The Bugg Report Magazine - Edition 11 by thebuggreport

Including Key Industry News, Feature Interviews, Retail Spy and Wide Eyes News from the Tube!

buggtoysandlicensing.com Edition Edition 11 11

TM & © DC Comics (s14)

TM & © Cartoon Network (s14)

From the Editor How many times have you heard somebody say, ‘trade shows and events are all about networking’? I hear it all the time but the more I think about it, especially in reference to our industry, it is so very true. It’s funny, we travel all over the world to places like New York, London, Hong Kong, Nuremberg and many more, yet how often does it seem like we end up meeting with the same people we already meet with here in Australia? Not only that, when we do meet with new businesses and prospects for future business deals, nothing eventuates because that email you sent was never responded too... It always amazes me that when we travel to these trade events and meet with 20+ people from a wide range of companies, it’s often near impossible to get a response from them after the show when you make the effort to follow them up! There are a lot of factors including time zones, schedules, travel commitments and many more. My point is that it’s hard to build a relationship and network with new business prospects when you only see them a couple of times a year at these shows... More to the point, if you are trying to follow up 20+ new business prospects via email and they don’t respond, you may call and leave a voice message... but unless they get right back to you there are going to be a lot of ‘call backs’ owed to you! Enter the new wave of communication platforms that are available these days such as LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp Messenger, Snap Chat, instant messaging and many more (just look at the App Store Top Charts for Social Networking)! The days where you would email somebody to follow up a discussion from a trade show or meeting seem to be fast disappearing! In this new wave of communication platforms, it would seem that anybody who attends a show or networking event needs to change the way in which they communicate on many levels... Mostly because that email you sent got lost amongst the other 500+ that the person you met with received as well! Here is a challenge for the next trade show or event that you attend... make the effort to meet five new contacts from a business development perspective, and then follow them up

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without the use of a phone call or email as your initial method of contact... You may be surprised at the response that you get! Try to reach them using LinkedIn or via instant messaging to schedule a time for a face-to-face Skype call... After all what you really want is to speak to them in real time, not with two week gaps whilst you wait for them to respond to your email... Bugg Toys & Licensing has been compiled as a guide to Toys and Licensing. The views and opinions provided are based upon the views and opinions of its writers. In no way is Bugg Toys & Licensing a factual guide to Toys and Licensing and does not take responsibility for how the information provided is used by its consumers. Bugg Toys & Licensing PO BOX 491 Berwick, VIC 3806 Australia P: +61 3 9769 3963 E: info@buggtoysandlicensing.com

Contents

Disney feature interview

Hasbro feature interview

David Hendy feature interview

Retail spy

Preston Kevin Lewis feature interview

Wide Eyes news from the tube

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Introducing

VISIT US AT

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40 years of international success

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New CGI series in more than 160 countries - 78X12’

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Broadcast daily on ABC4Kids

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3D Movie on screens in Australia in October 2014

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More than 300 Licensees worldwide

STAND H17

For licensing enquiries, please contact:

Beatriz Seligmann, Senior Brand Manager seligmann.beatriz@abc.net.au or call +61 2 8333 3946 Maya the Bee. Based on the books written by Waldemar Bonsels “Maya the Bee” © Studio 100 Animation. ™ Studio 100.

Studio 100, the global family entertainment company, will attend the Australian Toy and Hobby Nursery Fair this year for the first time to support the launch of its animated series Maya the Bee. Along with ABC Licensing, it’s newly appointed licensing agent for Australia and New Zealand, Studio 100 will present various Maya products from its own merchandising range, which includes toys, arts & crafts, plush and games. As the one-stop toy event in the region, the Melbourne-based fair is the perfect platform for Studio 100 to work closely with ABC Licensing to drive forward its licensing and merchandising programs for 3–6 year old girls and boys in Australia and New Zealand. In September 2014, Maya The Bee: Movie, created in 3D stereoscopic, will premiere in cinemas in Germany. Later in the year, the feature film produced by Flying Bark Productions (part of Studio 100 Group), will be released in cinemas throughout Australia driving substantial support for the brand. The movie will complement the already existing long-running CGI animated series (78X12’) which has transmitted to huge audiences on ABC4Kids since

December 2012 and sold to a further 160 countries internationally. The series is currently on air on ABC4Kids at 3:45pm daily. With more than 300 international licensees, Maya the Bee is already successful across all categories with IMC Toys, the master toy licensee, as well as publishing through Egmont, Panini, Hemma, Planeta and DeAgostini and in FMCG via Ferrero, Nestlé and Chupa Chups to name just a few. Studio 100 has secured a number of impressive retail partnerships with fashion retailers such as Benetton and Oysho; which highlights the strength and reach of the brand. Regular style guide addendums are created to refresh the property and to appeal to various target groups. A Maya baby range has been designed for toddlers as well as infant products. Studio 100’s 360° approach includes a 5,000 square metre attraction Park, Mayaland, located within the Studio 100 theme park, Plopsaland, on the French and Belgian borders. Plopsaland attracts more than 1.2 million visitors a year. Marie-Laure Marchand, International Licensing & Marketing Director commented:

‘The appointment of ABC Licensing is the cornerstone of our Maya growth strategy in Australia and New Zealand. Its vertical integration, which includes its own retail stores, will be a true asset for the launch of the property and will make a huge difference locally. We look forward to extending our partnership to various departments within ABC and sharing a successful collaboration with the ABC team in the future.’ ‘We are delighted to be representing Maya the Bee in Australia. I personally grew up with the property and I know how successful it’s been in Europe since it first launched in the 70s. I’m sure Australian audiences will embrace Maya’s cheekiness, love for nature and friendship in no time’, said Beatriz Seligmann, Senior Brand Manager at ABC Licensing. The current animated series as well as the movie coming out at the end of this year present a whole array of exciting new licensing opportunities within our market. For licensing enquiries, please contact: Beatriz Seligmann, Senior Brand Manager seligmann.beatriz@abc.net.au or call +61 2 8333 3946

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Doctor Who 2013 was a truly epic year for Doctor Who. The year long celebrations for the 50th anniversary ended with a Guinness World Record breaking global simulcast, where fans in 94 countries around the world, sat down at the exact same time to experience the anniversary episode – The Day of the Doctor. Crowds also flocked to cinemas around the world to experience the episode in 3D, including more than 100 cinemas in Australia and New Zealand where Doctor Who came 2nd at the box office that day beaten only by The Hunger Games. The year was filled with a huge variety of celebratory activities beyond the simulcast screening including four pop-up shops, which attracted long lines of fans eager to take home their own piece of memorabilia. In June, the VIVID festival in Sydney was a particular highlight, where thousands of fans braved the rain to watch their favourite Time Lord take over Customs House in an amazing visual feast of 3D-mapped projections set to music.

In another treat for Doctor Who fans, BBC Worldwide Australia & New Zealand has partnered with RiAus to bring to the stage The Science of Doctor Who, a live event which explores the science behind the fiction. Comedian Rob Lloyd is joined on stage by a panel of experts who will engage the audience in an interactive forum and answer questions like is time travel really possible? And who would win the ultimate showdown from a selection of the Doctor’s most famous foes. With such a packed schedule of events, new products hitting the market and a passionate and engaged fan base, the future of Doctor Who is as infinite as the universe!

Top Gear

Speaking of music, the behemoth that is The Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular has recently completed its tour of Australia and New Zealand, with three sell-out shows in Melbourne, a record-breaking crowd in Brisbane and successfully headlining the New Zealand Festival in Wellington. More than 30,000 people flocked to the shows, many in Doctor Who costumes. The shows were hosted by the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison with the music of Murray Gold conducted brilliantly by orchestrator Ben Foster. During his time in Australia, Peter Davison thrilled fans by making several appearances at ABC Shops with hundreds of fans lining up for hours for the chance to meet their favourite Doctor. 2014 is certainly shaping up to be another blockbuster year. With Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith making his emotional farewell in the recent Christmas episode, fans around the world are eagerly awaiting the launch of Series 8, to see Scottish actor Peter Capaldi put his spin on the Twelfth incarnation, when the show returns to ABC and Prime later this year.

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Series 21 of Top Gear launched recently on BBC Knowledge, with Clarkson, May and Hammond up to more mind-blowing stunts and road trips. The premiere episode was the number one ranked subscription television program for the day, and also recorded the highest ever ratings for a Top Gear series premiere on BBC Knowledge. Stars such as Hugh Bonneville and Tom Hiddleston took up the challenge of being the star in a reasonably priced car with some hilarious results. Series 21 will air on Channel 9 in April this year. The Top Gear Festival Sydney took place again in March at Sydney Motorsport Park. Jeremy Clarkson and James May joined the Stig, and local legends Craig Lowndes, Shane Jacobson and Steve Pizatti to entertain almost 40,000 festival-goers. The Consumer Products and Brand Licensing team at BBC Worldwide in Australia expect to be making some exciting announcements about the Top Gear very soon.

Walking With Dinosaurs: The Movie Prehistoric property Walking with Dinosaurs: The Movie launched in January this year, achieving good sales at the box office despite some stiff competition during the school holiday period. Complementing the movie was a range of toys distributed by Hunter Products, a range of toiletries in Target and back to school products in Big W. A range of fun and educational books, released through Pan Macmillan are also available, with the Dinopedia in particular garnering great reviews. The DVD is set for release in May and will be supported by an extensive marketing campaign from Fox Home Entertainment.

Children’s A new slate of children’s programs will hit Australian screens over the next 18 months including titles such as Sarah and Duck, Dinopaws, NumTums and Baby Jake, along with established pre-school property Charlie and Lola, which continues to receive fantastic ratings on ABC2 and remains a favourite amongst kids 3–6. The new Sarah and Duck plush toy range from Posh Paws was unveiled at Toy Fair this year including small talking Sarah that says ‘come on duck’ and a small duck that quacks, along with additional plush and toys. The range will be available for distribution in Australia after mid-year. For information contact Elie Mansour on +61 2 9744 4544 or elie.mansour@bbc.com, Rachael Hammond on +61 2 9744 4585 or rachael.hammond@bbc.com or Brigid Roberts on +61 2 9744 4569 or brigid.roberts@bbc.com

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EXCEPTIONAL STORYTELLING, INFINITE OPPORTUNITIES In their recent quarterly results, The Walt Disney Company posted impressive growth paving the way for a very healthy start to 2014. Buoyed by the recent double Academy Award winning success of Frozen which has surpassed the mighty The Lion King for highest grossing Disney animated feature ever, the Mouse House is poised for an even bigger blockbuster of a year. With the addition of the multi-generational franchise in Star Wars to the Disney family and with Marvel leading the Studios slate, the opportunities for licensees and retailers present infinite opportunities. Bugg Toys & Licensing for the special Melbourne Toy Fair edition caught up with the newly appointed Franchise and Marketing Director for The Walt Disney Company Australia and New Zealand, Jonathan Sully for a preview of Disney’s focus and priorities for 2014 and beyond. Jonathan oversees the strategic direction and contribution of Disney franchises to the overall Disney business in Australia and New Zealand, covering key franchises including Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Disney Princess, Fairies, Mickey and Minnie, and Disney Junior. Jonathan also directs the marketing strategy for Disney’s branded media content, which includes Disney Channel and Disney Junior’s on- and off-air marketing, promotion, branding, channel communication and affiliate campaigns. Hi Jonathan, thanks for speaking with us and congratulations on your appointment. Tell us a bit about yourself, what Disney’s focus will be for 2014 and what we can expect to see from the world’s largest entertainment company? A pleasure to catch up with Bugg Toys & Licensing! I’m excited to be looking after the strategic direction and marketing of the core franchises at Disney. Having worked in key marketing roles all over the world, I can

honestly say I think I’m extremely fortunate to have taken up this role at a time when we have such exceptional franchises and characters to work with. Disney had an incredible 2013 and I would say that the theme for 2014 is definitely about building on that- a continued focus on building core franchises, driving innovative product and capitalizing on an integrated approach at retail. At Disney, we’re fortunate to have six of the biggest brands in storytelling with Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, ABC and ESPN. Through these brands, we have an immense opportunity to build relationships with consumers, create brand experiences and ultimately enhance our franchise value through them. The Studios seems to be on a roll, how does this translate for retailers and licensees to take advantage? We’ve seen from our various showcases and working closely with our licensees that consumers and fans just can’t get enough of the quality films that Disney Studios is producing. The creative and financial success of Frozen; Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World, which has far surpassed its predecessor at the box office; and the delightful Saving Mr. Banks, from Walt Disney Studios demonstrate

the strength of our studio strategy. Fans in 2014 can look forward to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Amazing Spider-Man and in the second half of the year, the space spectacular Guardians of the Galaxy, are all shaping up to deliver more great stories for Marvel fans and continue the exceptional opportunities for licensing and retail. We’re looking to work closely with all of our licensees and retailers to create exceptional experiences on every platform and I would say the key to success is working with us on any creative solution that takes advantage of the great storytelling in these films. An excellent example of how licensees and retailers have got on board is with Frozen. In the months since it opened, Frozen won both of its Oscar categories and is the new holder of the titles of Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (‘Let It Go’), the soundtrack is top of the charts and the high demand for merchandise continues to drive strong retail sales. We see the potential for Frozen to be an incredibly strong, evergreen franchise for the company and that is based on an incredibly strong story, compelling characters and a belief from our partners to get behind the franchise.

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Star Wars Rebels: Meet Zeb, the Muscle

How important is your television line-up in supporting your consumer products business? We continue to see incredible support from Disney Channel and Disney Junior and we were so proud to announce the launch of Disney XD with Foxtel, which will start airing April 10, 2014. Disney XD will be a standout with a strong Marvel showing with new television series Ultimate Spider-Man, Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. and Avengers Assemble. The largest content year-to-date will see support at retail and for licensees sustained throughout 2014. Continuing the phenomenal run for boys will be new content from the Star Wars franchise with the launch of new television series, Star Wars Rebels. From the same Emmyaward winning team that brought Star Wars: The Clone Wars to life, Star Wars Rebels is focused on the period between Episode 3 and 4 of the Star Wars saga and the series is an opportunity to introduce a new audience to this generational franchise. Star Wars Rebels appeals to boys ages 7–11. Rounding off TV, Disney Junior continues to be a very strong performer for us with Sofia The First, Jake and the Never Land Pirates and Doc McStuffins success on Disney Junior translating into retail sales and publishing. The emotional connection and memorable story-driven songs that are all found in these Award-winning programs has fuelled the demand for more content on various platforms and at retail for these franchises. In 2014, we have much to look forward to including new episodes, product launches and special events at retail. It’s interesting to see that for the franchises that don’t have a feature film coming out, such as Toy Story that it still continues to see such strong merchandise numbers— why is that?

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This all goes back to the amazing storytelling that Pixar espouses with all their features and it comes as no surprise that franchises like Toy Story and Cars continue to perform. Toy Story still leads across multiple categories and is a firm top 3 favourite with Boys 3–61 and #2 boys’ action figure brand2. A brandnew TV special from Pixar, Toy Story of Terror aired on Channel 7 in November 2013 along with Toy Story 3, providing the channel’s top 2 performing programs of the night. A major promotion planned around the DVD release of Toy Story of Terror in October 2014 leads into a major celebration of 20 years of Toy Story in 2015. Cars clearly continues to be Disney’s #1 boys franchise in Australia, what plans do you have for a vehicles business? We saw in 2013 that the demand of vehicle based play showed no sign of slowing down. The release of Planes, where The World of Cars took to the skies, fuelled this growth and in 2014, we will be supporting strongly the DVD launch of Planes in April. In addition to this, we have planned promotions right across media and retail and will be working with the Australian Grand Prix and V8 Supercars again given the appetite that these activations have proven themselves extremely popular with fans and families right across Australia. We will also look forward to opening a brand new feature film from Disney Animation, Planes Fire and Rescue, launching in cinemas in September 2014, so our boys business looks firmly in the driver’s seat for this year.

franchise globally with estimated USD $1.5BIL sales at retail3. Performing across multiple categories in Australia and a stand out Top 3 favourite amongst Girls 3–6 years4, Disney Princess shows no sign of slowing down! This year, we are proud to be presenting an all new Disney Princess Film Festival, showing at Event, Greater Union, Birch Carroll and Coyle and Village Cinemas and screening classics such as Sleeping Beauty, Beauty & the Beast, and Snow White. In addition, an exciting Disney Princess brand extension Palace Pets expands into product. Palace Pets is a great example of a phenomenon which started online, with the free Palace Pets app launches last year, and with more than 50,000 downloads across Australia in its first 6 months (July–Dec), there was strong demand to create the exciting range of Palace Pets Toys. As mentioned earlier, Frozen will continue its white hot run with a planned home entertainment release in April 2014, and will be supported by a key product range from Mattel.

Can you tell us about the plans for the girls business which surely still dominates your bottom-line? Disney Princess still reigns supreme across the globe, last year being named the most valuable 1 Brand Trends, July 2013 – Australia 2 NPD Data

3 Source: The Licensing Letter; www.epmcom.com/TLL 4 Brand Trends, July 2013 – Australia

Key Disney Highlights for 2014 – a snapshot Marvel

Disney Princess

Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse

Theatrical

• Disney Princess Film Festival – Feb 15 – March 16

• Minnie Month of May campaign – May

• Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier – March • The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – April • Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – August

• Launch of Palace Pets – Feb (in the market already)

• Featuring promotions across product, retail and television including two new special features on Disney Junior.

Frozen

• New Minnie inspired local designer collaboration to be revealed in 2014. • Mickey promotions – November

• Ultimate Spider-Man – April

• Academy Award winner for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (‘Let It Go’).

ulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. – • H April

• Crossed the $1 billion dollar mark at the global box office

Sofia the First

• Avengers Assemble – October

• Generated over $33.2MIL* at Australian Box Office *at time of printing

Star Wars

• Home Entertainment release – April

Theatrical • Star Wars Episode 7 – December 2015

• Supported by a key product range from Mattel

• New Season 2 episodes on air in 2014, featuring special guest appearances from classic Disney Princesses including Cinderella, Snow White, Mulan, Ariel, Jasmine, Belle and Aurora.

Television

Disney Fairies

• Star Wars Rebels – October

Theatrical

Television

Disney Junior • #1 series for Disney Junior in 2013

• Merchandise launch – March, including Mattel’s Sofia the First Dancing Sisters playset and Sofia the First Friendship Doll.

Cars & Planes

• Tinker Bell and The Pirate Fairy – July

Jake and the Never Land Pirates

• Brand New Cars Toon – Radiator Springs 5001/2 – August

• Strong support campaign leading in to the cinema release, Disney Fairies will be present at local events such as the Melbourne International Flower & Garden show.

• Celebrating Jake’s Birthday Bash channel takeover in March • Launch of Season 3 episodes – March • Celebrating International Talk Like a Pirate Day – 19 September,

• Planes DVD – April 9th • Planes Fire and Rescue theatrical – September 18th

Doc McStuffins • New episodes launch in 2014.

Are Mickey and Minnie still the standard bearers for excellence at Disney? Mickey and Minnie embody the spirit of the Disney brand and we continue to see strong double digit growth for this franchise. The launch of the short form content which aired on the Disney Channel called Mickey Shorts in 2013, fuelled renewed demand in several categories for Mickey and Minnie, which continues to enjoy large cross- generational appeal. From the highly publicised halo fashion collaborations inspired by Minnie, she will be celebrating her own month – the ‘Minnie Month of May’, which will feature promotions across product, retail and television including two new special features on Disney Junior.

In November, the spotlight moves to Mickey for his anniversary celebrations and continuing with more exciting programs and product launches planned for 2014 for older boys, girls and adults. The strong showing of Mickey across all categories makes this evergreen as strong as ever and we look forward to introducing the next generation to our two icons. You are relatively new to the Disney business, what are you most excited about in 2014? I have to admit, I am a massive Star Wars fan and extremely excited for the premiere of the Star Wars Rebels animated TV series later this year. The series re-engages a new audience in an incredibly relevant and motivating manner – its outstanding content for our younger audience.

I’m also looking forward to working with all our licensees and retailers on our upcoming Studio slate – one of the strongest in recent years, and delivering exceptional experiences around Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and Disney’s Planes: Fire and Rescue in September will mean we will be pushing the envelope even further. For information about Disney, please contact support@disney.com.au

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*OzTAM PTY Ltd (Kids 5-12, Sun 8.25: 6/9, 29/9, 24/11/13)

Liz Burnett Director, Consumer Products AUNZ T: +61 2 9434 0722 E: liz.burnett@fremantlemedia.com

www.fremantlemedia.com

6–11, increasing weekly audiences by 23% during its first three weeks on air. Now on air on ABC3 in Australia and TV Four in New Zealand, and releasing on iTunes & DVD via Shock, Grojband has kids rocking out down under with an impressive ratings performance.

Ella the Elephant

As part of one of the world’s largest entertainment companies, FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment are committed to creating engaging and ground-breaking content that connects with kids and families around the world across multiple platforms and touch points. Our distinctive range of TV shows are now airing on major global networks and channels with several rapidly becoming established franchises with consumer products programs rolling out globally.

Strange Hill High With Josh Weinstein (The Simpsons, Futurama) as the series Show Runner this breakout comedy hit was created for CBBC using an all new innovative production technique combining stop motion animation, Japanese vinyl rod puppets and CGI, Strange Hill High reinvents the school drama, combining everyday classroom fun with fantastical and mysterious goings on! Winner of Best Animated Kids Series at the 2014 Kidscreen Awards, and nominated for awards by Children’s BAFTA and Broadcast Strange Hill High is already a huge hit with UK kids and critics alike and has now hit Australian TV screens. Launching in September 2014 on ABC3 as the No.1 show in its time slot for kids age 5–12, beating its nearest competition by a huge 64%, Strange Hill High is set to become a favourite amongst local audiences. Back on air in April 2014, supported by the release of collectable toy range by Banter Toys, trading cards from Topps, publishing

by Hardie Grant and home entertainment from Shock, we’ll see more bizarre adventures, more action and more hilarious comedy moments... and even a soon to be announced Australian character! Licensing opportunities are available in key categories including apparel, accessories and back to school so get in touch to join our exciting roster of partners.

Based on the original book series by Steve & Carmela D’Amico, this bright new animated preschool show follows the adventures of Ella, a sweet, kind and generous little elephant with a magic red hat. Ella loves to play and explore Elephant Islands with her friends Tiki, Frankie and Belinda. However, Ella’s fun adventures and attempts to help those around her don’t always go to plan. Luckily, with a little imagination, teamwork and her own special ‘hat magic’, Ella solves everyday problems as her red hat transforms to help save the day. Launching on Disney Jr in the US and ABC2 locally this month, and on iTunes and DVD via Shock, Ella is set to become a breakout preschool hit. We are now in final negotiations with an exciting master toy partner, so watch this space for more on the cutest elephant around.

Tree Fu Tom Set in an enchanted world where movement creates magic, Tree Fu Tom is a stunning CGI animation for preschoolers. Sold to over 75 territories worldwide, the broadcast hit was made for CBeebies and continues to be the #1 show on the channel for the last two years, with a strong licensing program launched in 2013. Currently showing on Disney Junior and Channel 11 in Australia, and TV Four in New Zealand, the show is growing a solid fan base down under. Toys are set to launch in Australia through Funtastic in the second half of 2014 along with DVD from Roadshow. Key license categories remain open so contact us to hear more about this magical brand!

Grojband This awesome new musical comedy follows a group of four wannabe rock legends as they try to become the coolest garage band in town. Full of fun, infectious songs with loads of energy, plus quick witted gags and crazy visuals, this is a show that seriously rocks! Made for Cartoon Network in the US, Grojband was an immediate hit with boys

Kate & Mim-Mim Currently in production for CBeebies, the story of a spirited little girl Kate and her toy bunny Mim-Mim is creating global excitement amongst broadcasters and toy manufacturers alike. Launching mid-2014 in the UK this is FM Kids & Family’s ‘one to watch’ so stay tuned! For more information please contact: Liz Burnett, Director, Consumer Products FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment, +61 413 238 704 liz.burnett@fremantlemedia.com

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Bugg Toys & Licensing recently sat down with James Walker, VP Hasbro Brand Licensing & Publishing EMEAP, to discuss the company, its brands and what is in store for the future. James, Transformers: Age of Extinction is set for a mid-year 2014 release – how is the global licensing program taking shape currently? We have a phenomenal licensing program set to launch with the film release in June. We have worked closely with Paramount to ensure all our partners have had access to the latest creative material to allow time to create fantastic product. We have also worked very closely with retailers to plan Transformers: Age of Extinction as their mid‑year event for 2014. Are there more licensees to sign or is it maxed out? Generally speaking, the vast majority of world class partners began working with us in early 2013 to ensure we had enough time to deliver for movie launch. That said, as the brand is an evergreen, there are always opportunities. How exactly can a substantial licensing program impact movie success (in terms of cinema and DVD sales)? Each one compliments the other. Great product and a strong retail statement will help promote the film and raise awareness – just as the film will drive consumers to buy Transformers product at retail. How much more can this franchise grow? Can we expect more sequels and therefore more licensing? In my decade in licensing, I have never seen a brand with so much support! Added to that, new digital platforms, games and an incredible new toy range for 2014 that really is ‘More Than Meets the Eye’. We celebrate 30th Anniversary of Transformers in 2014, given the huge backstory we have through our comic books, TV series and action figures, we definitely have a long future.

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The Transformers ride is a success in Singapore and Hollywood. The ride officially opened in Orlando last June. Is this an important part of the licensing world and how so? Revenue building or brand awareness? It’s amazing to think the ride has tens of thousands of visitors per day across the three parks. This is an incredible immersive live action experience of the Transformers brand for Universal Studio guests. It no doubt strengthens demand for licensed merchandise, be it from the Studio’s shop on site or retailers outside the Studio. My Little Pony is going from strength to strength. What is the secret? If I had to sum it up in two words – GREAT CONTENT! The TV series really connects with consumers, not only young girls but all age groups. Rarely do you see a brand that is also able to age up and appeal to older girls and adults. It’s great to see exciting young designers like Alice Vandy creating such great pieces using My Little Pony graphics, and celebrities such as Nicole Scherzinger and Rita Ora wearing them.

And aside from the expected categories of apparel and toys of course, which other categories has the brand extended into? I’d say we now have a good reach into the majority of major licensing categories outside of these including Role Play, Stationery, Consumer Electronics and Food however as always, we are open to exploring new opportunities for this great brand. Tell us a little about Equestria Girls and how it has been received globally? My Little Pony Equestria Girls is an exciting new dimension to the incredibly popular My Little Pony brand. Building on the momentum of the extremely popular ‘My Little Pony Friendship is Magic’ animated series, produced by Hasbro Studios, Hasbro launched My Little Pony Equestria Girls in 2013. Since launch, the entertainment, publishing and fashion doll line have all had major success globally. What next for My Little Pony? We will continue to build My Little Pony through our animated TV show, digital content, publishing programs, toy and licensed items. There’s also a lot more planned but some things I have to keep secret for now!

Moving on to Littlest Pet Shop. How has this brand fared in the past year or so, globally? Littlest Pet Shop has been going through a different lifecycle to Transformers and My Little Pony. The brand has had a total refresh and is anchored around the Littlest Pet Shop animated comedy series that launched in 2013. We are building off the success of the show and in 2014 you will see some really exciting toys launching across the world. From a licensing perspective, we will really focus on 2015. Nerf and PlayDoh seem to be exploding. What is next for these two iconic brands? Both brands are great examples of what Hasbro does best, which is to create innovative and great quality product for consumers. Both Nerf and PlayDoh brands will continue to grow the core business but add new innovation, as we have done with Nerf Rebelle. And what about Nerf Rebelle – can it achieve a similar licensing success as classic and original Nerf? We believe there is tremendous opportunity with Nerf Rebelle. By combining active play with social interaction, the global lifestyle brand provides girls with a new play experience. Inspired by current pop culture trends and based on insight from real girls, the Nerf Rebelle brand is designed to empower players with confidence, high performance action, and a stylish edge. Arguably, Rebelle has even more scope from a licensing perspective (more accessories and so on) how can this be maximised?

Absolutely, as with all our brands it’s about developing the right product at the right time for consumers. We always need to be mindful of the brand strategy and the long term plans, for licensing we will keep the product focused around this And what of Furby? The past 18 months or so since it re-launched into the market have seen toy sales soar and it seems not to have plateaued. Tell us a little about the licensing of it and what the next steps are. We have seen Furby licensing grow from zero to a sizable business in one year, this has been driven from the amazing innovation that has been brought to Furby itself allowing us to license key categories. We work hard internally to ensure the licensed product mirrors the new development for the Furby toy range.

And lastly, what next for Hasbro? More expansion, more brands, more movies? Please give us an overview. There’s so much to tell you I could fill the whole magazine! Unfortunately, most of it is secret at the moment and for each brand we will be unveiling things at the relevant trade events around the world. All I can really say it we have enough to keep my team, our licensees and retail partners very busy and excited for a long time! For more information please contact Tanya Doyle – Commercial Manager Licensing Hasbro Australia Limited P +61 2 9804 4189 M +61 426 899 004 tanya.doyle@ap.hasbro.com

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Bugg Toys & Licensing recently caught up with Tom Punch and Yvonne King from Haven Licensing, to get their thoughts on entering their 21st year in business and what 2014 has in store… Tom on what’s got Haven excited in 2014 “This is a big year of birthdays and celebrations and we’re super excited! It’s The Simpsons 25th and no one could miss the global excitement around programs such as Lego and NECA as well as fashion collabs with Joyrich and Bathing Ape. Closer to home we have a massive global first happening right here in Oz… but our lips must remain sealed! Turtles will take Australia by storm with the blockbuster movie in celebration of 30 years – it’s going to be off the charts. Sanrio and Hello Kitty are celebrating 40 years with hugs for everyone and we’re excited to be sharing the lurv downunder along with introducing new character Little Miss Hug. For evergreen publishing favourite Eric Carle, we’re creating an edible garden at Federation Square in Melbourne designed by a Masterchef celeb, live shows and a light show spectacular at the Sydney Opera House. Everyone is talking about Adventure Time and this hot brand is racking up a series of #1’s across DVDs, Apparel and Showbags and more, for that hard to reach super cool 8–16 boys demo. Right on its heels, Regular Show is taking off in Jay Jays and we’re excited to launch Gumball this year which has the same Cartoon Network off-the-wall humour. Octonauts will be right at home under the sea with Sea Life for the September school holidays – along with live shows and in-tank activations, Captain Barnacles will be making appearances – hot off the back of being mobbed by preschool fans at Sea Life last year... we’ll need to up his security. Women across the country are counting down to the Fifty Shades of Grey movie release for Valentines Day 2015. Following our trafficstopping lingerie launch with Target, we’re now building our program to coincide with movie launch.

Whilst consumers are devouring content across multiple devices (at any one time!), TV is king for the preschool demographic. An absolutely stand-out ratings winner on ABC, the new Peter Rabbit range is set to launch exclusively with ABC stores for Easter, led by Jasnor Toys. Haven placed Lalaloopsy and Friends on Nick Jr, a top-rating show it’s exciting to be extending the reach to a whole

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new audience of Lala fans. From the small screen to the big screen, Fireman Sam is fresh from a red hot season with Hoyts over the Summer holiday period. It’s not all about the kids though. Sons of Anarchy season 5 has smashed records to become Fox’s #1 show, ranked #1 across free to air and pay TV for men 18–34. The Modern Family cast paid Australia a special visit in Feb with the episode set to air in Oz in late 2015. The Smurfs success continues hot off the back of the recent Movie, and in a bit of fun, we’ve just launched Smurf Berries (of the blue variety of course) which are now available in New Zealand in a deal with Countdown supermarkets. Make sure you meet WWE Superstar Booker T at Toy Fair – he’s got a few signature moves not to be missed! Hot off the back of the 2013 tour and VIP events, we’re excited to have the muscle men (and women) back out in August for the live shows.”

YK: Brand Collaborations are an area providing great growth for both business and brands… “Black Milk Clothing have done a fantastic job with brand collaborations over the past twelve months, generating huge sales and setting trends that we are now seeing filter down to the mass market. We had two great projects with them last year firstly on Sesame Street, where the huge fluffy balls used as props generated almost as much interest as the clothing itself! Bensons have taken inspiration & we’re now launching huge plush balls at Easter Show. Most recent was our collaboration on Adventure Time which just blew out across a 40 piece collection and is now launching globally with the help of Cartoon Network. They bring such a great energy to our brands & its fabulous product. In fact I would wear it myself if I didn’t think it would do irreparable damage to their brand... And we LOVE Peter Alexander! We partnered on two brands last year – Hello Kitty and Mr Men & Little Miss, and the creativity they brought to both was just fantastic. Their ranges breathed an all new layer of life into both brands & from that, have come more opportunities and we’ve captured the interest of a broader market as well as illustrated how diverse both brands can be. They’ve got great vision and we’re looking forward to doing more with them this year. Fashion retailers like Black Milk, Peter Alexander & Jay Jays are a crucial part of the brand mix for us now as character tees once again become a must have part of any fashionista’s wardrobe, and our creative teams are on top of the latest design trends & what the fans are demanding via social media. We are lucky enough to have brands that transcend multiple generations – Sesame Street, The Smurfs,

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Simpsons, Adventure Time, Felix the Cat, Paul Frank… they offer so much opportunity & each brings something different to the table. Sadly in the next couple of years we’ll be reaching a point where Dora The Explorer too has a retro range targeting the teens that grew up with her, and that will make me feel old and depressed. We also get great satisfaction from our charity collaborations. Mr Mo is back this year in partnership with Movember where our growing merchandise program at retail will be kicking back a percentage towards mens prostate cancer research. We’re going into our third year with the National Breast Cancer Foundation & the SpongeBob Pinkpants program we created for them. Both partnerships have resulted in bringing a fun and feel good element to some serious issues with some serious money raised for both foundations.

Tom talks Australian Retail “It’s challenging as always but we’re getting some great wins on the board where we’ve worked with retailers from top level down to execute programs across multiple categories and age groups. We made a statement launch for Hello Kitty with Best & Less pre-Christmas, taking over windows and front of store with a great catalogue spread and social support. Paul Frank continues to deliver great results at Big W. Our model search to find new faces for the brand generated a whopping 10,000 entries with our winners featured across Big W, and in key women’s, teen and tween magazines. 2014 is all about building the range and delivering great marketing. Our Dora program is the largest per capita in the world, and we’re not slowing down with new content, creative and tentpoles planned for 2014. Sesame Street is another stand-out, and whilst the TV series is a preschool favourite we’re doing the bulk of our sales in teens, tweens and babies with the Sesame Beginnings range. We’re always looking for new retail avenues. EB Games is having a stellar Adventure Time and we’re excited to be working more closely with them across categories such as novelty, accessories and back to school.”

Yvonne on what else we can expect from Haven “We’re entering our 21st year and feeling fresher than ever! For us, 2014 is about delivering bigger and better. We’re always looking at ways to do things differently, and we’re excited to have so many exciting launches planned this year that will put as at the forefront of what’s happening across our brands globally. As an Agency, our mantra is ‘service and results’. All without giving anyone the shits.” Tom Punch – Managing Director, Sydney Head Office +61 2 9357 9888 Yvonne King – Director, Melbourne Office +61 3 9015 6615

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2013 License of the Year • The most popular brand for girls 0-6 years in Australia* • #1 pre-school girls’ license in toys • Top rating children’s TV show on ABC-TV • 26 million ABC iView downloads for the year • Over 45 Australian licensees with new product ranges launching in 2014

*BrandTrends Aug’ 13

Thank you to our licensees and retailers for helping make Peppa Pig Australia’s fastest growing pre-school brand! For further information contact: Kerryn McCormack, Senior Account Manager P (+613) 9520 1010 E kerryn@merchantwise.com W merchantwise.com Peppa Pig © Astley Baker Davies Ltd/Entertainment One UK Ltd 2003.

• One of the best loved brands in Australian entertainment history • Fresh young cast appealing to a whole new generation of children • Major new TV-series Hi-5 House currently airing weekdays on Channel ELEVEN and Nick Jr. • Touring extensively throughout Australia and Asia • Winners of multiple ARIA and Logie awards, over 370,000 Likes on Facebook • Licensing opportunities now available in all major categories

For further information contact: Alexandra Knowles, Account Manager P (+613) 9520 1016 E alexandra@merchantwise.com W merchantwise.com

the most popular and top rating shows on ABC-TV and Nick Jr, screening daily on these networks. A range of consumer products will launch exclusively at ABC Shops from May. Key licensees include Big Balloon (toys), eOne Hopscotch/20th Century Fox (DVDs), The Entertainment Store (live character appearances), Penguin (books), Caprice (clothing, footwear & accessories), Courier Luggage (bags and backpacks) and Network Clothing (manchester).

Peppa Pig 2013 was a huge year in Australia for one of the biggest stars in preschool entertainment, Peppa Pig. The brand enjoyed unprecedented growth and consumer demand, culminating in the awards for License of the Year and Preschool Toy of the Year (Toy & Hobby Retailer).

[BrandTrends Aug ’13] and the local Australian Facebook page has over 50,000 fans. Further growth is expected in 2014 across all licensed categories. Expect to see an expanding presence in grocery channels, supported by an extensive schedule of marketing, touring and live events.

The Australian licensing program, managed by Merchantwise on behalf of Entertainment One UK, now features over 45 licensees led by master toy distributor Big Balloon, DVD partner eOne Hopscotch / 20th Century Fox, publisher Penguin and liveshow partner Lifelike Touring.

Peppa Pig’s success has been enabled by consistent broadcasting on ABC-TV since the show’s launch in 2004 – currently broadcast four times per day. The program frequently receives the no. 1 rating for children and was downloaded 26 million times last year via ABC’s iView. Peppa is now the most popular brand for girls 0–6 years in Australia

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To celebrate the 95th birthday of May Gibbs’ most famous creations Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, Australia Post launched a Classic Collection of plush toys and stamps. The star of the range was a Snugglepot and Cuddlepie double-boxed set, opening like the book that made these charming characters famous. They were exquisitely presented together with a Certificate of Authenticity. Other favourites also appeared as single boxed characters.

Yo Gabba Gabba! 2014 sees the return of the Yo Gabba Gabba! live tour to Australia, with DJ Lance himself starring in the show. The tour launches in early June and has dates confirmed in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, making it the biggest Yo Gabba Gabba! live tour yet.

Australian retailers have found it difficult to keep up with demand, as consumers rushed to snap up toys, apparel, stationery and other products. Peppa Pig is now the #1 girl’s licensed preschool toy brand, the #1 children’s brand in DVDs and the recent live tour performed to over 100,000 fans across the country. In conjunction with the launch of a successful apparel and accessories program, the market is primed for further growth in 2014.

May Gibbs’ Gumnut Babies

Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom From the makers of Peppa Pig comes the charming and humorous animated series about Princess Holly and Ben Elf who live in an enchanted magical kingdom of fairies, elves and insects. The program, which first aired in Australia in 2009, now consistently ranks amongst

The brand continues its growth with the Jazzwares US toy range being distributed from June in Australian specialty toy retailers. The toy range achieved outstanding sales in the USA.

Strawberry Shortcake

series and movies, delighting audiences and generating over $30 million in merchandise. Today, Blinky Bill remains Australia’s best loved children’s classic character. A major new CGI film is currently in post-production, to be released on early 2015. The all-star cast includes Ryan Kwanten, Mia Wasikowska, Toni Collette, Barry Humphries, Rufus Sewell, David Wenham and Barry Otto.

Hi-5 is back! Hi-5 has relaunched across the globe with a fresh line up, major new TV show, new songs and an extensive Australian and Asian touring schedule.

A wide array of licensing and merchandising activity is now confirmed. Innovative toy company Headstart International will produce plush, playsets and other toys. Other categories confirmed include apparel, publishing, a stage show, character appearances and a major wildlife park partnership.

Hi-5 has an incredible pedigree in Australia as one of the most successful pre-school acts of all time.

Strawberry Shortcake’s success stems from high quality digital content, 3D animation and nostalgic brand recognition. She has been a star performer on DVD: in the top 10 Australian children’s DVD sales and in the top 3 girls’ DVD sales.

The group has been awarded three Logies for Most Outstanding Children’s Program and five ARIAs for Best Children’s Album. They have sold countless albums, DVDs, books and a wide range of licensed merchandise. The new TV series Hi-5 HOUSE comprises of 25 x 24 min episodes airing weekdays on Nick Jr and Channel Eleven. The series has an estimated global reach of 1 million children in 220 territories. Integrating social media and interaction with entertainment and learning, Hi-5 HOUSE puts a contemporary spin on the magical formula which has made Hi-5 a well-loved brand for pre-schoolers and their parents all over the world. Brand licensing agency Merchantwise has now come on board to develop a new merchandising and licensing program for this iconic Australian supergroup.

Blinky Bill Merchantwise is pleased to be working with Flying Bark Productions and Studio 100 on the triumphant return of Australia’s most loveable larrikin, Blinky Bill. First created in 1939, Blinky was the brainchild of author Dorothy Wall. In 1992, Yoram Gross Studios – now Flying Bark Productions – produced the original Blinky Bill feature film Blinky Bill, The Mischievous Koala. The naughty little koala with the heart of gold went on to star in several TV

2014 is set to be a berry big year for Strawberry Shortcake. Leading toy company Funtastic is distributing The Bridge Direct’s new Strawberry Shortcake scented figurines, toys and play sets complete with refreshed packaging. McDonald’s Australia and New Zealand are featuring the brand in their Happy Meal program early this year. Scholastic is releasing a great range of new publishing titles. Also keep an eye out this year for new fashion apparel and bag lines sporting updated style guide artwork.

Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood has recently been recognised with a 2013 Kidscreen Award for ‘Best Animated Series’. In the US, the show has been a smash hit with young viewers since its launch on PBS KIDS in Sep 2012. It has consistently rated among the top 10 programs across all networks for kids ages 2-5 and is also averaging over 40 million streams per month on the PBS website. 40 half hour (80 x 11 minute) episodes have been created so far, with another 25 (50 x 11 minutes) now in production. In Australia, Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood has been broadcast on ABC2 since April 2013 and is attracting over 170,000 daily viewers. The initial licensing program includes toys, home entertainment and publishing.

A strong free to air TV platform exists for the brand on Channel Eleven’s Toasted TV, airing weekdays. This highly anticipated third season will launch this year, introducing a new character, Huckleberry Pie, and puppy friends for each girl. In the whimsical land of Berry Bitty City, Strawberry Shortcake and her friends share a positive, anything-is-possible attitude for overcoming obstacles, providing wholesome role models for girls ages 3–7.

Betty Boop Global fashion icon Betty Boop continues to expand her presence in Australia and New Zealand. Mitch Dowd has recently launched a sleepwear collection in time for Valentine’s Day BUGGtoysandlicensing.com

in Myer and will launch a new leisurewear collection at Big W this winter featuring a collegiate theme. Licensing Essentials will retail two new themed giftware ranges for Mother’s Day and a range of fun car accessories will be available from Hot Stuff.

Merchantwise is delighted to be bringing the Asterix licensing program to fans in Australia and NZ for the very first time.

Manchester United FC

In 2014, Merchantwise will once again partner with the Whitehouse Institute of Design to continue to fulfil the dream of fashion students who will develop three Betty Boop capsule collections. The winning designer will have their designs featured at a leading retailer.

Miramax

Breakfast at Tiffany’s at Peter Alexander Courtesy of Paramount and the Audrey Hepburn Estate, the iconic imagery of Breakfast at Tiffany’s recently featured on an exclusive Peter Alexander collection of sleepwear, intimates and infantwear in time for Valentine’s Day. The high-end collection was a huge success, delighting fans throughout the world and generating strong sales.

Asterix Legendary French comic book series Asterix the Gaul, from creators Goscinny and Uderzo, is the most translated and best-selling of all time throughout the world. Generations of Australians have grown up with Asterix, Obelix, their faithful dog Dogmatix. The series has been translated into a record breaking 111 languages. Over 350 million books have been sold worldwide, with 40,000 sold in Australia every year. The success of the series has led to eight animated films, four live action films, licensed merchandise and a major theme park in Europe.

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Local partners The Cotton On Group and Mitch Dowd have developed successful apparel programs with strong sales at Target, Jay Jays and Factorie stores.

Miramax is a leading worldwide film and television studio with a library of more than 700 films. The acclaimed library includes Tarantino classics Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill and Jackie Brown and others including Sin City, Scream, Gangs of New York, Bad Santa and From Dusk Til Dawn. Global licensing agency Evolution and Australian sub-agent Merchantwise have now made these cult properties available for license in Australia and NZ for the first time. Local partners include the Cotton On Group and apparel licensee Mitch Dowd, who have produced ranges of adult apparel across specialty and mass market retailers. Pulp Fiction t-shirts were top sellers at T-Bar and Target stores over Christmas. 16 innovative style guides are now available.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues Australian fans have flocked to cinemas this summer to celebrate the return of Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and the Channel Four News Team. Paramount’s sequel to 2004’s comedy sensation Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy has already eclipsed the performance of the original, generating $166M at the global box office and over $15M in Australia.

2013 was a strong year of growth for Manchester United in Australia. The world’s most famous football team visited Sydney, playing a sell-out exhibition game against the A-League allstars. A new supporter apparel range from ISC launched in sports specialty retailers including Rebel Sports and the broader licensing program continued to grow strongly with 15 licensing partners. Man Utd has over 300 million supporters worldwide with 800,000 Australians ranking them as their favourite team of any sport. Merchandise will expand into mass market and apparel specialty fashion retailers from mid-2014, when soccer will be at the forefront of everyone’s minds during the FIFA World Cup.

The Beatles 2014 marks 50 years since The Beatles’ Australian tour and fans still can’t get enough of the most famous and successful band of all time. The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney recently hosted a popular retrospective on the band’s visit, including merchandise sales, giftware and apparel from partner Licensing Essentials and posters and memorabilia from Impact Rock. The exhibition has now moved to Melbourne’s Art Centre. The Cotton On Group continues to expand its range of Beatles merchandise across all categories including gifting, stationery, adult and children’s apparel and accessories. The Beatles by Ben Sherman range continues to perform well at David Jones, while Big W launched a successful Beatles menswear program for Father’s Day and Christmas in 2013, with further ranges planned across 2014 Find us at the Australian Toy, Hobby & Nursery Fair, stand F14

THE OF

POWER NICK

For Licensing opportunities please contact: Yvonne King at Haven Licensing, yking@havenlic.com.au

www.nickelodeon.com.au

The power of Nickelodeon Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products (NVCP), the world’s #1 television licensing and merchandising business, has a portfolio that’s stronger than ever for kids – both young and old. As a global player in the entertainment arena, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV properties have inspired creative and innovative consumer products that enable fans around the world to experience their favourite characters off screen. With integrated programmes across all core properties – including Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as well as adult targeted brands including Comedy Central’s South Park and MTV Classic – NVCP is set for a stellar 2014.

The international launch of one of Nickelodeon’s biggest properties to date, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, has taken the world by storm since the series premiere in 2012. The property’s cross-category consumer products range has topped the ‘must have’ lists at all major retailers, winning in every category that has hit the shelves to date. Crowned the number one new action toy property in Australia and New Zealand, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is marking its one year anniversary by ticking

all the key category boxes, including toys, video games, publishing, home entertainment, apparel and plush, with a number of stand-out promotions throughout the year. Celebrating 30 years since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made its debut in print. Nickelodeon launched Season 2 last month and the property continues to be supported across all Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) platforms, with the rollout of new content and special features via the iOS Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rooftop Run app. This, alongside new products rolling out throughout 2014, plus a blockbuster movie set to premiere in Australia and New Zealand September 2014 from Paramount Pictures, all indicates Turtle power shows no signs of slowing down! Looking to NVCP’s best-in-class pre-school portfolio, Nickelodeon continues to have an unrivalled catalogue of shows with the most-loved characters and an unmatched commitment to educational curriculum.

Leading the pack is Dora the Explorer, with a raft of new initiatives keeping her fresh for NVCP’s myriad licensing partners. Now 13 years into her career, Dora ranks amongst the most-watched pre-school shows, reaching more than 75 million viewers across 13 countries and ranking as the number one programme in its time slot in Australia in 2013. Generating more than $12 billion in worldwide retail sales to date, Dora is a cultural icon, a best friend to kids and trusted universally by parents. Looking ahead to 2014, NVCP will continue to reinforce Dora’s core DNA – her understanding of the key ‘steps’ in pre-schooler’s development – with the ongoing rollout of its cross platform marketing programme, Step by Step Explore with Dora. Dora is still a pre-school powerhouse brand. Following a recent research study conducted by Brand Trends Kidz Global, Dora has the highest awareness (unaided and aided) and 94% of mums think Dora is educational for their

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children. Dora is everywhere! Broadcast over 50 times a week on Nick Jr. and Channel Nine, she’s the #1 digital online TV show on nickjr. com.au and regularly #1 app in the iTunes store. Her daily live show at SeaWorld is always packed out and following rave reviews, LifeLike Touring have confirmed Dora Live – Pirate Adventure will be returning for a national tour this year. Added to this Nick Jr. have confirmed several major on air primetime tent poles throughout the year including Dora (Hearts) Friends – Easter, Dora World Cup in June and Bed Time Adventures in October. Plus brand new styleguides to support these programmes and many other themes.

Pre-school hit Bubble Guppies is swimming into 2014 with growing ratings on both Channel Nine in its weekend morning slot and daily on Nick Jr. Australia and NZ. The show’s most popular characters, Molly, Gil and the adorable Bubble Puppy have oodles of consumer products appeal.

Brand new and rating its paws off is Paw Patrol – Nick Jr.’s newest addition to the family. This is an adorable CG animated show that follows the adventures of techsavvy ten-year-old Ryder and six heroic puppies; Chase, Marshall, Rocky, Rubble,

Zuma and Skye, who work together to protect the citizens of Adventure Bay. Throughout each episode, pre-schoolers are invited to play along and learn, em(bark!)ing on new adventures that will help to develop social and creative problem solving skills. Funtastic will be releasing the new toy line later this year together with a full licensing programme to follow through Haven Licensing.

As well as demonstrating on-going commitment to pre-schoolers, NVCP will continue to garner its cross-demo appeal in 2014 for tweens and young adults, with new content and property launches for the everpopular evergreen SpongeBob SquarePants. For more than a decade, SpongeBob has consistently ranked amongst the top 10 programmes in every major television market and currently holds the number one spot in more than 170 countries with more than $12 billion in global consumer products sales to date.

originality by inspiring pop culture among young generations. Complementing the brand’s longstanding appeal for mixing music, creativity, fashion and youth culture, MTV branded tees, hoodies and footwear will be ranged across a number of speciality retailers including Top Shop, H&M, Cotton On, T-Bar and Uniqlo. NVCP’s adult business has also expanded with a range of new deals for the ever-popular South Park. Now in its 17th season, South Park is being reinvigorated for consumer products as the show continues to dominate. NVCP is preparing to fire on all cylinders in 2014 with its new content and new categories and lines across core properties. With the support of Haven Licensing, NVCP’s long-standing agent in Australia and New Zealand, the future is most certainly a brighter shade of orange! Contact Michelle Marchio at Haven Licensing MMarchio@havenlic.com.au

SpongeBob started 2014 rallying with some of the world’s top tennis players as Nick’s official ambassador of Kids Tennis Day festivities at the Australian Open Series of tournaments nationwide, and will cap off a massive year by returning to the silver screen in his second major theatrical release from Paramount Pictures. Scheduled for a Christmas 2014 release, the new SpongeBob SquarePants movie will be supported across all of Nickelodeon’s lines of business. But long before then, this year and next, older fans will also be inspired by a raft of new MTV Classic deals, paying tribute to 30 years of BUGGtoysandlicensing.com

g n i h s i l b u New P t n a r G e i d by Har EGMONT

Top Rating Channel 7 TV program Sell Out National Tour Feb - April 2014 250,000 tickets sold! Theatrical release June 2014

Animated series in 2015

COMING DOWN UNDER FOR THE FIRST FECKIN’ TIME!

Top Rating Kids Show on ABC2 Best Selling DVD 300,000 Australian FACEBOOK fans Brand new movie styleguide

Join The Flock!

Annoying Orange – squeezed daily on ABC3 The Annoying Orange is annoying as ever, just like your little brother. It is now broadcast daily on ABC3. This high rotation broadcast platform will further increase the brand awareness, making the leap from YouTube sensation to TV star. ABC3 take delivery of the second series in March to ensure ongoing broadcast through 2014. Roadshow Entertainment has seen the sales of the DVDs grow with the increased awareness of the brand. The next release is planned for March and June 2014. Bensons Trading have carnival plush and look forward to the Sydney Easter Show. Hardie Grant Egmont will be releasing a joke book through the Scholastic Schools’ Catalogue in first term. Caprice have secured a couple of boys 7 to 14 t-shirts in Target, these have sold through well and will be repeated for Winter 14.

Mrs Browns Boys – the funniest Mammy on TV! With the sell-out Australian national tour underway, over 250,000 Australians are experiencing the comedy genius of Brendan O’Carroll as Agnes Brown. There will be on-going broadcast support from Channel 7, DVD releases from Universal, the hugely successful theatrical tour, a feature film in July and an animated TV series to be delivered in 2015. Mitch Dowd have been appointed for menswear, underwear and sleepwear. This product will complement Penguin books and calendars from Brown Trout.

New partners are joining the flock with Walker Books releasing a new fiction range and Licensing Essentials with giftware, novelty, showbags and carnival plush. “With 2015 being the Chinese Year of the Sheep and the theatrical release of Shaun the Movie planned for April, there has never been a better time for retail and licensees to support this family favourite” said Lou Elkington Head of Licensing at Stella Projects. For licensing opportunities contact Louise at Stella Projects at louise@stellaprojects.com

Further categories currently in negotiations are for accessories, gift and novelty, posters and dress-up costumes.

Shaun The Sheep – UnBaaaalieveable year ahead The future looks bright for Shaun in 2014 with a new TV series just delivered to ABC4Kids. DVD partner ABC Video/Roadshow Entertainment has also seen the rise in popularity of the DVD titles, with the backlist also selling well around the new releases. April sees the next release called ‘Hang Gliding’. Jasnor, continue to work with ABC Shops and independents to have a home for Shaun and the Flock. New product and promotions are planned to ensure ABC Shops remains the go-to retailer for the brand. BUGGtoysandlicensing.com

2014 promises to be a great year for The Fusion Agency! DreamWorks Animation, Fusion’s founding Principal, is one of our most exciting opportunities for 2014 and beyond. “No longer merely a movie studio, DreamWorks Animation is well on the way to becoming a global family entertainment brand and we are thrilled to be working with them on these exciting initiatives,” said Gail Mitchell, Managing Director of Fusion. First and foremost, a comprehensive merchandise program has been signed off on the back of the exciting television series ‘Dragons, Riders of Berk’ and then the highly anticipated ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’ arrives in Australian cinemas on June 26, 2014. In other ground breaking initiatives, Fusion has signed Hunter Products as master toy licensee for the Home franchise, launching here with a movie in January 2015. “We are thrilled to be able to work with Hunter Products on Home. They have developed a fantastic toy line which plays up the humour of the movie,” said Peter, Licensing Manager. In addition, Fusion will be representing DreamWorks’ portfolio of Classic brands. “This is a huge opportunity for us”, said Gail. “DreamWorks is adding new content to brands we have known and loved for generations – Where’s Wally, Postman Pat, Noddy etc. Postman Pat is currently airing on the ABC and they have just secured season 2. We also have a Postman Pat movie launching in Australia in June 2014. I won’t give the story away but Pat is about to become part of Pop culture!”

The first DreamWorks multi-franchise promotion from Fusion and TCC is with Woolworths Supermarkets nationwide. Those classic DreamWorks icons – Shrek, Alex, Po etc – will be front of mind in Australia over March and April 2014. Mind Candy, the creators of the Moshi Monsters online phenomenon, has just launched its first Moshi Monsters movie with Universal in February 2014 with the DVD release in April which we are looking forward to with great anticipation. In an exciting start to 2014, Mind Candy also launched the Moshi Village App in February to very, very favourable reviews. Dumb Ways to Die, the hugely popular public service announcement that started as a viral YouTube video has now become one of the most shared pieces of content on the internet and has become a global phenomenon. “At the date of writing there were over 72 million views on YouTube and that figure just keeps growing. Melbourne Metro’s recent ‘Dumb Ways to Valentine’ campaign has amassed over 5 million views on YouTube in just four days, proving just how popular this property is”, said Vincent Jones, Account Manager for Dumb Ways to Die. Fusion will be working with partners on a licensed range that will comprise toys, publishing and apparel, before expanding into other areas.

Fusion is also thrilled to be working with Spin Master and their local distributor Headstart on the new boy’s property Tenkai Knights. With an innovative toy line, strong TV programming and best in class global partners to work with, Fusion will build an all-encompassing 360-degree licensing program for Tenkai Knight’s ANZ expansion. Just new to The Fusion Agency is Rabbids from Ubisoft. With TV having launched just weeks ago Fusion are in negotiation with local licensees for multiple categories to support these zany, frenetic, hugely funny characters. Fusion has also secured the rights to represent Hallmark locally. Forever Friends will lead the charge with Hallmark Babies (already huge throughout Asia) and Hallmark Home to follow. Lastly, Fusion acts as the local agents for Celessence – a technology that allows the micro-encapsulating of a scent or an active (such as a moisturiser) and binding it, almost indefinitely, to a fabric or paper. On nonwashables the product lasts forever and on washables it is durable for 10’s of washes. The Fusion Agency Sydney Office +61 2 9439 5511 Melbourne Office + 61 419 536 011

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For All Licensing Enquiries, Contact Wild Pumpkin: P: (+61) 3 9274 2900

E: info@wild-pumpkin.com

LICENSING INTERNATIONAL PTY. LTD.

For All Licensing Enquiries, Contact Wild Pumpkin: P: (+61) 3 9274 2900

E: info@wild-pumpkin.com

LICENSING INTERNATIONAL PTY. LTD.

© 2014 Feld Motor Sports, Inc. Monster Jam®, Captain’s Curse®, El Toro Loco®, Grave Digger®, Max-D® Maximum Destruction®, Mohawk Warrior®, and Monster Mutt®, are trademarks of and used under license by FMS. All rights reserved.

For All Licensing Enquiries, Contact Wild Pumpkin: P: (+61) 3 9274 2900

E: info@wild-pumpkin.com

Despicable Me, Minion Made and all related marks and characters are trademarks and copyrights of Universal Studios. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLC. All Rights Reserved. Jurassic World is a trademark and copyright of Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment, Inc. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Despicable Me 2/Minions The highly anticipated Despicable Me 2 movie released in Australia on June 29, 2013. Over $970 million in the global box office and $34.4 million at the Australian Box Office later resulted in Universal Pictures Australia’s highest grossing film of all time! Despicable Me 2 was the 2nd highest grossing film of 2013 and the 3rd highest CGI animated film of all time. The Australian highlights included spectacular sales of toys from Big Balloon for movie launch and Christmas 2013. The overall consumer products program is growing steadily with plenty of new products to hit the market! The costume character appearances have been a major success with the Minions characters unable to keep up with demand! The Minions movie is a spin-off from the phenomenally successful Despicable Me franchise, focussing on the iconic Minion characters introduced in the blockbuster films. With an all-new storyline, the movie will take full advantage of the delightfully unpredictable comedy antics of the Minions and place them in equally unexpected settings with memorable human characters. Academy award winning actress, Sandra Bullock will voice the lead villain, Scarlet Overkill, and Emmy Award winning actor, John Hamm, will voice Scarlet’s quirky husband, Herb Overkill. Minions will be out July 2015 in cinemas worldwide.

Jurassic World Universal Pictures has set a release date and title for the fourth instalment of the Jurassic Park franchise. Jurassic World will hit theatres on June 12, 2015. Steven Spielberg, who directed the 1993 original and its 1997 follow-up, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, will produce along with Frank Marshall and Pat Crowley. Colin Trevorrow will direct from a draft of a screenplay he wrote with Derek Connolly, and the film will be shot in 3D. Prepare yourselves for the biggest dinosaur movie ever created!

Skylanders Over a couple of years, the novel concept of bringing toys to life has made Skylanders one of the most beloved and successful children’s video game franchises of all time, establishing a new category in family entertainment. Activision launched Skylanders SWAP Force

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in October 3013, which built upon the success of the franchise’s signature gameplay with an all-new innovative play pattern – swapability – that gave kids more choice than ever before by letting them swap the top and bottom halves of the toys to create their own characters. The game let Portal Masters reconfigure 16 SWAP Force characters into more than 250 unique combinations. Kids could mix and match characters’ powers and moves, and then bring them to life in the game. Stand by for more exciting news about Skylanders in the near future!

Mako Mermaids Mako: Island of Secrets, internationally released as Mako Mermaids, is a brand new Australian live-action television programme for children, pre-teens, and teenagers. The show is a spin-off of H2O: Just Add Water and is produced by Jonathan M. Shiff in association with Network Ten. The brandnew storyline features three mermaids in

everyday teenage life and is a great mix of reality and fantasy. It airs on Network Ten – Fridays at 4pm (launched July 2013) and boasts an extremely high average viewership. With series 2 confirmed and production underway, the future is incredibly bright for Mako: Island of Secrets.

Robocar Poli It’s never a dull day in Broomstown with the Robocar Poli rescue team protecting the beautiful town’s vehicles and citizens from all sorts of dangers. Fearless and speedy Poli teams up with Roy, a super-strong fire engine; Amber, an intelligent ambulance; and Helly, a witty helicopter to help all those in trouble. Currently airing on GO! weekday mornings, 2014 will see an amazing Robocar Poli Toy range launched by Funtastic and DVDs by Madman Entertainment. Get ready to roll-out and help save some friends with the Robocar Poli rescue team!

Monster Jam Monster Jam is the perfect combination of extreme entertainment and full-throttle family fun! With over 350+ action packed performances annually, the demand is absolutely crazy for the monster trucks all around the world. The Monster Jam shows airing on Australia’s Network 10 (One HD) are ever popular and attract audiences from every demographic. 2013 saw the first ever Monster Jam event held in Australia with over 50,000 packing out ANZ Stadium in Sydney. Stay tuned for an announcement about a nation-wide tour in 2014! Wild Pumpkin International Licensing Pty Ltd P +61 (3) 9274 2900 E info@wild-pumpkin.com

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David Hendy, who was a founding partner of Funtastic, former Director of Playcorp and the owner of Kidz Biz, has been instrumental in the shaping of the Toy Industry in Australia. David was also fortunate to be named as Australian Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003. He has always been a great planner and one of his many strengths is to look well ahead and make sure there are strategies in place to deal with whatever is thrown his way. Two years ago he was elected President of the Australian Toy Association. At the time there were many current and looming challenges which faced the organisation, they required strong leadership and also meant that he needed to make some big decisions as to how the Association was to move forward. Bugg Toys & Licensing recently spent some time with David and posed some questions to him in relation to the “new” Australian Toy Association, his visions for the organization and his thoughts on the industry. David let’s first talk about your vision to re-organize the ATA and relocate it’s offices to St Kilda Road. Yes, clearly my first objective was to quickly bring the organisation back into positive cash flow and stabilise the financial performance of the operation. I then set about creating a number of internal committees on the Board to manage the various service deliveries to our membership. I understand that this method has proven to be very successful. Yes, is has allowed the Board to focus on specific tasks which we review during each Board Meeting. I proposed to move the ATA offices from West Melbourne to St Kilda Road which is a far more central location and this has also allowed me to spend more time with the staff and on planning for the future.

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David, can you tell us a little about your 2014 services initiatives for the members. We have reviewed our services delivery in detail for 2014. We will be installing a new and upgraded database system this year. This will allow us to communicate more effectively with our members. We will expand our Webinar program and continue to provide improved access to vital industry data from our partners NPD. We will be launching a new website and will continue to lobby the government on behalf of our members. From all reports Toy Fair 2014 will see many new initiatives, how do you see the event unfolding this year. Well, first of all it is SOLD OUT! We have been planning behind the scenes and can confirm the following new and exciting initiatives: • Updated floor plan – more user friendly for all concerned • Sponsorship from the Licensing Industry including Warner Bros. sponsoring our Gala Dinner • New Awards to include smaller supplier category • Licensing Breakfast – SOLD OUT • Harold Mitchell Breakfast – a must attend event • New mailing lists to encourage greater attendance • Wider marketing to encourage participation from related industries • Personal contact with all retailers We are confident that these improvements will deliver for our members. David I understand that you were a driving force in bringing back the Gala Dinner and re-profiling the ATA 25 Year Club. What’s going on this year? We re-launched the dinner last year. It was a great success. This year we will improve upon it again. We have secured a major sponsor Warner Bros. and the event is up on numbers from last year to 500 and is now SOLD OUT!

I felt that the 25-year club had lost its identity. We must ensure that the elder statesmen of our industry are properly recognized and their contribution acknowledged. We have repositioned the event to allow old mates to meet and still be part of the Industry. The function is now a significant part of the Fair program. This year we will announce the industry awards at the Gala Dinner and induct another industry legend into the Hall of Fame. Charity has long been a platform of the ATA. We understand that you have established a charity task force to focus on new initiatives for the future. This task force is to address opportunities well beyond our annual golf day. I have a passion to establish charity as a more significant platform for the association. Not withstanding the great efforts of previous teams, it is my belief that we can raise upward of one million dollars for charity over the coming years. You have a number of visions for our members. What are they? I have thought about what we need to do for our members and see the following things as something we should strive to achieve: • To communicate and actively teach safety standards and compliance to our industry • Help motivate our members to become more professionally equipped to run their businesses • To provide an information source to ensure our members are adequately updated on world trends

David we understand that you have been on the Board before? What motivated you to serve again? Yes I did have a stint on the ATA board as a Director in the 90’s. I think the Industry has been incredibly good to my family and me over the journey. Our business is now with my son, Andrew and I felt that I now have the time and energy to give something back to the Industry. Nuremberg has become the premier Toy Fair globally. What’s happening with the Australian pavilion in 2014 and beyond? I have been working closely with Ernst Kick who is the CEO of the Nuremberg fair with the goal of securing greater space for our Australian exhibitors. I can report that my vision of exhibiting as an association has been realized in 2014 along with additional space allocation. We will continue to build on this under the ATA banner in subsequent years. And finally David can you give us an insight into your view of our industry and the outlook for 2014? Whilst we are all fierce competitors we still are able to have a strong bond and companionship, which I believe is the envy of the world. The outlook for 2014 looks to be another tough year. Retailers and Suppliers will need to be at the top of their game. The ATA can play an important part in encouraging and providing knowledge to our members. I believe that if you are well equipped in your business you will succeed.

• To have an Australian representative on the ICTI (International Council Toy Industry) board to ensure that we have a voice on the world stage • To ensure all members are compliant with ICTI Care re manufacturing, working conditions, safety, OH&S etc • To work toward a more diverse membership which markets to both children and family.

Australian Toy Association www.austoy.com.au +61 3 9320 2600

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The year that was with the market finishing flat in dollars with the units down almost 15%!! The all important month of December eked out an increase of almost 3%, with the units in December down almost 4% which was better than the year’s average... The largest dollar growth came from the construction category which was led by LEGO. Action figures saw the next largest increase which was led by TMNT and the youth electronic area, which had the next largest increase, led by Furby Boom! It is interesting to note that construction is now almost 15% of Toy sales (up from 11% two years ago – there are many companies now focusing on this segment... so you better stay focused too!). Plush also had a reasonable increase on last year which was led by Pillow Pets DreamLites and Peppa Pig (well of course!). Infant and pre-school was quite flat with declines in all the other major categories. From a property perspective, LEGO City and LEGO friends had major growth... there were 5 LEGO Friends items in the overall top 20 dollar segment. This is certainly having an effect on the other mini doll categories. Disney Princess was up 12%... a great effort with the new movie, Frozen, driving the business along with the traditional Princess’ and Princess Sophia, which should be a huge mover this year. Almost 30 cents in every dollar in action figures was spent on TMNT, and if you are in the electronics business, Activision’s Skylanders and Disney’s Infinity did not disappoint... don’t give up on Max Steel just yet either... Mattel and Cartoon Network’s plans for 2014 are very sound and they have plenty riding on it! (it is their own intellectual property too). Monster High grew well over 50% for the year and is now more than half of Barbie sales – have you adjusted your shelf space? Peppa Pigs growth was off the charts... to put it into perspective, Peppa was more than 25% of Fisher Price sales – same shelf space comment! Mattel had supply issues with Thomas and may have given Peppa Pig a bit of a free ride however... the Headstart machine keeps rolling along as well, and they are now the 5th largest Toy Company, just behind Funtastic... their growth has been born from TMNT as previously mentioned and Little Tikes (up 26%) and Lalaloopsy – with the key doll selling just over 65,000 pieces! Fisher Price, although slightly down, is still the single most powerful brand in toys!!

From a brand perspective, the order is as follows: • Fisher Price • Barbie • Star Wars • Lego City • Disney Princess • LEGO Friends • TMNT • Nerf • Monster High • Peppa Pig From a supplier perspective, the order is as follows: • Mattel 14% share • LEGO 13% share • Hasbro 11% share • Funtastic 8% share • Headstart 6% share • Hunter Leisure 4% share • Hunter Products 3% share • Moose 3% share • Big Balloon 2% share • Modern Brands 2% share Our top 5 Industry performers represent approximately 52% of the business. The top 20 toys for the year make interesting reading... our largest Toy Company, Mattel, has 3 items in the overall top 20, LEGO had 5 (and they were all LEGO Friends, Hasbro struggled for growth this year, however had 5 products in the top 20 (2 of them were Furby)... and look at Hasbro’s line up for this year... they are back! Funtastic had 4 items and Headstart had 3. From an ‘emerging’ perspective, the movers were; Banter Toys (Minecraft and Adventure Time), Rubies Deerfield (TMNT and Ironman dress-up) and finally Global Discovery (Smart Lab and Uncle Milton). Wahu moved up the ranks (Britz Marketing spends credible dollars within the toy category), Super Soakers seem to be back in favour... Wham-O (you can see the lifting of water restrictions has had a huge effect on the business). These last three all driven by the hot Summer we are currently experiencing. Bratz is being ‘rested’ this year so get on to Mooshka...

‘Happy’s’ at Toy Fair. Dogs and Cats... from the makers of Zhu Zhu pets... let’s hope lightening strikes twice... we need it! Sofia the 1st... get on it! Banter Toys have picked up Super Mario... let’s hope it can rise to the heights that Goldie Marketing created. Barbie could make a comeback as the entertainment properties this year look far better than last year (Pearl Princess and Secret Door). Also keep an eye on Octonauts, as the ratings on the ABC are unbelievable. Mattel should fix their stock issues with Thomas, so there should be plenty of growth there... the new ‘Tale of the Brave’ movie incorporates Dinosaur Fossils! Monster High has taken a leaf out of the Barbie book and has Frights, Camera Action and Freaky Fusion on the slate for this years release. Doh Vinci looks like it could be a winner from Hasbro too... Transformers should do what TMNT did last year in dollar terms... Star Wars has a new series called Rebels (think back to Clone Wars and how good that was)... then on to Episode 8 next year... Nerf Rebelle was short last year... it was a great category driver. Take a look at the new Fur Real Panda... it’s better than the monkey and... Go Go makes a return. The Little Tikes range was nice and tight... take a close look at the Cosy bouncer... Playmobil will continue to build too! The ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ products from Hunter Products are certainly worth a look as well... watch out for the new Heli range in Air Hogs from Funtastic... it’s a great looking product and hopefully Sew Cool will put the zing back into the craft area. For my money, toy of the year is Magic Surprise Fairies... you open a book and a butterfly flies out! Don’t forget the movies... LEGO the Movie (remember the last time there was a story about toys and how well that went). Spider-man, Turtles, Transformers and How to Train Your Dragon will be the big ones. That’s just a small taste of things to come! That’s a wrap from the Spy... see you at the Toy Fair!

THE SPY

LEGO have dropped the games category, so there may be an opportunity to grow this category again with Hasbro, Moose, Jedko and Crown and Andrews (who we note sold out of Test Match last year... go the green and gold! Hunter Products will display the BUGGtoysandlicensing.com

Preston Kevin

Lewis HIS BUSINESS MAY BE ENTERTAINMENT, BUT IT SEEMS THE FORCE IS WITH THE MARKET STRATEGY OF THIS CANNY WARNER BROS. MANAGING DIRECTOR.

Ask his staff and they will tell you Preston Kevin Lewis is the king of strategy. Speak to the man himself, and you’ll be treated to a master class on how to execute strategy in business.

Even the office is completely different to the first time I came here.” Lewis set about redefining what the market thought about Warner Bros. from a retail and licensing perspective.

Lewis is a career entertainment industry executive. His most recent strategic move has been turning around the focus and fortunes of Warner Bros. in Australia and New Zealand through his role as managing director.

Building the right team was his starting point. He is an ardent believer that success is directly related to the quality, character, maturity and results-focus of the individuals within a team.

Lewis joined the Time Warner-owned Warner Bros. in July 2006 after six years at HBO and three at MTV on the east coast of the US, and three years at Disney in Los Angeles. After accumulating a broad set of skills at each of those entertainment houses, Lewis was appointed vice-president of international licensing at Warner Bros., also in Los Angeles. He was cruising comfortably, but the one thing missing from his career was a stint overseas. In November 2006 Lewis was set the task of assessing the Australian arm of Warner Bros. Was it time to turn it over to an agent, or should it continue as a wholly‑owned office? After just four weeks on the ground, Lewis made the call: yes, Australia is a viable business, but it needs a complete turnaround. “From a business perspective, the thing that absolutely blew me away was that a country of 22-odd million people could be so wealthy,” Lewis says. “But not only is it wealthy, it’s a country with such a healthy appreciation for entertainment. “I went back to my boss in LA and said there were three things we need to do: we need to change the strategy we’re currently following in the market; we need to hire new people; and we need to change the organisational structure.” For the next eight months Lewis commuted from Los Angeles – two weeks working in Melbourne, two weeks back home with his family – a regimen in keeping with one of his career mottos: don’t go for the easy stuff, everyone can do the easy stuff. “It’s the hard stuff that challenges you, pushes you outside the comfort zone and gives you opportunities,” he says. “One of the reasons taking this opportunity was so fascinating to me was that it was a complete turnaround [of Warner Bros. Australia and New Zealand].

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“You can have an amazing career with Warner Bros. but two things are critical,” he says. “One is results: we don’t get paid to work hard, to try ‘let me see what I can do’. No one’s interested in that. We are interested in hiring people who are great strategists and are delivering results.” The second is integrity, character and honour. “If you’re delivering results and I can rely on your integrity and character and know that is not a moving target but is intrinsic to who you are, you can have an amazing career,” he says. “But let me tell you, if one or both of those is not happening, you won’t be long working for me.” It’s a message Lewis delivers loud and clear to all interviewees as well as head-hunters in the industry. It can scare off potential candidates, but Lewis is fine with that. After all, he says, this thing we do [running a business] is like war. “And as warriors, you are at your best when you have the best army possible. No leader can drive an army that they can’t rely on, so making sure you have the best and brightest people you can rely on, that can deliver results consistently, is a critical part of our success.” They sound like the words of a Jedi knight preparing for battle, but win over Preston Kevin Lewis and you’ve got a good man on your side. He sees it as part of his responsibility to develop people’s careers at Warner Bros. And his passion for the job is infectious. A bevvy of career-long mentors have drummed into him the value of loving your job. “And you know, when you love something, you love the good, the bad and the ugly,” he says. Once he had the Melbourne team in place, Lewis set about defining his strategy and communicating it to the team.

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Preston Kevin Lewis What I’ve learned It’s critical to be passionate about what you choose to do with your life. There’s no substitute for that whatsoever. If you look at my career, it underscores everything I’ve gone through.

“I didn’t come up with this strategy willy-nilly, I came on it because I believe it is absolutely the right way to grow the business to where we want it go. You need people to know whether they want to be part of it or not and what role they need to play. If you don’t start with as much clarity as you can, you open up the room to make a lot more mistakes than you want in the overall scheme,” he says. Lewis shifted the company’s focus to marketing and retail (“marketing is important in any job” is another of his mottos). Retail was one of the single most important aspects of the Australian and New Zealand business and he needed his staff to prioritise marketing opportunities for all brands across the categories. To do that, Lewis says, the team needed to figure out how to make money and who their customers were in order to generate that revenue. Customers ranged from retail buyers to the parents of babies and small children and their mums and dads, five-to-eight year olds, teens and tweens and adults. Then there’s the themed entertainment companies, companies that do live shows, advertising agencies and, finally, the manufacturers. “The strategy we had wasn’t just high-falutin’ business school 101,” cautions Lewis. “The strategy exists because these are the customers we have to impact. And we constantly go back to ‘who is the customer?’.”

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Building partnerships was the next crucial piece in the puzzle. “It’s about building strategic alliance partners, so you are just as important to them as they are to you,” Lewis says. “That way partners like that very quickly become steeped in the DNA of Warner Bros. They know Looney Tunes deeply, they know Superman deeply and they become great partners in delivering solutions in the marketplace.” Lewis says the concentration of the retail customer in Australia was something he hadn’t encountered before and makes the job for his team that bit harder. “It’s incredibly concentrated – there are fewer players and they’re huge. They each have the power to impact your business in monumental ways. It’s one of the most challenging aspects of the business here and it became a critical part of what occupied our day-to-day, because my guys are always thinking about what’s the right decision for that account. You have to because each one of these accounts means so much to the overall business,” he says. Lewis says one advantage of the Australian market is its seeming economic resilience. “I look at Greece, the UK and America and they’re limping along, and somehow Australia just skates through,” he says. Which the home office in Los Angeles is grateful for, as the Australian business continues to add to the profit column of the company’s books. Australia is a growth market for Warner Bros. globally and one in which new programs and strategies can be tested.

Build a story on integrity and character. The way people relate to you – potential partners, bosses, staff – is tied to that story of integrity and the value-led proposition about who you are. Prioritise people and partnership – build great teams and partnerships.

Lewis’s efforts have reaped rewards, with revenue last year outstripping each of the previous 17 years. At the time of writing, 2013 was on its way to surpassing that. What the actual number may be is a tightly held fact – Warner Bros. is not in the business of revealing sales figures. That bottom-line success has led Lewis this year to take responsibility for the Indian market, which he describes as the opposite of Australia in that it does not have the concentration of retailers – but which, like Australia and New Zealand, needs a complete overhaul. Cue the strategy. Warner Bros. Consumer Products T: 03 9657 0333

This article was originally featured in the September issue of INTHEBLACK magazine Original author: Lynda Dudgale, INTHEBLACK magazine Photo credits: kim@kimtonelli.com

news from the tube I have just returned from the annual children’s TV production conference, Kidscreen Summit, held every year in freezing cold New York in February. This year didn’t disappoint on the weather front with big snowstorms disrupting most of the return flights of the attending Australians. There were two prevailing themes at this year’s conference; one being the rise and rise of the subscription video on demand (SVOD) companies being led by media behemoths Netflix, Google, Amazon and Hulu, and the other being the plethora of comedy shows for older children. In Australia we are yet to feel the full impact of the new SVOD media giants, however in North America they have quickly become industry game changers and this will begin to flow through into our market in the next few years. As one person said to me, watching the SVOD companies do battle in the US is like a media Jurassic Park. Disney, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network are becoming increasingly twitchy of these new media upstarts in that they have cash to burn and are willing to throw it at the independent TV producers. What started with original productions in primetime scripted TV dramas with shows like House Of Cards and Orange Is The New Black is flowing through into children’s TV with many independent producers now having their shows commissioned exclusively for Netflix and Amazon. Whilst this seems all so far away for us here in Australia it will actually start to have a direct impact on us pretty quickly with new licensors emerging to compete with Disney, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. The current fashion in comedy shows for older children is a direct flow on from the success of Cartoon Network’s big three shows – Adventure Time, The Regular Show and The Amazing World Of Gumball. These three shows have elevated Cartoon Network in the US ratings and now all the networks and the production companies that make shows for them are desperately trying to create the next big comedy hit – unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be enough jokes to go around or enough clever scripts and most of these shows, which are trying very hard to be

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In Australia we are yet to feel the full impact of the new SVOD media giants, however in North America they have quickly become industry game changers . . . funny, are not making kids laugh long enough to catch on like Adventure Time. In the kids preschool space it was pretty much more of the same with Peppa Pig, Thomas and Sesame Street leading the way and with Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom, from the creators of Peppa, starting to get a little traction. The carnage in the boys action TV space continues with B Daman, Max Steel, Monsuno and Pac-Man all seeming to struggle in the US retail market over Xmas. The new app that everyone was going nuts about was a new game called Flappy Bird – apparently the story goes that the Vietnamese creator, who posted Flappy Bird, was so inundated with people wanting a piece of the action he has pulled the app down and gone into hiding.

We could all be so lucky! On the local TV front ABC 4 Kids reigns supreme with Peppa Pig queen of the castle. ABC 3 continues to rate well but not much on that channel seems to translate off-screen. The Go! Channel is by far the most popular of the commercial free to airs, however the Toasted TV block on channel Eleven is still struggling to find an audience. Perhaps boys don’t want to watch their action shows on a female skewed channel – could it be that simple? Go! is for boys and Eleven is for girls – go figure.

Bugg Toys & Licensing sits down with Banter Toys CEO Garry Isaacs to discuss the current state of business in the Australian market, and what the future holds for his company as they pass the 26 year milestone. You have been in the business now for 26 years, how have things changed? Social Media is definitely something that has benefited businesses on many levels. Promoting brands and products online has become the standard for marketing. Everybody expects there to be some sort of online integration with product, and it’s working for us as licensed product is steadily growing bigger than generic branded product. This means there is solid backing to the lines we distribute. Having said this, it goes without saying that to sell to the majors is not as easy these days as buyers expect much more sell-through in results. Suppliers are rationalising decisions on products and therefore it can become difficult to agree on a product offering that is a win-win for all parties. You’re also doing more in toys and collectibles now, can you tell us more about this? We have traditionally been a card and collectibles company, which means we deal with toy buyers. It makes sense to expand the business we are doing with more buyers by having a toy offering. How did you see 2013 in terms of the market and its position? Product is king. If you have the right product you will do well. Fortunately we had good product in 2013 and 2014 looks promising also. From a licensing perspective, what were your hottest brands for 2013? All the brands that Banter Toys currently represent are moving strong but there were a few that worked exceptionally well for us in 2013. Adventure Time has always been strong for us ever since its launch in 2012. With the introduction of the Minecraft toys and paper craft product later in the year, it strengthened our toy distribution considerably. And of course with core lines

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being trading cards we maintained consistent sellthrough with the Pokémon, Yu-GiOh!, Magic The Gathering Trading Card Games and the card storage accessories from Ultra Pro. What are your main focus points for 2014? We will continue to grow the trading card, collectibles and toy business with the introduction of new releases, product that has yet to be released to the Australian and New Zealand markets, and strengthening the Organised Play programs for our trading cards. Banter Toys will continue to build on relationships with current and new buyers and hobby retailers, as well as the partnerships with our licensors. How has the online revolution affected your business? It is definitely a new channel for us to market not only our products but also the events that celebrate hobby and pop culture. We are talking directly with the consumers that we meet at these events via social media and through our own online mailing list. This has given us great exposure for our product and the feedback received has been extremely valuable in helping us with product selection. Do you have any future plans to introduce any online platforms in your business? Our website team currently working on an efficient online ordering system that will enable our hobby retail customers to view how their orders are tracking. This is another step that Banter Toys is taking that allows us to be flexible and therefore be able to support all our customers and their needs. Again,

with the additional online mailing list we have for both retailers and consumers, it is a great online tool for us to work with to ensure our communications are always up-to-date and easily accessible. Can you tell us what is on the cards for gaming events and trade shows, etc? 2014 is going to be another big year of events. We’re looking at some exciting activity promoting our toys at Supanova, retail support at Oz Comic-Con, Armageddon and PAX Australia. We are also looking into the gift fairs in August/September as we release some great toys and collectibles product second half of 2014. Banter Toys will of course continue to participate in Organised Play events such as the Pokémon TCG National Tournaments and new to 2014 is the My Little Pony Collectible Card Game – which is already showing some great results. What do you see as your major focus in your business moving into the next five years? Continuing to focus on good brands, good licenses and doing the right thing by our suppliers and retailers. For further information please visit www.bantertoys.com.au

Hardie Grant Egmont makes brands into books and books into brands. Did you know that the children’s book market was valued at over $260 million in 2013? Did you know that’s an average of $61.25 spent on books per child (aged 0–14) in the year? And did you know that four year olds who are read to every day have better outcomes not only in literacy and numeracy but also relating to a range of cognitive skills up to age nine? Or that the average 6 year old can fit 13 marshmallows in their mouth? ‘It’s ok if you didn’t know those facts – that’s our job.’ says Natasha Besliev, Managing Director at Hardie Grant Egmont. ‘We don’t just make books for kids. When it comes to the secret world of kids, we live and breathe it.’

A deliberately small, boutique children’s specialist publishing house, Hardie Grant Egmont is a dedicated and committed team who love bringing the best brands to the domain of kid’s books and delivering book properties that grow into brands. The coming months are full of exciting new licensed publishing across brands including Lalaloopsy, Minecraft, Thomas & Friends, Star Wars, Adventure Time, Temple Run, and much, much more. ‘Our own-created book properties are ready to take off into the wider kid’s entertainment and consumer products space.’ says Besliev. Billie B Brown has sold 1.2 million copies in Australia in just 3 years, officially making her the hottest book property for girls 5–9. ‘If 2014 looks like a big year, just wait to see our plans for 2015 and beyond!’

Contact CaitlinCronin@hardiegrant.com.au to make an appointment, or just pop in! We’re at stand G18 and would love to chat.

Hardie Grant Egmont will be waiting to meet interested people at their stand (G18) at Toy Fair and can be contacted at info@hardiegrantegmont.com.au

Hunter Leisure is taking over 2014! Coming off a massive 2013 success with GAK, comes the two hot new items for 2014, the amazing Wubble Bubble Ball and Galactic GAK. Wubble Bubble is a 91cm diameter ball that is so light itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like a bubble (literately). Have you ever imagined what a bubble feels like? Now you can! You can bounce it, kick it, sit and lay on it as many times as you like and it wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pop! This item is a sure winner with so much potential for on-going hours of fun. It comes in classic clear or colours with its own pump included. Galactic GAK is the newest edition to the GAK family. Sparkles plus GAK are the perfect match and for these Galactic GAK you can stretch it, swirl it, frrrrt it, anything you like! Get the knack for the GAK range, Gak in the Dark, Smell my GAK, Mood GAK and Twisted GAK. Be amazed, come to stand C46!

Be different with Bugg! We have the platforms to get your message to market!

Email us at info@buggtoysandlicensing.com to request a Media Kit and get on board in our Las Vegas Expo and Brand Licensing Europe editions...

Hunter Leisure Pty Ltd, 94 Keilor Park Drive, Tullamarine, Victoria, 3043 T +61 3 9287 9888 F +61 3 9287 9890 www.hunterleisure.com.au

THE GROUND-BREAKING

book series + construction toys starring Goldie, the girl inventor who loves to build.

GoldieBlox is a toy company out to inspire the next generation of female engineers. Construction toys help kids develop spatial skills and get them interested in math and science. For decades it’s been a boy’s club…until now. GoldieBlox is a series of interactive books + construction toys starring Goldie, a curious girl with a love of engineering. It’s time to build a new story so our girls can help build our future. GoldieBlox will nurture a generation of girls who are more confident, courageous and tech-savvy, giving them a real opportunity to contribute to the progress made by engineers in our society. It’s 2014. It’s about time we opened our girls’ minds beyond the pink aisle. It’s time to build a new story so our girls can help build our future.

COME SEE US AT STAND J31

Jasnor are excited for their 2014 second half launch which will feature a number of strong new additions to their brands and licenses – The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Grumpy Cat, Disney Baby, Bananas in Pyjamas, Paddington Bear and more! Visit us at the Melbourne ATA Toy Fair on Stand K42 as we showcase much-loved toy brands and the four must have pre-school brands! Peppa Pig

Giggle and Hoot

Australia’s fastest growing pre-school property continues to be a strong brand for Jasnor with the fun and creative luggage, mealtime and activity stationery items. Our lovable and cheeky piggy has a fresh, new Tropical range for 2014. Great for a travel adventure is the Wheelie Bag or when out and about, the stylish Tote Bag suitable for carrying most loved possessions. Meal times will never be dull with the bright and colourful Lunch bag and Table Set. Fans of the show will not be disappointed with the new Tropical range.

Join Jimmy Giggle, Hoot, Hootabelle and Giggleosaurus as they enter their fourth season! Follow their journeys and adventures as they dress up as kings, astronauts and pirates, to shopkeepers and magicians!

In the Night Garden Jasnor’s range of In the Night Garden offers new super soft plush and chunky style plastic toys which are not only fun but also have valuable child development benefits. From the sweet serenading Lullaby Igglepiggle, the musical and interactive Play‑a-Tune Upsy Daisy to the soft and cuddly Jumbo Igglepiggle this year’s range has something for everyone! Including an exciting Wooden Puzzle Set and Floaty Boat Set to make bath time fun!

Hootabelle, Hoot and his lovable friends are available as Interactive Plush, Blocks, Umbrellas and Bags including the new Skater Hoot Back Pack.

Peter Rabbit The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter was first published in 1902 and has never been out of print since, with sales of over 250 million books sold worldwide. The popular story has now been re-imagined into a new 3D CGI animated TV series for pre-schoolers. The product range will include Action Figurines, Playing Cards, Puzzles, Activity Sets, Plush and Interactive Talking Plush based on the CGI series of Peter Rabbit.

Grumpy Cat Jasnor are pleased to introduce the official Grumpy Cat plush. Grumpy Cat is an internet celebrity known for her grumpy facial expression. Her popularity grew in late 2012 and she is now an internet phenomenon featuring as an image with grumpy captions.

Grumpy Cat teaches the fine art of grumpiness and includes enough bad cat‑ti‑tude to cast a dark cloud over the whole world. Grumpy Cat delivers unmatched, hilarious grumpiness that puts any bad mood in perspective. The Official Grumpy Cat Facebook page has over 5 million ‘Likes’!

Paddington Bear Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children’s literature. He first appeared in 1958 and was subsequently featured in more than twenty books. The polite immigrant bear, with his old hat, battered suitcase, duffle coat and love of marmalade sandwiches has become a classic character. Paddington books have been translated into 30 languages across 70 titles and sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. The franchise has over 265 licenses, making thousands of different products across various countries and Jasnor are the proud distributors of the plush range in Australia and New Zealand. In 2014 we see the upcoming family film Paddington starring Colin Firth as the titular character and the lovely Nicole Kidman who plays the villain. Contact details 1300 881 940 enquiry@jasnor.com www.jasnor.com.au

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FIND WHAT YOU WANT FOR MORE INFORMATION ON LIMA AUSTRALIA, PLEASE CONTACT: Tony Bugg, Managing Director Bugg Marketing Solutions +61 3 9769 3963 +61 418 321 837 tony@buggsolutions.com.au

A NEW DIRECTION FOR LIMA AUSTRALIA

I am pleased to report that we have recently concluded discussions with the President of the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA), Charles M. Riotto, to improve and enhance our service base in the Australian market. We began this journey in 2011 when Bugg Marketing Solutions was appointed as the local representative in the Australian market. Some two years later, and with a growing membership base, LIMA have created a Managing Directors position for myself (Tony Bugg) here in the Australian market, which I am very pleased to accept.

We will be confirming the dates for these functions shortly and naming key sponsors who will support these new initiatives.

As a result of this appointment, we have also been fortunate enough to agree on an expanded services program for 2014 and beyond.

To launch this new phase of our organisation, LIMA will be moderating the first ever Licensing breakfast at the Melbourne Toy Fair in March. This breakfast will see Warner Bros., The Walt Disney Company and Haven Licensing represented on our panel. It is SOLD OUT!!

This services package will include: • A webinar program • Regular networking events in both Melbourne and Sydney • Licensing breakfasts • Educational seminars for aspiring licensing executives and senior executives • A newly created quarterly local newsletter

We also intend to invest some time in researching our local market, to determine with some greater clarity the actual size and makeup of the local Licensing Industry here in Australia.

From a global perspective, LIMA is soon to launch a brand new website, and have also revamped the logo system for the LIMA Licensing programs, in order to be more on trend with the market.

We are also looking forward to Australian companies nominating for the global LIMA awards and hopefully winning one of the categories. We have also been fortunate enough to welcome a number of new members recently, including Mattel. Mark Scott and Mattel have been very proactive in pledging support for LIMA and we were able to open their 2014 Brands Presentation in the Docklands late last year. LIMA are also planning to meet with a number of potential new members at the Melbourne Toy Fair, and we hope to report more progress shortly. For more information on LIMA Australia, please contact Tony Bugg +61 3 9769 3963 +61 418 321 837 tony@buggsolutions.com.au

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• Streamlined Processes • Improved Communication • Make Better Decisions To learn more about Dependable Solutions in Australia, please contact Matthew Bugg at Bugg Marketing Solutions. Matthew Bugg | mbugg@dependablerights.com Mobile +61 407 700 267 | Tel +61 3 9769 3963

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