasing Flossy and Jim and PANDA PANDA from its portfolio.

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Lynette and James, two UK artists are the Creators of Flossy and Jim. Their mission from the beginning has been to help young people feel positive and supported in life using bright and bold designs with humorous slogans that their audience can relate to.

Edutainment Licensing has recently announced that the first four PANDA PANDA board books will launch with Cottage Door Press in the US in October and will roll out to major retailers including bookstores, warehouse clubs, and specialty outlets throughout North America in the Spring of 2020.

Beyond the initial launch, more PANDA PANDA books will be released in varying formats and contents.

Developed by industry veteran, Mona Koth, PANDA PANDA is a unique, new property that specifically supports the rapid development of children from birth to 3 years.

Young children will delight in meeting the brother and sister panda twins, Dot and Beau, who will introduce young readers to their exciting new world – new faces, foods, feelings, animals and much more.

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EONE: AWARD-WINNING PRESCHOOL PROPERTIES AT BLE Entertainment One (eOne) heads to Brand Licensing Europe 2019 with its worldclass line-up of award-winning preschool entertainment properties that are creating unforgettable memories for families

around the world: Peppa Pig, PJ Masks, Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom along with the newest addition to its portfolio, Ricky Zoom.

Global licensing phenomenon, Peppa Pig, now boasts over 1,000 licensees and new episodes from series 8 are airing

eOne’s newest preschool property, Ricky Zoom will be launched on air in international markets from autumn 2019.

A growing roster of global FTA, PAYTV and VOD platforms are lining up to debut Ricky Zoom across multiple territories. The licensing programme will be spearheaded

by TOMY as master toy partner.

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around the world bringing fresh themes and creative for its many partners. 2019 has been Peppa Pig’s biggest year to date with a calendar packed full of global brand activations.

PJ Masks has firmly cemented its position as a leading global preschool property with a licensing programme that now boasts over 650 global partners across 85 markets worldwide. Series 3 of PJ Masks is set to premiere on Disney Junior in September 2019 and series 4, which is currently in development, will kick off with a 4-part 44 minute special in 2020.

NICOLETTA COSTA: HER COLORFUL WORLD FOR THE FIRST TIME AT BLE Nicoletta Costa has been defined as one of the greatest interpreters of the “childhood planet” at international level since she has been able to preserve the little girl who is inside her heart and to look at the world through the eyes of a child.

Since 1980 she has continued to tell this world through words and drawings in all her stories: with more than 300 books she makes us discover how children think, act and behave. With this aim she gives birth to all her characters. All her heroes are the protagonists of many micro narrative situations that stimulate in children the confidence in themselves and in life.

Nicoletta Costa’s world has already gone out from books. Her character Julio Bunny, published for the first time in 1990

by Franco Cosimo Panini, has already become a TV Series and another popular character from her world, Olga the Cloud, will become go soon to the small screen.

Moreover the art of Nicoletta Costa has been already applied to, infant products, textile and toys.

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ENDEMOL SHINE: PEAKY BLINDERSAND, BLACK MIRROR AND MASTERCHEF With an incredibly diverse portfolio of titles of established brands and emerging properties, Endemol Shine Group are building long-term brand licensing programmes for some of the most recognisable IP in the world including the worldwide smash hit cookery show MASTERCHEF; multi-award winning cult drama PEAKY BLINDERS; the Netflix hit anthology series BLACK MIRROR; internationally loved digital animation SIMON’S CAT; British icon MR BEAN which is gearing up to celebrate its 30th anniversary next year; global game show phenomenon DEAL OR NO DEAL which recently returned to screens in the US; and the original and best reality TV revolution BIG BROTHER which marks its 20th birthday this year.

Jane Smith,Group Director, Brand Licensing and Gaming, Endemol Shine Group said, “Our portfolio is seeing significant international growth and with demand high, we are expanding our brand licensing offering into new markets and across new categories. The appetite from our global audience to engage with our shows is phenomenal. We are committed to developing fantastic new products and experiences for our fans, with categories such as experiential, gaming and ecommerce a key priority for us.”

PENGUIN VENTURES Penguin Ventures will be showcasing their entire portfolio of iconic children’s brands at BLE 2019.

PETER RABBIT™ 2, the second liveaction/CGI movie from Sony Pictures Animation is scheduled to release in the US on February 7, 2020 followed

by UK on March 27. Penguin Ventures have secured high calibre licensees in all key product categories including plush, apparel, food and gifting.

Ten Minutes To Bed is a stunning picture book series which takes inspiration from the latest toddler trends and Ventures is now looking for licensees to join them on this exciting new adventure in storytelling!

2020 marks the 40th anniversary of Where’s Spot? - the original lift-theflap picture book by Eric Hill. Penguin Ventures, will be celebrating this milestone for Spot through a series of promotional partnerships, brand new publishing and a range of licensed consumer products.

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HERSCHEND FOR THE FIRST TIME AT BLE Herschend Entertainment Studios™ (“HES”) will attend BLE for the first time in 2019. HES will present a complete reintroduction of Chuggington (acquired from Ludorum in 2018) to the global market, which will launch with an allnew Season 6 in Spring 2020, coinciding with the brand’s 10th anniversary. In addition to the launch of the new season

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of the popular children’s series, HES has a large slate of properties that are in development.

Season six of Chuggington (52 x 10’) will continue to delight preschoolers on A-list broadcast networks and top streaming platforms worldwide. The new season will be a fresh celebration of the diversity, friendships, and adventures that have delighted audiences for the past ten years. To top it off, live action kids globally will journey into the animated world of Chuggington through an all-new hybrid live action/animated short format (26 x 1.5’).

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closely aligned to production, brand new global master toy partner, Alpha Group will be rolling out an exciting new toy program for the property in Fall 2020.

Fan engagement for Chuggington continues to be strong across digital with over 1.5 billion watch time minutes on YouTube and 22% year-on-year growth.

ROVIO ENTERTAINMENT: ANGRY BIRDS 10TH ANNIVERSARY This year is a big year for Rovio Entertainment, developers of the world renowned Angry Birds IP. Not only is The Angry Birds Movie 2 currently playing in theatres around the world, but this year marks the tenth anniversary of the Angry Birds brand. The first Angry Birds game launched on iOS devices on December 11, 2009, rocketing to viral status and spawning a brand that continues to draw tens of millions of active users to its games and animated content, ten years later.

ROCKET LICENSING

The evolution of Angry Birds characters will continue into next year with the release of an all new long form animated series, produced by Cake Entertainment.

Rocket Licensing will celebrate new arrivals as Rebel Girls, Valiant and The Original Ramen Company, and firmly established hits and classics such as Godzilla, The Elf on the Shelf®, Beano, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Derry Girls, Disenchantment, Horrible Histories, and much more.

Rebel Girls is a brand inspired by the award-winning book series Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, which focuses on highlighting and celebrating women’s achievements. Four million books have been sold worldwide. Supported by a brand-new Rebel Girls style guide, Rocket Licensing’s aim in the UK market is to license product that is educational, ethical and empowering, matching the growing success of the brand in the US. Leading character-based entertainment company Valiant has sold well over 82 million comic books since it was founded in 1989, bringing to the world characters like Faith, Harbinger and Bloodshot.

Bloodshot will lead a slate of Valiant movies beginning in 2020.

The Original Ramen Company was launched in 2012 as a celebration of authentic Japanese and Chinese lifestyles and their food, fashion and cultures.

Aiming to bring the innovation, tradition and experimentation of Ramen to products, the brand’s work with respected global designers has created an appeal that already reaches across cultures and includes multiple product categories.

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To celebrate the occasion, Rovio has enlisted the services of award-winning advertising firm, Droga5, to head up what is to be an unforgettable 10th anniversary celebration. Taking it back to the core of the Angry Birds characters with their trademark humor and irreverence, the theme of the campaign will be “Bring Your Anger”, and will call on people all over the world to channel their anger and use it for good – often in unexpected ways.

SANTORO. GORJUSS THEMED CIRCUS FOR BLE Santoro is an internationally successful, award-winning company, now celebrating 35 years in business. Its licensing division, Santoro Licensing, champions a portfolio of artwork properties including Poppi Loves, Mirabelle, Felines, First Class Lounge and licensing phenomenon, GORJUSS which is currently available in 93 countries worldwide across a plethora of product categories.

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EVOLUTION AT BLE WITH SQUISHMALLOWS

Costco, Kroger, Party City, Five Below, Justice, CVS, and Aldi.

powerful endorsement of craftsmanship and excellence in design. The experienced licensing team provides tailor-made research, supporting licensees through the design process to create beautiful merchandise ranges for the contemporary market, authenticated by compelling stories from the V&A’s rich archives. With over 80 licensees, the long-established programme continues to welcome opportunities in all categories, to develop new collaborations and broaden its offering.

The award-winning and collectible Squishmallows plush gift line is about to transition from a plush brand into a full scale licensed character brand, via a newly launched licensing program. Kellytoy announced Evolution USA, the global licensing and brand management agency based in Calabasas, California, will manage the Squishmallows global licensing initiative. Evolution will showcase the Squishmallows brand at BLE this year.

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Squishmallows

Squishmallows plush toys continue to enjoy a phenomenal consumer response since their launch in fall 2017 and are breaking sales records in multiple countries. With over 300 characters now available and more than 30 million units sold to date, the versatile Squishmallows offer comfort, support and fun as a couch companion, pillow pal, bedtime buddy, or travel mate. Each Squishmallow has its own unique storyline and personality and are made from a super soft marshmallow like texture and polyester. Available in nine different sizes the product line is currently distributed to over 40 countries with significant retailer support including: Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Amazon, V&A museum design

V&A: PURE DESIGN INSPIRATION As the world’s leading museum of art, design and performance, V&A holds over two million objects and houses 17 of the UK’s national collections. It’s no wonder that their brand licensing spans a broad range of product categories including home interiors, homeware, furnishings, apparel, jewellery, accessories, stationery and crafting.

This year the V&A has continued to expand that offering and grow its reach, with the launch of several new ranges and licensees in key territories including: Aurora and Texet in Japan; Pasted Paper in the USA; lifestyle brands Cabin Zero andSignare in the UK; LIDC in South Korea; and continuing its work in China with Alfilo Brands with ranges from lifestyle retail platform The Beast, luggage specialist ITO, shoe-giant Basto, and tea gift sets from Twinings.

The V&A is recognised globally as a

WALKER BOOKS WITH CLASSIC CHILDREN’S PROPERTIES AT BLE Walker Books will be highlighting a number of classic properties known and loved by all age groups, as Guess How Much I Love You, We’re Going On A Bear Hunt, Anthony Browne and Maisy Mouse.

Guess How Much I Love You is a favourite of many generations of preschool children. It inspires toys, plush, apparel, party supplies, bed ware, prints, storage boxes and personalised gifting for children; and stationery, calendars, cards, diaries and even jewellery for families and adults. With global book sales of over 43 million in 57 different languages (over 25 years) making this title a firm fixture in homes and nursery schools all over the world.

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt combines the formidable storytelling talent of Michael Rosen with the unforgettable drawings of Helen Oxenbury in a lighthearted tale of a family’s bold quest that has inspired a hit stage play and television

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special edition partnerships.

New licensees every year, constant expansion of her presence, iconic model; after the worldwide success of the original toy, the success of the license has been proven over the years.

Guess how much I love you adaptation as well as selling close to ten million copies in its 30 years in print.

The licensee list already includes plush, games, apparel, stationery, babywear, wall stickers, greetings cards and DVDs.

series set to premier across 150 territories in 2020. The series is produced by La Cabane and Thuristar, in co- production with Cake, who is distributing the show worldwide.

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From Europe, to the USA, Australia and many other countries, Sophie la Girafe took off from Paris to conquer every continent. Driven by this success, many international brands wished to partner with Sophie la Girafe, projecting to create the most adorable products.

Today, over 60 countries have adopted the Sophie la Girafe license which counts more than 35 licensees in her family, striving to cover all of baby’s need. It has now extended to over 20 product categories.

From historical licensees that started at the very beginning 7 years ago like Janod, Marabout or Renolux to very new ones

MUSH-MUSH GETS EXCLUSIVE GLOBAL LICENSING AGENT La Cabane, the Paris-based production company and creative studio founded in 2015 by Perrine Gauthier, has signed an exclusive agreement with Copyrights Group, owned by Vivendi, for the brand development and licensing & merchandising representation of the animated IP Mush-Mush & the Mushables, which will be launched to the industry this year at BLE. Created by Elfriede de Rooster, the MushMush & the Mushables property is making its debut as a CG comedy adventure TV THEO, the baby furniture specialist, for Sophie La Girafe Mush-Mush

licensing agent, London-based Copyrights Group will be responsible for the brand strategy rollout and the licensing program development for Mush-Mush & the Mushables worldwide (excluding Greater China).

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SOPHIE LA GIRAFE CELEBRATES 60th BIRTHDAY In 2021, Sophie la Girafe will be celebrating her 60th birthday. The perfect occasion to launch special edition products and

like Vondels, Charlie Banana or Degré 7, all are chosen upon their high quality and products’ attractiveness.

Existing for over 58 years and with more than 55 million products sold since her creation, Sophie la girafe is the first Baby’s toy and the must have at birth in France.

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Interview

EMOJI

A GROWING GLOBAL SUCCESS At the occasion of the upcoming Brand Licensing Europe, LM interviewed Marco Hüsges, CEO and Founder of Emoji Company. released a sleepwear and underwear collection across Europe, while with Kidiliz Group in France we have build a joyful partnership and developed a beautiful kids apparel range that includes 3D elements, zippers and patches.

In Germany, with leading food chain ALDI we launched in the beginning of September a collectible emoji® figurine promotion and all through 2019 we have been very strong in promotions and loyalty programs across Europe and in Asia.

Kidiliz x emoji Which are the latest partnerships you have launched?

In 2019 we have launched a variety of exciting collaborations throughout different categories. In the middle of the year we launched the second wave with Ferrero KinderJoy and in August Burger the King® launched a worldwide emoji® kids meal activation program.

With Italian fashion brand TEZENIS, we Tezenis x emoji

Which plans are on the way for the next future?

In the middle of 2019 we have launched our first emoji® brand apparel store in China. At present we are seeking for new locations and expect to open 2-3 more stores until the end of 2019 while continuing to open more stores in 2020.

In 2020 we are going to open our first own emoji® brand cafes and will continue to launch QSR programs in several countries and you will see some high level apparel

Marco Hüsges brand collaborations.

Our F&B business will stay strong as in the previous years and we will launch multiple high level collaborations in this segment.

Which are your key territories?

Emoji is a global brand. Solid developed markets for us are North America, Europe, Brazil, Mexico, China and Australia. Since this year we are also focussing to expand the brand strongly in South East Asia and started to put an eye on Japan which is a market with giant potential but entirely different in its demands.

Which categories are more important for you?

The operative range of business for the emoji® brand is immense. The brand is appealing and attractive to consumers all over the world, regardless of their age and gender. That allows us to reach out for categories aside from standard licensing.

At present the leading categories for us are food & beverages, apparel and promotions.

We also have a strong connection to the marketing and advertisement industry who license our content for the creation of their campaigns.

Which are your expectations from next BLE? BLE is both exciting and important for us as Europe is a highly valuable market.

This year we are coming up with a brand new booth design and lots of interesting new products on display. We have developed fresh style guides and content for 2020 and offer some selective brand collaborations which include emoji® By Britto, Kiss x emoji® and emoji® x Smurfs.

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SONY PICTURES CONSUMER PRODUCTS

INTERVIEW WITH JAMIE STEVENS At the occasion of BLE, LM had the pleasure to interview Jamie Stevens, Executive Vice President at Sony Pictures Entertainment, to learn more about their future plans.

Which are the main highlights of Sony Pictures CP for the next season?

We have a lot of exciting things happening for film and television licensing in 2019 and 2020. Our focus for 2019 on the film side is Jumanji: The Next Level, Zombieland: Double Tap, Charlie’s Angels and our catalogue properties that are seeing a resurgence, especially the 80’s and 90’s films. On the TV side, we are working with partners on licensing programs for Cobra Kai, Breaking Bad (with a new film on Netfix this fall), and Outlander.

For 2020, our focus is on Peter Rabbit 2, Bloodshot, an all-new Ghostbusters film, MonsterHunter, and Vivo from Sony Pictures Animation.

collaborations, the new film gives us the opportunity to feed our core fans new content andprovides a new generation of fans an opportunity to experience an exciting new story in the franchise.

Ghostbusters has its 35th anniversary this year. Which is the perception of this brand today compared to the past and what are you planning for its big relaunch? What are the main partnerships just announced about this popular IP? The Ghostbustersbrand continues to be strong and one of the top-recognized brands in the world, even after 35 years. Coming off our 35th Anniversary celebration with a host of partners and

In Europe in particular, which is your strategy locally?

We want to continue to grow the business in all of our key European territories.

Which news are on the way for Vivo?

We are very excited about Vivo, coming holiday 2020. We have a great toy partner in Jazwares and are signing more partners globally every day.

Cobra Kai Which are your main goals at BLE? We are focused on continuing to grow our business in Europe and around the world by meeting with new and existing licensees and retailers for our film and TV properties. We continue to look for new opportunities and innovative ways to drive our business and provide fans with great ways to experience our IPs. It is also really important for us to meet with our partners to understand the current business climate and the needs of each market. This is especially important in this rapidly-evolving landscape we are in.

Outlander

Jamie Stevens

Ghostbusters Funko POP What about Cobra Kai and Outlander?

We are actively licensing and continue to expand our programs for all of our TV properties.

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MIPCOM SPECIAL REPORT

WHAT’S NEW IN CANNES Like every year, the global entertainment industry meets in Cannes to launch the latest TV productions on the market and to look for new projects to develop. An unmissable event to keep pace with the evolution of video content, for all the platforms.

Following there are some highlights from this October’s event.

ROBOCAR POLI EXPANDS IN SOUTHERN EUROPE On the back of its success story in a number of European and Asian territories, the preschool animation series Robocar POLI, produced by Roi Visual and EBS Korea, continues its expansion in Southern Europe, with a 360º tailor-made strategy from distribution and licensing agency, Brands & Rights 360.

RTP and Panda Portugal, part of the astonishing list of 143 countries that have already aired the series, have extended their respective deals to include the most recent episodes. In addition to this, Clan TVE Spain has recently acquired all four seasons.

Broadcasters in both countries, Clan TVE and Canal Panda Portugal, premiered the series in September 2019.

Additionally, B&R360 has recently sold seasons 3 and 4 to Star Greece were the previous seasons are enjoying an

excellent performance, being one of the top properties on the channel. The new seasons premiered last September as well as Toys distribution.

ALMOND PROJECT WILL DEVELOP ANIMASIA STUDIO’S PROPERTIES Almond Project, a company specialized in publish rights worldwide, will develop a book series based on the successful Netflix series Harry & Bunnie owned by Animasia Studio. Almond Project gained also got the rights to develop books from another successful TV Series, ABC Monsters.

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HARRY & BUNNIE is a non–dialogue slapstick comedy and is streaming globally on Netflix (Except China) and in many TV channels as Disney (APAC countries), Youku, Sohu (China), TV3 & TV9 (Malaysia), VTM Kids (Belgium), Trans7 (Indonesia ), NIKI Kids (Ukraine).

ABC Monsters is a Preschool, Edutainment, Sing Along Song available in English, BM, Mandarin, Neutral Spanish, Korean, Polish, Urdu languages, is streaming on A+ Kid TV (Israel), A+ Kid TV (France), Kuwait TV (Kuwait), YouKu (China), Global Toons (Mexico) and was previously streamed on Canal+ (Poland), Kids Talk Talk (Korea), PCCW (Hong Kong), Okto & Suria (Singapore), CN SEA, Iflix (Malaysia).

PBS KIDS: A NEW RICH PROGRAMMING FROM BTS For this Fall, along with a new themed programming, PBS KIDS offers also exciting new games for kids, parents, caregivers and teachers. Kids can explore

Daniel Tiger different ways to dance and express themselves through movement in the sparkly, toe-tapping Pinkamagine Fashion Game; or play with the Tiger family as they hide in silly places around their house in Daniel Tiger’s Hide and Seek; and decorate train cars and discover the joy of helping others in Dinosaur Train. These games are all available also on pbskids.org and the PBS KIDS Games App.

To help parents and caregivers build on the educational opportunities presented in these episodes and digital experiences, new resources such as Pinkalicious activity videos and printables and a familyoriented book list are available on the updated PBS KIDS for Parents website.

Teachers can turn to PBS Learning Media for collections of classroom resources, clips and activities.

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MILLIMAGES: MOLANG GROWS GLOBALLY Millimages’ best-selling family IP MOLANG continues its booming growth.

Since July 2019, MOLANG season 1 is available Worldwide on NETFLIX. MOLANG Season 4 (52x5‘) is now ready to be aired and Season 5 (52x5) is already in pre-production.

In these two new seasons, Molang and Piu Piu take their invariable wit and good spirit across the ages, from Stone Age, to Versailles Royal court and Greek antiquity.

In France, starting from October 30th and until December 10th this year, MOLANG will be featured in the Happy Meal Menu boxes™ of all McDonald’s restaurants. Moreover, a partnership with the Aquarium of Paris is set from January

FriendZSpace to March 2020 where MOLANG will be the new ambassador of Paris Aquarium.

On TV, the show continues to be broadcasted on TF1 (season 3) and PIWI+ has launched season 4. Also in Germany, MOLANG will be launched on KIKA TV by this October.

In Italy, the IP continues its momentum with the launch of season 4 on RAI YOYO in October. Same in the UK with season 3.

Finally the European Master Toy Licensee; TOMY, has recently launched the news products on the market.

HIP LAUNCHES THE BRANDNEW IP FRIENDZSPACE Available for the first time at MIPJunior from HIP (Henson Independent Properties), the CG-animated series, FriendZSpace (working title) (52 x 11’), targeted to kids 5–8 years old. It is a new character-driven

comedy about three fun-loving Earth kids who jet off into the super-cluster of stars and hop from planet to planet on a mission to make friends with outer-space kids all across the universe. It’s a comedy about discovering common ground (even if eludes us at first) and embracing each other’s differences. Merging wild adventure with gripping storytelling for both boys and girls, FriendZspace is about communication, finding shared interests, making a connection, and nurturing new friendships. At the same time, it’s overthe-top, irreverent and silly, yet sweet and inspirational.

The action-packed series, funded by Thailand’s T&B Media Global, is created

by Daytime Emmy-nominated Dan Clark (Yo Gabba Gabba!, Team Smithereen!) and Oscar Covar (The Tasty Tales Of The Food Truckers, Team Smithereen!), and is currently in production at Shellhut Entertainment for delivery in fall 2021.

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environmental issues and how they should be handled or prevented.

During MIPCOM, Mondo TV will introduce to its potential partners also the latest novelties on YooHoo to the Rescue, the second season of Robot Trains, Invention Story, the first two series of Heidi Bienvenida (120 x 45’) and the second season of the 2D animated series Bat Pat (52 x 11), a co-production with Italian Atlantyca Entertainment.

The Royal Family

GAUMONT TO PRESENT THE ROYAL FAMILY AT MIP Gaumont Animation and Family will be presenting the new series, The Royal Family, for the first time at MIPJunior.

Based on the popular book series La Famille Royale from Christophe Mauri and Aurore Damant, this 52 x 11’ 2D digital animated comedy series for kids ages 5 – 7 follows a modern day royal family eager to explore the extraordinarily ordinary discoveries of everyday life.

The Royal Family — the forever optimistic King Albert, his thrill-seeking and competitive Queen Victoria, eight-yearold Princess Alice and five-year-old Prince Harry Jr. — are experts at making even the most mundane, daily situations seem like incredible adventures, thanks to their vibrant imaginations, unyielding determination and creative spirits. Whilst the family enthusiastically embraces their royal duties, they each do so in their own modern, unique way.

First published in October 2016, five books have now been published in the series in France, and the French speaking territories of Belgium, Switzerland and Canada.

MONDO TV WILL LAUNCH IN CANNES A TV SERIES TO SAVE – AND ENTERTAIN – THE PLANET Mondo TV will preview a major new show at MIPCOM: House of Talent: The Web Series. A crew of over 20 online talented influencers boasting more than half a

billion monthly impressions that has also inspired two novels and multi-venue fan meet and greets that have attracted over 80,000 fans since the beginning of 2019. And of course there’s the 260 x 13’ House of Talent web series beginning in September, in which can will see their influencer idols in a whole new way! The web series is not acted and presenters and guests are themselves, testing their talents in different areas such as cooking, science, fashion, music and more in the rooms of a real house!

Another major focus will be MeteoHeroes, a Mondo TV co-production with MEC (Meteo Expert Center). Featuring six superhero kids who prevent pollution, global warming, and climate change, the series will capture the imaginations of kids but also help them better understand

Agent 203

TOON2TANGO IN CANNES WITH AGENT 203 Toon2Tango will present in Cannes a brand-new TV series, Agent 203 (52 x 11’) a new animated series in coproduction with Mondo TV and V House Animation. Planned to be delivered by 2021 and Created by Damjan Mitrevski

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of V House Animation, Agent 203 is the story of Zoe who lives with her dad in the suburbs. One day, she meets an alien in her garage, who needs her bracelet that her mum gave her. It appears that mum was a secret galactic agent, who is still alive but missing in action. Together with her new alien friend Ulav, Zoe enlists in the IA, pledging to protect the galaxy and finding her mother. Her mission: guard the universe // save the planet // be home before breakfast.

TV ASAHI: FROM JAPAN SUPER SHIRO TV ASAHI will distribute internationally the brand new animated tv series, Super Hiro (48 x 5’), targeted 4 to 8 years old.

SUPER SHIRO is a new fast-paced slapstick chase comedy series inspired by the hugely popular “Crayon Shin chan” franchise which has aired internationally since 1992. With its action and humor, it will be universally appealing to both kids and family with the core target at 4 to 8-year old boys and girls.

SHIRO, who plays the leading role is a superhero. His character is recognized and loved in many countries over the last decade or so. The series has the very rare

Stinky Dog

STINKY DOG WITH DANDELOOO (credit foto ©1990 USUI YOSHITO & ©2019 SUPER SHIRO Project)

combination of being in the vein of “Tom & Jerry” and its type of action and the witty/ funny dialogue that characterizes “Crayon Shin chan”. It is considered to be the very first show of this kind to be produced in Japan and it only became a reality because of the great talent of Masaaki Yuasa, the Crystal Award Winner at Annecy in 2017, and his team at Science SARU.

Emmy Award winning French animation production and distribution company Dandelooo is set to hit the Croisette with a new 2D animation series Stinky Dog (52x11’) for kids from 6 to 10 years old.

In a first exclusive worldwide premiere at this year’s MIP Junior, Dandelooo will be showcasing the first two episodes of the slapstick series.

Commissioned

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France

Televisions

ENANIMATION SECURES BROADCAST RIGHTS TO OLGA THE CLOUD

Italian boutique animation studio Enanimation has secured the rights to develop – globally and on all platforms – the popular pre-school publishing property Olga the Cloud, created by legendary writer and illustrator Nicoletta Costa.

Nicoletta Costa’s creation – a global publishing success for over 30 years – is a cute, funny and soft cloud, who is friends with the moon, the stars and the sun – and also children!

For the series now in development, called Nina & Olga, Enanimation has developed a new character, Nina, who is a special friend of Olga, who helps her to cope with everyday challenges.

Olga helps Nina to understand and

face her feelings, like a true Best Friend Forever, but a BFF who rains – and at the most unusual times!

It’s a rich, colourful world of children, parents, grannies and teachers, not to mention animals, birds the sun, moon and stars, all of whom come together as part of Nina & Olga’s daily adventures.

The first Olga the Cloud storybook was

published in Italy in 1982. Since then, more than 80 titles – in picture book, board book, activity book and cloth book formats – have been published in Italy and abroad, through publisher EMME Edizioni. Olga the Cloud has enjoyed a strong response in many countries outside Italy, but is particularly popular in China, Russia, Spain, Japan and the US. Enanimation is an independent awarded TV production company.

Recent notable co-productions include, Mystery after Mystery; Mia et le Migou, winner of the European Animated Feature Film award at the European Film Awards 2009; the original animated TV series Linkers and the successful animated TV series Mini Ninja, which was nominated for a Magnolia Award in the Best Animation category at the Shanghai International TV Festival 2019.

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Stinky Dog is based on the famous series of books written by Colas Gutman, illustrated by Marc Boutavant and published by l’Ecole des Loisirs.

Stinky Dog and his friend Flatty Cat are a couple of misfits who live in a trash can.

He likes living in his trash can, surrounded by his friends. It’s his natural habitat and he aspires to nothing else. Well, like everyone else, he does want to find love and sometimes tries to go on vacation.

STUDIO 100 LATEST NEWS AT MIPCOM Martin Krieger is the new CEO of Studio 100 Media and its subsidiaries Studio 100 Film, m4e and the newly formed Studio Isar Animation (Munich / Germany). Mr Krieger will also be responsible for the global commercial business of Studio 100 International including content distribution, licensing and consumer products for the entire Studio 100 slate and some third party IPs. The appointment of Martin Krieger follows the announcement of Barbara Stephen as Content CEO for Studio 100 International earlier this year, as the company continues to push forward with its global expansion strategy.

Among the latest TV Series releases, Studio 100 will launch at MIPCOM 100% Wolf – Legend of the Moonstone: a hilarious and dramatic concept about a boy trying to find his way in a difficult world - one in which he is an outsider.

Martin Krieger

On the licensing front, Studio 100 Media and the Stiftung & Co. KG have signed an extensive license agreement for Studio 100 hit tv series Heidi. The multi-year agreement covers the worldwide rights with the exception of some territories in Asia. As part of the cooperation, Playmobil figures of the popular series characters, various play sets matching Heidi’s adventures and more product innovations are planned from 2020 around the CGI series and the planned theatrical feature of the Studio 100 group. In addition, both companies will jointly implement moving image content.

WINSING BRINGS ITS HIT SHOWS AND NEW PROPERTIES TO MIPCOM Winsing, a leading Chinese animation company for over 15 years, will be promoting a fastgrowing portfolio in the Chinese pavilion at MIPCOM.

Wolf – Legend of the Moonstone

Winsing has specialized in 3D animation production and distribution for 15 years and, with a business covering the full IP industry chain, over 600 artists on its books, a massive original IP content library, and rich co-production experience, the company is firmly established as a major animation player in China, with a focus on developing its business line into films, TV series, live shows, indoor theme parks and licensed merchandise.

The company has now set its sights on boosting its ongoing expansion into international markets.

It has a number of proven winners to show to exhibitors at MIPCOM, most notably GG Bond. Coming to English-speaking markets under the name Kung Fu Pork Choppers, this is a delightful and funny show for 4-to-8-year-olds.

The show already boasts 14 hit series viewed by millions of children, as well as five feature films and series 15 in the planning stages, not to mention an enormously popular and award-winning live show, dedicated theme park areas, and a massive licensing campaign.

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COLTO

HIGH-QUALITY DIGITAL APP FOR KIDS Colto is a kids digital development agency working with clients and partners to strengthen their brand and drive revenues by creating award-winning content.

Davide Jones and Catriona Wallis Colto is the leading Italian kids digital agency based in Milan working with global kids entertainment key-players. The agency creates HTML5 games, mobile games and apps. The high quality of Colto’s products is shown by: user ratings - all their apps are rated more than 4 out of 5 by users on the App store; KPIs – their products achieve above industry standard KPIs; award winning - their apps have won multiple prestigious global game awards.

Founded 5 years ago by Catriona Wallis and Davide Jones, Colto is the result of the efforts of a female entrepreneur who joined forces with a passionate hard-core gamer and talented Italian designer to lift the bar on the quality of kids’ educational games. To achieve this result, Catriona and Davide have created a team of talented product designers and developers. Finally they have created a work environment with a growth mindset that enables people to thrive and achieve their core value of excellence.

For their clients, Colto aims to create the best digital play experience for kids possible. Their apps are designed to give children magical play experiences in a safe environment. Colto’s apps are fully compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

SERVICES SUBSCRIPTION. Colto has been at the forefront of subscription apps, since 2016 creating the front and back end of a number of kid’s games with subscription model. Their app Hidden Pictures Puzzles has consistently been ranked in the top 10 top-grossing Kids category in the US App Store.

BUSINESS ANALYTICS. Colto has an extensive experience in using the most powerful analytics tools on the market to test and optimize the UX to drive users and increase revenues.

APP DEVELOPMENT. Colto creates apps in Unity for all major mobile platforms.

Actually, their apps have won multiple prestigious global game awards and consistently been rated 4+/5 stars in user reviews on the app stores.

Colto’s game designers put kids at the centre of all phases of game design. They follow apps throughout their entire life cycle even after the product is published, providing maintenance from basic bug fixing to UX optimization and themed seasonal updates such as school holidays.

In this field, Colto created the App Dora’s Worldwide Adventure for Nickelodeon.

The game is a natural extension of the experience in the TV show, where preschoolers learn about world geography and different cultures with Dora and her companions.

HTML5 DEVELOPMENT. Finally, the fourth expertise of Colto is about HTML5.

They create HTML5 play experiences that educate, entertain and engage kids. Their HTML5 games are fully responsive and highly portable to other platforms.

Entertainment

FRED ROGERS PRODUCTIONS

ODD SQUAD: A NEW SEASON READY TO AIR A brand-new season of Odd Squad, the hit multi-Emmy-winning live-action series from Fred Rogers Productions and Sinking Ship Entertainment, is back and will begin rolling out on PBS KIDS this winter.

Odd Squad was created by Tim McKeon (Fosterʼs Home for Imaginary Friends, Adventure Time, The Electric Company) and Adam Peltzman (The Electric Company, The Backyardigans, Wallykazam!) and produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment and Fred Rogers Productions.

ABOUT FRED ROGERS PRODUCTIONS

Twenty new episodes of Odd Squad will feature a fresh creative direction and an enriched curriculum that continues to focus on math, while also incorporating science, technology, and engineering concepts. The Mobile Unit of Odd Squad agents, which includes a mix of familiar and new faces, uses deductive reasoning and logical thinking as they explore the “math in the science.” Some of their tactics include science and engineering practices, math skills, and cross-cutting concepts that span a range of science principles— from sound, patterns, and shadows to data collection and simple machines.

Odd Squad is a live-action series designed to help kids 5-8 build math, problemsolving, and collaboration skills. The show focuses on intrepid young agents who are part of Odd Squad, an agency whose mission is to investigate strange happenings. All three seasons of Odd Squad feature a math concept embedded

in each episode that the Odd Squad uses to set things right. Odd Squad airs daily on PBS stations (check local listings), the PBS KIDS 24/7 channel, and streams on pbskids.org and the free PBS KIDS Video app. Per month, the series reaches an average of 2 million children 2-8 over linear TV, sees 17.8 million streams, and attracts more than 1 million unique visitors to the website. Odd Squad also airs on TVO Kids and SRC in Canada.

Fred Rogers Productions was founded by Fred Rogers in 1971 as the non-profit producer of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood for PBS. In the years that followed, it not only created hundreds of episodes of this much-loved program, but also extended Fred’s values and approach to other efforts in promoting children’s social, emotional, and behavioral health while supporting parents, caregivers, teachers, and other professionals in their work with children. Fred Rogers Productions continues to build on Fred’s legacy in innovative ways through a wide variety of media and engages new generations of children and families with his timeless wisdom.

The company’s highly-rated, Emmy Award-winning children’s series include Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Peg + Cat, and Odd Squad, as well as Through the Woods. For more information, visit www.fredrogers.org or follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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CARTOON FORUM

WHAT’S NEW FROM THE EUROPEAN ANIMATION In September 1000 producers, investors, broadcasters and other potential partners from 42 countries met in Toulouse at last 30th Cartoon Forum, the unique co-production platform for European animation series, to see 85 brand new animation projects from 24 countries.

SOME OF THE PROJECTS PITCHED AT LAST CARTOON FORUM WITH LICENSING POTENTIALTIES

We are Family Since its first edition, in 1990, Cartoon Forum has helped 782 animation series obtain financing to the tune of over 2.7 billion Euros. And the results are considerable. European animation, in fact has become now the leader on its own territory. Through the years, Cartoon

The Marsupilamis Forum has built since a true network of trans-border cooperation, by restoring confidence in the relationship between producers and broadcasters, and by showing that there is sufficient on offer, of quality, within the European Union.

In line with the growing number of children’s television channels across Europe, 50% of the projects are aimed at children 6-11 years old. Pre-school series represent 29% of the projects and less than 10% of the shows are aimed at the target of young adults and adults.

Anima Pictures Entertainment (Finland) pitched the transmedia project Goodnight Mr. Clutterbuck, adaptation from Mr. Clutterbuck books by Mauri Kaunas.

Kavaleer Productions (Ireland) launched its satirical comedy project Snake News, a hybrid live-action series.

Graphilm (Italy) with its project #In the Middle, an adaptation from the Italian book “#Le Medie” by Annalisa Strada.

Prima Linea Productions (France) was present with its TV special project Hotel Strange.

Cyber Group Studios (France) pitched its brand new 3D transmedia project Digital Girl, about the first super heroine with digital powers.

Xilam Animation (France) with its TV series project Lucy Lost, an adaptation from “Listen to the Moon” by Michael Morpurgo.

Aliante (Italy) will present the new project Ollmill City Football Games by the wellknown Italian director Enzo d’Alò.

Sixteen South (UK) came with the project Super Snail, an adaptation from a picture book of the same name by Elys Dolan.

TeamTO (France) was present with a project about pop music and its creation We are Family.

Belvision (Belgium) came with the project The Marsupilamis, based on the 1950s comic book “The Adventures of the Marsupilamis” by André Franquin.

Wil Film (Denmark) pitched the project Hugo & Holger, based on the children’s book franchise Hugo & Holger.

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THE TOY ASSOCIATION

Compound Crazy Toys Bring Next-Level Excitement to Kids A contribution by Kristin Morency Goldman, The Toy Association, USA Association in the United States. “Not only are compounds tactile and fun, they allow kids to familiarize themselves with different textures and styles of design and construction.”

Nickelodeon Sweet Creations Slime Toy companies are taking it up a notch with compounds this year, offering kids a variety of new and exciting ways to play with reusable substances like slime, kinetic sand, dough, putty, and more.

According to The Genius of Play, The Toy Association’s nonprofit initiative dedicated to raising awareness of play’s vital role in child development, playing with dough, sand, foam, and other compounds builds physical as well as cognitive skills in children. The act of kneading and squishing exercises little muscles and joints and lowers anxiety and stress, while the open-ended nature of

“Building on the slime craze that ramped up a couple of years ago, compounds can now be found in all types of toys – from collectibles and family games to science experiments and more,” said Adrienne Appell, senior trend expert at The Toy

Make Your Own Glitter Face Mask by Klutz

Goo Goo Galaxy Dolls

National Geographic Super Slime & Putty Lab

compound play nurtures curiosity, logical thinking, and creativity.

“Compound Crazy” was one of the hottest toy trends of the year announced

by The Toy Association at Toy Fair New York in February. Read on for some product examples that will be exciting and delighting kids all year long: Goo Goo Galaxy dolls (Moose Toys): Goo Goo Galaxy is a new collectible line of quirky, outer space aliens. With four characters to collect, each come with unique intergalactic themes and have squishy, slimy bodies that are fun to

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squeeze and include a special DIY slime activity.

Nickelodeon Sweet Creations Slime (Cra-Z-Art): Mix and make slime versions of your favorite sweet treats — such as frosting, cookie dough, cake batter, etc. — that look like the real thing. The kit comes complete with everything kids need to make the slime including glue, activator, and colorant.

Kinetic SandSandbox Set (Spin Master): Creative possibilities are endless with the Kinetic Sand Sandcastle that includes one pound of blue sand, three molds, a beach tool, and a sandbox to play in. Kinetic Sand never dries out and is easy to clean up.

Make Your Own Glitter Face Mask (Klutz): Kids can treat themselves to a selfie-worthy face mask, customized with fresh ingredients and lots of glitter! Use the specially formulated peel-off gooey mask mix or one of the included sheet masks to make up to five masks. After the mask has dried, peel it off to leave your face feeling fresh (and glitter-free).

National Geographic Super Slime & Putty Lab (Brainfuel Toys): Kids can play and learn with four different kinds of slime and putty that they won’t be able to put down.

These tactile toys come with accessories to make your own slime and light up your glow-in-the-dark putty. Explore the science behind slime and putty with the 16-page, full-color Learning Guide.

Interested in discovering next year’s hit toy and games? Mark your calendar for Toy Fair New York 2020, taking place February 22 to 25, 2020. Visit: www.ToyFairNY.com to learn more.

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BOLOGNA LICENSING TRADE FAIR

BLTF2020: A LOOK AHEAD Serving a market that is always evolving and demanding more and more in terms of services and networking, Bologna Licensing Trade Fair responds by renewing itself every year.

Anyone wishing to receive more information on how to be a part of BLTF2020 should write to licensing@bolognafiere.it

the Italian market; it addresses the South European, Spanish, French and German markets as well. Indeed there are many licensees who operate across a number of these territories.

In 2020 BLTF will introduce a series of innovations to meet the needs of exhibitors and visitors. First of all, the trade show will last two days instead of three. In those two days, there will be numerous activities taking place to attract the industry and make its time in Bologna even more useful and productive. Among these are the Bologna Licensing Award, the only award in the sector in Italy; an increasingly rich and functional Licensing Retail Lounge to allow matchmaking between retailers and exhibitors; a brandnew Licensing Fashion Area, where it Bologna Licensing Trade Fair (BLTF), about to celebrate its 12th year, has established itself as the mainlicensing business eventin Italyand among the most important in Europe; over 4500 visitors, over 600 exhibited brands and over 40retailers attended the 2019 event.

The strength of the BLTF derives not only from its size and market positioning, but also from its strategic positioning alongside the main trade-show focused in the world devoted to publishing for children: the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF).

The BCBF has been a global reference point for children’s content for over 50 years. This is the event where many concepts first saw the light of day before becoming some of the biggest names in licensing, from Harry Potter to Barbapapa, from Clifford the Big Red Dog to the Moomins.

The BCBF is the leading global children’s content trade fair. Every year it records extraordinary numbers; the figures for 2019 included over 28,946 international professional visitors and 1,442 exhibitors.

And of course the BCBF has always

welcomed licensing professionals from all over the world, looking for the latest kids’ trends.

The BLTF has benefited from this very strong association in order to establish itself among the main licensing events in Europe, just the right distance from BLE in terms of time, and with a strong welcome for both Italian and foreign participants.

In fact, the BLTF doesn’t just speak to

will be possible to see the latest news about licensed fashion and meet apparel companies that may be interested in developing capsules using characters and brands; a closing networking cocktail event to be held at the trade fair that will be open to all visitors; and, last but not least, a rich program of seminars, previews and presentations to help visitors keep pace with the latest industry trends.

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SPIELWARENMESSE 2020

A leap into new business ideas On-trend products, creative business ideas, valuable expert tips – all this and much more lies in store for retailers and buyers at the 71st Spielwarenmesse. From 29 January to 2 February 2020, 170,000 m² of the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre will once again be transformed into the international hub of the toy world.

“The Spielwarenmesse offers all industry members the perfect platform for launching into the year with new ideas and plenty of energy. Particularly in this day and age, inspiration, personal communication and the ability to look ahead are more important than ever before.”

- Ernst Kick, CEO of Spielwarenmesse eG -

The toy industry is evolving more rapidly than ever before. The changing habits of a new generation, well-informed, discerning customers, digitalisation and the growing online market are all topics that the toy trade and industry are confronted with on a daily basis. This central, international platform assembles the most important exhibitors in one place, making a visit to the fair a highly efficient way of doing business. With around one million products to choose from, participants receive a complete market overview. In this unique environment, they can discover trends, familiarise themselves with innovative ranges and POS presentations, whilst deepening their knowledge and engaging with existing and new business contacts.

TRENDS, TRENDS, TRENDS

The start-ups at the pavilion for Young German Companies and the first-time exhibitors showcasing their innovations at the New Exhibition Center in Hall 3A breathe new life into the product ranges of retailers. The adjacent TrendGallery helps visitors to navigate the 120,000

innovations on show in Nuremberg. The three Spielwarenmesse trends are brought to life for visitors and presented with corresponding products. The TrendGallery also features the nominees and winners of the ToyAwards.

TOY EXPERTISE WITH LICENSING

Within the rich seminar programme planned during the trade show, every

morning from Wednesday to Friday, the Toy Business Forum will host the LicenseTalks – presentations by experts from the licensing field. The importance of this sector is underlined by the extended partnership with Licensing International (formerly LIMA). The international association’s stand in the foyer of Hall 12.0 is a hub for licensing agencies, licensors and licensees. Members can take advantage of an interesting offer: Against the backdrop of the License Preview, they can show their latest creations to selected guests in an exclusive setting. Licences are a ubiquitous feature of the fair and can be found everywhere – be it as products or walking acts for memorable selfies.

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ASIA TELEVISION FORUM

ATF 2019: SPOTLIGHT ON CHINA AND INDIA, MEDIA POWERHOUSES OF ASIA Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) is the ideal platform of caliber to acquire knowledge, network, buy, sell, finance, distribute and co-produce across all media. It is the premier stage in Asia to engage with the entertainment industry’s top players from around the world. It’s where the best minds meet and the future of Asia’s content is shaped.

For more information, please visit www.asiatvforum.com

entertainment platform both in terms of user base and viewing time.

In particular, this year’s event seeks to reflect the spirit of Asia’s dynamic content industry and its bold step into the future, with prominent C-Level speakers shedding light on opportunities and strategies moving forward.

entertainment content market. At the forefront of the content industry in these countries are iQIYI and Reliance Entertainment, who will be the protagonists of the main keynote speech at next ATF.

ATF offers the opportunity to discover vital trends, crucial statistics and significant foresight in TV’s digital, kids and formats arenas. Its business matchmaking opportunities open doors to some of the best new offerings in the region.

With over 5,600 international buyers and sellers from more than 55 countries, ATF presents valuable business prospects for top of the line benefits. ATF will be celebrating its 20th edition this year.

Founded in 2010 and under the leadership of its founder and CEO, Gong Yu, NASDAQ-listed iQIYI has grown to become China’s largest video and

China and India are the economic powerhouses of Asia. Similarly, they play a pertinent role in shaping the region’s

In 2017, Gong announced his aspiration for iQIYI to become “a technology-based entertainment giant that brings fun and joy to people and their families”. Today, the company is an entertainment empire with a wide spectrum of products and services.

In late June 2019, the company further announced that it will push harder into overseas markets such as North America and Japan after hitting a milestone of 100 million paying subscribers.

Over in India, Reliance Entertainment has been making waves, with Group CEO, Shibasish Sarkar, at its helm.

A media and entertainment industry veteran, Sakar’s experience spans across multiple verticals including gaming, films, television, animation, digital content and new media platforms. His work at Reliance has seen him establishing and scaling business operations, driving sustainable growth by forming key alliances, managing stakeholders, talent partners and crossfunctional teams. Prior to his role at Reliance, he had been with Viacom18 and Disney-UTV.

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CHINA LICENSING EXPO

China Licensing Expo boosts licensing industry in China A contribution by Alice Yang, Licensing Project Manager of China Toy & Juvenile Products Association TOP AND EMERGING DOMESTIC PROPERTIES

As the licensing market in China grows, more and more Chinese companies realize the importance of brand licensing, and start to explore more possibilities in the business.

China Licensing Expo serves as the most professional platform for the domestic properties, from well-recognized properties to emerging ones. In 2019, Chinese the tier-one Chinese domestic properties including Tencent, Ali Group, Alpha, Wanda, NetEase, QIYall join in the show, and more popular and young properties from social media joined in the exhibition, such as Yijianyuzhou, Popmartand 52Toy. The 13th session of China Licensing Expo (CLE) will be held from October 16th to 18th, 2019 in Shanghai, China. China Licensing Expo is the largest and most effective licensing eventin Asia and is widely recognized as the most effective channel to understand the licensing market, promotebrands, and expand licensing business in China and Asia.

The Expo was organized by the China Toy & Juvenile Products Association (CTJPA) and sponsored by China Licensing Federation (CLF). For over a decade, China Licensing Expo has witnessed the developing in licensing industry in China. “This year, the exhibition space of CLE has expanded by 15 percent, reaching40,000 sqm, with over 350 exhibitors presenting over 1,800 brands of which international brands occupy over 80 percent, from topnotch global licensors to fresh properties.

Also, 40 percent of them are new exhibitors this year.� introduced by May

Liang, president of CTJPA.

INTERNATIONAL PROPERTIES GIANTS After 13 years of development, more and more international companies recognize the potential of the Chinese licensing market. International properties giants choose China Licensing Expo exclusively as their most ideal option when exploring licensing business in China.

CLE 2019 hosted new international exhibitors, such as Entertainment One, Sanrio, Discovery, and Kakao Friends, meanwhile many famous international properties licensors including Universal, Turner, Mattel, Hasbro, Dark Horse Comics, Blizzard, and Ubisoft have been the regular exhibitors for years. Also, top global licensing agents like IMG and Iconix will participate the show too, to bring more fresh and diversified properties to China market.

ART AND MUSEUM PROPERTIES

Alongside the regular tradition of entertainment and characters, CLE covers the whole property category, and the art and museum properties are in the spotlight this year.

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and retailers, to educate the market. And at the CLE Night, the award of CLE Most Popular IPs, Rising Star IPs, Best Licensees, Best Retailers, Best Licensed Products will be presented. More on-site activities are coming too, including Licensing Seminar, Football Fans Club, Van Gogh Art Cafe Lounge, and Match-Making activities.

MORE THAN CLE

At the meantime, to help more manufacturing companies to get a better understanding in licensing and properties, China Licensing Federation launched a professional searching website for the industry.

The 13th session of China Licensing Expo hosts a special museum section at the show, and more museums participated independently from home and abroad, including Forbidden City, China National Museum, and Van Gogh Museum. The art licensors are raising too. Exhibitors like Tokidoki and Fuyun Art have joined the show independently.

MORE DYNAMIC PAVILIONS

There will be 8 pavilions at CLE this October, including Europe Pavilion, US Pavilion, Japan Pavilion, Korean Pavilions, Hong Kong Pavilion, and Chinese Taipei Pavilions. The organizers include SPLiCE from US, KOCCA from Korea, CBLA from Japan, Taiwan Trade Center Inc from Chinese Taiwan.

MORE ONSITE ACTIVITIES

Ever most on-site activities will be held during the Expo. The eleventh session of China Licensing Summit will further discuss the new media era and its influence on the China licensing industry.

At the Summit, organizations like Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and Licensing International, as well as companies like Universal, Blizzard, Entertainment One, and Hasbro will share their observations and experiences in this dynamic industry with over 300 audience.

China Tourism Licensing Forum will be the first forum in China focused on the topic of licensing on tourism. China Licensing Professional Academy will provide one whole day training to licensors, licensees,

According to Du Tonghe, President of China Licensing Federation, the website “China Brand Licensing 365” serves as the online search and match-making platform, and over 600 properties from over 200 licensors and agents have registered in the website. Thanks to the internet, the platform brings great convenience to the network building and business exploration. Licensee companies can just go to visit the website and conduct matchmaking online for 365 days of the year.

Besides the convenience it brings, the network also helps the industry operation to develop in the healthy direction.

“I believe, by the support from both China Licensing Federation and China Licensing Expo, the licensing industry in China will surely embrace a bigger potential in development and a more promising future in the coming years.“ - Du Tonghe -

The brand licensing industry is developing rapidly in China. According to the statistics from China Licensing Industry Report issued by CTJPA,the total retail volume of licensed merchandise in China in 2018 reached USD 12.7 billion, 14.6% growth year-on-year. Licensing International Report also refers China now is the fifth largest licensing market in the whole world. China has great potential to grow more impressively.

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UNICORN-MANIA HITS THE MARKET!

FLYING HIGH WITH UNICORNS Contribution by Rossella Arena From duvet covers to cups, shoes and much, much more, the image of the unicorn is highly adaptable – and very successfully used in every sector of commerce. Here we look at some of the unicorn-themed products a number of brands are planning for the autumn-winter 2019/2020 season.

Unicorn Jackpack by Seven

a new addition to its line. Colorissima shoes are equipped with interchangeable straps, which little girls can colour to their liking. What better symbol of the unicorn, known for its passion for rainbows, than to encourage young women to express themselves through their love of colours?

Seven SpA, a leading Italian manufacturer of backpacks and bags, has chosen images and themes related to the world of fantasy and unicorns for its new, very versatile Seven Jackpack backpacks With this model the unicorn can not only be Crystal Creature Aqua Gem by Mattel The unicorn is a universal symbol of something magic and unique, qualities that many of us would love to have as part of our daily lives. Perhaps that’s why so many brands are inspired by this mythical animal – and why quite a few have unicorn-related news to share in the coming months.

Mattel, a leading name in the world of toys, has a number of different unicorns in its catalogue. The most recent is the interactive magic unicorn from the enchanted Dreamtopia kingdom, sold with a Barbie Princess Doll. Stroking the unicorn’s body or giving it one of its snacks (a carrot, ice cream cone or apple) activates sounds and lights. For example, give him the ice cream, and you can hear him munching. Touch the horn and you can watch him light up. He’ll doze to the sound of a sweet lullaby. Hold him tight and you can hear the sound of galloping or see a star-shaped light effect.

Another great little journey into magic is promised by the five Crystal Creatures, enchanted creatures, each of which is

enclosed in a pearly egg that has a special glittery liquid inside. Two are unicorns: Night Sky and Aquagem. They can be rebuilt and reassembled, making them ideal to collect.

Lelly Kelly, an established Italian brand of shoes for girls, is offering an elegant accessory in the shape of a unicorn as Mug by Legami

Colorissima Collection by Lelly Kelly

worn on the shoulders but also, because the front of the backpack is detachable by zip, as a vest.

Legami, a multi-faceted and creative Italian company, has many products dedicated to unicorns in a portfolio that includes stationery, mirrors and small format cosmetics, among them the bike horn unicorn trumpet bell, and a cappuccino mug.

Unicorns can transform the home into an enchanted space, as the French furniture brand Maisons du Monde knows well.

Its unicorn theme includes candles,

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images and messages of love, both sincere and light-hearted. In one of the new pyjamas the company also references the trend for caticorns – kittens with a horn and unicorn wings. Duvet cover and pillowcase designs are continually refreshed with new patterns. Many items are limited edition and can be purchased exclusively online.

UNICORN MILK: FROM INSTAGRAM TO THE WORLD. Unicorn Pillow by Maison du Monde

Unicorn Frappuccino by Starbucks

Ceramics of Unicorns by Thun doorstops, armchairs, small watering cans and lamps. Among the latest products is a wonderfully comforting piece of furniture for a girl’s bedroom: a 30 x 50 pillow in the shape of a unicorn.

Thun, an Italian company known for its distinctive ceramic items, has among its latest output a unicorn line. In addition to ceramic unicorns in various poses and sizes, the company has ceramic cups and earrings dedicated to the unicorn, and a key ring in plated zamak and brass.

Kiabi, a French fashion company, also offers a rich selection of unicorn products, including recyclable straws made of cardboard, storage cubes, umbrellas, backpacks and caps. Among the new products there are 100% cotton pyjamas for women and girls, featuring unicorn

Pajamas by Kiabi

As part of the re-launch of the unicorn concept, the 2017 launch (and worldwide fame) of unicorn milk, created by The End bar in Brooklyn has a lot to answer for.

Colourful and beautiful to look at, the milk picked up a strong social media response – especially on Instagram –making it very famous in a very short time. The ingredients are coconut milk, spirulina algae, pomegranate powder and rainbow sugars.

In the same year the American coffee chain Starbucks created its Unicorn Frappuccino. If mixed, it changed colour, from pink to blue, and taste, from sweet and fruity to pleasantly sharp. It was available in limited editions in some stores for just a few days, but in that short time became the brand’s most viral drink. Several companies have also designed unicorn milk capsules for coffee machines.

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PRESCHOOL ENTERTAINMENT

INNOVATIVE PRESCHOOL As the television program scenario is changing, the concept of preschool television is also changing dramatically. Let’s see how.

CHRISTOPHER SKALA Freelance Producer at WildBrain

Christopher Skala Today, a television producer cannot underestimate anymore the need of a new approach through preschool contents.

The new mantra to take in mind could be: INCLUSION & DIVERSITY, RELATIVES RELATIONSHIPS and EMOTIONAL NARRATIVE. Then, on the platform front, it’s crucial to coordinate the use of the television tool along with YouTube and all the digital platforms in general. Finally, Licensing is a big part of a preschool property development. We can also say that it can be widely developed at the stage a property already has a broad crossplatform coverage and even before going on TV - given that TV is no longer the end but one of the means, albeit the most important one - for its conveyance.

LM attended as Media Partner at the last Children’s Media Conference and interviewed the professionals who dealt with this complex topic in Sheffield. Here it is what they said.

Which is your idea of Innovative Preschool in terms of contents?

My belief is that innovative content as such, is content that recognizes and utilizes the qualitative differences in how consumers react to – and appreciate – content on different platforms. What works on a linear platform is qualitatively different from what works on a Youtube platform. When this first became apparent as a phenomenon, my colleagues in linear content production could not have been more dismissive; in fact, they pointed to it as a perfect example of why youtube had to be dismissed and/or ignored. What I saw, in contrast, was a perfect example of content that could only work on YouTube and exemplified YouTube’s virtues – content devoted to Passion and Audience Energy.

Which are the most important platforms for pre-school audience?

Youtube, obviously. Linear will continue

to be of importance only as long as parents remember their own childhoods shaped by Disney or CBeebies. Once that generation has moved on to middleage, my belief is that linear platforms as currently constituted will die away. It will be interesting to see how Disney’s non linear Netflix model will fare. It should be born in mind that whilst Netflix is nonlinear, it replicates the same values with respect to content as traditional linear TV. Today, which are, according to you, the most important ingredients for a successful preschool content?

It really depends on where the content producer decides to aim their creation.

Digital? Linear, including SVOD? Now, there is no longer any single answer. The platitude of “engaging characters lovingly created” has become so meaningless. If a content creator is aiming for Youtube or a similar digital platform, then they have to bring to life an idea that is a passionate part of a preschooler’s life and which is direct, intimate and energetic.

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How L&M is included in the main preschool brand identity and development?

If one is talking about either digital or nonlinear but modeled on linear (e.g. Netflix), the requirement to be toy-etic no longer applies. In the case of the Netflixs of this world, this is because their model is not dependent on ancillary rights exploitation, but on complete rights ownership to “broadcast”; in the case of Youtube, the creator will earn revenue from AD sales for a successful show and therefore they don’t need a ToyCo on board to make their show in the first place.

SARAH BROAD Producer, Kelebek Media

that we have some fantastic preschool platforms right on our doorstep. Both Milkshake! and Cbeebies have strong values, great connections with their viewers and are proven to be platforms that parents trust. We do now also need to be looking at the likes of YouTube. We need to be everywhere our audience is.

They expect to be able to watch content from their favorite brands and if you’re not there they will move onto something else.

Is Linear TV still relevant?

Linear TV is definitely still relevant for the pre-school audience. Working with the broadcasters is a key part of building a brand. They offer fantastic on air support,

worlds, telling relatable engaging stories.

It doesn’t matter how spectacular your content looks, kids are a lot smarter than

What is your idea of Innovative Preschool content?

It’s an exciting time for content. There are many interesting ways we are now able to talk directly to our audience. Apps are great way to reach our audience through fun interactive game play and small bite sized entertainment. You can put the preschoolers literally in the centre of the story with the likes of augmented reality.

It is no longer just about what they can see on their screens, be it broadcast television or SVOD, we are able to extend our created worlds much further with technology the preschoolers seem to be able to use better than we can.

What are the most important platforms for the pre-school audience?

We are extremely lucky here in the UK

helping you connect with your audience.

With the likes of milkshake! extends off air, for example, we currently have Wissper touring the UK as part of the milkshake! live theatre show. You can’t underestimate the power of seeing your favorite characters in the flesh. We are however in a changing landscape and SVOD offers different opportunities.

Sarah Broad

What are the most important ingredients for successful preschool content?

This is as same as ever. You must have great characters at the core, in believable

people give them credit for, if the stories and characters aren’t there they will switch over.

How is L&M is relevant in a preschool property identity?

Character and story should always lead.

The commercial property should naturally flow from the compelling characters. You should certainly be aware of merchandise possibilities whilst designing your worlds and the ways in which this can translate.

It’s important that these all work together to build on your brand values.

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a multiplatform strategy for audience growth.

Which are, according to you, the most important ingredients for a successful preschool content, nowadays?

Jodie Morris

JODIE MORRIS Executive Director, Content at Acamar Films Which is your idea of Innovative Preschool content?

Innovation comes in all shapes and sizes… from innovation in character & story diversity, innovative production techniques, innovation related to new distribution platforms, technology innovation (voice, AR, VR). There’s a huge amount of scope to experiment, and to reach audiences in new ways – but – it’s crucial that all innovation is anchored around authentic and meaningful storytelling.

Which are the most important platforms for pre-school audience?

The pre-school audience, like most others, is multiplatform - so we need to ensure our content is where they are.

Linear TV remains an important part of a preschooler’s life, but they (and their parents) expect to be able to find their favorite shows on-demand, and on the go – and they want to extend their experience and relationship with our characters and stories with games and interactive experiences… something we’ll be providing Bing fans via our new Bing

app (due to launch this Autumn).

Is still linear TV so relevant for this target?

Of course – the TV remains a key part of family life, and for new parents of young children, turning to trusted channels for guidance (e.g. CBeebies in the UK ) is a great way to find high quality shows, in amongst the noise of what’s available online. That said, linear schedules feel increasingly rigid in a world of ondemand content, so it is essential to have

While innovation is vital for continued commercial success, the most important ingredient remains a constant – and that’s the ability to create authentic, relatable stories for children. Stories are equipment for life… children develop their emotional intelligence, cognition, values, knowledge of the world and their sense of identity at least in part through their passionate appetite for ‘story’. In order to grow a successful global project, it’s essential that the audience see or feel something in the stories and characters they can relate to; if the audience doesn’t see themselves or their experiences, they will find it hard to engage. The brilliant thing is that all preschool children, in any country, and in any culture will always share similar feelings and emotions related to growing up – and Bing reflects those shared feelings back to them.

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BROADCASTING

CHALLENGES FROM OTT PLATFORMS...

Personalised contents, tailor-made services, video on demand.

OTT platforms are booming and forcing the traditional linear TV to face new challenges.

Also, the market growth in value is (almost) only driven by OTT. TV market growth is almost flat while OTT video is booming.

From 2014 through 2020 the evolution of total video market in Europe passed from 98 billion of Euro to 128 billion of Euro. In this amount, the value of linear TV keeps to be around 90 billions with no particular change through these years. It meant that OTT has passed from 8bln to 38bln of Euros in only 8 years.

In this scenario content has more than ever a central role. Bidding wars for premium rights and ownership of the most attractive content has become essential for attracting the largest audiences.

From a research presented by the IDATE Digiworld at last Cartoon Digital (Cagliari, May 2019) the use of mobile devices is now commonplace. In fact, 70% of consumers watch TV and video on a Smartphone and 2/3 of consumers use one or more streaming devices. Also time spent watching video content on personal devices is increasing dramatically and we can say that we are moving from household consumers to individual consumers.

Mobile personal devices and broadband access together overcome the constraints of traditional TV, permitting a fast development of non-linear video. In particular, the young adults of 16-19 years old spend 54% of their video time watching on demand content.

There is so a strong need of personalization and tailor-made services and no more of generic offering.

Despite this trend, linear TV still accounts

the majority of time spent watching video, on average. In France, for example 77% of children aged 4 years old watch linear TV. This data decrease for adults, between 15 and 24 years old, who switch to a much smaller 43% of linear TV watching.

In the next future, video is becoming the new must-have for Internet platforms.

Integration of entertainment videos will help to increase audience and revenue (social networks, e-commerce leaders).

Even, the development of new video formats and the need to move to shorter formats and higher quality content, will see the launch of production companies dedicated to original content for mobile.

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BROADCASTING

...AND THE RESPONSE OF BROADCASTERS Broadcasters are facing great challenges towards advancing of the OTT platforms. But they are far from being unprepared: from successful Apps to the care of unique and original contents, they are creating the tools to keep high the attention of the young audience. To learn more, LM interviewed two key player of the European Entertainment industry balance: most programs are still financed based on possibly outdated business models. It is also up to us to help set the new bar between linear and non-linear.

Luca Milano

LUCA MILANO Director of Rai Ragazzi In your opinion, how has the consumption of audiovisual content by children and young people changed?

Change is accelerating. For almost forty years, children’s TV was part of general programming: a few hours a day, but with an important impact and the recognition of the need for a space for children. Then came, in Italy before other countries, specialized channels – both free-to-air TV and, today, more than 25 pay-TV stations.

There’s a great choice, but there’s also a certain feeling of ghettoization. Take RaiYoYo. For those who have children at home it is perhaps the most accessed channel in the family. For all others it is as if it did not exist. This phase lasted about a decade. Now we are in the middle of a mixed phase: we still have the pay and free-to-air channels, but non-linear use is equally important. The overall offer has never been so rich. But it is not as table

How is RaiRagazzi facing the challenge of new platforms to use video content (aka OTT)?

Our main challenge is to reaffirm the role of public service in this new scenario.

This means increasing the value of original production, strengthening the creative fabric of the national audiovisual industry, and working towards diversity of languages and contents. And at the same time we need to be aware of the immense educational role the media can play in the growth of children and young people. The Rai offer stands out not only for the lack of advertising on RaiYoYo, not only for a varied schedule (based on editorial decision–making and not an algorithm), but above all for the quality of the individual programs, Italian, European and international, of which it is composed.

Bing

Missione Spazio Reloaded - Rai Gulp How do you balance the offer of RaiPlayYoyo with that of linear channels?

RaiPlayYoYo is a small jewel that will be even more valuable in the context of the re-launch of the entire non-linear Rai offer, centered on RaiPlay. The offer for children and young people is already very popular in the RaiPlay world: this summer it represented about 20%. The synergy between TV channels and RaiPlayYoYo already works very well, but every month we receive new data that can help us improve. With the increasing popularity of smart TV and broadband, even the classic TV set will have a new life and will be competitive with smartphones and tablets. Quality of programs will be relevant again in a big way.

In Italy, RaiYoyo is the most popular channel for preschoolers, but when you switch to digital platforms, who are your main competitors?

The SVOD offers (from Netflix to Disney+, to the others to come) compete mainly with pay-TV channels. For us the real competition in the field of digital platforms comes from YouTube, and services like Instagram, TikTok, Fortnite and the like.

They still stand out among content aggregators, social media and games, but they’re all converging a bit. Many are supported by international groups with a financial commitment we would find hard to match, but where there are equal rules for everyone we can compete.

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Sebastian Debertin

SEBASTIAN DEBERTIN Head of Acquisitions & Co-Productions – Head of Fiction at ARD/ZDF KI.KA Der Kinderkanal Which is the latest digital development in Germany...

Kids in Germany are curious and hungry for information – like kids worldwide.

No wonder then that KiKA still is top of their list when it comes to average consumption, as the latest research figures show. However, KiKA has put in a lot of work on its offer over the past four years. The latest KiKA effort in this campaign is the successful launch of the KiKA Player App. Fireman Sam

...and how much does it impact on KIKA brand popularity?

The hard-to-reach 9+ audience now has KiKA on its tablets and smartphones.

We’ve even regained a large number of this target group for our content! KiKA is number 1 with kids daily, not only in the German kids’ TV prime time slot from 5pm to 8pm (as research shows), but also on line and on kids’ devices, as current figures show. This is great: it proves that

kids want to see their beloved shows even while on the go. Additionally, one of our many strengths here at KiKA is to stay relevant for our audiences while creating content that reflects their lives.

Another recipe for success is to offer opportunities for audience participation.

When we think of launching a new title or brand on KiKA, we create individual concepts that offer participation tailored to the specific content. Super Wings, has been very successful, while this year, we celebrate the 10th birthday of our preschool character, Kikaninchen, a delightful blue rabbit that is the host of our preschool shows. Currently, we are putting to get her a concept for celebrating the anniversary of Fireman Sam on KiKA, again with participation included in the offering, something we

also did last year for our No.1 top-rated show YAKARI. Our audiences love this sort of event programming, which goes hand in hand with a multiplatform offer – from social media and special offers on line to possibilities for participation and special online premieres and games.

How do you combine KIKA’s TV, Digital and APP offer to keep the attention of kids?

Our former Linear TV Program Scheduling Department now has a new structure, reorganizing the promotion of the brand for different platforms, the two KiKA apps, the linear TV and all our non-linear and third-party platforms.

How do you think children’s tastes are changing nowadays?

Firstly, as mentioned earlier, kids today love to join in on many levels, so participation is key. Secondly kids get older faster than ever! They get so much (that is, more and more adult) topics added to their agenda.

But one thing never changes: they can follow. In other words, these are truly game-changing times on many levels of our business, but our mission never ends: to create great content for all our audiences and to stay on top!

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TIPS RICERCHE

GIRL EMPOWERMENT Contribution by Daniela Fujani, Founder Tips Ricerche In the beginning there was Girl Power: boys and girls praised “winning” female models, style and fashion. But there were also the “head and commitment” role models exemplified by public figures likeMichelle Obama. They were all wonderful women and often beautiful models, but far removed from the everyday life of most girls.

In the course of the last few years, the concept has changed again in to a new form of empowerment, underlining the need to strengthen the role of women in the here and now, by marrying an idea of women that do not accept the role of second fiddle with the avoidance oftrite stereotypes of any kind.

Girls have begun to rebel against gender education informed by stereotypes. This is a more fluid time and GenerationZ doesn’t want to be classified according to rigid patterns of gender. Bisexuality, for example, becomes a way for some girls to talk about themselves, a defense against being overly involved and against codes and rules. This approach plays out on two levels: education, and sensitization, of boys and girls to the removal of stereotypes.

According to a research carried out in

2017 in 10 countries involving more than 11,000 girls aged between 16 and 25, #bodyshaming-related data are having an alarming effect on the self-confidence of Generation Z: 115 million images are deleted from social networks every year because of beauty-related cyber-bullying.

One out of four girls in the world has experienced cyber-bullying over their skin. Some 57% of victims do not tell their experience to anyone; 51% say that cyber-bullying has stopped their desire to experiment with their looks.

The worst enemy of an Empowerment Model remains the pressure to adjust to aesthetic stereotypes (F. 13, says: “The physical appearance still matters a great deal, and beauty, which in my opinion is absolutely subjective, must comply with very strict standards, which must be adhered to in order not to be taken for a ride or otherwise judged.”)

Who does embodies the Empowerment Model today?

Greta Thunberg, Bebe Vio, Maria Montessori, Lady Gaga, Pippi Longstocking, Frida Kahlo, Pussy Riot, Lizzo, Emily Brönte… there are so many role models among women of yesterday and today that reference forms of Model Empowerment that can be expressed with pride.

For the interviewed sample, the references are Greta Thunberg, who, through her solitary and tenacious struggle, involves a vast public that is differentin age and gender. There’s also Bebe Vio, who overcame the drama of her amputations by becoming not only a great world champion but also an icon of a femininity that rejects the fragile and deferential.

A book that has become a flag of the silent revolution is “Good Night stories for Rebel Girls” as an example of female models that fought for their rights.

More than anything else, in fact, girls and women are fascinated by the struggle for their rights: F. 13, says: ”A Girl Empowerment movie is “Hidden Figures” which tells the story of an AfricanAmerican woman who was the first woman, and the first also of colour, to be hired by NASA as an aerospace engineer.

She had to fight to prove her ability and achieve this goal.”

Trends

“My mother is the perfect embodiment of girl power.

She is a hard working woman both in her professional and personal life. Girl power to me represents a movement in our lives.”

E. 17 years

Then there’s the women’s soccer World Cup, which gradually took on a high media profile; girls interviewed pointed out that it was slow to catch on, but finally enjoyed good media coverage, although women in soccer are still not free from prejudices.

E. 17 (USA), says: “They discriminated against female players by denying equal pay and representation on TV.” F. 13, says: “This year I followed all the soccer World Cup together with my best friend who then wanted to start playing soccer “.

A change is coming – and girls have noticed.

But how do GenZ girls imagine their future?

Girls want to affirm an equality that new generations take for granted.

Social networks are contributing in part to affirming Girl Empowerment, expressed through the hashtag #bodypositive and #ShareNotShame in favour of inclusiveness towards everything that is different and the acceptance that one’s defects can be exhibited without shame.

“I felt I had Girl Empowerment when I came back from New York, a journey that I made on my own, to go and do what I love most – that is, dance.

I felt independent, and confident about myself” - C. 15 years -

Some major European toy store chains, starting with Hamleys in London, have begun to eliminate the clear demarcation between departments “for males” versus departments “for females” by simply indicating the game and not the gender orientation. C. 10, says: “I do not like that in toy stores there is always everything pink and corny for females ...I am not corny.” On another positive note, genderneutral toys are on the riseand aim to stimulate creativity without gender bias.

In a scenario of this type girls are expressing hope and positivity. F. 13, says: “I hope for a better future for women than now. I don’t think we can achieve more rights as those have already been achieved in the past.I hope that we stop criticizing imperfections (this is also for

men). I hope that the canons of beauty are no longer so important. I hope above all that true gender equality will be achieved, so that a man is not paid more, and so that a woman must not give up work for the family.I hope that there are no longer men and women, but only human beings.”

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KIDS INSIGHTS

Youtubers In The Retail World A contribution by Kids Insights consumerism, there is an advertiser for each audience. The formula for the success of children’s video channels is not difficult to derive: a huge toy market, plus the spontaneity and charm of young presenters.

After computer games, kids are most likely to be buying books and magazines related to their favourite YouTubers – 16% of 10-12s have purchased books.

Zoella, Sidemen and Shane Dawson have all released books. There are currently no books by YouTubers in children’s top titles, highlighting an opportunity for content creators.

In the last 12 months, Kids Insights have surveyed more than 60,000 kids, tweens and teens across the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Kids Insights data highlights how YouTube is the platform of choice, with 57% of 1618 year olds go on YouTube multiple times daily. For kids age 10-15, not using the platform is rare, with only 3% reporting not going on it at all.One in five kids say they use the typically spend 1 to 2 hours per session on the video platform.

Our latest reports (which were issued in July) shows that children are purchasing licensed products related to their favourite YouTube stars.15% of 4-6-year-olds have purchased toys relating to their favourite YouTuber. Amongst fans of Ryan Toys Review, this rises to almost one-third of children reporting they have bought toys.

It had to happen. In the era of victorious

7% of teenagers say they have purchased music related to their favourite YouTubers, with stars such as KSI (the favourite creator of teen boys) regularly releasing music. 10-12-year-olds are most likely to engage with YouTube for more than four hours at a time - 6% of their sessions were of this length, more than any other age range. Watching YouTube for less than 10 minutes was most common in three-yearolds (10%).

The research suggests that kids like to buy diverse merchandise products

related to the same favourite Youtuber.

It means they are willing to interact with the properties in different ways - so brand owners and their licensees need a multidimensional sales and marketing strategy.

Kids Insights specialises in research and insights on kids and their ecosystems. We survey 2,050 kids, tweens and teens every single week across 7 countries including US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and India. Our real-time portal is continually updated to allow our clients to spot the latest trends before their competitors.

Our insight-led reports are produced by some of the top kids’ researchers and have seen us short-listed for a number of start-up and innovation awards.

For more information on Kids Insights, a sample report and a demo of our award-winning portal, visit www.kidsinsights.com/ licensingmagazine

Have you bought any of the following, which relate to your favourite YouTuber?

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