Summer 2016

Licensing Expo 2016 » The Hottest

Multi-Platform Brands

» The Biggest

Entertainment Deals

» The Latest Retail

Trends

Departments 20 Jackie’s Point 22 Licensing News 26 Stat Shot 28 LIMA Update 30 LIMA UK 32 Inside Retail 34 TIA Perspectives 38 Talking Social Media 41 Blogger Bash 2016 54 Property Profile: Angry Birds SpacePOP VOLUME 33, NUMBER 2

Features

64 Property Profile: The Powerpuff Girls 70 Spotlight On…

Discovery Consumer Products

36 Rethink, Refresh Nonprofit Licensing Good Company discusses why brands and retailers should embrace social responsibility.

74 Hot Shots: Stone Newman, Genius Brands

42 State of the Industry 2016: Technology Drives Licensing & Retail Weston Anson and Jemma Samala, from CONSOR International Asset Management, discuss how the age of the internet is changing the licensing industry and the retail landscape.

78 A Look Inside: Zag Entertainment

44 State of the Industry Q&A We chatted with licensors, consumer products manufacturers, licensing agents, and additional industry experts about the hottest topics currently surrounding the licensing industry.

82 A Look Inside: SmileyWorld 86 Spotlight On… The Jim Henson Company 92 Spotlight On… Little MissMatched

56 Creating Big Properties Without the Big Screen Paul Soloman, Co-CEO of Moose Toys, discusses the strategy behind Shopkins’ success.

96 Hot Shots: Natasha Gross, Sunrights

58 Licensing Expo 2016 As the licensing industry descends on Las Vegas once again, The Licensing Book has your coverage of the latest deals and newest property introductions. Our showcase is divided by Character, Toys, & Entertainment; Corporate Brands; and Art & Publishing sectors.

124 Outside the Box

100 A Look Inside: Sony

126 Licensing 101 127 WIT Spotlight 128 Of Counsel

THE LICENSING BOOK, Summer 2016 — “THE LICENSING BOOK” (ISSN-0741-0107) is published quarterly by Adventure Publishing Group, Inc.®, 307 Seventh Ave., Room 1601, New York, New York, 10001. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY 10001 and additional mailing offices. © 2016 Adventure Publishing Group, Inc ®. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in U.S.A. Subscription rates: $48 per year. THE LICENSING BOOK, THE LICENSING BOOK INTERNATIONAL, WORLDWIDE LICENSING and the “WLE” design, are trademarks and service marks of Adventure Publishing Group, Inc.® registered in the United States Patent & Trademark Office Postmaster: Send address changes to THE LICENSING BOOK, c/o Adventure Publishing Group, 307 Seventh Ave., Room 1601, New York, New York, 10001.

JACKIE’S POINT DO YOU EVER YEARN FOR “THE GOOD old days,” when licensing was more straightforward? A popular kids’ TV show would sign licensees for toys, apparel, etc. Maybe a really popular property would develop a live show or an event. Product would be picked up at brick-and-mortar retailers and marketed via TV commercials on the few cable channels targeting kids on Saturday mornings.

I’m willing to bet you don’t. Sure, property development is more challenging now— everything is more challenging in the world of 360-degree licensing. But it’s also much more rewarding, and not just financially. Properties are reaching people on so many levels, and at every touch point as they go through a typical day.

Successful properties are becoming true lifestyle brands. The licensing industry has been using the term “lifestyle brand” for many years, but the term has now taken on a richer meaning. Today, consumers are never more than a click away from their favorite characters and entertainment brands. In the ‘80s, if I left my Jem dolls and cassette tapes at home, my day would most likely be less than “truly outrageous.” On the other hand, if my son leaves the house without his Paw Patrol pups and vehicles, I can pull up the property’s app or an episode on my smartphone and keep him busy and happy wherever we go.

Accessibility is a large piece of the 360-degree licensing puzzle. A successful property is found everywhere a consumer would like it to be: online, streaming video on demand, social media, YouTube, etc. A property or brand can infiltrate everyday life in infinite ways. From the clothes we wear and the food we eat, to live entertainment experiences and the hashtags and emojis we use to communicate with our friends, top properties are part of it all.

Not only are successful properties available at every touch point for U.S. consumers, but many licensors are also opting for global property launches, rolling out licensed product around the world simultaneously for maximum impact. And while this type of launch garners more attention from the media and

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Adventure Publishing Group Inc.® Vol. 33, No. 2, Summer 2016

consumers, it also streamlines the process for manufacturers, who can save time and money by designing and developing products and packaging all at once.

Social media is a relatively new aspect of branding that can’t be left out. Have you ever gone to tweet about your favorite show or character—or at your favorite company—and found that there was no official handle or hashtag? Talk about disappointment. Most companies know that consumers will create hashtags and social media buzz around a property that excites them. Smarter companies get out in front of new releases, product launches, related trending topics, and start the buzz themselves. Fan engagement is no longer optional; it’s expected. And social media is free. If you’re not utilizing it to share information with fans, shame on you. That’s a major loss that’s completely avoidable.

Another major piece of the 360-licensing puzzle is, of course, retail. As shelf-space shrinks and competition grows, retail strategy becomes more complex. Whether the strategy is to roll out at specialty and then expand to big-box stores, or one big, global mass-market launch, a well-thought-out strategy that makes sense for the individual property is important. Of course, this must encompass online and mobile sales options as well.

Direct-to-retail programs are becoming more commonplace. Major retailers expect to have access to exclusive products and packaging, as well as a customized marketing program, which helps drive fans into stores and move more product—which, after all, is still the endgame, isn’t it?

Be sure to check out our State of the Licensing Industry Q&A (p. 44) for more points of view from around the industry.

••••

Jackie Breyer is editor-in-chief and co-publisher of The Licensing Book, and editorial director at Adventure Publishing. She has been reporting on the toy and licensing industries for 14 years. Contact her at jbreyer@adventurepub.com.

Laurie Schacht President laurieschacht@aol.com Jonathan Samet Co-Publisher jsamet@adventurepub.com Jackie Breyer Co-Publisher/Editor-in-Chief jbreyer@adventurepub.com Marissa DiBartolo Senior Editor mdibartolo@adventurepub.com Ali Mierzejewski Senior Editor amierzejewski@adventurepub.com Stephanie Grassullo Assistant Editor sgrassullo@adventurepub.com Maddie Michalik Assistant Editor mmichalik@adventurepub.com Varuni Sinha Assistant Editor vsinha@adventurepub.com Joe Ibraham Assistant Visual Media Editor jibraham@adventurepub.com Melanie Rainone Editorial Assistant mrainone@adventurepub.com Bill Reese Production Director breese@adventurepub.com Lori Rubin Comptroller lrubin@adventurepub.com Adventure Publishing Group, Inc.® 307 Seventh Ave., Suite 1601 New York, NY 10001 Telephone: (212) 575-4510; Fax: (212) 575-4521

Summer 2016

LICENSING NEWS Rovio Partners with Brunswick Bowling for Angry Birds Brunswick Bowling and Rovio Entertainment partnered to bring Angry Birds to the lanes.

Angry Birds Bowling is the latest addition to Brunswick Bowling’s Sync Scoring and Management System. Based on the classic character animations from the mobile game franchise, Angry Birds Bowling features the same birds and pigs that star in The Angry Birds Movie.

During gameplay, pin action will cause the pigs’ structures to collapse.

Brunswick also will roll out a marketing campaign this month, which will drive traffic to Sync Scoring centers equipped with Angry Birds Bowling. The campaign will include in-theater advertising, as well as several digital and social media elements.

Angry Birds Bowling will debut and be available for demos at the International Bowl Expo, the bowling industry's biggest trade show, in Las Vegas, from June 29 to 30.

Vans, Nintendo Partner for Footwear and Apparel Vans and Nintendo released a collection of footwear, apparel, and accessories to celebrate the early days of video games. Vans presents exclusive graphic prints using 8-bit inspired artwork and characters from Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, Donkey Kong, and The Legend of Zelda, as well as an assortment inspired

by Nintendo’s first console, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The set is available this summer and will be available in adult and children’s sizes.

LICENSING EXPO

SmileyWorld Pop-Up Store Opens in Beijing SmileyWorld signed a new direct-to-retail deal with global retailer C&A and launched a pop-up store in Galeries Lafayette, a mall in Beijing. The store opened with Liberation’s new SmileyWorld eyewear and accessories capsule collection.

Smiley now offers collections featuring men’s, women’s, and kids’ apparel, including denim, T-shirts, sweatpants, shirts, dresses, and footwear.

The SmileyWorld brand continues its expansion into the fast-moving consumer goods market, and will build on Smiley’s “Taste Happiness” concept.

SmileyWorld’s licensing partners showcased their collaborations at PLMA in Amsterdam. Rolland R+R introduces Smiley ice cream with a chocolate core cone with sprinkles of smilies on top.

Witors offers milk chocolate eggs, Seven Days has Tasty Smiley cereal, and Zaini offers sweet treats with Smiley surprises inside.

May 23-25, 2017 Smiley Women’s Box T-shirt

22 • The Licensing Book

Summer 2016

LICENSING NEWS Toy State Partners with Nickodeon for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vehicles Toy State secured a licensing partnership with Nickelodeon to design, develop, and manufacture lines of toy vehicles featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles entertainment brand.

The three-year deal will allow Toy State to create Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-themed lights and sound, preschool, and radio-controlled vehicles. Product will be available at major retailers this year.

Teenage Mutant NinjaTurtles Raphael Car Ooze Booster

Sony, DHX Sign Global Home Entertainment Distribution Deal for Teletubbies Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and DHX Brands, the brand management and consumer products arm of DHX Media, entered a global home entertainment distribution deal for new and classic episodes of Teletubbies.

The new series follows the familiar characters and style of the original series, but has been visually enhanced to deliver a contemporary look and feel. The show features new elements, including touch-screen tummy TVs and a high-tech Tubby Phone, which will bring the Teletubbies into the 21st century. The new edition of Teletubbies premiered on Nick Jr. in the U.S. in May, on DHX’s Family Jr. in Canada in January, and on CBeebies in the UK November.

Rare Appoints Tinderbox as Global Licensing Agency for Sea of Thieves, Heritage Titles Rare appointed Tinderbox, the digital division of global brand extension agency Beanstalk, as the global licensing agent for its new game Sea of Thieves, as well as for titles from the gaming studio’s history.

Rare celebrated more than 30 years of gaming heritage with the launch of Rare Replay last year. The 30 games produced by the company to celebrate its 30th anniversary include Battletoads, Banjo-Kazooie, Conker, Perfect Dark, and Viva Piñata. Tinderbox will work with Rare to extend these key franchises into multiple product categories, including apparel, toys, collectibles, publishing, and gifts.

Sea of Thieves will be available on Xbox One and Windows 10. The game will put players in a fantasty world where they can be whatever pirates they choose, and will bring the Rare aesthetic to a multiplayer pirate adventure. Tinderbox will support the release by establishing a global licensing program across multiple categories, including apparel, accessories, toys, collectibles, publishing, gift, and novelty.

24 • The Licensing Book

DHX, Iconix Grow Strawberry Shortcake Brand DHX Media and Iconix Brand Group entered a long-term agreement to co-develop and co-produce a new animated series based on the entertainment toy brand Strawberry Shortcake. DHX will produce and distribute the content, and Iconix will handle worldwide merchandising and licensing for the brand with DHX’s international licensing agency CPLG, and will hold first right of negotiation to represent the brand in certain territories. Iconix and DHX will both participate on all revenue streams related to this agreement.

In addition to the deal, DHX will become the exclusive, global distributor for the Strawberry Shortcake brand’s back catalogue, adding 108 half-hours to the eight half-hours of Strawberry Shortcake content already in the DHX distribution library.

Under the terms of the deal, DHX and Iconix will jointly finance, co-develop, and co-produce at least 39 new 30-minute episodes of Strawberry Shortcake, with the option for additional episodes. DHX Studios will produce all episodes, and DHX will be the exclusive worldwide distributor of this new content across all media, with the possibility to extend for additional seasons. Iconix will maintain ownership of copyrights and all intellectual property.

Summer 2016

26 • The Licensing Book

Summer 2016

LIMA UPDATE

ARE THERE ANY DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH?

As big companies merge, it's important to remember the little guys.

by MARTIN BROCHSTEIN, senior vice president of industry relations and information, Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA) THE LATE APRIL ANNOUNCEMENT THAT NBCUniversal agreed to buy DreamWorks Animation (DWA) for $3.8 million was seen by most entertainment industry analysts as a stark indicator that, as far as NBCUniversal and parent company Comcast are concerned, the only way to fight the firepower amassed by Disney is to grow their own scale to get on a more even competitive footing.

DWA will become part of NBCUniversal’s Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, under the oversight of Chris Meledandri, head of Universal’s Illumination Entertainment, and the DreamWorks Animation brand will continue as a distinct entity.

DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, who had previous relations with companies such as Softbank and Hasbro to buy or merge with DWA, will become chairman of DreamWorks Animation New Media, which will encompass its stakes in AwesomenessTV and Nova. He’ll also consult with NBCUniversal.

According to a Comcast press release, “the acquisition gives NBCUniversal broader reach to a host of new audiences in the highly competitive kids and family entertainment space, in both TV and film. It includes popular DreamWorks Animation film franchise properties, such as Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Many of the biggest Dragon. It also includes a successes over the past thriving TV operation that is a significant supplier three decades have come of family programming, in at least somewhat with hundreds of hours of original, animated content under the radar. Few distributed across linear would have foreseen the and SVOD platforms in more than 130 countries. extent of the success of Additionally, DreamWorks Angry Birds, Shopkins, Classics, a large library of classic characters, or Minecraft." including Where’s Waldo and Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer, will become part of the NBCUniversal portfolio, along with a successful consumer products business.”

Apparently, it’s Comcast’s reaction to the success and market power that Disney has amassed since it conclud-

"

28 • The Licensing Book

ed its six-year buying binge that brought Pixar (2006), Marvel (2009), and LucasFilm (2012) into the fold. While it’s appropriate to give Disney its due for how it leverages multiple franchises, entertainment competitors also rue the amount of shelf space, consumer and retail mind space, and sheer business Disney occupies.

But let’s remember that—in one form or another— this is a world of consolidation throughout the business landscape. It’s not just about entertainment. The world of brick-and-mortar retail has been roiled by a combination of years of overstoring, the difficulties of adapting to a rapidly changing digital marketing landscape, and the effect of e-commerce. Recent weeks have seen the disappearance of once-stalwart Sports Authority, and Aeropostale became the latest of the struggling teen retailers to file for bankruptcy protection. Last decade, Macy’s consolidated much of its U.S. regional department store business into a single national entity.

When the big are left to do business with the big, it’s almost inevitable that conservatism will reign. Franchises abound, and safe choices become the rule. Retail buyers have little incentive to go out on a limb to support an unusual opportunity.

But often, those unique opportunities are where tomorrow’s hits are to be found. Many of the biggest successes over the past three decades have come in at least somewhat under the radar. Few would have foreseen that extent of the successes of Angry Birds, Shopkins, or Minecraft. And, even Disney was stunned by how Frozen took over the children’s market, and spent the following year playing catch-up. So while you’re in Las Vegas at Licensing Expo 2016, spend at least some time off the beaten path because you never know where a diamond in the rough may await you.

••••

Marty Brochstein joined Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association (LIMA) in 2008.

Brochstein was a business journalist for more than 20 years, covering consumer products and retail industries. He spent five years as a senior editor of Television Digest and was the founding editor of Consumer Multimedia Report. He was also editor of Consumer Electronics Monthly and Electronics Merchandising, and spent time with Discount Store News, Chain Store Age, and Home Furnishings Daily.

Summer 2016

LIMA UK

THE STATE OF THE UK LICENSING BUSINESS

Will the UK Stay in the EU?

by KELVYN GARDNER, managing director, Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA) UK WHAT’S THE STATE OF THE UK LICENSING business this summer? The referendum is on the top of everybody’s overall business agenda, which will decide whether or not the UK stays in the European Union (EU). Our American colleagues—and the U.S. public as a whole—are aware of this momentous event. And, if they were not aware of it before, they certainly became aware of it after President Obama’s visit to these shores this year. He had a lot to say on the topic, mostly exhorting UK citizens to vote to stay in the EU. Make no mistake, the outcome will be profound.

The date for the poll could not be more dramatic for licensing individuals. It takes place on June 23, which is also the last day of this year’s Licensing Expo. Every UK licensing executive who will be in Las Vegas will have to set up a postal or proxy vote before they board their flights to McCarran International Airport. Whichever way you look at it, the EU referendum is a big deal.

Surprisingly, I have not heard a lot of opinion within the industry to date, but I made it a centerpiece for discussion at the panel debate that we hold at the London LIMA Spring Fling networking event in May. Simply remember this: Every licensing contract for rights in the UK—or any other EU member state—contains provisions wherein the license territory and distribution permission has geographic restrictions, but allows the fulfilment of “unsolicited orders” from other EU countries. There are variations on this theme but, essentially, territorial restrictions have to bow down before EU law.

The free movement of people, goods, and services within the entire EU is one of the fundamental principles of the European Union, and there are severe penalties for any group that interferes with this. A corporation can face fines up to 10 percent of their entire worldwide turnover if it is in breach of this principle. What would that mean to some of the bigger licensees and licensors? Tens of millions of dollars.

The EU competition authorities have enormous powers to investigate and punish companies. Essentially, they act as judge and jury. If the UK votes to leave the EU, then all of these contracts may have to be re-written. I say “may” because the economic debate about the EU centers around whether or not this country will be able to quickly negotiate new trade deals with other nations—including the U.S.—but, most

30 • The Licensing Book

urgently, with the EU itself, if it is no longer in it. The “remain” camp takes a pessimistic view of our chances to get a good deal with the EU. President Obama warned that, as good as a friend as the U.S. is to the UK, a Great Britain trade deal would only top the agenda once the larger Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations with the EU trading block conclude.

This is all part of the electioneering process, and after the results of June 23, political careers may be on the line. For now, we will either see licensing business as usual, or more years of uncertainty. We must carry on and do business with current successes, which include the expected—Star Wars, Frozen, and Minions—the unforeseen—Paw Patrol or the revived Teletubbies—and the complete surprises, with Shopkins heading that list.

Licensing Expo 2016 will be an exciting and apprehensive one for us Brits, that’s for sure.

••••

Kelvyn Gardner has been in the international licensing business for almost 30 years. Since 2006, he has served as the managing director of the UK division of LIMA. Gardner contributes to the judging of the UK Licensing Awards and is a trustee of the industry’s charitable company, The Light Fund.

Summer 2016

INSIDE RETAIL

DIFFERENT, NOT DEAD:

THE STORE IS (ONCE AGAIN) THE CORE

by CAROL SPIECKERMAN, president, Spieckerman Retail AS THE PACE OF RETAIL CHANGE ACCELERATES, retail pundits have made a sport out of predicting the demise of various business models, categories, and mediums. Their assumption is that, in order for new innovations to take hold, the old version must become extinct. Black-and-white thinking is easy to rationalize, as rampant opportunism becomes the rule rather than the exception, particularly in the digital sphere. Forecasts of others’ obsolescence invariably follow Amazon’s innovation announcements, particularly as its many tentacles probe unexpected new waters, including everything from proprietary programming and virtual personal assistants to delivery fleets. Amazon’s ever-expanding digital reach and upticks in mobile-driven commerce seem to validate the prediction that physical stores will become a thing of the past, but the reverse is actually true. Retailers are awakening to the unparalleled role that stores play as showcases for innovation and bridges to their endless digital aisles.

Retail’s Digital Rethink Various click-and-collect options that allow consumers to purchase items online and pick them up in a local store previously set the stage for clicks-to-bricks synergies. Now, a growing number of retailers including Sears, Walmart, CVS, Target, and Nordstrom are either testing or rolling out curbside pick-up in order to amp up their store-based convenience propositions. Currently, 70 percent of Sears’ online sales are facilitated through its stores, either through curbside or in-store pickup or store-to-store inventory transfers.

Location, Location, Location Retailers old and new realize that stores are still the best showcase for some categories, concepts, and solutions, particularly as connectivity and movements, like the Internet of Things (IoT), gain traction. The third coming of Circuit City, slated for this year, promises to breathe new life into an old banner through small format stores that will feature mobile devices, gaming gear, drones, and other millennial-friendly gadgets.

Similarly, in an attempt to appeal to millennials, Lowes has partnered with Microsoft to bring its HoloLens augmented reality visors into stores. These holographic headpieces promise to bring remodeling projects and other possibilities to life without hammering a single nail, an interactive outcome that would be difficult to replicate online.

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Bricks Have New Tricks The next wave of in-store innovation will rely heavily on often-expensive hardware such as headsets, mobile devices, and wearables, whether donned by shoppers or wielded by store associates. As such, selective deployments and slow rollouts will initially be the standard. True Religion is currently reserving its Apple Watch-enabled personalization program for two flagship locations, with plans to expand it to between 20 and 30 more stores this year (out of more than 900 total global locations). Despite the costs, the ability for store associates to see customers’ past purchase histories and to be notified when loyalty members enter the store may eventually justify the outlays.

Engagement on the Go iBeacon technology and other proximity marketing tools are ushering in a new era during which mediums of transmitting customized content won’t be in short supply. However, the challenge lies in ensuring that content delivered to shoppers is perceived as relevant and helpful. Barneys is leveraging its iBeacon platform to entertain and engage shoppers with videos, digital look books, and designer interviews. Retailers will have to resist the temptation to inundate shoppers with pitches and promotions in light of proliferating delivery options, but the trust engendered with shoppers will boost brand awareness and relevance in the end.

Retailers are reinvesting in their stores and seeing new possibilities as never before, yet no two will take the same approach to driving in-store innovation and bricks-to-clicks synergy. Smart brand marketers will engage retailers on their unique visions and sign up to support the coming wave of store-based innovation initiatives. The reward will be unprecedented clicks-tobricks scale.

••••

Carol Spieckerman, president of Spieckerman Retail, is an internationally recognized authority on retail, brand marketing, and B2B strategy. She helps leading global brand marketers, solution providers, and agencies successfully navigate retail “from now to next” as the pace of retail change accelerates. The scalable tools and tactics Spieckerman shares in her trainings and presentations future-proof corporate positioning and accelerate high-volume retail business development. You can find Spieckerman’s latest retail insights on her website: spieckermanretail.com and on Twitter @retailxpert.

Summer 2016

TIA PERSPECTIVES

Comic Book Properties Inspire Raft of New Licensed Toys

by JUSTIN SMULISON, content developer/communications specialist, Toy Industry Association WHEN TOM VARGAS, FACTORY ENTERTAINMENT’S director of e-commerce and online marketing, sees all the comic book properties scheduled to appear in theaters over the next five years, he gets excited both as a fan and as a toy professional.

“We’re witnessing history,” says Vargas, whose company is a collectibles and replicas manufacturer and distributor. “Marvel is an established and well-oiled machine. DC has a lot of passion behind it. If they both do well, everybody wins.”

DC Comics and Marvel announced a combined 22 releases based on their characters and franchises to appear in theaters through 2020 (as of early May 2016).

This friendly duel between the DC Comics Entertainment Universe (DCEU) and Marvel Comics Universe (MCU) is inspiring toy manufacturers to begin creating new comic character-themed games and collectibles based on the new films for at least the next five years.

“Licensing continues to be a driving force for toy sales,” says Adrienne Appell, toy trend specialist, Toy Industry Association (TIA). “The better the content, the more successful toymakers will be in bringing the rich stories to life, and inspiring a whole new generation of comic and toy fans.”

ESTABLISHING THE TIMELINE AND STRATEGY Passionate fandom undoubtedly contributes to licensing’s overall popularity in the toy industry. Licensed products comprise 32 percent of U.S. toy sales. Furthermore, The NPD Group reported that action figures and dolls experienced the highest dollar growth in the first quarter of this year. This upward trend follows an 8.7 percent growth for those categories last year.

“Having an established continuity between multiple films is something that action figure lines thrive on,” says Silas Lesnick, managing editor of ComingSoon.net and SuperheroHype.com, websites that track the development of comic book adaptations. “Not only does it become fun to collect the characters, but also to collect specific instances of the characters.”

Hasbro’s Marvel figure line exemplifies that strategy, as it caters to fans of all ages and evolves along with each MCU installment. Its 12-inch Titan Hero figures offer younger fans various role-play opportunities, and Hasbro confirmed that it will expand its Marvel Legends line from 6 inches into the premium 12-inch collector

34 • The Licensing Book

size in the fall.

With comic book content and toys on the rise, retailers are responding by marketing to action figure audiences of all ages.

“We look for product that appeals to the adult collector who is a fan of the comic books, as well as more traditional action figure and role-play toys that can help kids and families engage in imaginative play with characters,” says Nicole Hayes, Toys “R” Us Inc.’s public relations manager.

Target is also in comic book mode, featuring exclusives to attract consumers. The new DC Super Hero Girls line exclusively launched there in March, as well as two different Target exclusive Captain America: Civil War action figure five-packs in May. The hope is that the excitement will sustain through the fourth quarter, when the retailer experiences about 50 percent of its toy sales.

“With incredible content coming out of Hollywood, we know licensed merchandise will continue to be a key driver of toys,” says Lee Henderson, public relations manager at Target.

TECH-TASTIC TOYS FOR FANS The technological advances conceived in both publishers’ comics are featured in the films, and are finally translating more seamlessly into toys, making playtime far more interactive.

For example, masks are more than just plastic headgear, and feature more film-emulating capabilities. Both Mattel and Hasbro offer voice-enhanced masks with speaking cues and light-up eyes—Mattel’s Voice-Changer Helmet, based on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Hasbro’s Iron Man Tech FX Mask.

Remote-controlled (R/C) vehicles based on the films boast authenticity and creativity. For example, Spin Master now offers an official R/C replica of the new Batmobile under its Air Hogs brand. The company’s toy design team was invited to Detroit during the filming of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice to study the iconic vehicle’s updated design, which is sleeker than it was in the Dark Knight films.

“The best aspect of a great R/C toy made from a film is that it’s aspirational for the user,” says Daryl Tearne, Air Hogs in-house staff designer. “The child needs to feel like he or she is driving the real Batmobile or needs to feel like they are the character during play. With that

Summer 2016

DC Super Hero Girls Action Dolls, from Mattel

said, all of the details, paint finishes, and truly authentic moving features need to be spot-on.”

Jakks Pacific took a more symbolic approach with its XPV Marvel Avengers RC Rollover Rumbler, inspired by Captain America: Civil War. The vehicle doesn’t appear in the film, but John Blaney, executive vice president of marketing at Jakks, says its theme parallels the movie.

“Because it’s capable of flipping over and being driven on both sides,” he notes, “users can choose which superhero's side—Iron Man’s or Captain America’s—they want to drive on.”

Even 3-D sculpting technology, which has gained prominence in the past five years and makes the figures and busts even more accurate, “is merely the beginning of more interactive experiences,” notes TIA’s Appell.

Spin Master’s Air Hogs global business unit lead, Conor Forkin, says that Air Hogs Connect’s augmented reality R/C technology, which will be released in the fall and enable video game play by piloting drones, may eventually incorporate licensed content. “[This] will bring the adventure into your living room in a way older fans could only imagine when we were growing up,” he says.

MAINTAINING ENTHUSIASM, STUDIO COLLABORATIONS, AND AUTHENTICITY No matter how many timelines comic films can alter, our reality is linear, which is a challenge toy companies face. Anyone who first saw Iron Man in theaters as a 10-year-old kid is now roughly the age of a high school graduate. Companies must sustain enthusiasm and sales as the fans become teenagers, a time when interest in toys can wane.

It’s at that point where adults come into play, either as collectors who will spend top-dollar on a specially crafted item, or as parents of fans. Forkin says older fans are more likely to pre-order Air Hogs products before a movie hits theaters, saying “these are the people who have loved the characters and storyline for many years.”

A film like Suicide Squad may be a great indicator for young adults’ and collectors’ interest in future waves of collectibles, says Factory Entertainment’s Vargas. The edgy August release stars Will Smith and follows the

Summer 2016

events in Dawn of Justice and focuses on an assembly of villains—many of who are from Batman’s rogues gallery—on a dangerous black ops missions in exchange for clemency. Most of the baddies will make their cinematic debut, including the Joker’s main squeeze and longtime cartoon favorite, Harley Quinn.

Armed with that knowledge and the need for accuracy, Vargas notes that Warner Bros. was very forthcoming and helpful when Factory Entertainment’s new replicas were being conceived.

“I went to the Warner Archives to document the look and feel of the Suicide Squad props,” he says. “Harley Quinn’s bat and mallet, for example, had a vast amount of writing on them, and we made it a point to incorporate that authenticity when entering production because we know collectors look for it.”

ALWAYS ROOM FOR MORE With the steady stream of content and inspiration for toys coming from comic book properties in film, TV, video games, and the books themselves, the possibilities for toy lines and their capabilities seem limitless.

Industry veterans such as Jason Labowitz, president and co-founder of California-based online retail outlet Entertainment Earth and toy company Bif Bang Pow!, couldn’t be happier with the promise of more movies and new storylines.

“We absolutely benefit from all the films being produced. When Bif Bang Pow! first started manufacturing, toy and pop culture collectibles weren’t as much of a part of the mainstream. That’s changing,” he observes.

“These movies—no matter the universe—definitely play a role in this evolution. So, in our opinion, the more the merrier!”

•••• Justin Smulison is the newest member of TIA’s Marketing Communications team, after years as a journalist and custom content producer in legal publishing. A proud husband and father, he is thrilled to report on toys and characters that he and his 2-year-old daughter play with together, and to be involved in an industry that positively impacts her and future generations.

The Licensing Book • 35

Rethink, Refresh

NONPROFIT LICENSING

by LAURA FERRY, founder and president, Good Company IT’S AN EXCITING TIME FOR BRANDS AND retailers embracing social responsibility. Products that engage consumers in a shared mission to solve social problems are emerging at retail every day. This fundamental shift toward cause brands and brand citizenship opens new opportunities for the licensing community to work with nonprofits as charity partners that can bring social value to licensing and retail strategies.

This rising trend is in response to the demands of today’s socially conscious consumer, who expects businesses to take the lead in addressing social issues because they no longer believe in the government’s ability to do so.1 In fact, millennial market research shows: • 71 percent are more loyal to brands and companies they believe are doing good2.

• 87 percent bought a product associated with a cause over the last 12 months.

• 91 percent are likely to switch brands to one associated with a cause, given comparable price and quality, jumping nearly 35 percent since 1993.

• 70 percent are willing to pay more for a product that supports a cause.

• 91 percent want even more of the products and services they use to support causes.

• 88 percent want to hear how companies are supporting social and environmental issues3.

Walk into a retail store and you’ll notice that “give back” programs are everywhere. They’re at the register, pinned on walls, and tied to purchases. They’ve generated some of the best brand storytelling we’ve ever seen, and they’ve raised millions of dollars for many causes across the board. Toys “R” Us is asking families to Play with Purpose to support Save the Children, and GameStop raised $2.8 million for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital with a retail checkout program during the 2015 holiday retail season. Dick’s Sporting Goods joined with Donorschoose.org on Sports Matter, a powerful crowd-fundraising partnership to help local youth athletic teams raise funds in the face of school athletics program cuts. The partnership includes a comprehensive matching program from Dick’s Sporting Goods, for a total investment of more than $3 million in national school sports initiatives.3 These are just a few programs that are raising millions of dollars for charities while building strong, lasting ties with customers.

What does this burgeoning trend mean for those of us in the licensing community? For one, it means seeing

36 • The Licensing Book

your licensing retail strategy all the way through to the customer at the store register. It also means it’s time to reconsider working with nonprofits, cause partnerships, and promotions. It’s time to get creative with on-package messaging, and point-of-sale communication, and think about collaborations that give back as a strategy for selling more product and building long-term relationships and brand affinity with consumers.

Established nonprofit licensing programs such as National Geographic Kids, Smithsonian, Susan Komen, and Boy Scouts of America have done a great job making an impact, but today’s licensing partnerships can look quite different, giving nonprofits without significant national or global brand equity the opportunity to thrive. Partnerships that are with or between designers (Tommy Hilfiger/ Runway of Dreams), newly created brands that support cause brands (Yoobi/Kids in Need Foundation at Target), licensed promotions (Williams Sonoma/No Kid Hungry/ American Girl), and product category extensions for buyone-give-one social enterprises (Toms, Warby Parker) are examples of this. Co-branded products and retail employee engagement (Gymboree/KaBOOM!) are additional opportunities to align with charity brands, while also activating the nonprofit’s mission in a local community with retail staff. Tagging a product with a cause-supporting message that says the purchase contributes to a cause is appealing to shoppers. It also shows that your product is a good brand citizen—doing its part for the greater good—and pushes consumers to contribute through their purchase.

With such a wide array of opportunities to align and license cause-brands, it’s time to view nonprofits as your partners in product sales, whether they have significant brand equity or not. It’s the social problem you’ll be solving that matters to the consumer. So why not embrace this trend as a new opportunity for fueling a new kind of success in the licensing community?

•••• 1 2 3

The Future of Business Citizenship, MSL-GROUP Insights on Millennials, 2015 2015 Cone Communicationa Millennial CSR Study Joe Waters, Selfish Giving, Ten Best Cause Marketing Promotions of 2015

Laura Ferry is the founder of Good Company, a brand citizenship consultancy recognized for establishing socially responsible joint ventures for national brands, media, and nonprofits. She is known for her achievements in the nonprofit brand licensing, entertainment, toy, education, environment, health, and financial literacy sectors. Good Company is a member of The Purpose Collaborative, an expert collective in the cause marketing space. Contact her at laura@goodcompanystrategies.com.

Summer 2016

TALKING SOCIAL MEDIA

SNAP & SHARE Tips to Create a Meaningful Instagram Presence

by MADDIE MICHALIK, assistant editor A PICTURE USED TO BE WORTH A THOUSAND POST VISUAL CONTENT words, but now, it’s worth thousands of followers and Although this seems self explanatory, make sure to even more likes. post eye-catching content. In an ideal world, every user Gone are the days when social media was just a would see every post, but users miss about 70 percent weird experiment. Now, we’re more familiar with it, of content on their timelines, according to Instagram. we’re learning the benefits, and we’re all expected to be Think: What would make you stop while quickly scrolling better at it. Instagram, the Facebook-owned platform through your feed? You don’t have to be a professional with photos as the focus of sharing, is more relevant photographer to have an amazing Instagram page, but than ever before. Today, Instagram has more than make sure to put some care into the photos that you 400 million users worldwide, even beating out Twitter, post. Be thoughtful about what you’re taking photos of. which has 310 million monthly active users. To put that The Instagram app has its own suite of editing features into perspective, that’s more users than if every single and filters, but there are plenty of other third-party apps individual in the U.S. had an account, and then tens of that you can also use, such as Afterlight or VSCO Cam. millions more.

Don’t feel as though you have to limit yourself to just There have been many changes to Instagram since photos—post graphics and videos, too! Videos on Instaits inception six years ago, gram must be at least three including a brand new icon “In an ideal world, every seconds long, must not and look within the app, a user would see every post, exceed 60 seconds, and will move away from posting only repeat on a loop on users’ square photos, a multi-account but users miss about 70 timelines. Use other apps to feature, and the launch of percent of content on their help you create engaging companion apps. Another one videos. Instagram’s Boomerof the most recent changes is timelines, according to ang app will take photos a post view count for videos and stitch them together Instagram. Think: What and the ability to post up in a mini video that will, as to a full minute of video, as would make you stop while the name suggests, play opposed to only 15 seconds. forward and backward. quickly scrolling through Ten percent of users have also While Instagram doesn’t seen a shift in their timelines your feed?” support a repost feature, from a reverse chronological such as retweeting on order to one based on relationships and engagement, Twitter, there are plenty of third-party apps that will let and more users will see this shift in the coming months. you repost content with a watermark, such as Repost for To make the most of everything Instagram has to Instagram. Not only does this let you share additional offer, follow these tips to create an account everyone will content, but it will also keep your followers engaged. double-tap for.

KNOW YOUR BRAND IDENTITY

Like any form of social media, the most effective place to start is with your biography. Make sure your profile photo is something that is recognizable to consumers, such as a logo or a product shot. You only have 150 characters for your bio, so use a sentence or two that best describes what your brand is all about. Don’t be afraid to use emojis, and definitely include a hashtag to give users a way to further explore your brand. Be sure to include a URL to your brand’s website, which is not part of the character limit.

38 • The Licensing Book

USE YOUR #HASHTAGS WISELY

Make sure to make the most of your captions. Although there is no character limit on captions, Instagram recently rolled out a “read more” feature that will cut your caption off after 250 characters (and then users can tap to read the rest). Although you are essentially limitless, try your best to constrain your captions to these 250 characters—nobody wants to read paragraphs.

The most important part about your captions are the hashtags. Make sure to tag relevant topics on every single post, and even tag emojis! You can post up to 30

Summer 2016

hashtags in a single post before it is considered spam, but don’t go over 5 to 7 to harness your focus.

You should always try to direct users to links to a landing page, products, or another specific part of your website. However, the only place you can use a hyperlink is in the website section of your bio. So, do not post links in your captions, but definitely direct users to the link in your bio.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

If you notice a shift in your audience, then embrace it and change your style. For example, if you’re just starting out on social media as a toy brand, you would naturally think that parents are your target audience— gift-givers are the ones who are going to do the buying after all, aren’t they? However, if you see that over time mostly kids are engaging with your content, then modify it. This will get you more followers. Kids will relate more to a post about the struggles of getting up for school than a post about desperately needing coffee before starting a workday.

ENGAGE WITH FOLLOWERS

Your followers want to see that you are engaging with them. Users love when brands comment or like their

Summer 2016

photos. For example, if you’re a toy company and someone asks for a photo of a specific product—go for it!

Give sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes looks at things coming up to excite followers. Also, host giveaways to get your followers involved, and gain new followers.

In addition, spend time going through hashtags that are in your posts. Giving other users’ posts a simple like will get people excited and looking through your profile—and those people will engage and probably follow you back. Use a web browser to easily sift through content, including hashtags for your brand and liking photos. Use direct messaging for giveaways.

Lastly, make sure to connect all of your social media channels together. When you’re about to post a photo, there is an option to share to other platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and more.

Keep your feed full of fun, sharable content, and your followers will begin to soar!

••••

Maddie Michalik is an assistant editor at Adventure Publishing Group, where she contributes to The Toy Book and The Licensing Book. She also reports on trends and news and assists with digital and social content for The Toy Insider. Find her on Twitter and Instagram @maddiemichalik!

The Licensing Book • 39

TALKING SOCIAL MEDIA

HOW TO CREATE AN EFFECTIVE

influencer campaign

by DEBBIE BOOKSTABER, president, ElementAssociates.com WHILE EFFECTIVE INFLUENCER MARKETING increases brand awareness and drives sales, the wrong strategy can be costly. So how can you create and measure an effective influencer campaign? Here’s a roadmap for working with influencers effectively: SET CLEAR GOALS Before you approach influencers or sign a contract with a PR agency or influencer marketing network, clearly define the campaign goals. Are you focused on brand awareness, or is your CEO expecting influencer outreach to drive short-term online sales or something else? An influencer strategy will align with these goals.

MEASURE YOUR RESULTS What key performance indicators (KPIs) will be used to evaluate and optimize your influencer campaign?

Determine which systems and tools you need. If you have any unique technical or reporting requirements for influencers, clearly communicate these expectations. For example, if you need influencers to use unique tracking links, let them know before you sign a contract.

IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET CUSTOMER Influencer marketing taps into the established trust between influencers and their audiences. Share as much information as possible on the demographic information and behavior of your customers. In our experience, niche influencers with a social media following between 5,000 and 20,000 have a closer relationship with their audience and drive more sales than larger influencers with a following of 50,000 to 100,000. Use tools such as Hashtracking to identify top influencers for your hashtag or hashtags that your target customer uses.

BEWARE OF FALSE INFLUENCERS Tools such as GroupHigh enable users to research influencers by topic and to sort based on the size of their social media following or blog traffic. However, unscrupulous influencers have been known to purchase “fake followers” in order to receive free product or more lucrative paid endorsements. Smaller influencers with a genuine following drive more engagement than larger influencers who may have a high percentage of fake followers. Evaluate influencers by using tools such as Twitter Audit, by examining the percentage of Instagram likes/comments to followers, or by asking them about engagement rates on previous campaigns.

40 • The Licensing Book

BUDGET STRATEGICALLY While it is still possible to obtain earned media coverage from influencers, many of them work on an advertorial or sponsored post model. Since influencers set their own rates in the absence of clear industry standards based on cost per thousand impressions (CPM) or engagement metrics, costs for working with influencers vary widely. It’s important to find influencers who are the “right fit” for your brand as well as your budget. Before allocating money to influencer marketing, evaluate your overall marketing budget. What are your costs and expected results for other marketing channels? Use this as a starting point when evaluating.

OPTIMIZE YOUR CAMPAIGN Allocate a percentage of spend to influencer marketing and experiment to find the optimal mix for your brand. Some clients have reduced their radio, TV, and print budgets in favor of influencer outreach. Others have discovered that they can drive sales more efficiently via Google AdWords, Facebook or Instagram ads, YouTube advertising, or affiliate marketing, but they also use influencers to obtain online product reviews, which play a key role in the customer sales funnel.

DEFINE AN IDEAL INFLUENCER PERSONA Use tools such as Google Analytics to measure referrals from blogs. Track redemption rates on unique coupon codes shared or use a social media analytics tool such as Hashtracking to rank influencers participating in your campaign. What traits do your most effective influencers share? Use this information to develop an ideal “influencer persona,” then seek other influencers who fit the criteria.

RELATIONSHIPS MATTER Seek to build long-term relationships with your most effective influencers. Personal touches, such as birthday and holiday cards accompanied by product samples, build loyalty and transform these influencers into ongoing brand advocates.

••••

Debbie Bookstaber is the president of Element Associates, a digital marketing firm that is based in Philadelphia.

Summer 2016

BLOGGER BASH

BLOGGER BASH 16

MAKING WAVES IN NYC THE THIRD ANNUAL BLOGGER BASH TWO-DAY conference will take place on July 13 and 14 aboard the Majesty Yacht, docked at Pier 81 in New York City. Revolutionizing the way brands and bloggers connect, the event will welcome more than 400 bloggers, 150 members of traditional media, and more than 100 brands to meet and mingle in an exciting party atmosphere. From kids’ entertainment to music, high-end fashion, and the best in baby care, Blogger Bash has something for everyone.

Last year, the event made a huge splash on social media, with more than 325 million Twitter impressions.

This year, brands such as Mattel, Warner Bros., Sony, eOne, Roku, Orek, HoMedics, Zazzle, Armitron, Skylanders, Spin Master, Nickelodeon, and Care Bears will bring their latest and greatest products to show off to the most influential consumers in the digital arena. These brands will be able to connect with seasoned bloggers with an average of more than 195,000 UMV's and an average Twitter following of 12,700.

Parent bloggers and family vloggers are some of the most influential voices when it comes to promoting brands and new products across all industries, and Blogger Bash is the perfect way to connect with these people. Whether you want to host a party that is all about you, or if you want to

Summer 2016

be part of a larger themed party, such as The Toy Insider’s Sweet Suite toy event, there’s something to fit every brand and every budget.

Blogger Bash will take to the high seas this year, providing attendees with an unrivaled and unforgettable experience. This event will give you the perfect opportunity to grow your blogger network, meet popular YouTubers, receive invaluable feedback on new product introductions, and find new brand ambassadors.

And—these bloggers know their stuff. In the age of the internet, social media matters, and these bloggers have a lot of influence across YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more.

If you are interested in getting involved with Blogger Bash this summer, please contact Laurie Schacht at thetoyinsidermom@ gmail.com or (212) 575-4510, or visit bloggerbash.com. ••••

The Licensing Book • 41

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

TECHNOLOGY:

DRIVING LICENSING & RETAIL IN 2016

by WESTON ANSON and JEMMA SAMALA, CONSOR International Asset Management IF YOU COULD LOOK INTO A CRYSTAL BALL AND see into the future, you’d be a very rich man or woman.

Why? The LIMA Annual Global Licensing Study announced last year that global retail sales of branded licensed goods reached more than $240 billion. However, Amazon’s net revenue in 2015 was more than $107 billion.

This is almost $100 billion more than it was just 10 years earlier in 2005, when it was only $8 billion.

Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer, with internet technology driving its success. Predicting the future of licensing and retailing is a skill we all have to master in a rapidly changing world that is increasingly driven by technology.

What’s exciting (or scary, depending on if you subscribe to the half-empty philosophy) in the licensing and branding industry is that the definition of intellectual property is evolving even as we write. Technology is increasingly behind new intellectual property assets, whether it’s licensing out a software-based website patent, brand trademarks for mobile apps, or celebrity holographic images for virtual use in concerts. Technology has become the driver behind licensing and intellectual property strategy.

Take a look at our economy. Manufacturing companies continue to shut down as we evolve from producing physical, tangible products into an economy that predominantly centers on the creation and management of information.

Traditional retailers are in the same boat. Technology has torn the fabric of their world. In fact, the word “retailing” is no longer sufficient. Instead, we must talk in terms of product delivery systems, most of which are driven by new technologies. It is no longer enough to have a storefront at the local mall. Now, retailers must have an online presence, develop private brands, and create a social media following. Whether it’s Macy’s, Amazon, Walmart, or Best Buy, major retailers are adjusting their product delivery systems to provide a more direct-to-consumer experience. Everyone must adjust their delivery systems and expand from traditional retailing initiatives. For example: • Parallel product lines: one for brick-and-mortar stores and one for online

42 • The Licensing Book

• Instant delivery systems, such as Amazon Prime • “Pick and Drop Ship” retail experiences, such as what UNTUCKit provides its customers • Direct-to-consumer shipping from manufacturers • Parallel retail brands, such as Macy’s and Macy’s Backstage • Pop-up retail locations • Targeted social media advertising, such as Pinterest’s personalized emails.

All of these practices are new, emerging over the last 10 years, and driven by technology.

How many smart devices do you have? A smartphone—that’s a given. Is there a laptop in your briefcase? You may possibly have an e-reader, too. What about your watch? Does it monitor the number of steps you take, track your heart rate, and share your jogging route on your Facebook profile? The accumulation and use of information is everywhere at every moment.

Our colleague Jeffrey Whittle, chairman of Licensing Executive Society (U.S. and Canada), wrote an article in les Nouvelles, titled “Licensing the Future: Innovating the Unknown,” which sums up why licensing today is like entering a new dimension. “Commercialization of technology should continue to grow, expand, and be a key economic driver for all societies across the globe in the future,” writes Whittle. “When it comes to licensing and intellectual property, look at the changes we have seen in the last five to 10 years alone.”

This combination of technology and product delivery innovation results in changes to the definition of branded intellectual properties, and technology continues to revolutionize the retail landscape. Licensing professionals need to be adventurous and explore the unknown.

PLANNING THE FUTURE: HAVE AN IP STRATEGY While it can be fun and exciting to brainstorm all sorts of futuristic innovative products, you still need a plan, and what’s missing from many corporate strategies is the inclusion of specific intellectual property strategies. When developing your strategic moves with intellectual property (IP), there are a few key points to consider: • Licensing intellectual property: Use your IP to grow

Summer 2016

Monthly Active Users by Platform

Who Uses Social Networking Sites?**

As of the First Quarter, 2016*

74 percent of all internet users use social networking sites.

1.65billion active users

100

Percent of Users

310

million active users

80 60 40 20 0

*Stats from Statista, the Statistics Portal

your business or expand your margins.

• Acquiring intellectual property: It doesn’t have to be your own, you can purchase IP or license it.

• Customer contribution: Your products will gain more attention if you engage your customer, such as through social media platforms. It’s important to make them feel like they “own” the product.

• Full exclusion: Exercise your IP rights to the fullest extent by excluding everyone—except your licensees—from using your IP. • Multiple product delivery systems: Offer your product to the entire market, with the concept that more licensed and direct-to-consumer goods will be sold when you use as many delivery channels and platforms as possible. Plus, your IP will gain in value as more people use it.

SHAPING THE FUTURE: USE SOCIAL MEDIA In last year’s State of the Industry article, we discussed the impact of social media on the licensing industry. We continue to believe that social media will have a strong influence on the licensing industry’s future.

Social media is part of everyone’s daily existence.

Broadcast TV used to be the dominant part of our lives, but not anymore. A lot of the TVs on the market today are “smart,” featuring internet connections that allow users to log into their social media accounts.

Social media influences are everywhere. When you are watching a show, you can tweet about the show or ask a question about a product, and the show tweets back about where to purchase that product.

On Instagram, every piece of clothing tried on in

Summer 2016

Percentage of Internet Users Who Use Social Networking Sites

18-29

30-49 50-64 Age Range

65+

**Stats from Pew Research Center, 2014

a dressing room, every meal eaten at home or in a restaurant, and every new toy for our pets is shared for all the internet to see—and used to track your behaviors, likes, and interests. Based on what you view on the web, tailored ads will pop up. Even when reading emails or browsing Facebook, personalized ads are waiting at every turn to persuade you to finally book that tropical vacation you’ve been researching, or purchase the shoes you’ve been price matching on different sites. Facebook currently has more than 1.65 billion active monthly users, and it mines information on a constant basis. What does this mean? Social media users (aka, everyone) are potential consumers for your brand and licensed products.

EMBRACING THE FUTURE: ACCEPT THE UNKNOWN Brand managers need to accept that licensing and retail have gone beyond the traditional practices. They must use technology to chart their path through the unknown future. Brands need to accept and take advantage of technology in multiple ways, including licensed products and programs, retail delivery, direct-to-consumer delivery, social media marketing, and the brands and properties themselves.

Licensing and branding is no longer about the amount of shelf space or number of SKUs at Target or Walmart, or about your relationships with retailers in general. The future is about innovation, communication, and adaptation. To survive in the licensing industry, brands must have the courage to reinvent themselves on all levels.

Remember, there is only one constant in this world, and that constant is change.

••••

The Licensing Book • 43

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY Carolyn D’Angelo

Chris Parrish

Iconix Brand Group

ThinkGeek

EVP, Brand Management and Marketing Services

How are consumers influencing the evolution of brands?

Brands have always been consumer-centric, but the consumer is ever-evolving, probably more so in the last five years than ever before, and the brands that can evolve to meet their needs most effectively are the ones that will come out on top.

We know that in the digital age consumers value brand engagement and instant gratification—and a brand’s ability to do this will ultimately be reflective of its success. The rise of social media has created a great opportunity for open, two-way dialogue between brands and their consumers that allows the consumer to share more feedback than ever, and for brands to engage in real-time. Social media has also changed the way we shop, particularly for millennials and Generation Z, who look to influencers for the latest trends and crave an instant purchase with the tap of a finger. We’re learning what our consumer likes, doesn’t like, and needs through these constant and fluid interactions. They value authenticity in the relationship between influencers and brands, and the extent to which spokespeople embody and live the brand is more important than just the connection of a known face. It’s amazing to see how integral the consumer’s voice has become in informing business decisions like never before.

How important is experiential licensing (i.e. offering consumers a live event or branded experience) to engage consumers in a new way?

Shopping has become an experience, not just a destination. Experiential marketing brings the brand to life, and connects the brand to the consumer with meaningful experiences that resonate on a more personal and memorable level than simply a sale. This brings a wealth of additional value to the consumer—both in-store and online. At Iconix, we recognize the importance of digital content that provides exclusive access, and e-commerce platforms that provide a 360-brand experience. We’re already doing this in different ways with Ecko and Material Girl, for example. Ecko, our men’s lifestyle and streetwear brand, recently relaunched ecko.com with behind-thescenes videos, sweepstakes, and custom content that will continue to grow as the brand partners with influencers and talent to which the consumer will be drawn. On the women’s side, we’re innovating with a StyleHaul docu-series that highlights singer and Material Girl Fashion Director Pia Mia’s rise in the industry, and giving our consumers a deeper look into what the Material Girl brand is all about. It’s all about being multi-faceted, and I think we have some exciting things to offer!

44 • The Licensing Book

Director of Licensing

How does your licensed product mix help drive traffic to your website and retail locations?

At ThinkGeek, our success is built on a guiding principal that we will offer our customers a hand-curated assortment of the most rich, authentic, and innovative products available.

Our fans expect the unique and hard-to-find items for all of the brands about which they’re passionate. Strong relationships with licensors ensure we have access to the world’s top intellectual properties, while the rapport with our vendors enables us to negotiate exclusive product offerings and first-to-market opportunities. Additionally, our in-house GeekLabs product development team designs and manufactures unique products across all major product categories from apparel to toys to home décor. These GeekLabs items are often available first-tomarket at ThinkGeek. Sometimes even the idea of a product is enough to engage fans. Every year on April 1, fans, customers, bloggers, and the media scour our website looking for our April Fool’s Day products.

Our marketing team does a great job messaging new launches and exclusives to our customers through clever product copy, fan engagement at events, and online videos across all major social media platforms. Having the right mix of licenses, curating the best mix of unique, giftable products online and in store, and messaging this out to our customers through PR, social media, and targeted communications drives traffic to our site, as well as our brick-and-mortar stores.

How has the changing retail landscape affected the way you manage your licensing partnerships?

Customers today expect access to products wherever and whenever they want. Omni-channel marketing and distribution is the new norm. Thinkgeek.com has always been a popular online destination for all things “geek.” However, with the increasing popularity of content featuring geek themes, geek has become more mainstream. Product for this customer is finding its way into more traditional retail channels.

In response, we leveraged our expertise in store operations and merchandising to enter the traditional brick-and-mortar retail space with ThinkGeek-branded retail stores. In addition to offering a breadth of product categories and properties, the stores give us a chance to give fans a great guest experience through special appearances, demo days, and cosplay events. Additionally, we recently launched a mobile app for ThinkGeek that enables fans to shop our site more easily on connected devices. Finally, we are expanding our license portfolio beyond typically geek franchises to other television, film, and publishing properties that appeal to both our fans and other retailers. All of these initiatives enhance our value to licensors, and impact the nature and frequency of our interaction and collaboration.

Summer 2016

Adam Beder

Sean Gorman

Spin Master Ltd.

American Greetings Entertainment

EVP of Global Licensing and Business Affairs

President

How has the growth and development of your entertainment division impacted the way you do business?

When Paw Patrol launched, we developed a new business model for Spin Master, which has greatly impacted how we do business. Having the experience and success of Bakugan, we knew some of the things we needed do to successfully launch another property; licensing was a significant element. Many toys are based on characters—kids fall in love with them and want to bring those characters to life—but we were licensing the IPs of other companies. We realized that we could build a successful property and create a franchise with multiple and complementary revenue streams. We put this into place with Paw Patrol. We own the brand, the toys, and the license. This business model plays an important role in our growth and we are increasingly developing new IPs. Licensing remains important within our portfolio, both for our own IPs and those we partner with. As a company, we must remain diversified and working with a variety of IPs ensures we don’t rely too heavily on the success of one IP over another.

How are consumers influencing the evolution of brands?

Consumers are really making brands compete for their attention on more mediums and devices. With more content to choose from, the more compelling the content has to be. Once upon a time, a TV series could sustain a brand.

Now, brands also need great digital presence behind them, from a website to robust social media to apps. It also helps to have a full-length feature(s) and or long-form plan. Not to mention that to further guarantee success, a brand should be placed on as many platforms—TV, VOD, SVOD, AVOD—as possible. This is what consumers are demanding of brands, thus causing an evolution, it seems, each and every day.

For long-established brands, the proliferation and popularity of high-profile, big-budget studio event movies have really expanded what it means—what it can mean—to have an “A” brand. Content and product that used to be for kids or a small adult fan base have turned into mass cultural and multi-generational phenomena.

How are consumers influencing the evolution of brands?

Fan engagement becomes more important with each day and this has greatly changed how brands work. More than ever, we need to access a multitude of touch points to break through, and the reality is that kids want to engage with the properties they love across multiple touch points.

This is key to our business. It’s no longer about getting the most eyes on an IP. Instead, sustaining a child’s attention over a long period of time is crucial. With each engagement, we build a strong, dedicated fan base.

How is the rise of streaming video on demand (SVOD) changing entertainment licensing?

It feels like SVOD is on the cusp of changing the entertainment licensing business significantly. Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime success seems to be based mainly on quality original programming. These new distribution entities are winning awards for their programming, thus an anecdotal growth in viewership.

Therefore, one could only assume that there should soon be a lot of legitimate brands via consumer product licensing that will evolve out of these hits. It’s already working for established brands such as Care Bears with Care Bears & Cousins now on Netflix, so it feels as though similar success stories for “all new” IPs are close at hand.

How is the rise of streaming video on demand (SVOD) changing entertainment licensing?

One of the most interesting things I’ve seen in recent years is a resurgence of child-oriented productions, and I believe SVOD has played a big role in this. Proliferation of digital forums has ignited a resurgence in production, which is positive for the industry as a whole. It’s pushing all of us to deliver stronger content and product in an increasingly competitive space. From Spin Master’s perspective, we take a medium-agnostic view; we are happy to explore any medium or outlet to gain more visibility for our brands and the original IP we create. It doesn’t alter the fundamentals behind how we create our characters or how we tell our stories.

From a licensing perspective, we look at all angles. It’s no longer enough to create a toy line; we consider how to expand beyond the expected. In recent years, the proliferation of alternative channels has made it easier to find partners. More platforms give more shows a chance to succeed and attract the attention of potential partners.

Summer 2016

How has the process for development of a children’s entertainment property evolved in recent years?

Our point of view is that it hasn’t. For us, no matter what medium, consumer, business model, broadcaster, or retailer, every one of our entertainment properties must be both creatively compelling, and character- and concept-driven. The development process is still key. New platforms, the rise of online retailing, etc., are all things that we look at only after we have a handle on strong creative. No promotion, advertising, marketing, or social media plan can make a bad idea good, or save a good idea that has been badly realized through poor development.

The Licensing Book • 45

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY Robert Marick

VP, North American Licensing and Global Location-Based Entertainment

Discovery Consumer Products

How are consumers influencing the evolution of brands?

Consumers have a new expectation and demand for truly exciting, immersive, and interactive merchandise and experiences that give them a connection to the brands they love.

They want to be able to touch, feel, and live their favorite brands. Discovery Global Enterprises, the licensing arm of Discovery Communications, is working to ensure that our fans are offered products and opportunities of the highest quality to experience a deeper connection with our brands.

How important is experiential licensing (i.e. offering consumers a live event or branded experience) to engage consumers in a new way?

Consumers today want to interact with brands on a much deeper level. Experiential licensing is a way to bring them closer to their favorite brands. Discovery Global Enterprises, the licensing arm of Discovery Communications, builds deeper connections with fans through unique location-based entertainment experiences. Discovery at Sea with Princess Cruises offers memorable vacation experiences for the whole family to enjoy with themed tours, science activities, hands-on programs, and games based on Discovery Networks’ programming. Mythbusters exhibitions located around the country offer hands-on, interactive experiences for guests of all ages by combining scientific facts with innovative, family-friendly displays. We also offer Discovery Destinations, a collection of distinct destination properties uniquely positioned to deliver guests an extraordinary vacation, and Discovery Adventures Park, the first ever Discovery Park in Moganshan, China, which offers guests exciting activities including rock climbing walls, zip lines, hiking routes, and ropes courses.

46 • The Licensing Book

Ashley Maidy

Head of Global Licensing and Partnerships

Activision Publishing

How has the process for development of a children’s entertainment property evolved in recent years?

Kids live in a digital world, and brands today seek to add interactive components into both products and marketing campaigns. The key to these efforts is the inclusion of digital video content that both describes products and engrosses kids in the brand. We challenge ourselves to discern the best ways to reach kids, bring our products to life, and determine what kinds of digital experiences will extend the life of the product by adding meaning for consumers.

The rise of social media has had an impact on the evolution of kids’ properties. Consumers now more than ever want to engage with brands in a deeper way and have proven they have a massive appetite to participate in dialogue with and about their favorite products. YouTube video content on both brand-owned and influencers’ channels has helped us create shared experiences with our fans.

With the advent of Skylanders and the introduction of the toys-to-life category, we developed fresh ways of bringing product to market. This included special retail display units that provided consumers with the opportunity to interact with the product, in packaging, and see the toy come to life so they could experience the magic right there in the aisle.

Licensees and promotional partners have recognized the importance of engaging their own audiences in the digital space by creating compelling vehicles. We’ve seen this with Crayola as they brought our Skylanders characters to life in a coloring book through augmented reality. As the digital landscape evolves, so will children’s entertainment and the way brands extend the reach of kids’ properties.

Where do you anticipate growth in licensing over the next two to three years?

The expansion of entertainment platforms is giving rise to greater opportunities for brand extensions and fan engagement. One rapidly growing industry is eSports, which has been projected to reach $1 billion in revenue by 2018. We’ve found that eSports broadens reach and drives higher engagement, which ultimately supports our franchises.

At Activision, Call of Duty has grown into a global eSports phenomenon, and in 2015, the company formed the Call of Duty World League. A worldwide eSports league operated by Activision, the Call of Duty World League brings competitive Call of Duty to new audiences and long-time fans alike with regional competitions and live-streamed events with a prize pool of up to $3 million in potential winnings throughout the year. Call of Duty World League will be added to the existing merchandising strategy in an effort to further excite our Call of Duty consumers.

Additionally, just as superhero films gave rise to robust consumer products growth, the increase of AAA-quality video game-based films have the potential to disrupt the industry and provide significant opportunity for merchandising programs with already well-known and beloved brands that delight fans.

Activision Blizzard Studios is creating original film and television content for the company’s extensive library of iconic and globally recognized intellectual properties, which will provide an enormous opportunity to build consumer products programs beyond video game-specific programs.

Summer 2016

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY Peter Yoder

Charles Riotto

Cartoon Network Enterprises North America

International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA)

Vice President

How has the changing retail landscape affected the way you manage your licensing programs?

The changing retail landscape has heightened the need for a strong and open dialogue between retailer and licensor. Retailers are becoming much more in-tune with their customer, spending great time understanding who their shopper is, why they shop their store, and the best way to communicate with them. As a licensor, it is imperative to listen to each retailer so you can work together to develop a customized product and marketing program that will represent your brand in the highest manner, while speaking to the core customer of the retailer. Customers are much more savvy in their purchasing habits, so a strong licensorretailer relationship helps build an in-store experience that will speak to the customer’s needs and wants.

What are the benefits of a global property launch versus a gradual international rollout?

As licensing becomes more of a truly global business, the importance of worldwide alignment becomes critical to successfully launching a new franchise. This year, Cartoon Network introduced The Powerpuff Girls to a new generation of fans, and a global approach was key to the strength of the launch. By integrating our content, digital, and marketing plans, we were able to maximize the impact of our investment and leverage our strong social media presence to allow the voice of our global audience to support The Powerpuff Girls in a way we couldn’t do on our own.

How has the process for development of a children’s entertainment property evolved in recent years?

When I began my career in licensing 20 years ago, brands were developed in a very formulaic way. A show was created, a style guide was developed and delivered to a group of licensees, and then very similar products were sold to a variety of retailers. Today, licensing is very much a collaborative, constantly evolving, and fluid industry. Content is created in a variety of ways, be it linear, digital, publishing, gaming, or a combination of these. Brands are developed jointly between the licensor, licensee, and retailer.

48 • The Licensing Book

President and CEO

What challenges are currently facing the licensing industry and how is LIMA addressing them?​ Shelf space—or lack thereof—continues to be an issue for everyone involved in licensing and consumer products. This challenge has evolved, however, into navigating the hurdles brought about by “virtual shelf space”—otherwise known as e-commerce. Unlike brick-and-mortar, online shelf space is literally unlimited.

So how do you get your licensed product to be the first one people see when they go online?

Similarly, there are ongoing questions around the digital space: how best to utilize it, how to construct your presence, how to create unique content and promotions, and, yet again, how to make your online existence stand out.

LIMA is addressing these challenges every year through the education of our industry. Our objective is to provide webinars and seminars and Licensing University programming that examine these topics at both macro and micro levels, present case studies and expert insights, and give those interested in learning the opportunity to apply this strategic thinking to their own business plans.

In addition, there has also been a significant increase in e-commerce spending on a global scale, which has prompted many brands to expand into new and emerging international markets. Not only does education become vital to our industry in this expansion process, but so does the ability to make connections and learn more about the local landscape. LIMA has six full-time international offices, as well as representatives in seven additional countries, and part of their function is to help members from all corners of the world leverage the native marketplace.

What are your key initiatives for the year ahead?​ As the leading trade association for the industry, it is very important that LIMA is providing the tools, services, and access the licensing community needs most.

Thus, one of our key initiatives is to really go back to the basics and improve upon what we know has been working and make it even better.

We are concentrating on the cornerstones of networking, information, and education, and that is what we most want to highlight for our members and the industry as a whole. Networking is a vital component of business, because it’s the connections you make that help get deals done. Well, we want to provide more opportunities to meet new people in the industry in new places. We want to make sure Inside Licensing and our Annual Global Licensing Study, among other projects, are providing unique information and insight that will benefit our members throughout the year. And we are looking to increase our educational offerings even more in the year ahead, with fresh insight and relevant discussions that span both licensing and overall business topics.

Finally, we are focused on listening. We are listening to what the industry is saying and striving to respond in ways that are productive for and constructive to the business of licensing.

Summer 2016

Joan Grasso

VP, Licensing—North America

Entertainment One Family How has the changing retail landscape affected the way you manage your licensing programs?

With retail space shrinking, we’ve gotten more creative with our launch strategies and rollout programs. We explore the option to launch a brand with a more focused line of licensed products and expand as market demand increases. This may include starting a program as an exclusive with one retailer and then expanding outward from there when demand reaches a critical level. We also look at alternative channels for initial growth, such as online retailers and specialty stores to build more exposure and to get more product into consumers’ hands. Alternative outlets are a great way to gain traction for a property and build early success before going to mass and mid-tier retailers. One of the reasons we’ve been so successful with Peppa Pig is we managed the consumer products rollout carefully to ensure product offerings were in line with consumer demand. We will look to adapt this strategy with future brand introductions for PJ Masks and Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom as well.

What trends are you seeing in the way brand and property owners are approaching licensing program development?

Property owners are embracing social media and digital opportunities as well as grassroots and experiential initiatives to launch new brands and/or product lines. The key is to create an early buzz among consumers in these channels and then build on that as a brand grows in popularity. Audiences are consuming content more and more outside of traditional platforms, so it is critical to have a strong presence wherever your target demographic is going for information and entertainment. This is becoming a key part of our strategy for our brands moving forward, and we will continue to expand in this area.

In addition, we are seeing more efforts to launch new brands that have the potential to expand on a global level. International expansion is a key to continued growth for entertainment properties and for eOne in particular. Peppa Pig has become a global sensation mainly because the property has a universal theme that appeals to all preschool and family audiences around the world.

How important is experiential licensing (i.e. offering consumers a live event or branded experience) to engage consumers in a new way?

Experiential opportunities have been key to Peppa’s success and are part of our brand-building objectives long-term. It’s important for fans to engage with the characters in small settings and in person—from costumed characters to theme parks to live performances—as these experiences help fans engage with the property in personal and meaningful ways. Our live stage shows expand the entertainment value of the property beyond broadcast and further build enduring and lasting connections with fans. This also allows us to offer merchandise to our fans outside of traditional retail channels. This will continue to be a focus for all of our properties moving forward.

Summer 2016

Bryony Bouyer

SVP, Global Category Management and Integrated Marketing

Hasbro

How has the growth and development of your entertainment division impacted the way you do business?

Hasbro’s entertainment strategy—which spans television, film, digital, publishing, and more—brings our iconic, beloved characters to life, which helps us foster deeper connections with fans across the globe. We’re constantly seeking new ways to connect fans with their favorite brands, whether it’s an interactive mobile app, live-action shows, or one of many categories in between.

How are consumers influencing the evolution of brands?

More and more, consumers are looking for brands they feel connected to. Brand loyalty requires more than a strong image, though. Consumers need to feel heard and valued. This trend is driving today’s most popular brands to think outside the box—be it online or in real life—when it comes to creatively interacting with their audiences.

How is the rise of streaming video on demand (SVOD) changing entertainment licensing?

In the past, entertainment fans were primarily born from two main sources: movie theaters and television.

Today, fans have unprecedented access to entertainment with streaming video on demand, which gives smaller, lesser-known entertainment properties a chance to shine.

With nearly endless amounts of content across the Internet, fans are also able to dive further into their niche passions, which means licensed entertainment products can connect more deeply with a core audience of interested fans and potential customers.

How has the process for development of a children’s entertainment property evolved in recent years?

Children, just like their parents, are becoming more and more connected every day. The most successful entertainment properties go beyond one screen, and connect with their youngest fans across multiple platforms, including mobile apps, online games, online videos, television, and in theaters. In today’s evolving, technologically advanced world, the properties that go above and beyond to connect with consumers are the ones that build the most loyal fan bases.

The Licensing Book • 49

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY Josh Silverman

Howard Beige

Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media

Rubie’s Costume Co.

EVP, Global Licensing

What are the benefits of a global property launch versus a gradual international rollout?

There’s no one-size fits all approach to launching a property, and with a focus on the consumer we carefully tailor our programs to meet the specific needs of individual markets.

A global launch offers a unique opportunity to connect fans around the world and maximize impact from a social media perspective. A great example is the global Force Friday event we created to launch the products for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The global toy unboxing event and midnight openings at retail generated incredible excitement amongst fans creating a huge pop culture moment. There were more than 620,000 social posts from fans related to #ForceFriday and an unprecedented 130,000 people attended midnight openings in the U.S. alone, helping to make Star Wars the No. 1 toy property of the year.

Where do you anticipate growth in licensing over the next two to three years?

Nostalgia is playing a huge role with millennials as they embrace their favorite childhood characters and stories in different ways. This trend is helping expand demographics and drive growth in our adult business for many of our evergreen properties from Mickey and Minnie, to Disney Princess, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars.

The global pop culture appeal of our characters helps attract artists and drive fashion collaborations. In the last year alone, we’ve worked with numerous designers and lifestyle brands including Coach, Kate Spade, Sephora, and Kenzo to deliver high-end lines of apparel, accessories, and cosmetics that appeal to adults and provide a halo effect for our properties.

This is a key area of focus for us, and we have more exciting collaborations slated for this fall and next year.

50 • The Licensing Book

Executive Vice President

What trends are you seeing in the way brand and property owners are approaching licensing program development?

We have watched the evolution of the marketing of licensing programs for more than 30 years, since Rubie’s Costume Co. began marketing licensed products. The overall trend is the level of involvement and sophistication with which licensors address the marketing of their programs. This includes global marketing programs; long-term marketing plans for franchise success; integration of marketing plans to include various media, especially with the proliferation of media consumed by consumers; intensive focus on branding programs; hands-on product development to ensure the quality of products as well as the products’ conformity to brand attributes and property demographics; sales efforts with retailers to help determine focus and share of shelf space; and in-depth financial planning to ensure quantity of products that will be developed and marketed to consumers for long-term success.

Licensors are much more focused on managing properties for long-term success than was the case even a few years ago. These trends are good for everyone in the licensed products industry—consumers, manufacturers, licensors, and retailers—as evidenced by the steady growth in licensed products.

What are the benefits of a global property launch versus a gradual international rollout?

Global property launches are extremely beneficial to everyone involved in the marketing of licensed products. From our perspective, it provides us with economies in design and development, and manufacturing. We are able to develop products for distribution throughout the world using our central design facilities, and those capabilities are further expanded in each region with locally designed and developed products which are manufactured and marketed in specific markets. The effort to market products with a global property launch is much easier than trying to anticipate what might occur over a period of time during a gradual rollout. Determining commitments to manufacturing quantities is so much easier when looking at the world as the market.

Additionally, the centralized design and manufacturing capabilities provide licensors with consistent design of products, packaging, and marketing materials that can be used or adapted in various regions to reflect the cultures, customs, and regulations in the regions.

Retailers with global distribution can depend on licensee companies that have global capabilities such as ours to provide not only products that are consistent in all markets, but also with products that are tailored for various regions.

Where do you anticipate growth in licensing over the next two to three years?

Rubie’s Costume Co. has experienced tremendous growth worldwide during our more than 30 years as a licensee company. We couldn’t ask for a better industry with which to be associated! We are confident in the continuing success of entertainment licensed properties and anticipate that as consumers change their consumption of entertainment through different media, that growth will continue to come from the entertainment sector.

Summer 2016

Maura Regan

SVP and General Manager, International Media Business

Sesame Workshop

How are consumers influencing the evolution of brands?

The evolution of a brand really begins with the consumer. In today’s world, consumers feel like they own the brand. It is a reflection of who they are personally and professionally, and they want a much more interactive experience. From our origins, Sesame Street’s curriculum was built around connecting with our viewers, both kids and their caregivers, and understanding what is important in their lives.

Whether it’s a visit to a doctor, learning to go potty, or just having a belly laugh with their kids, consumers are looking to Sesame Street to provide content and demonstrate aspirational modeling. We’ve been fortunate to always have had a constant two-way dialogue.

As teens and young adults, our fans are having even more fun with the brand by creating these amazing Sesame Street mash-ups where our characters are “singing” the latest hits. Earlier this year, an Apple spot debuted where Cookie Monster puts Siri to use in the kitchen, setting timers and playing music while he bakes some cookies. Consumers love watching Siri playing assistant to the world’s most famous dessert-loving character. Unfortunately for Cookie Monster, a minute without his favorite snack feels like an eternity, even when you’ve got Siri to keep you company. Through a constant dialogue with our consumer, we understand what they have come to love and expect from Sesame Street, and we are delivering!

How important is experiential licensing (i.e. offering consumers a live event or branded experience) to engage consumers in a new way?

When you take a stroll down Sesame Street, you know exactly where Big Bird’s nest is. You can take a peek into Abby’s garden. And you can see what’s in Elmo’s toy box. It feels like a real neighborhood. Bringing that to life in an experience off-air is critical. After watching Sesame Street, kids gravitate towards our DVDs and books. VStar Entertainment has several popular national interactive Sesame Street live shows. Beaches Resorts hosts Sesame Street-themed birthday parties and storytime with our characters.

We have preschools in India, English language learning schools in Asia, and theme parks in the U.S., Japan, Singapore, Spain, and Mexico. Creating an unforgettable 3-D experience, especially when you have these beautiful, colorful furry characters, is part of our DNA and it’s what makes our relationship with our fans so special.

How are you maintaining loyalty with consumers who are influenced by a wealth of touch points?

It all goes back to the relationship we established years ago. When you think about what a day in the life of a child looks like, we are there at everyday moments like morning routines, bedtime moments, and even potty training. We are creating relevant and ageappropriate Sesame Street content and licensed products for today’s families. As the family’s needs evolve, we’re continuing to evolve with them. When families are on the go, we have programming not only on PBS, but also on HBO, HBO Go, and every major SVOD platform. Internationally, we’re on every major public broadcaster. When consumers want a live experience, we have live shows and theme parks. When they want to cuddle with a character, we have beautiful plush—and some even cuddle you back! We are wherever our Sesame Street families are, engaging them with the best possible experience.

Summer 2016

Liza Abrams

VP, Global Licensing and Marketing

Sakar

What are the benefits of a global property launch versus a gradual international rollout?

Rolling out a property launch on a global status can be daunting for the licensor to be sure.

However, from the licensee perspective, it makes it easier on several levels: First, we can utilize economies of scale to bring down the cost with larger orders. Second, it’s easier to work together internally, preparing our sales teams with product and marketing information. The pressure to get a line developed, approved, manufactured, and shipped can be tough. Ironically, when we are all aware that product needs to launch simultaneously, it helps us focus and get it done! I think most of us thrive better under pressure. If we decide once product ships that changes need to be made to product it happens all at once. It’s a bigger initial undertaking, but ultimately a more seamless experience.

Where do you anticipate growth in licensing over the next two to three years?

Every year I wonder at the ability of retail to support all of the brands we see at Licensing Show.

The youth entertainment market is ridiculously competitive, clogged, and fickle, as we all know.

I marvel at licensors who continually create fresh content across platforms. However, my sense is that we will see a steady increase in more traditional corporate brand-based licensing. Licensors, licensees, and retailers all need to be able to choose brands that have more relevance to the end consumer, that have a wider demographic, can live on shelf longer, and that can celebrate freshness and fun in a way that is different from entertainment properties. We already see this at retail with food, apparel, and tech brands. Even with all of the new platforms available on which to consume content, the competition is still fierce— maybe even more so. There is a comfort to brands and that bodes well with building out entire lifestyles of licensed product.

The Licensing Book • 51

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY Mark Caplan

Allison Ames

Sony Pictures Consumer Products

Beanstalk

Senior Vice President

How has the changing retail landscape affected the way you manage your licensing programs?

Changes in the retail landscape certainly affect our licensing approach. The marketplace for consumer goods has become super competitive. The number of competitive titles has increased, shelf space is at a premium, and many retailers often have preferred vendors for any specific category. So with that said, retail plays an extremely important role in our strategic approach to crafting a brand, as well as in the decision-making process of building our partner portfolio for each and every property.

Also, as brand-owners, marketers, and retailers, we need to stay cognizant of our customers’ needs. From the beginning of retail, this much hasn’t changed. What has changed is the customer and their expectations. Quite frankly, the bar is set much higher now. More and more, millennials are setting the tone in the marketplace. Mobile is their medium. This group is social, but they also see shopping as a social experience. These consumers want an omni-channel seamless experience when it comes to brands, which includes shopping. They expect you to meet them where they are—online and off. These days, consumers do their research, so both product and the experience need to meet up with marketing hype.

Retail is truly where things converge. It is where consumers make that all-important decision to buy or not to buy. And while online retail continues to grow, today’s consumer still continues to also shop brickand-mortar.

What are the benefits of a global property launch versus a gradual international rollout?

We at Sony feel that a full-scale global launch has a much bigger consumer impact. Our business includes theatrical entertainment, and we’ve seen a majority of our box office growth come from overseas, so our consumer products strategies also need to align with this.

Many of our mass-market retailers are also going global and looking at their businesses around the world and across regional lines.

However, with that said, we also ensure that our products are designed with each international region in mind. What works in the U.S. might not work in Germany or Brazil, so we like to develop products for specific global target markets, and we work with the best agents worldwide to help us do this.

Also, technology has made our brands much more accessible.

Consumers across the globe these days expect to get up close and personal with their brands. We work hard to make this happen both domestically and internationally with digital tactics designed per region.

52 • The Licensing Book

President and CEO

How are consumers influencing the evolution of brands?

The influence of consumers on brands has never been stronger. Consumers are in the driver’s seat as brands compete for their engagement, loyalty, and ultimately, share of wallet. In an effort to create a deeper relationship with consumers, brands can no longer “talk at” consumers, but instead, must treat them as partners and even ad hoc brand ambassadors. Consumers are empowered by three cultural movements: • Social media creates a powerful platform for ongoing dialogue between brands and consumers. Consumers have so many avenues to voice their opinions through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, you name it, ensuring that brands react in a responsible way.

• Socially conscious consumerism is placing more demands on brands. This has become particularly evident in the food industry, primarily driven by the clean label movement and the desire for trusted and recognizable ingredients in food products.

• And finally, consumers want to have an equally positive experience with brands across all four screens (TV, computer, phone, and tablet).

On any given day, we are interacting with brands across multiple devices, forcing brands to become more digitally strategic in the way they market and connect with consumers through consistent design, authentic content, and ease of use.

Brand owners that truly understand the importance of these consumer movements and have naturally integrated these areas into the way they communicate and interact with consumers will, most certainly, develop longer lasting relationships and create stronger brand loyalty.

Where do you anticipate growth in licensing over the next two to three years?

There are many trends that continue to influence brands and licensing opportunities.

Online retail will provide an increasingly important platform for new partnerships as retailers seek to provide differentiated and authentic products. This is a prime playing field for iconic as well as emerging brands.

Today’s wild west of eSports presents a whole new arena for team and product licensing as well as brand sponsorship and marketing collaborations.

And finally, celebrity licensing continues to grow, especially with emerging digital talent. The universe and definition of celebrity has become even broader, presenting wonderful opportunities for brand-building through licensing.

Summer 2016

Jim Kipling Of Counsel

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP How can licensors more efficiently navigate the licensing agreement process?

If licensors seriously want to accomplish that and are willing to think outside the box, the following concepts and strategy may be of assistance.

Hypothetical: Licensor and licensee have established a good relationship in the brief time that they have been working together. Each party is comfortable with the reasonableness and reliability of the other.

The product categories subject to their license agreement are in an area of business in which the licensor has little knowledge and no prior licensing experience. Contrary to its usual caution, the licensor took a chance based upon the expert presentation and excellent reputation of the licensee, and the perceived upside of entering this new area.

Thankfully, the licensor is very pleased with the results of its decision and with the superior products of the licensee, not to mention the substantial royalty payments consistently received on time from the licensee. The licensor knows that it has taken an unusual risk, but the risk has paid off.

Now the licensor would like to expand its entry into this new area of business, but it is reluctant to do so without doing its usual thorough investigation. It knows it got lucky with this licensee, and may not have similar results unless it expends significant time and money learning the business in this new field.

Before taking that expensive step, the licensor decides to have a conversation with the licensee to seek information and advice. The conversation results in convincing both parties that they have substantial interest in expanding their work together. For example, the licensee is fully knowledgeable of which third-party manufacturers are reliable within the field. It also grasps critical details associated with the processes of manufacture in the field. The licensor becomes comfortable that the knowledge of its licensee in this area will result in significant advantages and savings.

Taking its potential reliance to the next level, the licensor suggests that its licensee might be interested in enlarging its role. Subject to hammering out the details, the licensor suggests that the licensee might become its agent for the purpose of identifying potential licensees and overseeing their performance if and when the licensor grants licenses to additional companies.

Thinking broadly, the licensor considers putting this newly minted agent in charge of functions such as receiving and evaluating the marketing and distribution plans for a new crop of licensees, as well as reviewing product samples according to the licensor’s stringent quality standards.

The licensor realizes that it will have to compensate the licensee and that it must implement these plans cautiously and gradually. Nevertheless, the licensor becomes increasingly enthusiastic when it considers the additional personnel it may not have to hire and train and the effort that it will save by delegating certain responsibilities to its licensee, who is already expert in this category of business.

There’s a lot of work still to be done, but this enterprising licensor may be onto something valuable. Licensors: Just something to consider.

Summer 2016

The Licensing Book • 53

PROPERTY PROFILE

DARREN KYMAN, head of retail and new business development at Rovio Entertainment Ltd., talks with The Licensing Book about Rovio’s latest movie-based program launch.

What are the biggest challenges in taking a digital property to the big screen?

For one thing, there’s not a great track record for movies based on video game titles, and we’re the first mobile game franchise turned into a major motion picture. Then again, there are not any other game franchises that have had more than 3 billion downloads, so that’s in our favor. Part in parcel to that, movies based on games have had a chilly reception from critics and industry observers, but we’ve managed to turn early critics into advocates as we get closer to the theatrical release.

How does your movie licensing program differ from the programs based on your mobile games franchise?

Through the movie release, our key characters have been given a fully 3-D look, with limbs, expressions, and, most importantly, personalities. Also, we carefully selected the right comedic talents to bring these characters to life on the big screen. This is an evolution from the more simplistic character look featured in our games, and we anticipate a strong consumer response to this new offering at retail.

Tell us about Rovio’s recent successful licensing activations and describe how you will keep that level of success going with The Angry Birds Movie.

We thought long and hard about what we could bring to the table that was unique to Rovio versus our competitors launching movie-based programs. We wanted to take physical to digital product offerings to another level. Through Birdcode markers on packaging of select products such as Lego and Pez, our fans who have downloaded the Angry Birds Action! movie game can use their phones or tablets and experience exclusive mini games, free ingame rewards, or take selfies with their favorite characters.

54 • The Licensing Book

What are some innovative ways that Rovio approaches its retail programs?

We’ve extended our physical to digital extended content offerings to include retailers, such as Walmart and H&M. For example, at Walmart and walmart.com, consumers are encouraged to interact with Birdcode markers to gain valuable in-game rewards with a new rewards release every 24 hours. We believe this will drive increased consumer visitation to stores and their e-commerce platforms. Additionally, we’ll drive Angry Birds fans to retail destinations through our games network and large social media following.

What are your priorities for Licensing Expo?

A key priority at Licensing Expo is to let people know we’re here to stay as we continue to develop more games and short-form episodic content through our Toons.tv app and web portal. We’d like to expand our consumer products business to include new partners that are a good fit with our fan base, such as accessories, collectibles, food and beverage, and sporting goods.

What is your vision for Angry Birds looking ahead to next year and beyond?

We expect Angry Birds to be a year-round brand at retail as we constantly create new content in the form of games, short form episodes, and theatrical releases. ••••

Summer 2016

APPAREL & ACCESSORIES An extensive slate of apparel and accessory partners are on board for The Angry Birds Movie. Hybrid and Freeze will both create T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts, while Handcraft and Jellifish Kids will make children’s underwear.

NTD Apparel will create T-shirts, shorts, and dresses based on the film. Komar Kids will release pajamas and robes featuring main characters such as Red, Leonard, and more.

On the accessories side, Calego International, Heys, and Accessory Innovations will release backpacks and lunchboxes in time for back-to-school season. World Trade Jewelers will craft jewelry, including necklaces with pendants featuring depictions of the movie’s main characters Mighty Eagle, Stella, Red, Leonard, Bomb, Chuck, and more. The Moret Group will make boys’ and girls’ socks. Clothing retailer H&M will produce an exclusive line of children’s apparel. Finally, Amscan is on board for children’s costumes, while Rubie’s Costume Co. is making kids’ and adult costumes heading into Halloween.

ELECTRONICS Multiple licensees will release a number of modern electronic devices and accessories branded with The Angry Birds Movie imagery in the coming months. World Tech Toys will build colorful drones based on the film’s main characters, including Red, Chuck, Bomb, and Leonard so consumers can “fly” like the Angry Birds themselves. Additionally, KIDdesigns will release electronic accessories such as interactive character voice recorders, headphones, speakers, power cords, and phone cases.

GIFTS & NOVELTIES

PERSONAL HEALTHCARE Healthcare products branded with imagery from The Angry Birds Movie will hit retailers across North America. Rovio Entertainment partnered with Dr. Fresh to help kids across the country keep their “beaks” clean with manual and electronic toothbrushes featuring the film’s main characters. Additionally, Firefly mouthwash featuring Red on the label will be arriving in stores soon. In Canada, Centura Brands will release branded tissues, body wash, loofas, soaps, and soap dispensers shaped like Red and Leonard.

Rovio Entertainment is working with licensees to release fun gifts and novelties based on The Angry Birds Movie. SunStaches will offer sunglasses featuring Red’s thick eyebrows.

Bulls I Toy will release 72 trading cards and a set of special collectible dog tags featuring the movie’s characters.

TOYS & GAMES Rovio Entertainment has partnered with a roster of toy and game licensees in support of The Angry Birds Movie. Lego’s collection of six building sets brings the film’s story to life with a unique digital integration in the Angry Birds Action! game, where users can unlock rewards via Birdcodes found on the packaging. Spin Master has developed collectible figures, play sets, and games based on locations featured in the movie. Hasbro will release The Angry Birds Movie-branded version of the iconic board game Chutes and Ladders, while Commonwealth Toy will create new plush based on the movie’s characters, including Mighty Eagle, Red, Leonard, and more. SCS Direct will release seasonal outdoor play products, such as pool rafts and squirt guns.

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CREATING

BIG PROPERTIES WITHOUT THE BIG SCREEN

by PAUL SOLOMAN, Co-CEO, Moose Toys AS I REFLECT ON THE PAST YEAR, I’M INCREDIBLY humbled by the success we’ve experienced at Moose Toys. We are especially grateful for the overwhelming support of our retail and licensing partners, and the passionate fans who embrace the toys that we make.

At Moose Toys, we have a legacy of strong brands that extend beyond the toy aisle, most recently proven with the global phenomenon known as Shopkins.

Shopkins was the top-selling toy last year, and the Shopkins licensing program exploded within that same year. The brand now lives across 20 product categories.

It would be easy to get caught up in the craze of it all, but at Moose, we are grounded in the fact that Shopkins did not spring from the big screen. Rather, small screen content across YouTube and our social channels fueled today’s biggest tiny toy line.

As we just launched the fifth season of Shopkins collectibles, I thought it was fitting to share five tips to help develop big properties without the big screen.

1. COMMIT TO CONTENT Make content part of the brand DNA that instinctively drives product development and marketing. Today’s consumers expect to interact with the brands they love with engaging content. Kids are no different and they know how to find the content they want, even when it's not a major motion film or TV production.

2. PUSH CREATIVE BOUNDARIES At Moose Toys, we thrive on creative challenges and make it our No. 1 focus across property and product development.

Whether it’s detailed tooling and unique pack-

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aging or quirky character names and innovative marketing, we know the creative flair will be the attribute that drives fan loyalty and builds a lifestyle brand.

3. WATCH ORGANIC PLAY PATTERNS Keep your eye on the prize—inspiring kids to play— and be nimble enough to respond to the natural play patterns that evolve once the product hits shelves. We noticed early on that kids were playing with their Shopkins as accessories to fashion dolls. This play pattern led to the development of our Shoppies doll line, which has become an incremental licensing opportunity.

4. FANS ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS Nurture a community of passionate fans and celebrate their loyalty. We deliver toys to a global community of fans and, using social media outlets, kids can connect digitally to share their excitement and brag about their collections. It’s important to embrace that. In fact, your loyal fans can even help protect the brand as we saw when our Shopkins fans helped identify counterfeit Shopkins.

5. LEAVE SPACE FOR SURPRISES Make plans to surprise and delight consumers with fresh twists. Just when they think they’ve mastered your brand, give them something new and exciting to keep them engaged with your brand. This can unfold across product development, retailer partnerships, digital content, and licensed goods.

As we inch closer to the holiday season, we’ll see fan-favorite toys rise to the top of kids’ wish lists. This year, expect to see kids even more engaged with portable content and the brands that embrace it. The winners will be the toys that inspire kids to play.

•••• Paul Solomon, based in Melbourne, Australia, began his career with a leading fashion company and likens toys to the fashion industry with trends always changing. Paul joined Moose Toys in 2001 and has been instrumental in building a small family business into a leading global toy company.

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CHARACTER, TOYS, & ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT ONE Entertainment One (eOne) introduces new property PJ Masks, targeted toward preschoolers. The series, which launched on Disney Junior in the U.S. last September, will roll out worldwide on the Disney Junior Network this year. Just Play signed on as a master global toy partner and a full licensing program will launch in the U.S. this fall, followed by an international consumer products rollout next year.

Just in time for the back-to-school season, the PJ Masks Lenticular Backpack, from Just Play, is made for kids ages 4 to 7. The backpack features durable double zippers, multiple pockets, front organizers, two side pockets to hold water bottles, and adjustable padded straps.

Happy Threads will offer PJ Masks-inspired gear designed for kids ages 2 and up, including a toddler long-sleeve T-shirt that features a graphic of PJ Masks and the Baddies in action with a detachable cape. The Catboy Zip Hoodie will feature a built-in mask, 3-D cat ears, and a tail.

Peppa Pig, one of the top-performing preschool properties worldwide, generated more than $1 billion in worldwide retail sales last year. With more than 700 licensees supplying products globally, Peppa Pig now has a retail presence in Australia, New Zealand, Spain, France, Greece, the U.S., Latin America, Russia, and Southeast Asia.

Playhut provides two new tents to immerse fans in Peppa’s world. With the Peppa Pig Family Car, kids can play hide-and-seek in their favorite vehicle. The deluxe-sized Tree House provides a large area for kids to hide and play, as well as a tunnel port through which they can crawl.

From the creators of Peppa Pig, animated series Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom rounds out eOne’s stable of preschool properties. The show is reaching new audiences across the world as the series airs in new markets this year. eOne has pan-European licensing rights to the new movie adaption of The BFG, which features the voice talents of actor Mark Rylance in the title role. A growing roster of licensees has signed on for the property across categories including apparel, games, and stationery.

A full range of merchandise will launch at retail stores across Europe in June.

The release of David Brent: Life on the Road, follows iconic anti-hero David Brent as he chases his dream of rock stardom by self-financing a UK tour with his band, Foregone Conclusion. eOne has global licensing rights to the film and will use International Licensing Expo as a platform to sign new partners.

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PJ Masks Lenticular Backpack, from Just Play

Summer 2016

CHARACTER, TOYS, & ENTERTAINMENT CJ PRODUCTS CJ Products, the creator of Pillow Pets, will release a line of Paw Patrol Dream Lites based on Chase and Marshall, from Nickelodeon’s preschool series Paw Patrol.

Designed for kids ages 6 and up, Pillow Pets Dream Lites are night-lights that project starry skies onto the ceiling with the press of a button. Dream Lites also project Chase or Marshall’s paw print and the built-in timer shuts the lights off after 20 minutes. All Dream Lites come with steady blue, amber, and green color options, and transition every four seconds on a loop.

CJ Products also introduces a line of plush featuring DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls. Pillow Pets and Dream Lites will be available in Poppy, Branch, and Guy Diamond characters. Kids can style and brush Poppy’s pink up-do and signature flower, Branch’s mop of hair, and Guy Diamond’s gray hair.

Chase and Marshal Paw Patrol DreamLites

CARTOON NETWORK Cartoon Network’s fresh take on Ben 10 will center on a new animated series that re-introduces Ben Tennyson, an energetic and fun-loving 10 year old. The series will kick off with the adventures of Ben, his cousin Gwen, and Grandpa Max as they travel the country during summer vacation. Playmates Toys will anchor the brand’s consumer products program and serve as the master toy partner with a line of figures, play sets, and role-play items slated to launch worldwide next fall.

Cartoon Network launched products around the new The Powerpuff Girls series this year, with global master toy partner Spin Master releasing toys in key markets starting this fall.

Recently green lit for a fifth season, Steven Universe tells the story of Steven—the proverbial “little brother” to the Crystal Gems—and three magical defenders that form a team to guard humanity. USAopoly signed on for games and puzzles, while Rubie’s Costume Co. and Funko will offer seasonal costumes and novelty toys, respectively.

The Adventure Time series has more than 100 licensees globally, and has products in all categories and all channels of distribution. Jazwares is signed on to produce action figures, role-play items, and plush toys, while Rubie’s is signed on for seasonal costumes for kids and adults.

The 30-minute animated series Rick and Morty follows a sociopathic genius scientist who drags his timid grandson on dangerous adventures across the universe. The consumer launch will focus on buzz-building collaborations to create limited-edition products for fans, and a broader program for wider distribution at specialty retail.

TV Series Ben 10

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CHARACTER, TOYS, & ENTERTAINMENT AMERICAN GREETINGS ENTERTAINMENT American Greetings Entertainment’s Care Bears franchise will celebrate its 35th anniversary next year, and will introduce nostalgic lifestyle products with its partners. Land of Nod will launch a direct-to-retail program with artist-designed bedding and plush.

Nordstrom will feature a plush, apparel, and accessories program for infant girls to tweens. Additional collaboration partners include Boy Meets Girl, Wildfox, Freshly Picked, and Ironfist for Dolls Kill. California Donuts will create an exclusive Care Bears donut at its flagship Koreatown location in Los Angeles.

Supported with entertainment distributed to more than 450 million households in 50 languages worldwide, the Care Bears can now be seen on the Netflix original series Care Bears & Cousins.

In addition to Care Bears, American Greetings’ kooky comeback kid Madballs will gross out a new generation with more crack-up, wacky fun.

The Netflix original series Buddy Thunderstruck is a modern-day action-comedy. This stop-motion extravaganza follows the ridiculous adventures of a semi-truck driving dog named Buddy and his ferret mechanic Darnell.

MOOSE TOYS

Shoppies

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Moose Toys will launch a licensing program for its doll line, Shoppies, separate from the Shopkins merchandise program. New licensees for Shoppies include The Bridge Direct for construction toys and Disguise for Halloween costumes. The Licensing Shop will represent Shoppies in addition to Shopkins.

Shoppies dolls launched last October, and the line expanded earlier this year. The line includes characters such as Jessicake, Popette, Bubbleisha, and Peppa-Mint. Featured webisodes and other entertainment will be announced shortly.

The Shopkins U.S. licensed merchandise program is on track to reach $250 million in retail sales this year. New licensees on board include KOBA for live entertainment, Kurt S. Adler for holiday ornaments and décor, Pangea Brands for small electric appliances and cook/bake ware, and Wonder Forge for games.

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PROPERTY PROFILE

“The Powerpuff Girls is one of the entertainment industry’s most cherished and enduring brands and we expect the new animated series and full worldwide licensing program to be very well received. The Powerpuff Girls has always had an amazing fan base and we know that the newly imagined series will continue to resonate with this audience while also attracting the next generation of fans to the brand.” —Pete Yoder, vice president, Cartoon Network Enterprises, North America

meet the girls bubbles

blossom

buttercup

Bubbles is the heart of the group. She is the most sensitive and artistic. Although she can be a bit naïve, her bubbly disposition lets her find the good in anyone.

Blossom is the leader of The Powerpuff Girls. Although she can be overly Type-A sometimes, she leads with her smarts, positivity, and strong moral compass.

Buttercup is The Powerpuff Girls’ muscle.

She’s not afraid to speak her mind or do as she pleases. Buttercup punches first and asks questions later. She’s a true renegade.

Powerpuff Girls Facts • The Powerpuff Girls all-new, animated comedy series, from Cartoon Network Studios, is reimagined for a new audience, centering around Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup juggling school, homework, and monsters.

• The Powerpuff Girls are not just average little girls from Townsville. Together, they form a superhero team that defends their city from villains such as Mojo Jojo, Princess Morbucks, and Fuzzy Lumpkins.

• Along with defending their beautiful metropolis, the sisters also navigate the real, everyday adventures of kid-dom, such as fitting in, school, and homework.

• In addition to The Powerpuff Girls, fans will recognize the familiar characters of their father and creator Professor Utonium and the goofy Mayor of Townsville.

• The initial run of The Powerpuff Girls premiered in 1998 and was nominated for five Emmy Awards and won two. This original series ran for 78 episodes and spawned a feature film with Warner Bros. Pictures in 2002.

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1. The Deluxe Flip to Action Playset, from SPIN MASTER, transforms from The Powerpuff Girls’ bedroom into their superhero lab. Kids can attach the girls to their light trails to keep watch and save the day. The play set comes with 2-inch Bubbles and Professor Utonium figures.

2. Kids can bring home the action of The Powerpuff Girls’ new Aura powers that reflect each of their unique personalities with the Aura Powerpods with 2-inch Doll Assortment. Each pack includes translucent aura power vehicles with a 2-inch figure of each girl, a break-through wall, and a 2-D villain character. The vehicles have a pull-back feature that lets the characters zip around or break through walls.

Styles include Bubbles/Bunny, Blossom/Stapler, and Buttercup/Cannon.

3. The Vectron Flying Powerpuff Girls Assortment lets The Powerpuff Girls soar across the sky with the power of kids’ hands. Each girl flies with the power of her spinning light trails using Vectron Technology. The set includes all three Powerpuff Girls characters.

2.

1.

3.

CARDINAL will introduce a line of puzzles based on the new The Powerpuff Girls series. The co-branded Crayola puzzle includes Color Wonder Markers and 48 pieces that kids can assemble and then color. Cardinal will also offer the Super 3D Puzzle in August, which features the characters in a 150-piece puzzle that measures 12 by 18 inches.

Summer 2016

Timed for the back-to-school season, ACCESSORY INNOVATIONS will offer The Powerpuff Girls backpacks, designed for kids’ active schedules. The backpacks help with organization, featuring durable double-zippered compartments, front organizers, and side pockets to keep everything close at hand. The backpacks also feature padded, adjustable, comfy straps and coordinate with the company’s insulated lunch totes and wallets.

Girls will rock when they wear The Powerpuff Girls knit lowcuts and 360 print crews, from EVERYTHING LEGWEAR. This line of socks is made of super soft polyester blend yarns in bright colors, featuring The Powerpuff Girls, as well as phrases such as “Girls Rock!”

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PROPERTY PROFILE

ABG ACCESSORIES will offer the Twill Baseball Cap in three styles, representing each of the Powerpuff Girls. Each features embroidery of the girl’s name; novelty hair or a novelty hair accessory, such as Bubbles' pom-pom hair; and contrasting colors.

Juniors T-shirt

Girls’ dress

JERRY LEIGH will offer a Juniors apparel assortment featuring fashion tops, knit tops, basic T-shirts, knit bottoms, and sublimated leggings. The company will also offer a girls’ collection featuring the same assortment, as well as dresses.

Specialty fabrications include tri-blends, bi-blends, burnout, brushed hacci, techno scuba, lurex jersey, and pointelles, while specialty printing techniques include opaque softhand, embroidered printed appliqués, dry-printed glitter, sprinkle glitter, puff with glitter, and sublimation.

KOMAR will introduce a full line of Powerpuff sleepwear next year. The line will mix the fun and colorful Powerpuff graphics with trendy silhouettes, such as jersey dorms and two-piece pajama sets with sugar glitter screen prints. The line is designed to embrace the current girl-empowerment fashion trend.

JEM HYBRID will offer a line of apparel featuring Juniors tops. The line includes a Powerpuff Girls Squad Goals T-shirt; Powerpuff Girls Mojo, a heather grey racer back tank top, currently avilable on hottopic.com; and Powerpuff Girls Trio, a charcoal heather V-neck T-shirt.

In the Saving Townsville Before Bedtime Game, from PRESSMAN TOY, players work together or risk going alone to defeat villains as the clock ticks down toward bedtime. Players can play as any of the three Powerpuff Girls on any turn, and try to defeat villains, such as Mojo Jojo, off the board. After each round, Professor Utonium moves one step closer to bedtime. If the girls defeat all the villains before the Professor reaches bedtime, they will save Townsville.

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Branch and Poppy, from DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls

DREAMWORKS ANIMATION Continuing its evolution into a global branded entertainment company, DreamWorks Animation will showcase a franchise portfolio of new and classic properties for film, TV, and digital platforms.

Trolls, scheduled for theatrical release on November 4, will be DreamWorks’ biggest and most expansive consumer products effort to date. This movie features the colorful, always-happy trolls, the comically pessimistic Bergens, and original music from Justin Timberlake. Hasbro is the master toy partner for the new film.

Currently streaming on Netflix, the Dinotrux series brings kids a world of giant creatures that are half-dinosaur, half-construction vehicle. Current licensees include Mattel as the master toy partner and Little Brown Books for Young Readers for publishing.

DreamWorks Animation will also highlight its upcoming Netflix series, Voltron, which debuts on June 10. The series tells the story of five unsuspecting teenagers transported from Earth into the middle of an intergalactic war to become pilots for robotic lions in the battle to protect the universe from evil. They can unite to form the mighty warrior Voltron.

Playmates Toys is signed on as master toy partner for the brand.

DreamWorks Classics will focus on the global property Noddy, while AwesomenessTV, DreamWorks’ multi-platform media company, continues to produce short- and long-form content from more than 90,000 content creators.

DreamWorks Animation’s Noddy

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CHARACTER, TOYS, & ENTERTAINMENT BBC WORLDWIDE BBC’s Doctor Who, the longest-running sci-fi television series, first premiered in 1963 and has become a global phenomenon. It follows the adventures of the Doctor—an alien Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey—who travels through all of time and space in his TARDIS. Accompanied by companions, the Doctor combats a variety of foes, while working to save civilization and help people in need. Instead of dying, the Doctor is able to “regenerate” into a new body, taking on a new personality with each regeneration. His current incarnation is the Twelfth Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi. Pearl Mackie recently joined the Doctor Who cast as the Doctor’s newest companion.

The new toy version of the Twelfth Doctor’s Second Sonic Screwdriver is a recreation of the current Doctor’s second Sonic Screwdriver, which debuted in the season nine episode “Hell Bent.” This is the first Sonic Screwdriver toy to have four light modes and four sound effects. The Doctor has carried many Sonic Screwdrivers of various designs throughout his lifetimes, using the numerous settings on the multipurpose tool to open most locks, detect all manner of deadly rays, read bio-signs, and generate sonic waves of great power. The Twelfth Doctor’s second Sonic Screwdriver was “gifted” to him by the TARDIS after his previous version was lost.

The 2015 Hot Topic pop culture collaboration was a limited-edition fashion collection inspired by Doctor Who. The nine-piece collection launched in 680 Hot Topic stores across the U.S., along with its online store and Torrid in December 2015, and featured a lineup of stylish dresses, knits, and outerwear.

BBC’s Top Gear is the biggest motoring television show in history. With an estimated 350 million viewers in 212 territories across the globe, it is the most-watched factual television program in the world. Whether it’s testing the most exotic cars to their limits, attempting ambitious road trips in vehicles entirely unfit for these purposes, or destroying caravans in the name of humanitarian progress, Top Gear pushes the boundaries of automotive possibility. Co-hosted by TV and radio personality Chris Evans and actor, comedian, and producer Matt LeBlanc, season 23 of Top Gear premiered on BBC America in May 2016. Motorsport guru and Formula 1 commentator Eddie Jordan, world record-breaking German racing driver Sabine Schmitz, renowned motoring journalist and YouTube petrolhead Chris Harris, and car reviewer and TV presenter Rory Reid are all part of Top Gear’s upcoming series.

Inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic novels, BBC and Hartswood Productions’ Sherlock stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. Holmes and Watson navigate a maze of cryptic clues and lethal killers to get at the truth.

BBC Earth shares the wonders of the universe through thrilling journeys of discovery, from the smallest creature under the microscope to the expanses of space. Internationally, the brand is managed by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC. Since launch, the brand has grown across multiple platforms, including BBC Earth-branded channels and channel blocks on television, live events, visitor attractions, theatrical releases for cinema and giant screen films, and online on BBC.com and social media sites.

Hey Duggee, tentatively due to air this summewr on Nickelodeon in the U.S., has been a breakout hit in the UK and regularly attracts more than 22 million views on BBC iPlayer. The show, which first aired on the CBeebies channel in 2015, is an animated series that promotes fun, exercise, and learning. Hey Duggee is based around a children’s after school club called The Squirrel Club, with lovable dog Duggee as its leader, who provides a safe and fun place for children to explore, learn, and earn activity badges. The brand has signed multiple licensing partnerships already with the UK’s Golden Bear and publishing partner Penguin under the Ladybird brand. The digital games Hey Duggee: The Big Badge and Hey Duggee: The Tinsel Badge, have been downloaded more than 150,000 times.

Twelfth Doctor’s Second Sonic Screwdriver

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SPOTLIGHT ON...

WALTZES INTO RETAIL Discovery Consumer Products Set to Launch Say Yes to the Dress Special Occasion and Say Yes to the Prom Collections Next Year THE “REVEAL” MOMENT IS THE CRESCENDO TO every makeover show. It is the moment when a mom, a teenage daughter, or a very deserving best friend steps out from behind the curtain to share with viewers a transformation into her most glamorous, awe-inspiring self. It is the moment that viewers wish they could experience for themselves. For 14 seasons, TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress franchise has captured the imaginations of millions of viewers who tune in weekly to witness the meaningful moments when brides-to-be say “yes” to the dress. Soon, all women can have the opportunity to be their most beautiful self, both inside and out, and experience their very own transformative “say yes” moment.

Discovery Consumer Products, the licensing arm of Discovery Communications, will launch a Say Yes to the Dress line next spring, beginning with the Say Yes to the Prom collection and followed by a collection of Say Yes to the Dress special occasion dresses and accessories for women and juniors in the fall.

“We have a dedicated fan base that has tuned in season after season to watch young women ‘say yes ’ to the dress. These fans have a truly deep connection with the program,” says Robert Marick, vice president of North American Licensing and Global Location-Based Entertainment, Discovery Global Enterprises. “With the launch of the new Say Yes to the Dress and Say Yes to the Prom lines, we are now providing women and teens the opportunity to also have that very special moment to celebrate their big day in a dress that makes them feel red-carpet worthy.”

The launch of Say Yes to the Prom, a line that will include prom dresses, shoes, accessories, and hair and beauty products, will arrive at retail in time for the 2017 prom season. Looks will range from long and glittery to short and flirty, so that the line has a wide variety of op-

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tions and will appeal to any young woman searching for the perfect prom dress. Inspired by TLC’s Say Yes to the Prom giveback initiative, the line aims to provide teens with fashion-forward looks at accessible price points.

TLC’s Say Yes to the Prom initiative launched in 2012 as a single event at Discovery Communications’ global headquarters in Silver Spring, Md. and has grown every year. Designed to give deserving high school students across the U.S. the prom of their dreams and hosted by star of TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta Monte Durham, the Say Yes to the Prom program brings a day of mentoring, shopping, and makeovers to hundreds of students each year. This year marked the fifth anniversary of the Say Yes to the Prom program, with events taking place in five cities from March through May. On the heels of the Say Yes to the Prom collection, the Say Yes to the Dress special occasions line, featuring dresses, accessories, handbags, jewelry, and cosmetics for every woman’s “say yes” moment, will hit retail next fall. From New Year’s Eve to Valentine’s Day, and from dresses for homecoming dances to black-tie occasions, the new collection will appeal to women of all ages who want to celebrate meaningful occasions decked out with the perfect look.

Discovery Consumer Products will support the Say Yes to the Prom and Say Yes to the Dress lines with a comprehensive marketing program featuring multiple touch points, including social media promotions and strategic online and broadcast campaigns. Retail promotion will include in-store signage and special event fashion shows with select partners.

“Weddings and proms are very important moments in every woman’s life, but in-between there are so many other special occasions that women want to celebrate looking and feeling their most exquisite, whether it’s an engagement party, date night, or a formal dinner on her dream vacation," says Marick, explaining why Discovery Consumer Products decided to create a Say Yes to the Dress collection that extends well beyond bridal and prom dresses.

For the past decade, TLC has been a top-10 cable network with women, serving as an empowering destination for heart, humor, hope, and emotional connections.

Online, the network boasts 2.4 million unique viewers per month. TLC is a global brand available in more than 92 million homes in the U.S. and 332 million households in 189 markets internationally. The Say Yes to the Dress franchise started as an inside look at the world-famous Kleinfeld bridal salon in New York City. The series has been a trailblazer in the bridal space, spawning numerous bridal shows, expanding the franchise over the years. The show, which debuted on TLC in 2007, is now available in more than 130 countries. Plus, Say Yes to the Dress boasts more than 1.6 million fans on Facebook.

TLC is part of Discovery Communications, which

Summer 2016

reaches 3 billion viewers in more than 220 countries and territories. Across digital, online, and social platforms, Discovery Communications has accumulated 231 million views, 22 million unique visitors per month, and 173 million fans and followers. It is home to a portfolio of global brands, including Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.

The Say Yes to the Dress line is only one of the new programs that Discovery Consumer Products will roll out this year as the company continues to expand its portfolio. The division is growing its merchandising programs across all of its brands, including Animal Planet, Discovery Adventures, and Discovery Kids.

Discovery Consumer Products is open to receiving inquiries from potential retail and licensing partners for its Say Yes to the Dress line, as well as other brands in its portfolio.

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CHARACTER, TOYS, & ENTERTAINMENT MADAME ALEXANDER Madame Alexander expands its DC Comics collection with 8-inch collectible dolls based on classic superheroes and super villains. Additions to the line include DC Comics’ Harley Quinn, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman.

DC heroes and villains will also be available as 16-inch collectible dolls in the DC Fashion Squad collection. DC Fashion Squad Harley Quinn is dressed in a long purple overcoat and has teal blue hair; DC Fashion Squad The Joker is styled in all red and black and wears a black mask; and DC Fashion Squad The Penguin wears a top hat and a long black cape, and dons black lipstick.

Additional 8-inch collectible dolls include Rock the Dots Wendy, featuring the Minnie Mouse fashion trend; Maleficent, which features a black, two-pointed headdress; Evil Queen, which carries a poisonous apple; Queen of Hearts; and Cruella de Vil.

DC Fashion Squad The Joker

Maleficent Cookie Monster Sun-Staches and Elmo Crocs

SESAME WORKSHOP Sesame Street, the TV show that helps kids grow smarter, stronger, and kinder, targets its licensing program toward both the young and the young at heart. Earlier this year, Cookie Monster appeared in an Apple TV spot where he utilized Siri to set timers and play music while he baked cookies.

New Sesame Street-branded clothing and accessory ranges from ABG, DiLascia, eWatch, Quiksilver, SG Footwear, Sun-Staches, and Trevco will launch in multiple regions worldwide.

Sesame Workshop also partnered with Avocados From Mexico (AFM) on a few video spots. AFM enlisted chef Pati Jinich of Pati’s Mexican Table on PBS to meet Sesame Street’s Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Rosita, and share healthy benefits and fun facts about avocados.

Kiddieland will produce foot-to-floor Sesame Street ride-ons, plush rockers, tricycles, and scooters. Playhut will produce play tents, bed tents, and action/game tents.

Sesame Street also collaborated for digital books from Scribd, digital music videos from Speakaboos, a vocabulary app from Tiggly, and temporary tattoos for kids and adults from Tattly.

Sesame Workshop looks to expand the Sesame Street brand with partnerships in multiple categories, including adult coloring books; arts and crafts; co-branded collaborations; construction/building; fashion; food products such as milk, water, and cheese; and seasonal toys.

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HOT SHOTS

GENIUS BRANDS POPS AT LICENSING EXPO The Licensing Book chats with STONE NEWMAN, president, Global Consumer Products & Marketing at Genius Brands International (GBI), about the company’s range of new and classic properties.

How will GBI’s presence at Licensing Expo compare to its debut at the show last year?

Our first year at the Expo was an extremely positive experience, so here we are, one year later, returning with even more exciting news and initiatives to discuss with potential partners. At the top of the list are our new brands—the innovative, new music-based adventure series for tweens SpacePOP, and our new preschool brand, Llama Llama, which is based on the New York Times bestselling children’s book series. We teased these properties at the Expo last year, and now we’re realizing significant licensing and merchandising programs for both properties that will begin rolling out this year.

In fact, that strategy worked so well for us last year that we’ll be teasing two other new brands currently in development. One is a very exciting preschool girls’ property and the other is a comic book-based property in the young adult action-adventure genre. We already have some very significant talent attached to the project, talent that has generated billions of dollars of revenue.

Llama Llama

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Tell us about GBI’s recent successful licensing programs, and how you will keep that level of success going with new properties and programs this year.

Every launch of a new IP starts with creating great content that is rooted in compelling storytelling, and that’s the foundation from which our “content with a purpose” evolves. Andy Heyward, our Emmy Award-winning CEO, is going on four decades of producing more than 5,000 episodes of children’s entertainment—from Inspector Gadget and Strawberry Shortcake to Super Mario Bros. and Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

From a licensing standpoint, we look to find gaps in the retail marketplace that we can fill. We work very closely and collaboratively with our retail partners so we are able to identify unique opportunities for each brand when we’re developing and deploying a retail strategy. That process allows us to include retail partners in the positioning of unique products in the marketplace.

That process and strategy is validated by both SpacePOP and Llama Llama, securing the support of retail well in advance of establishing our licensing programs. By pre-selling the initial program, we can offer immediate opportunities to our licensees, making it that

much easier for all of us. It also ensures that we launch the right categories with the right manufacturers.

SpacePOP will be distributed on YouTube and other digital platforms. How will marketing for SpacePOP be different from that of your other properties?

We’re actually pioneering a new model of brand distribution with SpacePOP. Typically, it’s always been distribution across traditional content paths—network, cable, or theatrical—but this brand completely embraces the digital age, and we recognized the need to take a different path to reach our tween girl demographic.

The No. 1 destination for music for girls 8 to 12 years old is YouTube. Given that SpacePOP is a music-based property, we chose to launch our content where these girls live, so to speak.

From a marketing standpoint, a tremendous number of videos are uploaded daily on YouTube, so our challenge was to determine how to break through the clutter and distinguish SpacePOP. We have an aggressive marketing campaign gearing up as we head into launching SpacePOP this summer and fall, with a primary focus on digital marketing, working with key influencers, and executing a robust social media plan. We will also have a solid advertising campaign, using both digital and traditional platforms and all of the other tools available to us that will drive awareness to SpacePOP’s YouTube channel to garner views. And all of that will be augmented by the launch of myriad products from top-tier licensees who will also be engaging consumers with their own marketing efforts.

For Llama Llama, we are developing a more traditional marketing and distribution program for the preschool audience, bringing the content to them. We plan to launch 15 half-hours of programming and a merchandising program next summer. Our marketing campaign will be largely focused on reaching parents through traditional media and bloggers. We are executing some very exciting partnerships across toys, apparel, and home which should come to fruition over the summer.

We anticipate that some categories will launch at retail next year. Once again, we have been fortunate to have early buy-in from some major retail partners. We have consciously held back the launch to allow the entertainment content to debut, bringing the animated world of Llama Llama to life and giving it context that will expand to a rich product world.

Summer 2016

GBI has a robust lineup of licensees on board for SpacePOP. What are some of the highlights?

We have received an amazing amount of interest on SpacePOP and have more than a dozen licensees currently on board and counting. Some of the key categories include our fashion apparel licensee, Jaya Apparel, which will launch a collection for tween girls this fall. We have a beauty and cosmetics licensee, Taste Beauty. H.E.R. Accessories will create a line of hair accessories and jewelry. Imprint, part of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, will debut the brand’s book series, beginning this summer in conjunction with the YouTube launch. We have a digital partner, BareTree Media, creating emoticons, wallpapers, and photo bombs; Canal Toys will devise craft and activity kits based on the SpacePOP characters and storylines; and Yowie will create SpacePOP confections­. We will also have a master toy licensee along with several other key categories.

What does GBI have planned for Llama Llama?

Llama Llama is a very special preschool property for us with a rich brand heritage in the children’s book franchise by Anna Dewdney with more than 9 million units in print. We plan to go into production very shortly on the entertainment content now that we have the soon-to-be announced broadcast partner in place. We’re also in the process of negotiating several deals with key licensing partners and plan to secure a master toy licensee in the coming months. We already have NCircle Entertainment on board as our home entertainment partner in North America; Kids Preferred for plush in the specialty market; and Hybrid for an apparel line to launch this fall.

Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab just got cleared for 161 public TV stations in the U.S. How will this affect consumer products plans?

Our goal on Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab is to grow the distribution of the content and continue to build awareness for the content, which is currently available via our partnerships with public TV stations across the country and Netflix, as well as on our own Kid Genius channel on Comcast. Since Andy Berman brought Deb Pearson on board to head up the distribution of Kid Genius, we’re anticipating an exponential increase in the presence of the channel around the country between now and year’s end. All of this is leading up to the launch of a robust consumer products program next year. We currently have several key licensing and promotional partners that have either launched product and programs into the market or are actively developing new merchandise. NCircle Entertainment has been in the market with the first DVDs since December of last year, and we also had a very successful fourth quarter promotion last year with Ovation Brands, which featured Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab in all 350 of their restaurants in the U.S. Next year, our master toy partner Wicked Cool Toys will debut merchandise, and we have a live

Summer 2016

SpacePOP

nationwide tour planned. We’re in negotiations and/or talks with all of the major retailers that are embracing the idea of STEM-based programs, understanding just how important it is for kids. For this reason, Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab is generating a lot of interest.

Tell us about GBI's recent partnerships with Sony.

We recently made two significant announcements regarding partnerships with Sony under two different divisions. Sony Home Entertainment became our home-entertainment partner for the majority of our brands, both existing—such as SpacePOP and Baby Genius—and new brands in development. For SpacePOP, we will work with Sony to create long-form content, such as feature-length movies, based on the short-form webisodes premiering on YouTube. Additionally, they will facilitate content distribution in traditional DVD formats and via various digital platforms, such as Netflix.

We also announced the creation of Genius Brands Music with Sony Music under their Legacy Recordings label, and they will manage the global distribution of the music for our brands, including all digital platforms such as iTunes and Spotify and traditional formats such as CDs and vinyl. As many of our properties are rooted in music, we are thrilled to be in a position to collaborate with a partner of Sony’s caliber. We had the opportunity so far to work with some of the best in the music business on the creation of music for SpacePOP and Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab, including producer of multiple Grammy Award winners Ron Fair and veteran music producer and composer John Loeffler. We feel we are creating some of the highest quality of music to come out of the kids’ business, which is now validated by our partnership with Sony. These collaborations demonstrate the power of the Genius Brands portfolio and the quality of the content that we’re creating, producing, and distributing.

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CHARACTER, TOYS, & ENTERTAINMENT JELLYJAM ENTERTAINMENT The Moodsters was developed by Denise Daniels, CEO and founder of JellyJam Entertainment, a Peabody award-winning broadcast journalist, parenting and child development expert, and author who specializes in the social and emotional development of children. The brand was created to educate, entertain, and enhance the social and emotional development of children. The Moodsters stories and toys teach simple strategies to build social and Emotional Intelligence skills in young children. With the help of The Moodsters, children learn the fundamentals of feelings and develop the ability to recognize, understand, and manage their emotions.

JellyJam Entertainment seeks to grow its consumer products offerings and will launch an assortment of new products with Kids Preferred, including a Feelings Notebook and Feelings Crayons, as well as mini talking plush. After an exclusive launch at Target, The Moodsters will expand distribution to specialty and will launch with Toys “R” Us both online and in-store for back-to-school. Additionally, The Moodsters will expand into new categories, such as new wellness products with Moodster Yoga Mats.

THE WORLD OF ERIC CARLE With 132 million books sold, The World of Eric Carle extends beyond publishing with a global consumer products program that brings his iconic characters, art, and narrative off the pages to collections of toys, games, apps, apparel, food, live shows, and more.

Tent pole licensee Kids Preferred offers a range of toys that encourage early developmental skills and learning for infants and toddlers.

The company recently introduced The World of Eric Carle Gardening collection at Toys “R” Us and Toysrus.com. The line includes 14 colorful garden tools designed to nurture outdoor play and exploration of nature. Other new lines include the Little Artist, consisting of more than 10 SKUs of arts and crafts.

The brand’s focus on quality and health has been extended to a number of new categories. Last year, Whole Foods introduced nine SKUs of 365 Everyday Value organic cereals and eight skus of organic fruit juice featuring The Very Hungry Caterpillar and creative activities inspired

by Carle’s works. Native Organics launched a line of World of Eric Carle natural, nontoxic cleaning products, including eight baby and children’s products designed to be kid-safe, available in supermarkets and online this fall. A natural health and beauty World of Eric Carle collection from Village Group, including bubble bath, shampoo, body lotion, and gift sets, will be sold in sculpted containers inspired by Carle’s artwork.

Carle’s art is captured on collections of apparel, a key category for the property worldwide. In 2014, Gymboree introduced its first licensed DTR with collections of infant and toddler layette, playwear, and sleepwear.

Sleepwear from Intimo, infant apparel from Jaxxwear, and layette by HIS is sold in retailers in the U.S., and Payless will introduce footwear this summer. Retailers in Japan, including Graphis, Toys “R” Us, and Aeon; in the UK including Mothercare and Sainsbury’s; in Germany including Netto and The Very Hungry Caterpillar

by Eric Carle Real; and in Australia including Big W and Myers, are strategic partners for apparel and other categories.

Apps developed by StoryToys have topped iTunes charts in Japan, Germany, Australia, the UK, and the U.S., with more than 2.3 million downloads. The apps bring the books to life with the first-ever CGI-animated Very Hungry Caterpillar. Three new apps are currently in development for 2016 global distribution for iOS and Android platforms.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Live Show produced by Jonathan Rockefeller premiered in Australia in 2015 and is currently performing in an open-ended run in New York City. It will tour the UK, including several weeks in London, beginning this fall, and will tour the U.S. in 2017.

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Summer 2016

A LOOK INSIDE

A Miraculous Year for Zag The Licensing Book chats with Zag’s ANDRÉ LAKE MAYER, president of global brand strategy and consumer products, about its new TV properties and what’s next for the entertainment company.

Tell us a little bit about Zag’s history and how the company has evolved.

Founded by Jeremy Zag and Saban Entertainment co-founder Jacqueline Tordjman, Zag is an entertainment firm based in France. Since its establishment in 2009, Zag expanded into a global enterprise with offices in Paris, Tokyo, and California. Its TV animation division, Zagtoon, specializes in CGI-animated TV programming for kids, which has already reached more than 150 markets worldwide.

Zag Animation Studios is a joint-venture created in 2014 with Michael Barnathan and Chris Columbus, and is currently developing animated and live-action feature film projects.

What is Miraculous all about?

The 3-D, CGI-animated, comedy-action series is based on an original concept by French creator Thomas Astruc. Astruc originally intended to make a comic book series starring a girl superhero called Ladybug, until he met Jeremy Zag, who loved the project and wanted to produce it as an animated series. Miraculous tells the story of Marinette, the sweetest girl in Paris. She faces the constant problem of feeling totally awkward, harbors a big crush on a boy at school, and has big dreams of becoming a fashion designer—she’s just your average teenage girl, right? Did we mention she’s also the crime-fighting superhero of Paris, known as Ladybug?

To become Ladybug, Marinette needs a Kwami, which is a tiny magical assistant (hers is named Tikki).

She also needs a Miraculous, which is a magical accessory (hers is a pair of earrings). Tikki uses the Miraculous to transform Marinette, but her Ladybug superpowers only work for a limited time. It is a good thing that she gets a little help from her superhero partner, Cat Noir, who she insists she doesn’t need. If only she knew Cat Noir’s true identity—her crush, Adrien! Will Ladybug and Cat Noir be able to balance their double lives and keep Paris safe? Will they ever find out each other’s true identity?

Until then, there’s a whole city of baddies to defeat.

What are your plans for entertainment distribution?

PGS Distribution is our TV distribution agency. The

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Miraculous series currently airs on TV broadcasters worldwide, including Nickelodeon/Nicktoons in the U.S., TF1 in France, ABC in Australia, TVNZ in New Zealand, EBS and Disney Channel in Korea, Disney Channel in EMEA and Latin America, and more.

What’s next for Miraculous’ licensing program?

We have 41 licensees and 18 agents worldwide with more than 400 products in varying stages of development. The program will expand into Latin America next year, and deeper into Asia in 2018.

Plus, we have the second and third season of the series currently in production, and we will roll out a series of webisodes this year to support the ongoing licensing and merchandising program.

Tell us about Zak Storm—Super Pirate.

Zak Storm is a 3-D, CGI-animated series aimed toward boys ages 6 to 11. It tells of the adventures of young teen surfer, Zak, a headstrong and adventurous kid swept into the Bermuda Triangle while surfing. Once inside, Zak partners up with a magical sword called Calabrass, which allows him to transform into a swashbuckling hero, ready to fight off the numerous perils of the unique and diverse Seven Seas within the belly of the Triangle. Young Zak will sail the mysterious seas with an extraordinarily otherworldly ship and crew, working to lead them past uber villain Skullivar, and escape the Triangle. The series will launch next spring on TV broadcasters in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and the UK, with licensed products set to debut in the fall.

In terms of licensing, Bandai America is signed on as the global master toy licensee, and Zag is looking to fulfill all product categories in all territories.

What does the future hold for Zag? Zag is developing a universal label for all its superhero TV and film properties, called Zag Heroez. There are currently three film projects and eight TV series in various stages of development. Zag Animation Studios, the film division, is a partnership between Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan of 1492. Together, we will develop cutting-edge film and TV properties in CGI animation, live action, and hybrid/live-action animation.

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Summer 2016

Shout! Factory Kids Shout! Factory Kids will release episodes of Miraculous in two DVD collections. The series one DVD will feature seven episodes and will release on May 3, and series two will feature six episodes and is set for release on Aug. 9. Kids can get their spots on as they watch Marinette and Adrien transform into Ladybug and Cat Noir to take on the evil Hawk Moth, who is using his energy to transform normal people into super villains. Ladybug and Cat Noir will have to use the power of friendship, teamwork, and their superhero skills to outwit Hawk Moth and keep Paris safe.

Action Lab Entertainment Action Lab Entertainment, comprised of professionals with more than 25 years of collective experience with comic book creation, will launch an episodic comic book series, a graphic novel, and trading card game Throwdown, based on the Miraculous brand. The game and comics will launch at Comic-Con International: San Diego in July.

Bandai America As master toy partner for the brand, Bandai America will offer a full toy line, including action dolls, transformational role-play products, plush pals, and fashion dolls all targeted toward girls ages 4 to 8. Miraculous toys will launch at major retailers in August, including Toys “R” Us, Walmart, Target, and Kmart.

Summer 2016

Franco Manufacturing Co. Franco Manufacturing Co., creator of fun and fashionable products for multiple home textile markets, will launch a line of Miraculous bedding, pillows, and towels this year. The licensed products, which will feature imagery and characters from the series, including Ladybug and Cat Noir, are scheduled to hit Walmart and other key retailers this fall.

Komar Kids Komar Kids will produce a range of Miraculous pajamas for kids, including twopiece Ladybug Superheroand Paris Sweetie-themed pajamas, robes, blanket sleepers, and novelty items. The line is set for release at retail this fall.

Evy of California Evy of California will launch a collection of Miraculous T-shirts this fall at brick-and-mortar and online retailers, including Walmart, Target, Fred Meyer, and Kohl’s. The line will feature trendy, girl-powered designs and imagery with characters from the series.

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CHARACTER, TOYS, & ENTERTAINMENT FREMANTLEMEDIA FremantleMedia Kids and Family (FMK) is a leader in family entertainment and an independent producer, licensor, and distributor of engaging content.

Danger Mouse blasted back onto TV screens in the UK last September, becoming CBBC’s highest-rated new series launch since 2012.

The debonair secret agent is now taking his unique brand of British cool to ABC in Australia, TV Four in New Zealand, and Netflix in the Americas, Nordics, Benelux, and Japan, with other territories in the near future.

The consumer products rollout for the series targets boys between the ages of 6 and 11 with Jazwares launching its toy line at retail in the UK. This will be followed by a range of other core categories, including publishing and DVD this summer, and apparel and housewares in the fall and winter. The international toy rollout will begin in the U.S. and Australia later this year, followed by other territories in 2017.

FMK seeks to secure additional secondary category licensees.

Going back to where it all began, the iconic classic Danger Mouse of the 1980s made its debut on Netflix in June 2015. FMK signed a number of key licenses including apparel, giftware, and publishing for a parallel consumer products program aimed at adults, and seeks to expand this range.

Kate and Mim-Mim is a preschool show that follows the special friendship between Kate, a little girl with a big imagination, and her toy bunny Mim-Mim. This summer, Just Play will launch its toy line, followed by a Penguin Random House range of books. Just Play has appointed The Giochi Preziosi Group as the toy distributor for the preschool series in EMEA with initial launches in Spain and Italy. In the UK, Flair will distribute Just Play’s toy range this summer.

Tree Fu Tom features a mini but mighty superhero that has been airing on CBeebies in the UK since 2012. Master toy licensee Jazwares’ toys and Roadshow’s DVDs launched in Australia last year. In the UK, Tom will embark on a national 60-date tour at Haven holiday parks.

FremantleMedia North America and Starz are currently in production on American Gods, an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s contemporary fantasy novel of the same name. The plot posits a war brewing between old and new gods. The show’s protagonist, Shadow Moon, is an ex-con who becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to Mr. Wednesday, a con man disguised as one of the older gods.

Airing since 1976, Family Feud features two families competing for cash and prices as they try to guess the most popular answers to questions posed to 100 people surveyed. FremantleMedia North America will feature a variety of new products surrounding the iconic Family Feud brand including a boxed calendar from Calendar Holdings, an electronic handheld game from The Bridge Direct, a trivia box card game from Cardinal Games, and a board game from Endless Games. Scientific Games is also on board for Family Feud scratch-off lottery tickets, and Ludia will create new causal games surrounding this property.

The nationally syndicated Celebrity Name Game heads into its third season with 40 percent gains in the key 25 to 54 demographics from its prior season. The party game by Play Monster will launch this fall and will feature all of the rapid and hilarious gameplay from the TV show.

Set on the beaches of Malibu, Baywatch had drama, comedy, romance, and iconic red bathing suits. FremantleMedia North America will feature a host of apparel and accessories from Hybrid and American Classics, as well as slots from IGT and social/casual games from Ludia.

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Summer 2016

A LOOK INSIDE

SMILEYWORLD PREPARES FOR 20TH ANNIVERSARY The Licensing Book chats with NICOLAS LOUFRANI, CEO of SmileyWorld, about the company’s 20th anniversary, licensed promotions, and its upcoming program for Rubik’s.

What’s new at SmileyWorld?

There’s so much going on. We are preparing for our 20th anniversary next year of when I created the world’s first digital Smileys. We are planning a big landmark celebration that will see a host of exciting marketing activations throughout the course of 2017, including highend exclusive product collaborations, a variety of PR and social media campaigns, retail launches, trade show promotions, and a collection of limited-edition point-ofsale (POS) items to activate this exciting event.

We are also really focused on cementing our place as the world’s biggest and best supplier of digital Smileys.

We recently launched an augmented reality and photo app this month, and we are imminently launching a new keyboard app. We are also ensuring that we can take out all of the infringement product that is trying to capitalize on the hard work we have put in establishing this amazing trend for the last 20 years. Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) continues to be a real growth area for Smiley, and our characters and the Smiley name increase a product’s impact at retail. We are also focused on a unique approach to key account support to create bespoke, engaging, and immersive 360-degree campaigns that leverage Smiley’s iconicity with creative assets that can be utilized to activate our identity online.

We have just launched three exciting new microsites on smiley.com for some of our key accounts, and these all feature exciting and engaging content that showcase the limitless opportunities available when working with an inherently creative company such as Smiley.

Finally, we have just kicked off our music festival promotions for the year, where we are distributing tens of thousands of Smileys and hundreds of giant Smiley flags at some of the biggest and best music festivals in the world, including Coachella, Glastonbury, Isle of Wight, Bestival, Sonar, Burning Man, Reading & Leeds, and Exit.

We are also doing a load of event activations in Ibiza, as usual, that include the opening parties of Space and DC10, amongst many others.

Tell us about your recent licensed promotions.

This is a really great area for us at the moment; so many businesses are trying to jump onto the global happiness trend and Smiley is a great vehicle for them to do so. At the moment we have three amazing licensed promotions in the market with some of the biggest and most credible brands in the market. We have just created an exciting new digital promotional campaign with

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Selfridges to help launch the iconic retailer’s first shoppable app. The app and its supporting launch campaign, based around happiness, will feature an exclusive new Smiley design direction called Nu icons, which is only available to upper tier licensees and features a selection of Smileys from the unique SmileyWorld dictionary of more than 3,000 exclusive and expressive emoticons.

We have also teamed up with Dunkin Brands to be the face of their new Global Donut Day promotion. This exciting activation is an extension of the chain’s celebrations around National Donut Day. Smiley will be featured on donuts and appear in marketing and in-store POS to Dunkin Donuts customers across 3,200 franchise outlets in 40 countries worldwide. Dunkin Donuts crew members will be wearing Smiley-branded “flash” merchandise, and Smiley will be featured in all of the brand’s digital and social media campaigns around this event.

Finally, Smiley also joined forces with one of Europe’s leading QSR chains, Quick, to produce a promotional campaign to accompany their kids meal. The campaign will see the one and only official Smiley feature on a wide variety of promotional materials, including TV and print advertising, in-store POS, and packaging.

SmileyWorld holds the master license for the Rubik’s brand. What are your plans for the brand?

Our focus is to develop the brand based on its amazing heritage. We are focusing on the brand’s roots in art and intelligence to develop a wide-range of lifestyle categories to support the brand extension. We have also segmented the brand into three new consumer profiles: Professor Rubik, Urban, and Geek, in addition to Signature, so there is something is in there for everyone.

As you would expect from a brand like Rubik’s, there is also an organic progression into arts and crafts, and we are already receiving massive interest from backto-school and stationery partners, who see a seamless transition for the brand in these categories. We believe Rubik’s will sit really comfortably across all product categories. It has so much going for it—art, design, heritage, intelligence, pop culture iconicity—and it is one of the most memorable symbols of the 1980s.

From our knowledge having developed the Smiley business, we see Rubik’s sitting anywhere from beauty and FMCG all the way through to promotions. Not to mention that this really is a brand that fits effortlessly into geek culture, so for sure it can be a great success in books, digital, education, gaming, and toys.

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Summer 2016

SmileyWorld will expand the classic Rubik’s Cube into new categories and develop the business globally, pitching licensees for the first time at Licensing Expo. Smiley will use its resources and experience to leverage the Rubik’s brand. This vision is built on Rubik’s DNA and heritage, while tapping into its roots in art and intelligence to develop a wide range of lifestyle categories to support this brand extension. Smiley has introduced segmentation across four consumer profiles: Professor Rubik, Urban, Geek, and Signature.

URBAN The Urban category is inspired by distinctive street styles that were the forefront of popular culture when the Rubik’s Cube first became popular. SmileyWorld is fusing urban lifestyle with Rubik’s trademark colors and geometric patterns with bright pops of color. The Urban aesthetic is heavily influenced by street art that came to the forefront in the 1980s to create impactful, provocative, and dynamic lines.

GEEK

The new segment, Professor Rubik, focuses on games and puzzles that marry art with intelligence. The games in the new line will feature vintage designs from the Rubik’s Cube. The line will emphasize brain training and create a world of nostalgic and challenging mental stimulations.

SIGNATURE The Geek segment’s target audience comprises individuals fascinated with math, science, gaming, coding, and IQ. These are the types of people that can fuse stereotypically unpopular styles to create something contemporary and think toward the future. Geek culture is enjoying a major resurgence as a mainstream trend, and Smiley will embrace this trend in this category for Rubik’s.

Summer 2016

PROFESSOR RUBIK

The Signature lifestyle category draws reference from the original wooden Cube from the 1970s. It features nostalgic styles mixed with architectural references and minimalistic designs.

This line will have an authentic and vintage design, place an emphasis on the classic colors of the original Rubik’s Cube, and feature the subtle outline of the Cube.

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CHARACTER, TOYS, & ENTERTAINMENT RUBIE’S COSTUME CO. Rubie’s Costume Co. Inc. created costumes based on Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, including The Armored Batman costume. This costume features a padded jumpsuit with a pair of 3-D gauntlets. The Adult Superman costume includes a padded jumpsuit with 3-D boot tops and a cape. Batman and Superman costumes based on the movie will also be available in kids’ sizes.

Other DC Comics-inspired costumes include a girls’ Wonder Woman costume, featuring a dress, a tiara, a pair of gauntlets, boot tops, an armband, and a belt; and an adult Catwoman costume from Delicious of NY, which includes a corset, a skirt, an eyemask, and a pair of matching gloves. The Imagine by Rubie’s dress-up line will also feature sets inspired

by DC Comics characters.

Rubie’s Marvel line includes a child’s Ant-Man costume, with an included jumpsuit and attached boot tops, a belt, and a mask. Rubie’s will also offer costumes based on Captain America: Civil War. Imagine by Rubie’s will also feature dress-up for kids featuring Marvel characters, such as the Captain America Set, which includes a fiber-filled muscle chest shirt and a matching mask.

For the Star Wars: The Force Awakens collection, Rubie’s will offer a range of costumes for all ages, including kids’ Finn, Rey, and Super Deluxe Flametrooper costumes. The Finn costume features a foam-padded jacket with an attached top and pants with attached boot tops. The Rey costume includes a top with attached wraps, a pair of pants, a belt, a cuff, and arm warmers. A Rey eyemask with a hood is sold separately. The Super Deluxe Flametrooper costume features a foam-padded jumpsuit with attached boot tops, a belt, and a two-piece mask.

Other licenses in Rubie’s lineup include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Suicide Squad, Star Wars: Rogue One, Ghostbusters, and DC Super Hero Girls.

Superman Costume and Armored Batman Costume

C3 ENTERTAINMENT C3 Entertainment will showcase The Three Stooges brand with licensee Rocket Fizz Soda Pop and Candy Shops. The Three Stooges Wise Guy Root Beer was released last year, and the soda company will be a promotional partner for the upcoming The Three Little Stooges movie.

Fun Incorporated’s The Three Stooges prank and gag products and Throw Boy’s Larry, Moe, and Curly Pillow Fighter plush will available next year.

The Three Stooges Zombie Defense and the Match The Three Stooges games, from Polyslab Games, are now available for Android and iOS devices, with more releases expected throughout this year. American Mythology Productions also launched The Three Stooges as a full color, 32-page comic book.

Comic Flix’s digital and print comic books, with the first based on the 2012 film The Three Stooges, are available on Apple iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Comixology, and other platforms.

Calendar Holdings has a license agreement to produce trivia games and puzzles for The Three Stooges that will be sold through its Go! Calendars retail pop-up stores, Barnes and Noble, calendars. com, and other retailers.

New productions include The Three Little Stooges, which is scheduled to shoot this summer. The next The Three Stooges movie is in development, along with a Three Stooges animated series. In addition to the new cinematic releases, a nine-part documentary series Hey Moe! Hey Dad! debuts on TV this August.

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Summer 2016

SPOTLIGHT ON...

THE JIM HENSON COMPANY

EXPANDING NOSTALGIC BRANDS & LAUNCHING NEW ORIGINAL PROPERTIES

FEDERICO SAN MARTIN, vice president of global consumer products, The Jim Henson Company, gives The Licensing Book the inside scoop on new deals, distribution channels, and original brands.

The Jim Henson Company has new series launching on Netflix (a streaming platform), as well as traditional broadcasters, including Sprout and PBS Kids. Does your consumer products strategy differ for a streaming-only series versus a traditional broadcast series?

The Jim Henson Company has developed a proven strategy for launching consumer products programs that, while individualized to address the unique attributes of each series as well as platform of distribution, are remarkably similar. First, we focus on anchor categories—toys, apparel, and publishing—then expand into other categories. We collaborate with our media partners, whether it be streaming or traditional broadcast, to generate as much awareness as possible and create product demand for the licensing and merchandising business.

Will the Dot. consumer products line launch alongside the new series? What do you have planned?

Citing our strategy for consumer products programs, we’re currently in discussions with a number of partners on a comprehensive Dot. consumer products program that will launch in the fall of 2017. We anticipate leading with toys, apparel, and publishing based on the audience segment we’re focusing on—girls 4 to 7—and will then likely expand into stationery, kids’ electronics, and other categories that reflect Dot and her friends’ technical aptitudes. Simultaneously, we’re working with Sprout, our broadcast partner in the U.S., and Randi Zuckerberg on an exciting array of marketing and public relations activities to drive consumer awareness and build brand identity and relationships with young viewers. And with Dot issuing a call to action at the end of every episode, encouraging viewers to “unplug” and experience the physical world, the opportunities to expand product categories become even more exciting.

How does The Jim Henson Company balance a consumer products program that features new original properties as well as properties that have been around for decades?

Our consumer products team looks at each property as a unique client, so to speak, and all of our clients are given the time and attention required to ensure success.

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We do group brands into two categories: classics and preschool. For example, for Dinosaur Train, which is currently in its fourth season on PBS, Jazwares will launch a fascinating new toy line alongside multiple new top-tier licensees that are jumping on board to invigorate the relaunch of the brand’s consumer products program. We’ve found that by bringing in new licensees and products throughout a brand’s life cycle, we’re able to keep consumers engaged, which leads to sustained success.

At the same time, we’re also planning for the launch of three new properties: Word Party in July on Netflix, Dot. in September on Sprout, and Splash and Bubbles in the fall on PBS. Each brand has its own unique identity and distinct distribution platform, which will be supported by innovative consumer products that are extensions of the brand’s identity.

Just to further highlight the diversity of the Henson consumer products portfolio, we’re also celebrating the 30th anniversary of the fantasy film Labyrinth, produced by The Jim Henson Company and Lucasfilm Ltd. and starring the iconic David Bowie with Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Connelly. We will introduce new Labyrinth-branded products throughout the year in commemoration of this milestone. We are also very excited about the recent demand from licensees for Fraggle Rock. We’ll announce additional plans on the distribution front soon.

What do you hope to accomplish during Licensing Expo this year?

Licensing Expo presents an ideal opportunity to reconnect in person with many licensees as well as our international agents, providing us with the time to share accomplishments and ideas, ensuring everyone is of one mind. Our main objective is to continue conversations with potential Dinosaur Train licensees to complement our strong relaunch product offering as well as update additional partners on our plans for Dot., Word Party, Splash and Bubbles, Fraggle Rock, and Labyrinth. In just a few days at Licensing Expo, The Jim Henson Company is able to meet with a multitude of partners while also demonstrating who we are as a company and what we have to offer to the global licensing community.

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Summer 2016

The vocabulary building series Word Party follows four baby animals as they sing, dance, and play. Set to debut in July on Netflix, Word Party invites viewers to help teach the baby animals new words, learn new words themselves, and celebrate these achievements with a “Word Party!”

The series is produced using the Henson Digital Puppetry Studio, a proprietary CGI animation technology from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop that allows puppeteers to perform digitally animated characters in real time, enabling the animation to be more lifelike and spontaneous. The Jim Henson Company will seek key licensing partners for this new series across multiple categories at Licensing Expo.

Created by Jim Henson, Fraggle Rock stars a cast of puppet creatures called Fraggles, who are quirky cave-dwellers living in an underground world alongside their industrious green neighbors, the Doozers, and a family of enormous Gorgs. The show has aired in more than 80 countries and continues to enjoy a loyal international fan following, while encouraging friendship, tolerance, and diversity with fun adventures and a unique mix of music from all genres including folk, blues, gospel, country, and rock.

The Jim Henson Company signed new licensing partners in the U.S., including Super Impulse for novelty, Toy Factory for prize redemption, and Funko for collectibles, joining Zen Monkey Studios for apparel and gifts and Trevco for print on demand.

Based on tech expert and author Randi Zuckerberg’s debut picture book of the same name, Dot. is a new animated series targeting girls ages 4 to 7. The series follows the inquisitive, exuberant, and tech-savvy Dot, who embarks on hilarious adventures to satisfy her imagination, curiosity, and latest passion. Dot. will debut in the U.S. in September on Sprout, NBC Universal Cable Entertainment’s 24-hour preschool network. For a girl as curious and creative as Dot, there’s no better way to spend the day than outside, exploring the world with her dog, her group of friends, and any tool or tech that will help deepen their play and exploration. Each episode ends with Dot giving the viewers a call to action to get inspired and explore. Henson will also develop a comprehensive global consumer products program and will seek key partners at Licensing Expo.

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SPOTLIGHT ON...

Splash and Bubbles is a new animated series that will debut this fall on PBS Kids in the U.S. and other platforms worldwide. The series consists of 40 episodes, each of which includes two 11-minute stories, and dives into the diversity and wonder of our natural undersea world. Splash and Bubbles introduces kids ages 4 to 7 to strange new marine species and ocean phenomena as they follow the adventures of Splash, a yellow fusilier fish, and his friend Bubbles, a mandarin dragonet. Splash migrated all over the ocean before settling down with his family in Reeftown, and now he and Bubbles explore the world’s ocean together, meeting wildly diverse marine animals and discovering otherworldly undersea habitats with their friends Dunk (a pufferfish) and Ripple (a sea dragon).

Together, they bring back what they’ve learned to share with their neighbors. Utilizing the dynamic CGI animation technology of the Henson Digital Puppetry Studio, Splash and Bubbles is co-produced with Herschend Enterprises.

The fantasy film Labyrinth, produced by The Jim Henson Company (JHC) and Lucasfilm Ltd. and starring David Bowie and Academy Award-winner Jennifer Connelly, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year with new licensed products.

A new book from publisher Insight Editions will release in October. Labyrinth: The Ultimate Visual History is the definitive exploration of the beloved classic, featuring rare artwork, interviews, and on-set photos. Additionally, the new Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: The Board Game from River Horse will debut this summer. Created in partnership with JHC, the fast-paced family game will feature the likenesses of the main characters from the movie in the form of five miniatures. The film’s dedicated fan base has continued to grow over the years and today fans both young and old will be able to find an array of new Labyrinth collectibles, as well as an apparel program at retail in the fall. In addition to the ongoing Labyrinth screenings throughout the country, there are special anniversary screenings and local events planned for this fall.

Now in its fourth season, the award-winning series Dinosaur Train currently airs in the U.S. on PBS Kids and in more than 200 territories worldwide. This year, master toy partner Jazwares will offer a fresh toy line, including figures, play sets, and plush. The line will launch this fall in the U.S. and select international markets. Additional Dinosaur Train licensees in the U.S. include Buy Seasons for party goods and California Costumes for Halloween costumes. European licensees include Papstar for party goods in Germany, Geda Labels for mealtime products in Germany, Evrika LLC for chocolate eggs in Russia, and Warm Up Industry for costume character live appearances in Italy. Bulldog Licensing (UK), Biplano (France), LizenzWerft (Germany), CPL (Latin America), Megalicense (Russia), Jantar Projekt (Poland), and Distefano Licensing (Italy) currently represent the brand around the world.

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THE KRATT BROTHERS CO. The Kratt Brothers Co. have new Wild Kratts licensed products from Whole Foods Market, and sleepwear from American Marketing Enterprises Inc. (AME), a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Brands Group.

Based on the PBS KIDS series, the products from Whole Foods Market and AME, the latest partners to join the Wild Kratts licensing program, will begin to hit retail this August.

Whole Foods Market will offer series-inspired “Creature Crackers” packaged cookies, children’s vitamins, lunch totes, body washes, and bubble bath for children. AME, the latest apparel partnership for Wild Kratts, will design an extensive range of kids’ sleepwear, including pajama sets, sleep shirts, tank tops and gowns, sleep pants and shorts, robes, blanket sleepers, wraps, ponchos, boxers, boxer briefs, briefs, and thermal underwear.

Earlier this year, The Kratt Brothers Co. announced its partnership with Isaac Morris Ltd., which will offer a selection of printed T-shirts, hoodies, and bottoms to debut at Kmart and Fred Meyer stores this year. Additional partners include Wicked Cool Toys; games and puzzles from Pressman Toy; books from Random House Children’s Books; DVDs from PBS Distribution; apps from PBS Kids; and costumes from InCharacter.

COLORFORMS Colorforms will celebrate its 65th anniversary this year and expand its line with licenses from animated features and kids’ TV shows, including Disney•Pixar’s Finding Dory, The Secret Life of Pets, Peppa Pig, and Little Charmers.

Finding Dory Colorforms sets launching this fall include Record a Story, Figure Fun Playset, Dress Up Sets, and Learning Fun Educational Line. The Secret Life of Pets Colorforms sets will include Fun Packs, On-the-Go, Take Along, Create-A-Story, and Big Wall Playsets based on the animated film. Colorforms Fun Packs, On-the-Go, Take Along, and Create-A-Story sets will also be available in Entertainment One’s Peppa Pig and Nickelodeon’s Little Charmers versions.

Summer 2016

NBC UNIVERSAL

The Secret Life of Pets

NBCUniversal will focus on the new films in its core franchises at this year’s Licensing Expo, including The Secret Life of Pets, its fifth animated feature-film collaboration with Illumination and Universal Pictures, releasing in theaters on July 8. The film is supported by a line of consumer products, including those from global master toy partner Spin Master and the pet product collection from PetSmart—the exclusive retailer of pet products featuring characters from the film.

The team behind Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2, as well as Minions—which grossed $1.16 billion worldwide—returns to continue the adventures of Gru, Lucy, their daughters, and the Minions in Despicable Me 3, releasing in theaters on June 30, 2017.

In 2018, executive producer Steven Spielberg and stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard return for Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment’s Jurassic World sequel. On the TV side, NBCUniversal will continue its focus on The Biggest Loser franchise, NBC and Esquire Network’s American Ninja Warrior, and new opportunities from kids’ network Sprout.

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CHARACTER, TOYS, & ENTERTAINMENT ZOONICORN Zoonicorns is a character-based family entertainment property that encourages kids ages 3 to 8 to feel safe and learn lessons. The soft and cuddly Zoonicorn family includes Valeo, the blue leader of the herd; purple Promithea, who is fun and friendly; pink Aliel who is fast and frenzied; and green Ene who is playful, and mischievous.

Launched last year with an original hardcover book and plush toys, Zoonicorns are a cross between a zebra and a unicorn. Kids can read along or listen to stories, including To Catch a Fish and The Tag Along on Zoonicorn’s website starting this spring. Each story has interactive elements on every page, and comes with lessons shared with parents, from problem solving and taking directions to helping friends. The stories can be downloaded on Android and iOS devices. Kids can also download and print mazes, word finds, coloring pages, connect the dots, and other activities on the website.

Each story on the website will be paired with a mobile game, available for download on iOS devices.

Valeo’s Adventure will encourage kids to help Valeo adventure through the world of dreams, collect stars, and avoid danger. With Aliel’s Hidden Objects and Ene’s Matching Pairs, kids can help their friends discover hidden treasures as they journey through the winding paths of the Zoonicorn maze.

9 STORY MEDIA GROUP Peg + Cat, now in its second season, is seeing an expansion into merchandising and licensing. The Fred Rogers Company and 9 Story Media Group have appointed Imports Dragon as master toy partner, with a new line set to roll out this fall. Imports Dragon will introduce an assortment of high-quality plush, arts and crafts sets, games, and wooden puzzles inspired by the PBS Kids series.

In addition to the new toy offerings, there is a growing library of Peg + Cat books from Candlewick Press across multiple formats, as well as an expanding lineup of Peg + Cat DVDs from PBS Distribution in the U.S., eOne in Canada, ABC Commercial in Australia, and Sony Music in Germany. A new Peg + Cat live show is also in the works for fall 2017 from The Brad Simon Organization and Mills Entertainment.

Peg + Cat follows the adorable, spirited Peg and her loyal sidekick Cat as they embark on a host of hilarious, musical adventures, learning foundational math concepts along the way. Each episode features engaging stories in which Peg and Cat encounter a problem that requires them to use math and problem-solving skills to move the story forward. The series provides young viewers with a new way to experience math and highlights its importance in a variety of everyday situations. Music is used as a teaching tool throughout the show, and each episode features an original song.

With relatable and funny adventures filled with upbeat music, the series has garnered a large and growing audience across broadcast and digital platforms. On TV, Peg + Cat reaches nearly 7.7 million viewers each month. The series also draws nearly 13 million video streams per month.

Peg + Cat is co-created and executive produced by Jennifer Oxley (Little Bill, The Wonder Pets!) and Billy Aronson (Rent, Postcards from Buster) and produced by The Fred Rogers Company for PBS Kids. Kevin Morrison of The Fred Rogers Company and Vince Commisso of 9 Story Media Group serve as executive producers. 9 Story, which distributes the series and manages licensing for the brand internaPeg + Cat tionally, has secured distribution in 180 countries HiHat Media leads U.S. licensing initiatives for the brand.

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SPOTLIGHT ON...

ABOUT LITTLEMISSMATCHED LittleMissMatched started with a simple mission: to build a lifestyle brand that is fun, inspires creativity, embraces individual style, and celebrates self-expression. In the LittleMissMatched world, mixing patterns and colors is the company’s vehicle to letting kids be themselves. LittleMissMatched is dedicated to promoting girl empowerment and celebrating what it is to be a girl, whether that girl is age 10 or 110. The company is truly excited about the engagement and overall love and support that it has with its core customers. With 12 years of heritage, the brand is primed for a robust licensing and consumer products program, and looks forward to continued growth through strong partnerships.

The brand was founded in 2004 with the idea of reinventing a category to disrupt the marketplace. The notion of three mismatched socks to a pack was introduced in the North American marketplace to much acclaim. Today, LittleMissMatched is a girls’ lifestyle brand that spans many different product and entertainment categories, but the core messaging still remains the same: “Let you be you.” LittleMissMatched aims to inspire girls to be bold and to have fun, while being true to themselves.

Spring 2016 apparel highlights

From left to right: The 20-inch LittleMissMatched Bike, from Kent, is sold exclusively at Toys “R” Us; LittleMissMatched Seamless Leggings, part of an apparel collection launching at Bed Bath & Beyond this holiday season; the LittleMissMatched “Colorize” Sock Collection, a new line of socks that girls can color and customize, will launch at Toys “R” Us this fall.

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Summer 2016

Sneaker Socks

LITTLEMISSMATCHED

BILL OF RIGHTS

• You have the right to wear socks that don’t match.

• You have the right to be as creative as you can.

• You have the right to wear bright colors and patterns and show off your kooky personality.

• You have the right to be totally true and totally YOU.

• LittleMissMatched is owned by Delta Galil USA Inc., a New York-based apparel company specializing in intimate and active wear.

• LittleMissMatched operates in several different channels of distribution: retail, e-commerce, specialty, wholesale, licensing, and international.

• The two flagship retail stores are located at Walt Disney World, Florida and Grand Central Station in New York City.

• LittleMissMatched is best known for fun and colorful mismatched socks that come three single socks to a pack. They don’t match, but are cleverly coordinated so kids can choose how to wear them. Sizes range from 0-3, 4-9, and 10-110. A small selection for boys and men is also available.

• LittleMissMatched tries to infuse all of its product with fun and special details. Examples include the “Fun in 1” collection: four-in-one bags, fourin-one dresses, and two-in-one pillows.

• LittleMissMatched currently designs, produces, and sells collections in different categories such as apparel, accessories, and toys.

• LittleMissMatched bikes, manufactured by Kent International, launched exclusively at Toys “R” Us in spring 2012, and have consistently been ranked as top-selling styles within the bike category.

• LittleMissMatched will re-launch its wholesale presence at Toys “R” Us this fall with its “Colorize—Series 1” sock line that kids can color and customize.

• A LittleMissMatched collection will launch at Bed Bath & Beyond for the holidays, including fun sock gift sets and the company’s top-selling seamless leggings.

Summer 2015 apparel collection highlights

Summer 2016

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CHARACTER, TOYS, & ENTERTAINMENT 20th CENTURY FOX Twenty years after the original film, 20th Century Fox will release Independence Day: Resurgence this summer. Fox is working with Cepia Toys for action figures, role-play items, vehicles, and creatures, and will partner with C-Life for ‘90s style apparel; and Titan Books will publish two fiction novels, an art book, and a comic book tie-in series.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, directed by Tim Burton, is based on the New York Times bestselling series written by Ransom Riggs. The company has signed Funko to create Pop! Vinyl versions of the heroes and villains. Quirk Books will create a “making of” book for the film. 20th Century Fox is partnering with soon-to-be announced retailers to create a direct-to-retail apparel program.

Ice Age: Collision Course will be the fifth feature film in the Ice Age franchise and is coming to theaters this summer. Fox will launch a direct-to-retail program featuring apparel, accessories, toys, food, beverages, and publishing. Fox also partnered with the Bonnier Group for global publishing, Commonwealth Toy for plush, and Headstart International for toys and games.

Fox has signed licensing partners NECA and Kidrobot for action figures and art toys for animated TV series Bob’s Burgers, and Rizzoli and Universe Publishing will release a Bob’s Burger Cookbook. Other licensees include Ripple Junction, High IntenCity, Buckle Down, Surreal Entertainment, and ABG. New episodes of The X-Files have lead to a partnership between Fox, Threadless, and Loot Crate for T-shirts. The franchise has also inspired apparel with TR-Line designs, and action figure, gift, and novelties programs with Funko, Diamond Select Toys, Underground Toys, and 3Zero Toys. Retailers such as Urban Outfitters, Hot Topic, Box Lunch, and f.y.e./Transworld all partnered with Fox to support this multi-category resurgence of The X-Files products.

Bob Belcher Pop! Vinyl, from Funko

AARDMAN Season five of Aardman’s Shaun the Sheep will release to major broadcasters in more than 170 territories around the world, along with the reissued short-form content for video on demand (VOD) platforms. The brand’s digital following continues to grow online with more than 6 million Facebook fans, and more than 39 million monthly views on YouTube. Shaun the Sheep also renewed its partnership with Nintendo, which led to an exclusive Shaun the Sheep level release on the Wii U game Super Mario Maker.

Additionally, Early Man, the latest stop-frame feature film from director Nick Park and produced with StudioCanal, will take audiences into a prehistoric world and will be a major global event for 2018.

Aardman will work closely with StudioCanal to develop a strong licensing, publishing, and promotional program for the film.

Wallace and Gromit also continue to delight audiences, while Morph remains the studio’s little hero, with new short-form content that will release next year. Aardman is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

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Shaun the Sheep

Summer 2016

HOT SHOTS

Q&A

with

The Licensing Book chats with NATASHA GROSS, marketing director, Sunrights Inc., about Sunright's new brand Beyblade Burst, plans for Licensing Expo, and more.

Tell us about the creation of Sunrights Inc. Sunrights Inc. was formed to bridge the gap between Asian and western markets. The industry has long acknowledged the challenge in communicating with overseas brand owners, who—although the prime source of intellectual property for our global markets— may not have regional operations to turn around quick approvals or transcreate content for the nuances in regional territories. We are committed to creating global solutions for Asian content and making sure the target demographic in each market relates to the brand in a meaningful and impactful way.

up since Japan’s early launch of the toy line back in July.

The animation recently started airing on TV Tokyo in April and the excitement in Japan has been thrilling. We expect another round of global success.

How is Sunrights Inc. positioned to launch brands globally?

We tap into regional talent within the industry. Sunrights Inc. is based in New York City, but we have a global team in place that includes licensing veterans and sales directors who have unique historical perspectives on our properties. We also work with agents across multiple international territories, which helps to set the internal strategy early and communicate with our partners from one source.

What are your priorities for Licensing Expo?

Our licensing team at Sunrights Inc. manages the business directly for the U.S. market. At Licensing Expo, we are looking to sign on new licensees for ancillary toy and other consumer product categories. We will have a booth featuring the new characters and the look and feel of Beyblade Burst. This show is our first big market to let the licensing industry know that Beyblade is coming back and the puzzle pieces have started to come into place for our launch plans and timing. We feel strongly that Beyblade Burst in particular will translate across multiple product categories including non-toy categories. We are also looking to expand the international business and bring in partners and agents that have a keen, strategic eye for setting up a brand for success from the start.

What is your current brand focus?

We are so excited to relaunch the legendary Beyblade franchise. Since its original launch in 1999, Beyblade became a global phenomenon and was a hit with broadcasters and retailers. There have been two generations launched at this point. This third revival is called Beyblade Burst, and the buzz has been picking

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What is new and different for this generation of Beyblade Burst?

The toys have a dynamic burst feature where the spinning tops burst apart in battle upon defeat. There will also be a digital component to Hasbro’s toy line that will be introduced in North America in late 2016, and the animation this time around is much improved. d-rights, our animation production company, partnered with OLM, which has done a wonderful job on many popular brands, including Pokémon and Yo-kai Watch, for the production of the series. The storyline and characters are also new and relatable to school-aged kids, along with a theme of real sports and friendly competition.

What is the vision for Sunrights Inc. as a company?

Our focus is to relaunch Beyblade Burst successfully and to ultimately build our portfolio of properties by being good partners to our agents, licensees, and, most importantly, our rights holders. We want the Japanese animation community to view Sunrights Inc. as a home for Japanese properties looking for trusted and successful global distribution and management.

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Summer 2016

WIZKIDS

THE LICENSING GROUP

WizKids, a subsidiary of NECA, is developing games using pop culture licenses including Marvel, DC Comics, Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Trek, Dungeons & Dragons, and Yu-Gi-Oh! With the upcoming 15th anniversary of its premier game HeroClix, WizKids will release Marvel HeroClix, Captain America: Civil War movie products, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles HeroClix.

WizKids’ latest game platform, Dice Masters, will now be available in Marvel Dice Masters: Civil War edition, featuring characters such as Spider-Man, Nitro, Jessica Jones, Captain America, and Iron Man. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dice Masters will feature characters including Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello, Splinter, April, and their enemies.

The Licensing Group Ltd. is the exclusive North American licensing agency for The Magical Toothfairies, an animated children’s TV series created by the German-based company, MTF Vermarktungs-GmbH Co. KG. The Magical Toothfairies will be available in the U.S. on Yip TV in May. The English-language episodes will air three times a week on Friday nights at 5 p.m. and weekends at 9 a.m. The Magical Toothfairies currently airs in European markets and has been produced in English, Spanish, Russian, and German, with additional languages in development.

SAKAR Sakar’s collection of kid-safe Bluetooth headphones feature designs including Hello Kitty, My Little Pony, Shopkins, Bratz, DC Super Hero Girls, Emoji, Monster High, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Kids can listen to music with large, full-range drivers that offer a rich sound experience and clear bass tones. The ear cups are lightweight with thick, comfortable padding to provide noise isolation, while the headband bends for an adjustable fit. A built-in volume limiter automatically limits the volume to approximately 80 percent of the original maximum volume to help protect kids’ hearing.

Sakar will add new brands to its portfolio, including Shopkins, DC Super Hero Girls, Batman v Superman, The Powerpuff Girls, Shimmer and Shine, Blaze and the Monster Machines, and Captain America. Products featuring these licenses will launch throughout this year and next spring with extensive lines of youth electronics. Product lines include karaoke, walkie-talkies, kid-safe Bluetooth headphones and speakers, smartwatch cameras, action cameras, mobile accessories, and musical instruments.

DC Super Hero Girls headphones and karaoke

Summer 2016

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CHARACTER, TOYS, & ENTERTAINMENT CREATIVE LICENSING Creative Licensing partnered with mobile game developer TinyCo to introduce heroes and villains in an event inside Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, a game released from TinyCo in 2014. The event features a cast of action heroes and villains, including characters from Escape from New York, Terminator, and Rambo, who will join forces with Peter Griffin and the denizens of Quahog to battle an evil robot that threatens to destroy the town. Players of Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff can unlock the special event characters through an in-app purchase or by collecting a series of in-game materials through normal gameplay.

New partners for licensed boxed board games include Jackson Games for Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Cryptozoic for Escape from New York, and River Horse for Highlander.

The creative team behind Wet Hot American Summer has appointed Creative Licensing as the worldwide merchandise licensing agent for the film. The partnership will build off of Wet Hot American Summer’s current licensing program, and will expand into categories such as apparel, art posters, summertime accessories, board games, publishing, promotional tie-ins, specialty gifts, and live-action entertainment. Current licensees include Mondo, Ripple Junction, and Rusted Wave, with apparel located at Urban Outfitters, Kohl’s, Spencer’s, and Hot Topic.

SPIFFY PICTURES Spiffy Pictures, creators of the new animated PBS Kids series Nature Cat, will showcase licensing opportunities for products based on the educational series. Last year’s premiere reached 3.7 million people, and there have been more than 73 million video streams across all PBS Kids digital platforms since the series debut. HiHat Media will handle brand licensing for the U.S. and 9 Story Media Group Inc. will run international distribution and consumer products rights outside of the U.S. Spiffy Pictures created Nature Cat and co-produces the series with Spiffy Pictures and WTTW Chicago. The series airs twice every weekday on PBS stations across the U.S. Major funding for the series is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the Van Eekeren Family, founders of Land O’Frost.

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A LOOK INSIDE

SONY MAKES GHOSTBUSTERS FASHIONABLE Nas’ HSTRY Clothing Adds a High-End Twist to the Brand

WITH NEARLY 40 MOVIE RELEASES this year between Memorial Day and Labor Day, consumers will be inundated by thousands of licensed products across all categories on store shelves in support of these films. So how does a movie studio or licensing division set its property apart from the others?

In the case of Ghostbusters, for the much anticipated new release of the ’80s classic film, Sony Consumer Products examined traditional licensing routes as well as new creative avenues.

So “wear” did it lead? To popular rapper Nas. Through his HSTRY brand, the rapper has collaborated with Sony for a limited-edition apparel line called Nas x Ghostbusters.

Nas says he wanted to create a Ghostbusters line solely based on his affinity for the brand. “As kids, we were just happy to go out to the movie theater,” and the movie, “just took us on a ride.”

The Nas x Ghostbusters street wear line serves as an anchor to the entire apparel program. It is the premium component of the collection, with correspondingly higher price points. Nas is creative director for the line, and has teamed up with six brands for the various categories: His own HSTRY brand for street wear; New Era Cap for caps; Fila for footwear; Italia Independent for eyewear; Monster for headphones, and Tokyobike for bikes.

The launch included an exclusive with online fashion media outlet HYPEBEAST, which unveiled the Nas x Ghostbusters collection with a behind-the-scenes video

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and a look book featuring Nas modeling the clothes on location at Sony Pictures’ Culver City studio.

While each brand will feature its own part of the collection on its individual website, the lines will also be sold at Ron Herman in Los Angeles. Nas hosted an event in store on May 14 to promote the launch. Colette in Paris will promote the collaboration via themed window displays and a takeover of its iconic water bar. It is also hosting an event on May 17. This will be for a limited time to promote the film before it hits theaters nationwide on July 15.

Both stores will also feature the collection on their websites.

In addition to the Nas x Ghostbusters collection, the new movie’s licensing program features more than 45 partners around the world across all major licensing categories, including digital and gaming, toys, apparel, fashion accessories, publishing, collectibles, and more. These categories include Mattel for action figures, die-cast vehicles, play sets, and roleplay toys; Lego for construction sets; Funko for pop vinyl figures, Underground Toys for plush, computer accessories, and housewares; Activision for console and mobile games, handheld electronic games, and mobile, PC, and video games; IGT for slot machines; Simon & Schuster children’s publishing for print and ebooks editions of a junior novel, readers, and handbook; Hybrid for men’s, juniors’, girls’, boys’, and infant/toddler apparel; Fab Starpoint for backpacks, totes, messengers, lunch bags, and more; New Era for lifestyle headwear; Concept One for headwear, cold weather accessories, swimwear, and seasonal footwear, and many more.

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Summer 2016

APPAREL

TOYS As master toy partner, Mattel’s line of action figures, vehicles, play sets, and role-play toys captures details of the film’s heroes and allows fans to create their own epic adventures.

The Electronic Proton Backpack and Blaster gets fans ready to go ghost hunting. Kids can insert the glow in-the-dark mini figure into the blaster and project its silhouette on the wall.

The classic UNO game now features iconic characters from the 2016 Ghostbusters movie. Customizable cards deliver game-changing moments and help players defeat their opponents.

Build-A-Bear Workshop now allows customers to build their own Ghostbusters Bear. This 17-inch white bear has the Ghostbusters logo on its paw. Ghostbusters outfits and accessories, including a Proton Pack complete with sound, complete the ensemble. Build-A-Bear’s 7-inch mini Slimer has bright green fur and his tongue is hanging out.

Funko’s Ecto-1 Pop! Ride comes with a Jillian Holtzmann Pop! that’s exclusive to the Ride.

NKOK offers the Radio-Controlled Ecto-1, complete with Slimer behind the wheel.

GAMING Activision’s Ghostbusters game is a third-person action role-playing game designed for one to four players. As rookie Ghostbusters, players can level up their characters’ gear and abilities by tackling objectives, defeating ghastly creatures, and discovering hidden collectibles. The game is available for Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC.

Summer 2016

Hybrid offers a full range of T-shirts across key specialty, department, and mass retailers.

FAB Starpoint introduces a line of accessories, including backpacks, wallets, tote bags, and duffle bags to key specialty, department, and mass retailers.

Ghostbusters New Era Lifestyle caps allow consumers to choose from a selection of different colors, styles, and iconic details.

CONSUMABLES Fat free and gluten free, Campfire Ghostbusters Marshmallows are vanilla flavored and shaped like the iconic Ghostbusters characters, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, and Slimer.

PUBLISHING Strange things have been happening in New York City. Kids can grab their proton packs and join the Ghostbusters in a hilarious, action-packed retelling of the new movie from Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.

The book features an eightpage, full-color glossy insert with images from the film.

Running Press’ Ghostbusters Collectible Kit includes a mini replica of the ghost-debilitating proton pack and wand.

Complete with light and sound features, this gadget allows aspiring Ghostbusters to light ’em up and blast away.

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CHARACTER, TOYS, & ENTERTAINMENT GALINHA PINTADINHA (LOTTIE DOTTIE CHICKEN) Bromelina Productions will introduce new content and expanded distribution channels for Lottie Dottie Chicken. Bromelia will introduce Lottie Dottie Mini, a new animated series designed for young audiences featuring familiar Lottie Dottie Chicken characters, but with a new visual concept.

Lottie Dottie Chicken videos and songs, which are currently available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, will soon be released in Italian, French, German, Mandarin, and Japanese on YouTube. The brand has more than 90 licensees worldwide, and the videos are available on Netflix USA, Latin America, and Canada. Lottie Dottie Chicken apps can be downloaded for iOS and Android devices.

m4e

ITV STUDIOS

m4e’s new preschool series Wissper follows a young girl with the ability to talk to animals, created for kids ages 4 to 7.

The series is a tale of trust, respect, friendship, and teamwork.

German publisher BASTEI Media is the co-producer and the international publishing partner for Wissper, and also develops, produces, and distributes games and apps. German publishing house BASTEI Lübbe AG, BASTEI Media’s parent company will execute the publishing rights. Simba Dickie Group is the European master toy partner, and is currently developing a toy line for the property, which the company will present at the Spielwarenmesse 2017 in Nuremberg.

Mia and Me is a series about the adventures of Mia and her friends in the world of Centopia, which will continue for the next two years with a third season. The show broadcasts in more than 80 territories, and specific markets. This year, Panini extends the Mia and Me product line with a new trading card game based on the show and Schmidt Spiele offers new plush toys to retailers in Germany.

Simba Dickie Group is the master toy partner for Tip the Mouse, and launched a wide range of products last spring, while Italian Giunti Editore handles worldwide publishing. Other licensees include Panini, Herding, Vivid, Clementoni, Novartis, and TIGA Entertainment.

ITV Studios Global Entertainment recently relaunched the 1960s TV series Thunderbirds Are Go. ITVSGE is now gearing up for the launch of the second series of Thunderbirds Are Go, and the series has been greenlit for a third season. The licensor will present licensing opportunities to both new and existing partners for these next installments, featuring a Classic Thunderbirds line.

ITVSGE is a licensing agent for a range of brands, including the UK launch of Playmobil’s Super 4 toy line. The company is signing a number of soon-to-be announced partners for animated kids’ comedy series Oddbods.

ITVSGE will also introduce properties for 1970s music band Village People and British period drama Poldark.

Wissper

Thunderbirds Are Go

Summer 2016

THE FRED ROGERS COMPANY The licensing program for Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, based on the PBS Kids series from The Fred Rogers Company, will have five new licensing partners that will expand the consumer products program led by Out of the Blue Enterprises, the brand’s licensing agent. New licensors include Happy Threads, Komar, Berkshire, Smilemakers, and FAB Starpoint. The entire collection of new Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood products will be showcased at the Licensing Expo.

Happy Threads will produce a range of apparel for kids ages 0 to 7, including T-shirts, fashion tops, and hoodies, while Komar will offer a line of sleepwear. In addition, Berkshire is designing an extensive fashion collection, including headwear, cold weather accessories, and rain gear.

Smilemakers is developing an assortment of stickers and temporary tattoos, and FAB Starpoint is creating a collection of bags, including backpacks, sports bags, luggage, and travel accessories.

Happy Threads’ Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood T-Shirt

EPIC RIGHTS

JEEM TV Qatar-based Jeem TV, part of Bein Network and Netherlands-based European & Global Licensing, partnered to co-create the Monskey brand and kids’ animation series.

Monskey is based on a designer toy figurine. The entertainment brand and animation series has aired on Dutch TV since 2014, and will now expand worldwide starting with the Middle East. The Monskey animation series will incorporate 24 characters from the toy collection. Jeem TV aims to expand Monskey to target both child and adult audiences.

Monskey

Summer 2016

Epic Rights broadened its music brands to include AC/DC, KISS, John Lennon, CBGB, Woodstock, Aerosmith, Scorpions, ZZ Top, Dokken, Def Leppard, Billy Joel, and Billy Idol. Epic Rights and Perryscope Productions signed more than 80 licensees for AC/DC, and new products will be available at mass-market, mid-tier, and specialty retailers this year.

Epic Rights plans to continue the expansion of KISS’ licensing program into new categories.

With 100 current licensees, it will focus on digital media, audio, virtual, and augmented reality and gaming categories, in addition to food and spirits.

The John Lennon Classic program is based on images of John Lennon’s likeness, photographs of John Lennon, and recognizable album covers and designs.

Epic Rights has partnered with licensees to manufacture clothing and plan to expand to home goods, food, and accessories. The Artwork of John Lennon, Adults and the Artwork of John Lennon, Kids are based on images from John Lennon’s sketches. Epic Rights plans to create programs in apparel, home, health and beauty, and stationery for the Adults sketches and is seeking partners in baby, toddler, and preschool categories for the kids sketches.

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CORPORATE BRANDS JEWEL BRANDING & LICENSING Antik Batik, the fashion label created by designer Gabriella Cortese, is now available for licensing in North America through Jewel Branding. Licensing partners have already signed on for hosiery, bedding, rugs, and bath and kitchen textiles. Categories available include footwear, jewelry, fragrance, children’s apparel, home furnishings, and tabletop.

Hang Ten is the original surf and California lifestyle brand founded in 1960 with the feet icon. Hang Ten is currently licensed in categories including apparel, swimwear, sunglasses, footwear, and outdoor recreational products. Jewel seeks partners in home categories to further build the brand.

Collier Campbell was founded in the 1960s by two sisters and rose to fame in 1971 when the French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent used the designs as the inspiration for one of his collections. Partners have already signed on for rugs, stationery, crafting kits, and home décor fabric. Jewel seeks licensees in bedding, bath, kitchen textiles, home décor, apparel, accessories, and luggage.

Jeff Foxworthy introduces Fox + Arrow By Jeff Foxworthy, a lifestyle brand that embodies his love for casual living and things that he holds dear. The brand will launch with bedding later this year, and other categories available for licensing include furniture, home décor, rugs, apparel, and accessories.

Airheads plans to sign new licensing partnerships this year, including a collection of scented beauty and body care products through BAG NY featuring Airheads’ signature flavors. Other products in development include scented stationery, apparel, and digital stickers. 7-Eleven partnered to debut an Airheads Slurpee nationwide.

Bouffants and Broken Hearts partnered with brands such as Anthropologie, Nike, and Bobbi Brown, with new product releases, including cosmetics, apparel, accessories, footwear, home décor, and stationery launching later this year and next year. Italian fashion label Lazzari partnered for a collection of shirts and dresses, F+W will release a coloring book, and Trimcraft will develop a collection of crafting products. Robert Kaufman will also introduce a fashionable fabric collection. Barnes and Noble launched playing cards with the designer’s art through Andrews Blaine.

This year, the Tracy Porter brand launched into glassware and decorative accessories through a partnership with The Jay Co. Catalina Estrada’s program is expanding in the U.S. with bedding and bath collections that debuted at market through Baltic Linen.

Hallmark also joined on for an extensive stationery and gift program to include note cards, scarfs, frames, mugs, trays, umbrellas, and other products, which will launch on Mother’s Day. Clairebella bedding is available through Bed, Bath, & Beyond. This year, the brand welcomed the launch of Clairebella rugs, pillows, and poufs from Surya.

The Lily and Val brand continues its success at retail through licensing partnerships for home and wall décor, stationery, greeting cards, calendars, rugs and mats, storage products, and more. Categories available for licensing include kitchen textiles, housewares, tabletop, and stationery.

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CORPORATE BRANDS BRANDGENUITY

After taking home the LIMA Award with Reynolds/Hefty and Church & Dwight, Brandgenuity expanded the Arm and Hammer partnership with Reynolds Consumer Products and the Hefty brand for a new line of extra-strength waste bags with the odor-neutralizing power of Arm & Hammer. The program continues to grow with new licensees in automotive air care from Hopkins and in laundry care items from Ginsey.

Viacom Music & Entertainment Group selected Brandgenuity as the exclusive licensing agency for networks MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, and Spike, and the agency continues to grow its top properties, including South Park, Broad City, Lip Sync Battle, Workaholics, Beavis and Butt-Head, Drunk History, Love and Hip Hop, and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

South Park will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year with exclusive products and special collaborations.

MGM Studios grew to more than 100 licensees across the library for properties including Rocky, Creed, Vikings, Robocop, Army of Darkness, and Killer Klowns. The Rocky licensing program was reenergized by new content through the film Creed.

Brandgenuity seeks new licensees for entertainment brands in a variety of categories, including apparel, accessories, social expression, seasonal, toys, games, collectibles, gaming, special collaborations, and much more.

PENNZOIL Over the last two decades, the Beanstalk and Pennzoil partnership has steadily grown into a variety of different categories.

Licensees Navajo and Custom Accessories continually refresh their planograms featuring auto electrical accessories and oil changing accessories. This year, Navajo launched a new LED Magnetic Emergency Road Light that is waterproof and visible up to half a mile away.

In addition to these automotive accessories, Pennzoil brand aficionados enjoy novelty and collectible products from licensee Open Road Brands, as well as apparel from Dynasty Apparel.

Beanstalk continues to leverage the Pennzoil name into a variety of licensed products.

Current categories of interest include die-cast, garage storage organizers, shop vacuums and batteries, shop towels, degreasers, hand cleaners, work benches, creepers, mechanics’ seats, and engine and diagnostic tools.

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LISA MARKS ASSOCIATES Licensing agency Lisa Marks Associates Inc. (LMA) expands programs within its current portfolio of brands with key partnerships.

Two new Mentos-inspired scented programs will leverage the flavors and fresh positioning of the brand. In the second quarter, The Jay Companies will launch its aromatic assortment of Mentos candles, diffusers, tart burners, and more.

The program is planned for a range of retailers, including food, drug, mass, mid-tier, and department stores. Rotuba Extruders will develop a line of scented and unscented pens, pencils with toppers, and more for release in the U.S. and Canada in the third quarter.

LMA signed on Taste Beauty to develop a broad beauty program for the Chupa Chups brand.

The collection will include lip care, nail polish and accessories, cosmetic bags, gift sets, and more featuring Chupa Chups art and graphics. Products will be available in the U.S. and Canada at mass, specialty, value, department, and drugstore retailers in the third quarter.

LMA also signed multiple partners in key categories for PEZ and will grow partnerships for MoonPie, Warheads, Smarties, Aftate, and Dum Dums.

THE SHARPE CO. The BSA brand will secure specialty retail traction at Urban Outfitters and The Gap with plans to expand to department stores in the future. Licensing opportunities are available for fashion accessories, bag and luggage, footwear, and motorcycle accessories.

Last year, Hustler magazine released a style guide inspired by the core essence of entrepreneuriship defining what it means to be a “hustler.” Opportunities to license Hustler globally exist in intimates, sleepwear, underwear, liquor, gaming, and fashion accessories.

Polaroid has enjoyed success with its Polaroid heritage apparel program with European retailers Jules and Pull & Bear, and U.S. retailers Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, and Boxed Lunch. Additionally, Wild & Wolf—the British designer gift company—will launch a stationery and gift collection, which will include personalized coasters and magnets, drinkware, and gifts in Europe, North America, and Australia. There are licensing opportunities available within selected categories and territories including apparel, fashion accessories, homewares, paper goods, luggage and travel accessories, and collectibles.

Hustler apparel

The Licensing Book • 107

CORPORATE BRANDS ENERGIZER Energizer signed its first strategic licensee nearly 30 years ago—Johnson Controls, for automotive batteries—which today is a global program. The licensing program continues to be powered-up with more than a dozen additional licensees whose products augment Energizer’s nearly $2 billion global core business in 140 countries.

Since last year, licensees adding “postivenergy” to the program in North America are in categories such as solar-based battery back-up products. Energizer Solar Landscape Lighting, battery-operated specialty lights, pet lighting accessories, and electrical accessories extended the Energizer brand to new channels and segments. Energizer also expanded its consumer electronic accessories’ line to include universal USB chargers, power banks, and more.

The Energizer Bunny icon program includes new licensees in categories such as bunny slippers, plush toys, and portable power tubes. In addition, current and new Energizer licensees were granted expanded rights to the 100-year-old Eveready brand, as well as sub-brands such as Energizer Hard Case.

The Energizer program also grew internationally. Leveraging Energizer and EVERREADY brands in EMEA and Australia, partners for additional categories were signed, such as photographic accessories and seasonal, Christmas, and solar lighting, including the expansion of the direct-to-retail program with B&M stores in the UK. Energizer automotive accessories licensee Custom Accessories Europe was a finalist in the inaugural Brand and Lifestyle Licensing Awards 2016, nominated for its Energizer Lithium Polymer Jump Starter. The program also entered into Latin America, where two new licensees were brought on board for LED lighting, generators, pressure washers, welders, and automotive products.

Energizer Brands’ licensed products are featured in thousands of retail doors across 70 channels. Categories available for license include home automation, household and specialty lighting, digital health and fitness devices, consumer electronics globally, and portable audio and photographic accessories in Europe.

SICK BOY MOTORCYLCLES/SICKIE’S GARAGE Paidas Management, a full-service global branding, licensing, and rights management company, inked a deal with Doug Asermely’s Sick Boy Motorcycles/Sickie’s Garage brand.

Doug, the founder and creative force behind Sick Boy Motorcycles, is a hard-hitting bad-ass with a tough Northeastern accent who embodies the “take no prisoners,” edgy attitude that made his brand famous and keeps him grounded in authenticity and connected to his diverse customer base.

In 1999, after working as an automotive body shop fabricator and painter for most of his life, Doug founded the Sickie’s Garage and Sick Boy apparel brands. He hit the road and began selling his product at the largest biker rallies from coast to coast. From these beginnings, the brand has flourished, and is offered at online and catalog retailers nationally.

The demographic for the line includes young to old, male and female, bikers, rockers, the tattoo community, and urban markets.

The touring fleet now includes an 85-foot motor coach with merchandising trailer. In addition to other retail locations at Sturgis and in Daytona, Doug purchased a 9,000 square-foot historic building in Deadwood, S.D. South Dakota to act as one of his brick-and-mortar retail distribution points. There are also currently three Sickie’s Garage Burgers and Brews restaurants in operation, with at least three more in the works.

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CORPORATE BRANDS INTERASIA & ASSOCIATES In 1992, Interasia & Associates began to represent Asian manufacturers in negotiations for licensing rights with American brand owners.

Over the years, it has become one of the leading licensing agencies in Asia, where it represents many American and European companies in developing their trademark copyrights and brand extension businesses. Today, Interasia & Associates is an established full-service agency in brand development and licensing platforms, with offices located in each key Asian market.

Interasia & Associates’ professional management team averages more than 10 years of experience in the licensing business, with an extensive market network. Over the past 20 years, many Fortune 500 companies established their trademark licensing programs in various property types with the help of their services. Interasia & Associates works with hundreds of licensee candidates in each region, and its members have served as committee members and speakers for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council; the Singapore Franchise and Licensing Association; the Shanghai Fashion Association; the Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore Licensing Shows; Beijing Fashion Week; and the China International Franchise Association Event.

Major department stores, shopping complexes, and internet stores in the Asian consumer market sell Interasia & Associates licensed products.

Interasia & Associates partners with other industry professionals, and forms different affiliate companies that offer complete brand development solutions. From initial evaluation, strategy development, and implementation to design concept and retail management, each company is ready to serve clients in any specific area in its brand development endeavor in greater China, Korea, and South East Asia territories.

With a mission statement to serve clients’ interests as its own, to transform business relationships into long-term friendships, to promote cross-cultural understanding through global networking, and to create tangible values of intangible assets, Interasia works to consult, market, and manage the brands they represent.

The Asian consumer market, especially China, has been saturated with many new brands over the past 10 years. Consumers are more sophisticated and well-educated in regard to their purchasing preferences, and retailers are even more demanding on brand background, recognition, and performance. Any brand that wants to enter the market needs to not only generate brand awareness, but must also have high product quality and design, price position, the ability to reach their target consumers, create a strong retail image, and develop promotional strategies that can satisfy local consumer demand. A detailed and complicated review and plan that an experienced market operator produces is necessary to ensure that the brand will have long-term success against the increasing competition and fast business operation cycle.

Interasia & Associates devises a “Total Solution” strategy to help its clients develop, implement, and manage a winning strategy. Each company within the group is able to provide a service that is lacking or needed by a brand entering the market.

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SPD BRANDS SPD Brands, represented by The Licensing Group Ltd., will debut its new brand XOUSA. XOUSA is targeted to visitors to America’s top tourist destinations, including Los Angeles (XOLA), New York (XONY), and San Francisco (XOSF). XOUSA also encompasses each of the 50 states. The brand is targeted to contemporary consumers who routinely communicate through abbreviations and symbols.

Flight Patterns, another travel-centric brand, is targeted for consumers of all ages traveling for business or pleasure. The brand is comprised of a collection of original designs and patterns inspired by the three-letter airport designation codes unique to airports worldwide.

Heart Girl is a character based on the universal heart shape, targeted to girls ages 3 to 8. Heart Girl stories are set in the sunny world of Heartland and recount the character’s adventures with her animal friends including Daisy the Dog, Mittens the Kitten, and Honey Bunny. An animated story is available on YouTube. Open categories include apparel, stationary, accessories, games, and publishing.

HARRIS-SACHS LLC CELEBRATES 25th ANNIVERSARY After weathering the changing tides of the licensing industry for the past 25 years, the clear mission statement from day one has always remained the same: knowledge, experience, integrity. Harris-Sachs Member Charter (H-S) is a full service consultancy founded by Steve Harris in 1991 to provide expertise in assisting manufacturers to successfully and profitably compete in the world of licensing.

Jim Sachs joined Harris as his partner in 2004 to bring his experience in consumer product licensing to the growing business.

In addition, Ken Harris provides account management to several Complete Licensing Services of the firm’s major clients. This team has been able to deliver a total service ethic to many product categories they represent, Experience • Knowledge • Integrity such as apparel, plush, home textiles, rugs, food, beach, fabric, 159 Brandon Court candles, and drapery. Each client has different needs that must be Neshanic Station, NJ 08853 addressed. H-S studies the individual business, and attends trade Tel (908) 369-5358 shows and markets to make sure all of their clients are able to acquire the best licenses for their companies.

Steve Harris steveh@licenseadvisor.com As the economy has struggled since 2008, the need to minimize Jim Sachs jims@licenseadvisor.com risk has never been greater. Securing a powerful brand has become www.licenseadvisor.com Ken Harris the No. 1 goal of almost every manufacturer today. H-S has been able to bring winning brands to their clients and enabled them to gain retail space when the old formulas no longer guarantee placement.

A major part of this strategy involves the ability to call upon the many contacts to which H-S has access. Personal relationships built over the long term are an important asset in a world of texts and emails from strangers to other strangers. As the company heads into the future, change will occur faster than ever before. Those who are ready for it and, in fact, welcome it are the ones who will continue to be leaders. Harris-Sachs LLC stands as a proven leader in licensing consulting.

Harris - Sachs LLC

Summer 2016

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CORPORATE BRANDS BEANSTALK

The U.S. Army trademark licensing program leverages the brand’s values of pride, performance, and personal development. Recently, four new licensees joined the U.S. Army’s growing licensing program: RMS International, Decopac, PPI Apparel, and Isaac Morris Ltd. RMS International will draw on the U.S. Army’s equities of performance and pride to create a new line of U.S. Army-branded hard-sided luggage, brief cases, and premium duffel bags. Decopac Inc. will launch a series of branded edible cake images that consumers can use to decorate their favorite sweet treats. In an effort to expand product offerings to the female market, PPI Apparel will offer loungewear and sleepwear for women, and Isaac Morris will create a line of juniors’ apparel for distribution in midtier retailers nationwide. Opportunities are available in exercise equipment, office supplies, party supplies, sporting goods, swimwear, and the digital and interactive space.

This year, TGI Fridays announced its new line of frozen desserts by Captivated Foods, and shelf stable BBQ sauces and marinades by Vita Foods. Other partnerships include licensees Kraft Heinz for frozen snacks, Inventure Foods for salty snacks, and Mark Anthony Group for alcoholic beverages. Opportunities are available for barware, glassware, and small appliances.

In 2013, the California Milk Processors Board signed Beanstalk as the exclusive, global licensing agency for the got milk? campaign. The licensing program has since grown to include a broad range of food and beverage-based products.

Beanstalk secured a license agreement for got milk? in the food category with licensee Got Snacks? in 2013. Got Snacks? has since launched a collection of packaged baked goods. Opportunities available for the got milk? brand include glassware, home textiles, gifts, novelty, and publishing.

SYNCHRONICITY Sean Danconia’s SupaPop and cult-cinema-inspired Super-Pulp joined forces with Synchronicity to bring Danconia’s properties to animation, gaming, manga, and merchandise. The team has introduced SupaPop and Super-Pulp to top animation studios and producers at Anime Japan (Tokyo) and Mipcom (Cannes).

In the U.S., SupaPop and Super-Pulp launched at f.y.e., featuring apparel from Mighty Fine, and art by Danconia, with bags and accessories from Loungefly coming soon. Chocolate bars, apparel, and prints are at Sweet! on Hollywood Boulevard.

Sweet! also provided permanent exhibition space for SupaPop and Danconia’s fine art. Danconia’s art will launch this summer at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas. Anime Expo has tapped Danconia to create the official tote bag, shirt, and limited-edition poster for Anime Expo 2016.

This spring, the Tootsie Roll Candy Brands were introduced in Fisher Price’s Thomas the Tank Engine mini blind packs with Thomas as a box of Dots, Percy as a Tootsie Roll, Toby as a Sugar Daddy, Henry as a Fruit Chew, James as a BlowPop, and Emily as a box of Junior Mints. Other highlights include Tootsie sock assortments from Planet Sox at Macy’s and JC Penney, Rasta Imposta Tootsie Roll Halloween Bunting at Walmart and Tootsie Roll girls at Chasing Fireflies, the introduction of vintage tin canisters from Big Mouth Toys, and Tootsie Christmas ornaments and decorations from Christmas Central.

Vintage tin cannisters from Big Mouth Toys

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ART & PUBLISHING ART BRAND STUDIOS Art Brand Studios publishes the work of Marjolein Bastin, Ron DiCianni, Thomas Kinkade, and Thomas Kinkade Studios with distribution of the art and related collectibles through a global network of corporate and independently owned galleries, direct response television, theme parks, cruise ships, and specialty retailers. The company’s primary products are canvas and paper reproductions that feature peaceful and inspiring themes.

Thomas Kinkade’s well-known images depict gardens, cottages, estates, cityscapes, plein air, holiday scenery, and commemorative American landmarks. Thomas Kinkade Studio continues in the path that Thomas Kinkade developed. Thomas Kinkade Studio artists paint in Thomas Kinkade style with attention to detail and an understanding of how a picture can tell a story.

Thomas Kinkade Studio now adds Marjolein Bastin to its artist roster. Through her nature-inspired artwork, Marjolein Bastin reminds collectors to pause and enjoy nature and allow it to be a source of serenity, energy, and healing.

Ron DiCianni considers himself “a Christian cleverly disguised as an artist.” With awards for both his work as an author and as an artist, the response from the Christian and secular markets is positive.

Art Brand Studios’ expansion plans include partnerships with artist talent, while also leveraging its roster of licensees and network of art galleries. Art Brand Studios hopes to expand its licensing portfolio of home décor, gift, seasonal, collectible, garden, and accessory products for new artists, as well as for the Marjolein Bastin, Ron DiCianni, and Thomas Kinkade brands.

Thomas Kinkade

Painter Ron DiCianni at work

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MERRYMAKERS

Pete the Cat

Summer 2016

MerryMakers presents James Dean’s Pete the Cat. From the 30-title series published by HarperCollins, Pete the Cat has a fun-loving personality that his fans know and love.

Pete the Cat’s licensing program includes Kids Preferred, which will create backpacks, arts and crafts, wooden toys, tins, and an infant line, while University Games will offer a line of board games and puzzles. Airwaves will offer T-shirts for kids and adults, Books to Bed will have specialty pajamas in boys’ and girls’ patterns, and Custom Personalization Solutions offers apparel and accessories. Educational Insights will have electronic educational games available, Little Folk Visuals will make creative felt boards, Lakeshore Learning offers creative play story-telling kits, and Scholastic will have in-classroom floor puzzles and games. Roommates/York Wallcoverings will provide home décor.

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ART & PUBLISHING HOWARD ROBINSON Howard Robinson’s main showcase will feature “Selfies.”

Robinson adds new licensees and images to the range, including Ravensburger and Ceaco, for licensed puzzles in North America; Ravensburger for puzzles in the UK; and Thomas Holdsworth for New Zealand and Australia. Additionally, Leanin’ Tree will offer greeting cards, as well as mugs and magnets.

Additional licensees include JR Copa with beach towels and boards, The Mountain for T-Shirts, Art Brands for transfers, and Elizabeth Studios for cotton textiles. In Europe, Puckator will release Selfies cups, magnets, and bags, and Beniamin Sp will launch a range of back-to-school, office products, stationery, board games, and textiles.

Robinson exclusively partnered with Prime 3D for a lenticular 3-D range of posters, stationery, puzzles, placemats, cups, and Christmas cards.

PENGUIN

Jeff Leedy’s artwork

JEFF LEEDY STUDIOS Jeff Leedy Studios has licensed an image of a yarn shop, commissioned by Carolyn Parkinson, owner of The Twisted Ewe in Boise, Idaho. The image will be used at the owner’s discretion for promotional purposes.

Leedy, an art humorist, was seen by Parkinson at Boise Art in The Park festival last year. Leedy does commissions for customers and licensing of those images from the final artwork.

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Penguin has partnered with Cloud9 Fabrics for Corduroy, and expects the fabrics to be introduced by the end of the year.

Online retailer Litographs offers T-Shirts, tote bags, and posters for Corduroy featuring text from the book. The line is expected to expand in the near future. American Greetings will introduce a line of Mad Libs cards this year, while Hi-Art will introduce Mad Libs stickers to its app.

There are more than 125 million Mad Libs books in print and the Mad Libs app has been downloaded more than 8 million times.

Mad Libs: The Game launched at the end of March from Looney Labs and has been successful with fans and gamers alike. This summer, the Mad Libs van will drive across the country for six weeks in search of America’s favorite adjective. A new website will re-launch prior to the trip.

Ladybug Girl kicked off the year with a clothing partnership at Target. The brand has seen significant growth over the last four years, and now has more than 4 million books in print.

Summer 2016

ART & PUBLISHING WALDOODLES Canadian-based illustrator and designer Walter Sayers launched a character lifestyle brand, Waldoodles, that is seeking partners to license across publishing, apparel, stationery, and other categories.

The Waldoodles brand inspires children to express their own creativity by beginning with a scribble, a single line drawing, and then build a character from there. Waldoodles is a fun and creative art process that allows children of any age to unleash their inner art monster.

The collection of Sayer’s own Waldoodles are fun and whimsical characters that live in the World of Oodle and have individual skills and artistic styles.

Sayers plans to create a Waldoodle art monster for anyone who will scribble a line at Licensing Expo and hopes to reach his goal of 1,000 Waldoodles.

Waldoodles art

MHS LICENSING MHS Licensing specializes in representing artists and advising manufacturers in the search, evaluation, and acquisition of new properties and personalities. This year, it will introduce artists Darren Gygi and Rebecca Stoner.

Darren Gygi began his career as a freelance illustrator, where he created award-winning artwork and expanded his fine art offerings to include a wide scope of subjects, styles, and markets. Gygi’s paintings are filled with boldness, flair, and expression.

Gygi owns and operates his own production company specializing in high-quality, affordable canvas wrap wall décor in the Darren Gygi Home Collection. His entire portfolio of artwork is now available for licensing on additional home décor products as well as giftables, stationery, kitchen textiles, and bedding and bath.

UK-based artist Rebecca Stoner has been working professionally as a designer since 2005, creating patterns, illustrations, and artwork for a variety of client products, such as fabric, homewares, stationery, and laser cut metal sold across the UK. Stoner works directly with clients to create designs that help bring their products to life. Her library of artwork lends itself to a variety of products that range from stationery and giftables to wall coverings and home décor.

MHS Licensing will also introduce images from its entire portfolio of artists. Collectively, these art properties generate more than $121 million in annual sales through their licensee partners.

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Darren Gygi’s artwork

Summer 2016

BLOGGER

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ART & PUBLISHING BENTON ARTS Benton Arts expands its collection with new Jim Benton books for all age groups.

Where Did All The Dinos Go?, published by Scholastic and designed for kids ages 2 to 4, is the newest search-and-find board book from Benton Arts.

In Dear Dumb Diary Deluxe, Jamie Kelly is back and dumber than before in the super-deluxe, four-color, special-edition book published by Scholastic.

In addition to many new publishing projects, It’s Happy Bunny heads back to it roots with one of the brand’s first licensees, Ripple Junction. New stickers and buttons will release soon.

MR. PUPPY The Mr. Puppy brand will expand to include apparel and accessories for women and kids. Originally targeted to tweens, the brand features a friendly dog named Mr. Puppy.

The brand is looking to extend its reach into new categories with partners that have manufacturing and distribution. Mr. Puppy is also moving into the entertainment category with a new musical featuring the character.

MARJORIE SUE Rebecca Morgan is the creator of Marjorie Sue, a book series about a very girly and sporty third grader. Marjorie Sue was created out of love “and necessity” by Rebecca Morgan for her daughter. The fictional character acted as a liaison to help her daughter learn to express herself. She brought laughter, comfort, encouragement, and even discipline to their lives on a daily basis.

Morgan believes Marjorie Sue, her brother Jake, and family, fills the growing need for a more creative approach to the broad lessons covered in kindergarten through third grade. The storylines introduce kids to the hobby of building your own race car, thereby introducing them to core STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) topics and life skills woven into a dozen stories with watercolor illustrations

by Bea Balint.

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ART & PUBLISHING GIORDANO STUDIOS

Noah’s Ark

Greg Giordano is entering his 13th year since establishing his licensing business, Greg & Company. Since the beginning, Greg has adapted both his style and subject matter and has continued to increase his licensing partners to more than 40 licensees worldwide.

His new collections feature a multitude of styles and subjects including patriotic, retro, nostalgia, and vintage farm themes, along with his well-known adaptations of garden birds, wildlife, puppies, kittens, and holiday images.

Giordano has also expanded his Nostalgic America collection with four new images.

Giordano Studios will preview a new series of designs based on the evergreen inspirational theme, Noah’s Ark. Licensing opportunities are available in publishing, bedding, fabrics, puzzles, and other core product categories.

PAWS Garfield will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2018 and licensor Paws, Inc. is gearing up for the celebration. Garfield debuted on the comics pages in 1978 and will mark 40 years of feline fame with national media, a satellite media tour with creator Jim Davis, social media campaigns, and more. Paws is looking for retail partners, QSR promotions, and new licensees to help mark the anniversary.

Garfield’s 40th anniversary celebration is geared toward millennials who have helped usher Garfield into the digital age thanks to social media and mobile gaming and apps. Bare Tree Media and several casual game publishers have launched games, such as Garfield Chef, by Animoca Games. The Garfield brand is looking forward to several launches of casual games in 2016, including educational title Garfield on the Presidents, just in time for the election.

Paws, Inc. welcomed several new licensees recently, including Shoal Games Ltd., owner of Trophy Bingo, for Garfield Bingo; Hermes Press for an original art book, The Art of Jim Davis’ Garfield!; the Praim Group for chocolates; and Leanin’ Tree for greeting cards and gifts.

Pet products is a major push for Paws. Recently, deals were inked with A2B Legana/7 Pets for litter and pet hygiene products for the U.S. and Canada and Hangzhou Huayuan Pet Products will roll out Garfield-branded pet food in China.

Also in China, notable deals include Ramen Iroha Ltd. for premium-with-purchase in its stores; Dohia Home Textile Co., Ltd. for domestics; a Pizza Hut promotion; Shenzhen Xinghua Shoes Col, Ltd. for slippers; and Legs (Shanghai) Advertising Company, Ltd. for a promotion in Aeon department stores.

Paws welcomed Kinnikinnick Foods to its roster this year in the food category. Kinnikinnick specializes in gluten-free, tree-nut free, and peanut-free food products for the North American market.

New licensees in the U.S. for apparel and accessories include Sneakerskins, LLC; 2 Monkeys, a division of 6 Two Apparel Group; Body Rags; American Marketing Enterprises/Briefly Stated; Triottica Group, Inc./Deep Eyewear; and Great Eastern Entertainment. Additionally, Target’s online store recently featured new sleepwear produced by licensee MJC. Paws is recruiting licensing partners for Garfield in apparel, accessories, food and beverage, gifts and novelties, and pet products and promotions.

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OUTSIDE THE BOX

BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL LICENSING BRAND WITHOUT BRICK-AND-MOTAR RETAIL PLACEMENT

by TED MININNI, president and creative director, Design Force

POP Pilates creator Cassey Ho models a tank from her apparel collection.

IT’S A FACT: MOST RETAILERS AREN’T PICKING up many licensed brands. Shelf space is at a premium and with so many licensed brands in the marketplace, tough business decisions have to be made as to which properties will get square footage. The winners are high-profile properties that are managed and leveraged expertly, ensuring a much higher degree of success for licensors, licensees, and retail partners.

Hot new virtual properties are growing in number and many are eager to ink licensing deals to reap the rewards of increased consumer recognition and strong sales. For some companies, the goal is to ink as many licensing deals as possible, often leaving it up to their licensees to develop consumer products and packaging. This approach inhibits the potential of the brand.

As brands mature and grow, the property’s most equitable assets must be leveraged in a consistent visual and verbal manner—this is crucial to the success of not only licensed brands, but all brands.

Select owners of hot, new online properties seem to know that innately. Even though many of these brands are in their infancy, I see exciting futures for them as they become more sophisticated. The key to their ultimate success will be whether these brand owners know when to collaborate with licensing program experts to take their properties to the next level, even if they only sell their consumer products online.

“DREAM. BELIEVE. ACHIEVE.” When licensed brands only appear online, it’s important that they build and foster a special community of followers, just as consumer product brands and major entertainment properties do. Cassey Ho presents us with a great example. Ho, an entrepreneur and creator of POP Pilates built her online brand from the ground up. Beginning in college, she created the largest female fitness channel on YouTube with more than 2.8 million followers. A social media diva, Ho blogs on her own website, Blogilates, and has more than a million followers on Instagram. Her POP Pilates program is offered in 24-hour fitness gyms across the U.S. Ho also won the Streamy Award for Best Health and Wellness Channel in 2014 and 2015.

Ho was committed to exercise and yoga in college. In her website bio, she says, “I

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couldn’t find a yoga bag that was stylish enough or big enough to fit my mat and gym things in.” So, Ho designed her own bag, launching her own licensing program in the process. The bag attracted the attention of Ho’s students. Orders started to roll in and inspired the next set of designs.

Cassey Ho is a unique brand gaining increasing attention worldwide. Last year, she delivered the keynote address at Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) in London with Benjamin Grubbs, global head of top creators at YouTube, on “Creating an effective licensing program to follow.”

“This is the first time we have focused on a YouTube celebrity at BLE, and the session provided a fascinating insight into how brands can leverage the digital landscape,” says Darren Brechin, BLE event director. Clearly, BLE recognizes how timely and important it is to recognize successful licensed properties that only appear in virtual environments.

In her address, Ho hit the nail on the head by saying, “A lot of people may think of me as a YouTube star and fitness instructor, but I’m also the CEO and head designer of my merchandise lines. I know my audience very well, so it makes it simpler to come up with new products. That’s the perk of selling to a community, not just customers.” Understanding that she has a community of POP Pilates fans, not mere customers wishing to purchase fitness-related merchandise, Ho offers her own line of apparel, accessories, DVDs, and fitness books.

She recognized the power of branding to create an avid fan base early on and she has worked hard to create meaningful relationships with her followers, whom she dubs her POPsters.

At first glance, Ho’s licensed products don’t appear to center around specific visual aesthetics, but short quotes (verbal brand communication) that are recognizable to her fans from her presentations and blog posts.

For example, signature phrases on her water bottles such as “Train like a beast. Look like a beauty;” “Sore today. Strong tomorrow;” and “Never, ever give up” resonate with her fans.

As Ho expands her reach and develops new consumer products in more categories, some of which may be packaged, Ho will have to take branding to the next level. By collaborating with licensing program design experts who develop style guides, a visual aesthetic will tie her product lines together and tether them to her brand in a sophisticated and convincing manner.

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THE NEW LICENSING FRONTIER Multi-Channel Networks (MCNs) are the hottest thing in new media and the giants of entertainment have already taken notice. MCNs are comprised of groups of YouTube channels that usually offer some of their own fare, as well as user-generated content, typically formatted as short-form videos. They drive users to their various stations, which are supported by advertising focused on user demographics.

MCNs are a recent development that have surfaced over the past five years. Because they are still in their infancy, most of them haven’t created the infrastructure necessary to develop licensing programs that offer consumer products across multiple categories, such as entertainment giants do with film and TV properties.

However, given the growing power of MCNs, the potential exists to leverage their own high-profile brands.

Entertainment content is being churned out via MCNs with staggering creativity. Many adults are likely unaware of them because most of their content is aimed directly at tweens, teens, and the youngest of the millennials. New celebrities are emerging and it’s possible that some of them may eventually have as much clout as TV and movie stars because they already enjoy huge, cult-like fan bases. This is leading to investments in some of these MCNs by traditional media outlets and movie studios.

DreamWorks Animation, for example, saw the potential of MCNs when it acquired AwesomenessTV in 2013, shelling out $33 million in cash for the network. The deal gives DreamWorks access to 86,000 channels, 48 million subscribers, and close to 5 billion video views. After hiring James D. Fielding as head of consumer products (a former president of Disney Stores Worldwide and CEO of Claire’s stores), DreamWorks signaled its commitment to leveraging the power of its properties with licensed consumer products in a concerted manner.

DISNEY KNOWS. . .

In March 2014, The Walt Disney Co. acquired MCN Maker Studios for $500 million, offering to pay another $450 million if Maker achieved specified performance goals. The deal gave Disney access to Maker’s 55,000 channels, 380 million subscribers, and 5.5 billion monthly views. In an interview with AdWeek, Disney’s Chairman and CEO, Bob Iger, says, “Short-form online video is growing at an astonishing pace, and with Maker Studios, Disney will now be at the center of this dynamic industry with an unmatched combination of advanced technology and programming expertise and capabilities.”

With its usual acumen in finding and developing star talent, as well as its tremendous capabilities in licensing its brands, Disney will be at the forefront in developing this new frontier in entertainment and licensing.

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Maker stars include rapper Snoop Lion’s (formerly Snoop Dogg) channel, WestFestTV; Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca Enterprises; actor/filmmaker Kevin Smith; and numerous content-rich channels including The Platform (beauty channel), and Cartoonium (kids’ channel) to name a few.

THE RANKINGS Business Insider assessed and published a list of YouTube stars with the highest earnings ($1 million or more in ad revenues in 2014). Because of their high profiles, these stars are candidates for strong consumer licensing programs. Some of them have their own YouTube channels and have established followings, but many of the names on the list received their exposure on MCNs, such as PewDiePie, aka Felix Arvid Ulf Kjelberg, a Swedish video game commentator with a penchant for colorful language.

Smosh, a veteran YouTube duo of comedians Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla, have millions of fans and more than 3 billion video views. The duo own an online store where they sell consumer products, aka “store merch,” in a tongue-in-cheek, inimitable style. This is a preview of things to come, not only for Smosh, but for many other YouTube stars.

As new media develops and matures online, consumers will have access to unlimited, entertaining fare, and the licensed consumer products that will surely follow. I expect more traditional entertainment companies to either buy out MCNs or create their own as the lucrative potential of online entertainment, celebrity, and licensing possibilities explodes.

It’s an exciting time to be involved in the licensing business. And here’s the thing: I predict that some of the hottest properties that emerge online will become so famous and so lucrative that retailers will come to them to ink deals in the near future. So stay tuned; this is going to be a bumpy—but exhilarating—ride. ••••

YouTube star PewDiePie’s bestselling book, published by Razorbill

Ted Mininni is president and creative director at Design Force Inc., a package and licensing program design consultancy to the consumer product and entertainment industries. The goal of Design Force is to establish strong emotional connections with consumers and create powerful visual brand experiences that engage, excite, entertain, inspire, and influence consumers’ decision to buy. Mininni can be reached at 856-810-2277. Visit www.designforceinc.com for more information.

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LICENSING 101

WHY SHOULD MANUFACTURERS CONSIDER LICENSING? The Benefits and Outcomes of Licensing

by JIM SACHS, partner at Harris-Sachs LLC CONTEMPLATING LICENSING? THIS IS A question both large and small manufacturers always ask themselves. In this article, we will explore the reasons why a company would consider licensing and what their expectations might be. Some questions to ask include: • Where are growth opportunities?

• Is the competition making inroads?

• Have sales topped out?

• Does the company need fresh marketing and

support from the outside?

• Does the company want to transition its product line to a licensed brand?

Understanding the manufacturer’s consumer and market is vital. It’s imperative to know who buys the product and where he or she shops for the product. It’s crucial to be aware of the consumer range of appeal and the channels of distribution.

When it comes to the decision to utilize licensing, “strategic” is the operative word. Strategically applying a license to a specialized product or product category in a narrow market enhances the credibility of When it comes to the the product. With an eye to future decision to utilize licensing, growth and inevi‘strategic’ is the operative table competition, a license will help word. Strategically applying a sales and license to a specialized product sustain can also prevent or product category in a narrow any competition tries to “knock market enhances the credibility that off” the product at a lower price. With of the product.” correct timing and a few tweaks, the licensed product can be repositioned as the penultimate iteration with a new launch. Instant brand name recognition supported by brand credibility not only attracts consumers, but also supports retail buyer confidence.

Large manufacturers contemplate licensing as a long-term strategy because current product lines are built out, and there is a need for licensing as a means for growth. Owning a license with immediate market-

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ability opens retail doors because retailers often ask for a licensed brand. At the very least, the company has a reason to call a buyer with an opportunity.

A company can also utilize the license from a strategic pricing perspective. In today’s competitive market, retail buyers want licensed product at generic pricing or just slightly above. This strategy allows the manufacturer to determine during the license negotiations whether or not it makes sense to agree on a deal. When a company uses licensing for new product development, they are able to attack new channels of distribution, which also leads to growth. A manufacturer may initially opt out of licensing for exploratory purposes, but once the company investigates appropriate brands and starts to work with the brand owners, they have the ability to offer major retailers an exclusive if they buy in. If a company is able to allow the retailer to use the license for a year, they can capitalize on that exposure as a springboard to launch the line to the rest of the trade.

The decision to enter the world of strategic licensing requires a long-term vision, as well as an understanding of the realities of the licensing process as a whole. With experienced professional help, the process is cost-effective and offers many opportunities. The benefits are plentiful, with the immediate expectations to shut out the competition and simultaneously supply instant brand recognition.

•••• Jim Sachs has 30 years of licensing business experience and served as vice president of sales, marketing, and licensing at Chein Industries. He spent the past 12 years as a partner at Harris-Sachs, LLC, a licensing consulting company to manufacturers and retailers.

Summer 2016

WIT SPOTLIGHT

WITStories

FARNAZ ESNAASHARI-CHARMATZ, GENJI LECLAIR, and KAREN KILPATRICK discuss being successful businesswomen and joining the Women in Toys, Entertainment, and Licensing (WIT) network.

What is the best piece of business advice that helped shape who you are as a businesswoman and why?

Esnaashari-Charmatz: Stay true to your vision and know that the devil is in the details. There will always be a lot of information and opinions coming at you from every direction, but if you know the vision for what you are trying to accomplish, always keep that in sight. Also, it’s important to use the advice from others as guidance to get you to where you need to be.

Leclair: My client’s perception is my reality—so I always look at the project from their point of view. This is so important for generating collaborative problem solving and creating results.

Kilpatrick: Relationships matter. When you treat the people you work with and who work for you well, you become more of a leader and less of a boss. And as a leader, you will inspire the best efforts of others, which is great for business!

What’s the biggest challenge you have faced in business, and how did you overcome it?

Esnaashari-Charmatz: At first, it was very challenging to make the transition from my previous role at Nickelodeon to my new role as series creator. It took time to understand my new responsibilities, but I just kept working hard at it every day.

Leclair: My biggest challenge has been transforming my communication skills from being self-empowered to empowering others around me. It’s a forever process that started when I realized I couldn’t run my business on my own. I had to start developing people around me, listening to their commitment, and trusting them to manage the business. I did this through communication courses, reading, and practice!

Kilpatrick: I tend to have a difficult time letting go of control, which can be an impediment to progress and growth. It has been vitally important to me to surround myself with people I trust and who possess skills that I lack. It’s impossible to do it all, and confidence and trust in my team has been the difference between failure and success.

Esnaashari-Charmatz: A membership with WIT opens new opportunities with other women in the industry. It’s an organization that helps us support and guide one another.

Leclair: It means sisterhood, empowerment, confidence, and power. I’ve been fortunate to sponsor WIT and from that, meet and work with so many talented and passionate women in the industry.

Kilpatrick: It transformed my career in the toy industry.

When I was presented with the opportunity to co-chair the S. Florida Chapter, I immediately said yes. This was an impactful decision. Through volunteering and helping as much as possible, I made connections and friends that have propelled my business and professional life beyond what I could have imagined. It is an incredible organization full of accomplished, amazing women who support each other, and I’m proud to be a part of it.

What is one of your most memorable career accomplishments?

Esnaashari-Charmatz: Getting a series with Nickelodeon and being part of this amazing brand.

Leclair: There are a few. One was hitting $25 million in sales. That was a fun milestone. Getting our first million-dollar order was another, as well as getting an order for 10 million pieces of one item. I also remember walking through the airport in Germany and seeing two people carrying bags we had designed and produced for Spiegel/Eddie Bauer. It’s always a boost to see our products out in the world!

Kilpatrick: Being named vice president of marketing for JazWings, Jazwares’ innovative online idea incubator.

I started out in the toy industry as a creator, so I know firsthand the difficult road creators and inventors face in this industry. I am thrilled to be part of a company that gives creators from all walks of life an unprecedented opportunity to bring their ideas to life.

••••

Farnaz Esnaashari-Charmatz Creator, Co-Executive Producer, Shimmer and Shine, Nickelodeon

Genji Leclair Business Development Manager, The Product Greenhouse

Karen Kilpatrick Vice President of Marketing, JazWings Creator, Pumpkinheads

What does WIT mean to you? How has it impacted your career?

Summer 2016

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PITFALLS AND PROTECTIONS IN LICENSING AGREEMENTS

Licensing 101, Part 80

by JAMES KIPLING, of counsel, Dinsmore & Shohl LLP This is the 80th article in a series devoted to the creation and documentation of the licensing relationship and the elements of a typical license agreement.

IN THIS ARTICLE—AND SEVERAL FOLLOWING—WE will consider specific issues that arise in License Agreements and determine strategies by which licensees can avoid problems and save money. We will look at examples of specific provisions of agreements that contain often subtle pitfalls, and suggestions for how to avoid the harm that they might otherwise cause.

THE BUSINESS PLAN When a licensee approaches a licensing deal, he or she can only do justice to review the licensor’s draft agreement after having developed—in advance—a detailed business plan for the application of the licensed property within its product line. The licensee’s business plan is the most important element of a licensing negotiation, even though it is not part of the document itself.

The licensee’s decision makers should following questions: The only thing that ask •theDoes the agreement submitted by

the licensor give us the rights that

is 'standard' about we need? the Licensor’s License • Do they cost what we expected?

• How else might we get shafted?

Agreement will be Unfortunately, the last question that it has been can have many possible answers. If the drafted to favor the licensee is not certain that the licensor’s draft is consistent with the business plan, Licensor in every and if the license agreement in question is of great importance to the licensee, way the Licensor’s then everything that can be done to recLegal Department tify lingering questions must be done.

We will now look at contract lanhas been able to guage that appears in actual licenthink of.” sor-generated agreements. In each instance, we will look at the original contract language, identify the problematic content, and give examples of how the problems might manifest themselves as the licensee operates under the agreement. Then, we will consider remedial language that the licensee might use to negotiate with the licensor before he or she signs the agreement that may avoid the problems all together. Timing is crucial—once the agreement is executed, the licensor need not accede to any requests for changes.

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STANDARD LICENSE AGREEMENTS When the licensor submits the first draft, it frequently will refer to that draft as “The Standard Agreement.”

The only thing that is “standard” about the licensor’s license agreement will be that it has been drafted to favor the licensor in every way its legal department could think of. In fact, they never cease to think of ways to modify the document to make it even more favorable for themselves.

The use of the term “standard” is intended to discourage the licensee from trying to change any of the document’s content. It would be unwise to accept this concept if there is anything in the agreement that the licensee doesn’t like or can’t seem to understand.

In such instances, it is crucial to ask questions. If the answers you receive don’t satisfy your concern, ask more questions. If the person you are speaking with can’t or won’t clarify the wording for you, you may be speaking with the wrong person, or perhaps the wrong company.

CASE 1: GRANT OF RIGHTS The licensee’s purpose when he or she enters a license agreement is to be able to use elements of the licensed property in its product line and related materials.

As a result, the definition of this term is of the essence of the deal. Let’s assume that the licensor submits a first draft that incorporates the following definition of the term, “licensed property:” “The Licensed Property consists of storylines, scripts, designs, artwork, characters, names, trademarks, logos of the motion picture entitled ‘Title,’ and the in-character names and likenesses of the principal performers, as well as visual props and other elements contained within the Style Guide, to the full extent that Licensor shall have such rights.”

PROBLEMS? There are several problems with this “Grant” clause.

First and foremost, the reference to the style guide is vague. Is there only one, or are there several editions?

Has the licensee received and reviewed the document in order to determine whether it contains all of the visual, audible, and textual elements that the business plan identifies as being necessary to the licensee? Even if the licensor has submitted this document, unless it is explicitly identified and stated to be incorporated into the license agreement, it will have no binding effect upon the licensor. One good way to handle this question

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OF COUNSEL would be to specify the style guide by version number and attach it as an exhibit to the license agreement.

Another major problem is the portion of the definition that limits the grant of rights for performers and other elements “to the full extent that Licensor shall have such right.” One might read this phrase as the licensor’s assurance that it is not holding back any elements of the licensed property. However, the more accurate interpretation is that the licensor is saying, “If our attorneys didn’t do their jobs well and failed to acquire the in-character names and likenesses of the principal performers or other elements, don’t blame us; you’re on your own.”

A reasonable request from the licensee at the time of negotiating the agreement would be to request that the licensor make a determination of whether or not it actually does have the rights to make the grants in question. The language should either be revised to be unconditional, or if the licensor refuses, the licensee must assume that it will face problems if the talent in question challenges its rights to make use of the talent rights involved.

If the licensor will not make the grant unconditional, then the licensee must make the decision whether or not certain talent rights are essential to the business plan, and if they are, whether to proceed with the deal or not.

How much less would The Terminator property be worth to the licensee if it might not be able to use the likeness and characteristics of Arnold Schwarzenegger?

The licensee may move forward and assume the risk, or look for another alternative.

Perhaps, as in the Schwarzenegger example, there is one particular actor in the motion picture whose in-character likeness and other characteristics are absolutely essential while that is not the case for the other talent rights. If so, the licensee might bargain for the unconditional use of that single actor’s rights on an unconditional basis, and assume the risk with respect to the remaining talent.

CONCLUSION In reviewing license agreements, licensees must clearly know what their critical business requirements are and whether the agreement they are reviewing grants them to you or not. This is one of those difficult business decisions that executives are frequently called upon to make.

In many instances, it may take much effort even to determine what the problem might be. Those will be the subjects of future articles in this series.

••••

James Kipling has represented licensors and licensees for more than 20 years, negotiating entertainment, sports, artwork, brand, invention, and technology agreements. He is Of Counsel with Dinsmore & Shohl LLP in Cincinnati, and can be reached at jim.kipling@ dinsmore.com. Copyright: ©2016 James M. Kipling, All rights reserved.

ADVERTISER INDEX 9 Story Media Group......................................27, 29 Activision............................................................131 AG Entertainment.................................................59 BBC Worldwide..................................................132 Berkshire Associates.......................................10, 11 Condé Nast..........................................................31 Discovery Communications....................25, 77, 117 DreamWorks.........................................................85 Electronic Arts......................................................37 Energizer............................................................107 Entertainment One Family.................................6, 7 FremantleMedia Enterprises................................95 Fun 2 Play Toys.....................................................99 Genius Brands....................................................4, 5 Harris-Sachs........................................................111 Interasia & Associates.........................................109 JellyJam Entertainment........................................69 Jewel Branding & Licensing.................................53 LittleMissMatched..............................................1, 2

Madame Alexander Doll Company......................47 Penguin Young Readers.....................................115 Pennzoil..............................................................105 Rovio.....................................................................61 Rubie’s Costume Company..................................57 Sakar International................................................33 Sesame Workshop................................................63 Sickboy Motorcycles...........................................113 SmileyWorld.........................................................73 Sony Pictures Consumer Products..................16, 17 Sunrights...............................................................91 The Jim Henson Company.............................14, 15 The World of Eric Carle........................................81 Toy Industry Foundation.....................................129 Toy State.............................................................8, 9 Turner Media Group.................................19, 21, 23 Women in Toys...................................................123 Zag.................................................................12, 13

The ad index is published as a courtesy. While every effort is made to be accurate, late additions and changes in layout may result in errors or omissions.

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