The Bugg Report Magazine - Edition 4 by thebuggreport

Edition 4

Including Our Vegas Licensing Show 2012 Photo Tour! Market Wrap Stella Projects Penguin Group Nickelodeon Merchantwise Haven Licensing Freemantle Media Disney BBC Worldwide

Feature Interviews Topps Peppa Pig Skylanders

Feature Articles Wide Eyes One Direction Story Food for Thought Publishing with Mark Scott

Licensee News Goldie Marketing Licensing Essentials Big Balloon Neet Feet LICENSING INTERNATIONAL PTY. LTD.

WWE: Entertainment in a class all its own. For opportunities, contact: Ross Walker Vice President, Global Consumer Products WWE 5 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TD, UK T + 011 44 20 7349 1749

From The Editor

Contents

The Bugg Report Magazine - Edition 4

In terms of our market, there are a number of new players emerging in licensing including The Sydney Opera House and new brand, Smiling Bear.

Editor Tony Bugg

Vegas 2012 On the back of LIMA reporting an upturn in revenues from licensed merchandise for the first time in a long time, we set off for Vegas once again. Over 100 Australians from all aspects of the licensing fraternity ventured across to licensing show this year.

Skylanders

WWE

From a food and fashion perspective, you can’t go past Strip Steak at Mandalay Bay, Tao at the Palazzo and Hugo’s Cellar at 4 Queens (old school I know) – this 70’s restaurant was brilliant. For shoes, you cannot go past Mezlan at Palazzo – www.mezlan.com have the best hand made Spanish shoes in the world.

From the Editor

Bits and Pieces

Introduction to Licensors

8-15

Stellar Projects

It has been said that the best office and meeting place in Vegas is by far Eye Candy at Mandalay Bay. If you want a meeting with an Aussie after 10pm dial Eye Candy!!

16-21

Merchantwise

22-23

FremantleMedia Enterprises Asia Pacific

24-26

Haven Licensing

27-28

Nickelodeon

30-31

Disney Interview

32-33

Penguin Licensing and Consumer Products

34-36

BBC Worldwide Australia

37-42

2012 Vegas Photo Tour

Introduction to Feature articles and Interviews

One Direction Feature Story

46-47

Peppa Pig Feature Interview

48-59

Topps Interview

50-52

Skylander Giants Interviews

53-54

Wide Eyes News from the Tube

Food For Thought

Introduction to Licensees

57-59

LIMA Australia

60-63

Goldie Marketing

64-65

Licensing Essentials

66-67

Big Balloon

68-69

Neet Feet

2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo

The Guide to the Licensing World

Nickelodeon

All of the major players were back on the main floor this year and apart from the fact that Vegas is hot and the Airport is crap, it seems to work well for business. We hope that you enjoy our post Vegas edition and get some valuable insight into the local scene and licensing trends worldwide.

Generally speaking the mood was upbeat and there is much happening in the business, dominated by the changing face of how brands emerge and how the retail landscape continues to evolve beyond the traditional model we were all used to!! For us, both Target and Big W had representation on the floor this year. It will be good for 2013 if all of our retailers who deal in licensing can plan to make the commitment to join us. Skylanders was the highlight of the show this year with a packed summit of enthusiastic partners and aspiring partners. The onslaught of App based properties continues unabated. The more difficult task will be picking a sure winner for your business.

Contributor Details

Editors Details

Wide Eyes News from the Tube

Editor – Tony Bugg E: tony@buggsolutions.com.au

Publishing with Mark Scott Food for Thought

Advertising and Content – Matt Bugg E: matt@buggsolutions.com.au Design – Merchantwise Pty Ltd T: +61 3 9520 1000 Print – Print Graphics T: + 61 3 9562 9600

Published by Bugg Marketing Solutions P.O. Box 491 Berwick, Vic 3806 T: +61 3 9769 3963 F: +61 3 9769 3963 E: info@buggsolutions.com.au W: www.buggsolutions.com.au

CENTERFOLD FEATURES • Wild Pumpkin • Bugg Express

The Bugg Report P.O. Box 491 Berwick, Vic 3806 T: +61 3 9769 3963 F: +61 3 9769 3963 E: info@buggreport.com.au W: www.buggreport.com.au

Please note that The Bugg Report has been compiled as a guide to the Licensing Industry in Australia and New Zealand. The views and opinions provided within the report are based upon the views and opinions of its writers. In no way is The Bugg Report a factual guide to Licensing and does not take responsibility for how the information contained within the report is used by its consumers.

The Bugg Report Magazine Edition 4

Bits and Pieces By the time you are reading this magazine, The Dark Knight Rises will have been released in cinemas everywhere. Judging by the advertising around Melbourne, Warner Bros. have spent a fortune on this movie. We here great things about the Turtles (reference back cover of this magazine)... Skylanders was a MASSIVE hit at the Las Vegas Licensing Expo - the way the toys integrate with the game is mind blowing. Melissa Tinker has moved into a new role with Cartoon Network Enterprises as Vice President of the Licensing and Merchandise division based in Hong Kong. The upcoming launch of Novi Starts by MGA looks brilliant... see a teaser at www.novistars.com If you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a copy of The Guide to the Licensing World and would like one, visit www.buggsolutions.com.au. This is a great resource for anyone who works in the Licensing Industry.

Introduction to Licensors Haven Licensing have partnered with Shine 360 on The Voice. Haven now have the merchandise licensing rights in Australia and New Zealand. Doodle Jump has gone to FremantleMedia... New from Septo Lab creators of Cut The Rope - Tanglers and Platoonz Watch out for Uglydoll - We were lucky enough to spend some time on the stand in Vegas and. Gund for Plush, Gene Simmons Kiss Dolls but what is next? Watch out for the new movie TED - Commonwealth for Toys http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/universal/ted/ Bookaboo has scored a 3rd series with FremantleMedia. WWE celebrate its 1000th episode of Monday Night RAW. Thats a lot of episodes! Not much news from the Impact Wrestling camp? WWE seem to be leading by a long shot...

Looks like its the era of the apps at the moment with Angry Birds, Talking Friends, Fruit Ninja, Doodle Jump and Temple Run.

Keep an eye out on our Bugg Report LIVE! module on our website for latest news and updates... www.buggreport.com.au

Con Goutzoulas has moved from Merchantwise to Haven Licensing...

We have posted a video on our You Tube account covering the Vegas show - visit youtube.com/TheBuggReport for a quick tour...

We have a Hallowwen Supplement coming out in August, if you would like to book a page please email us at info@buggreport.com.au.

The Bugg Report Magazine provides you with updates from the Licensors who hold the rights to all the latest and greatest licensed brands and properties in our industry. Our Licensor updates let you know what is happening at all of the major agencies and Licensing companies who represent all the brands that we work on daily, here in Australia and New Zealand. Here is where you will learn about the different activities that these companies are taking part in, their upcoming events, product launches, new brands and plans for 2012 and beyond. We hope that you enjoy the updates in edition 4, which include some hot news on the back of the recent Las Vegas Licensing Expo at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center which was held in June. In edition 4 of The Bugg Report Magazine, we have the latest market wraps from the major Licensing companies listed from Z to A.

LIMA is now in full flight here in Australia. Visit www.buggsolutions.com.au to learn more...

Coming Soon

The Bugg Report Magazine Edition 4

Stella Projects Market Wrap

The Annoying Orange Is coming to Annoy You! Stella Projects and Gaffney Global Licensing have been appointed as co-agents to represent the Annoying Orange in Australia and New Zealand. Launched in October 2009, the Annoying Orange is a web based series of short videos features a comical orange that heckles his other pals in the kitchen. It is like the annoying brother that you wish you never had! The Annoying Orange is really annoying. A Global Viral Success over 1 billion times and top position on YouTube 2 years on a dedicated Orange channel.

streamed has held for over Annoying

The dedicated Annoying Orange channel has 2.3 million subscribers and 60 million viewers per month flock to see the latest escapades of the Annoying Orange. The orange has 10.6 million fans on Facebook! The US launched a limited range of adult t-shirts and toys through mid tier retail and the strategic toy partner Toys R US from Q4 2011. Now over 17 licensees have signed onto the program in the US.

and kids clothing following in 2013. Bensons Showbags will launch carnival plush and items at Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne Royal Shows this year. Other categories such as accessories and bags, posters, confectionery and computer electronics local licensees will be appointed to distribute the US approved product. A major promotion is also likely based on the fan base and following of the brand. “We anticipate that the buyers and licensing industry will come back from Vegas with Annoying Orange on their licensing shopping list for a 2013 opportunity” explained Grahame Grassby, MD of Stella Projects. But wait there is more; Cartoon Network has produced a TV series of 30 X 15 min episodes that started on air in June in the US. Current negotiations are taking place to secure the local broadcast partner in Australia and New Zealand. For more information contact anna@stellaprojects.com

Guess How Much I Love You Jump on board for this classic well loved property!

The long anticipated TV series based on the successful publishing title ‘Guess How Much I love you’ has been a ratings success for ABC2. The TV series is produced by leading Australian independent children’s TV production company SLR Productions. The show was an instant hit with over 200,000 viewers tuning in at 6.10pm over the Easter break. The family friendly broadcast continued to hold its viewers becoming a top 5 watched TV show on the ABC in April, averaging 180,000 viewers per episode. There are now 52 x 11 minute episodes licensed to both ABC@ and Disney Junior in Australia. The new TV series embraces the themes of Love, Imagination and Exploring the world. It introduces new characters to the brand such as Little Field Mouse, Little Grey Squirrel and Little Redwood Fox.

US product includes underwear and sleepwear, accessories, costumes, confectionery, electronics, gift and novelty. The first product to launch in Australia will be the toy range from Moose Toys. This is being sourced from The Bridge and will feature plush and figurines. Toys R Us will launch the brand mid year, with other key retailers coming on board in the lead up to Christmas. Moose will support the launch of the brand with a heavy hitting TV campaign. Casco Blu will initially target specialty with a range of adult shirts, with mass

For all licensing queries contact anna@stellaprojects.com, louise@stellaprojects.com or nerida@stellaprojects.com

100% Pure Annoying

Stella Projects Continued

The ABC switchboard lit up with viewer inquiries when the show didn’t appear on air after it completed its initial series run of 26 episodes. The sales of the first DVD from ABC Video are very strong, with initial sell-in figures reaching over 17,000 units for the first DVD release in June. Jasnor is the licensee for the plush and nursery items, including huggable plush, finger puppets, rattles, comfort blanket, a jack in the box and a soft book. The range will launch in ABC Shops in June with 4 items complimenting the DVD launch. Other specialty retailers, Wild Gift and Collins Booksellers, will come on board for a Q4 launch leading up to Christmas. Valentines Day and Easter will be key periods for the brand, with the gift giving product relevant to these two promotional periods. Other categories being planned include infant homewares and textiles, greeting cards and an infant apparel program for 2013. The new styleguide has been developed with infant product offerings in mind. The result is divine and very in tune with the illustrative nature of the property. The non gender specific appeal is perfect at targeting a range of apparel. In the UK, Sainsbury and Mothercare will be launching apparel in February 2013. For more information contact anna@stellaprojects.com

Lazytown Since 2011 when LazyTown was acquired by Cartoon Network Europe there is a renewed focus on creating a strong global broadcast platform with a third TV series in production in Iceland featuring the exploits of Sportacus, Robbie Rotten and Stephanie.

This will bring the total number to 53 x 22” episodes with the 3rd series being delivered in January 2013. ABC2 continues to be LazyTown’s exclusive TV broadcaster in Australia and will continue to be the exclusive broadcaster of Series 3 and beyond. I n 2013 a spinoff LazyTown cooking TV show will be produced featuring Sportacus preparing fun and healthy meals for active children. I n 2014 the 4th TV series of LazyTown will be delivered. I n 2015 there is a LazyTown feature film and in 2015 a 5th season of LazyTown is planned. atings for LazyTown on ABC 2 have R been excellent, delivering an audience of over 150K viewers per episode. VD sales now total in excess of D 270,000 units from Roadshow with 3 new releases planned for 2012 through retail stores. LazyTown is also available on the iTunes Australia store with all new video releases being released day and date with the DVD. Sportacus and Stephanie appeared live at Christmas time in the AKA Productions with a ticketed live event that toured nationally in December. The shows were enjoyed by kids and parents and endorsed healthy lifestyle and eating habits for children. new ticketed stage show featuring A LazyTown is scheduled for Melbourne in January school holidays 2013 at in Sydney in June 2013. J ust Promotions will continue to feature the characters at non ticketed events throughout shopping centres and events in 2012 and beyond. ictorian and NSW schools will be V treated to in-school educational musical

For all licensing queries contact anna@stellaprojects.com, louise@stellaprojects.com or nerida@stellaprojects.com

productions from Echelon Productions which started in March 2012. These 30 minute performances feature Sportacus and Stephanie bringing their healthy message to primary school students. The performance will be supplemented with student kits featuring activities and prizes and teacher’s kits to incorporate the message into their teaching. azytown is working hard with UK L and US government initiatives that are communicating at the grass roots level. In the US, championed by Michelle Obama, the Lets Move and Healthier US School Challenges are spreading healthy habits. In the UK the Department of Health have aligned with Lazytown to run a campaign that engage students to make healthier decisions. The campaigns are supported online, inschool with posters and activities and encourage the kids to take home the learning’s. I n the UK the healthy message delivered by LazyTown is getting through - Asda have incorporated Lazytown into their private label fresh produce ‘Great Stuff’ range for the past 2 years. The range features fresh fruit and vegies and healthy packaged food. “ We hope to take the key learning’s from these great healthy initiatives and roll them out into the Australian Market. The DNA of the LazyTown property is all about healthy food and active lifestyles – we aim to license products and services that are true to these objectives. With the terrible consequences of obesity facing our children, LazyTown has a very important message to deliver to encourage and active and healthy lifestyles for all of us” said Grahame Grassby, MD Stella Projects.

Stella Projects Continued

Stella Projects Stable

Me to you

Miffy

Domo

Tatty Teddy is back on shelf throughout the gifting and independents channels with new product offerings from Carte Blanche Australia. New toy product is being offered to department, specialty and mass. The interactive plush items featuring the My Blue Nose Bear and his friends will be joined by an all new offering of figurines and play sets from Childsmart. The product will be available in the lead up to Christmas and should become the must have for little girls’ stockings.

Miffy is the number one licensed sleepwear brand in Myer for the 3rd season running. Mitch Dowd will follow up from the strong sell through on their Winter range, with an extensive range for Summer 2013.

Casco Blu launch the brand for the first time in apparel for Big W in a cute range of infant basics and toddler sleepwear in July. Hoping to follow in the footsteps of UK retailer M&S, where the brand is the best selling licensed range for infants, the brand will be a part of the Big W Baby Bonanza Promotion in August.

here is a stop frame Miffy feature film T being released with matinee theatrical screenings in city and suburban cinemas March 2013.

omo remains king of cool in the internet D space - he has topped 1.8 Million fans on Facebook. He remains a top selling brand across various product areas in Spencer Gift and Hot Topic in the US. ere in Australia, JayJays menswear H continues to support our brown friend with new designs dropping in regularly throughout the year. This August will see two designs supported by a QR promotion, social media, downloads and cool prizing. I kon Collectables have launched a range of plush and collectable figurines, Bensons’ Showbags launched at the Easter Show and quickly became the must have bag for teens. o align with the consumer behavior T of the Domo fan an ecommerce site will be launched in the second half of 2012, providing a wide range of product to satisfy the demand of the fans.

With animation and a publishing program in the pipelines for the brand, this is the start of many things to come!

For all licensing queries contact anna@stellaprojects.com, louise@stellaprojects.com or nerida@stellaprojects.com

J asnor will continue to work with ABC Shops as the key retail destination for plush and nursery items. ardie Grant Egmont, the publishers, H is very excited to have a host of new product for 2013, including some large format books.

One Big Element his gifting proposition is based around T the Periodic Table. Doesn’t sound too exciting, but when you infuse wit and humour, and combine bright and vibrant colours, you have a concept that appeal to the current trending of Geek

Stella Projects Continued

Chic. Think Big Bang Theory, Mark Zuckerberg, or Breaking Bad, science and nerds are the new cool. Artico will launch a range of gift items in August which will feature a range of stationery items. Mugs and gifting will follow, making it a great option for Christmas gifting. imson Cards will manufacture a range S of greeting cards. Back to School is an ideal promotional opportunity for this brand, we will align with retail and also intend to launch a student apparel range for this time early 2013.

Rastamouse The coolest preschool program on TV will continue to broaden its fan base with a new series airing on ABC2 in the later part of the year. DVD releases from ABC Video and publishing from Pan McMillian will satisfy the need for product from viewers. tella Projects are also working on S aligning the UK toy product with a local partner. “The Talking plush is great, with its Rastafarian accent and saying, it also plays music which is integral to the show” explained Louise Elkington, Head of Licensing, Stella Projects. EMI are the music partner and we will align with them to release the songs, we are also looking for a meet and greet partner to feature where music is targeting preschool children. Rastamouse has played at Glastonbury in the UK we look forward to having him for meet and greets around Australia.

Shaun the Sheep veryone’s favourite Sheep is back E with new broadcast content. The 2rd series is to be delivered in November 2012. In the meantime to coincide with the Olympics 21 X 1 minute interstitials will be broadcast by the ABC titled “Championsheeeps”

The Shaun Championsheeeps interstitials will be based on sporting themes, performed by Shaun around the farm. Also on ABC prime time TV is a Shaun the Sheep family special titled The Farmer’s Llamas where the farmer accidently buys a group of llamas at the local auction which Shaun and his fellow sheep are none too happy about. Shaun The Sheep will be the ambassador for the Royal Melbourne Show ‘Kids Club’. Celebrating the Year of the Farmer, Shaun is an ideal partner for the Royal Melbourne Show in 2012, appealing to both kids and their parents. He will feature on marketing material, host the Kids Club breakfast and do some live appearances throughout the Show. Casco Blu will launch apparel via their website direct to consumers in September to coincide with this opportunity. Jasnor, the gift and plush partner has gained more retail traction in ABC Shops, Collins Booksellers, Toys R Us, Toyworld and newsagencies. With a whole raft of new product available in the second half of 2012 including sound toys, new characters and Christmas themed product, Shaun will continue to be a family favourite.

Thunderbirds This classic brand will feature in a menswear range, launched to legions of fans in the UK by street brand RUDE in September 2012. The range is inspired by the scientific genius Brains. The range will include t-shirts, sweatshirts, knitwear, Laptop cases and iPhone covers. I n Australia Stella Projects will share these designs with specialty retailers, to emulate the range in 2013.

For all licensing queries contact anna@stellaprojects.com, louise@stellaprojects.com or nerida@stellaprojects.com

“ We will build the brand up at retail, starting with menswear and then heading into ladieswear, inspired by the glamorous Lady Penelope. This will culminate in a wide range of product for the 50th anniversary, which comes around in 2015. We look forward to building this brand with some great retail partners and licenses over the next three year. The TV broadcast will still be on at its classic timeslot of 6am weekends on GO channel, charming young children just getting up and not so young children just getting home!” claims Lou Elkington, Head of Licensing Stella Projects.

Where’s Wally Stella Projects will be looking to celebrate Wally’s 25th Anniversary with a stint of publicity and product launching September 2012. Product and activity will be communicated via Wally’s Facebook fans which have now topped 590,000 in Australia! The Royal Melbourne Show will help celebrate Wally’s birthday with specific events held during the 10 days from 22 September and 10 October. These will include celebrity appearances, a World Record Attempt of the most Wally’s in one location and a birthday party. New product available to help celebrate Wally’s birthday includes gifting products from Artico, confectionery from Kinnerton, 1000 piece puzzle ranges from Jedko and Holdson Puzzles, calendars from John Sands, dress up kits from Smiffys’ and new underwear and t-shirt designs from Designworks. In the UK, Selfridges are featuring a pop up shop, which will feature a wide range of product to help celebrate Wally’s birthday from September.

Merchantwise

Merchantwise presents the latest news for key brands in the year ahead

In addition to this exciting news, Outfit 7 has launched the new romance-inspired Talking Friends app called ‘Tom Loves Angela’. It’s the first Talking Friends app that allows users to have vocal conversations with the characters. To promote the new release of the app, Outfit 7 has partnered with Walt Disney Records to debut a Talking Tom musical duet “You Get Me.” The original song is now available on the iTunes store.

Following a hectic visit to Licensing Show in June this year, Merchantwise is excited to talk about the latest updates on some of the most popular licensed properties for 2013. Managing Director of Merchantwise, Alan Schauder believes 2013 will be considered the Year of the Pig: “After establishing herself as the leading preschool property in the UK, Peppa Pig is now really taking off at Australian retail. We have some wonderful partners on board and expect big things in the year ahead.” Currently, one of the hottest and most talked about preschool brands of the moment is none other than the international sensation, Peppa Pig. Fresh from winning the 2012 LIMA Excellence Award for Best Film, Television, Celebrity or Entertainment Program, Andrew Carley, Head of Global Licensing Entertainment One comments, “The LIMA Award demonstrates that the incredible success of the Peppa Pig UK licensing programme is now widely acknowledged by the international licensing community. With retail launches imminent in the U.S., Australia and Spain, the award adds another string to our bow and puts us in a strong position for the international growth of the property.’

ABC Retail launched the brand earlier in May this year, with new DVD releases by Hopscotch-Fox Home Entertainment, new book titles from Penguin Australia, and the brand new toy range from Big Balloon. Apparel has since launched much to consumer’s delight, with new product categories such as bags and backpacks rolling out shortly. Other products currently in the market include coin operated rides and character appearances as well as Peppa Pig jewellery and hair accessories. New licensees recently signed in Australia include games & puzzles, bedding and confectionery. With growth to 400 million downloads worldwide, including over 11 million in Australia alone, Talking Friends continues to rise in popularity to become an international phenomenon. Disney has now launched the Talking Friends’ series of webisodes on Disney. com. The new three-minute episodes feature all the popular characters including Talking Tom Cat and Talking Ben the Dog, and are also available on Disney’s new YouTube network, and through the Talking Friends mobile apps on a weekly basis.

For further information, please contact Merchantwise at T: +613 9520 1000 | E: info@merchantwise.com | W: www.merchantwise.com

The Talking Friends plush range by Dragon-i toys, will be hitting Australian retail in early second half 2012, with new local deals to be announced shortly. A new beginning has just been announced for Australian preschool icons The Wiggles. Planning for future generations, Greg, Jeff and Murray will be handing over their skivvies to a new generation of performers at the end of 2012. This new direction will ensure that Australia’s most loved and iconic children’s entertainers can keep wiggling and entertaining for many years to come. On stage, popular and energetic original member Anthony Field will continue as the Blue Wiggle, joined by his new Wiggles so-stars, Lachlan Gillespie (Purple), Simon Pryce (Red) and the first ever female Wiggle Emma Watkins (Yellow).

Merchantwise Continued

The Coles Group continue to produce co-branded nappies, wipes and assorted health & beauty baby products, Simson Cards have partnered on the social expressions range and Yates are partners who produce the Gumnut Babies ‘Sweet Peas’ seeds. Gary Ginnivan Entertainment is also developing a new ticketed live show of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, which will be touring Australia in 2013.

May Gibbs is one of Australia’s best loved classic children’s book illustrators and authors. Her deep love and understanding of the Australian bush is portrayed in her work, engendering in children her own love of nature.

The Crusty Demons are known for making the impossible possible. The extreme sport champions took the stage at this year’s 2012 Formula 1™ Australian Grand Prix. Crowds flocked

May Gibbs’ Gumnut Babies, including Snugglepot and Cuddlepie continues to be loved by generations of Australians across the age spectrum. May died in 1969, but her legacy to children lives on. She kindly bequeathed all her papers and copyrights of her bush characters and stories to the New South Wales charities, Cerebral Palsy Alliance and Northcott Disability Services and the residue of her estate to UNICEF. Through her foresight, proceeds from the sale of May Gibbs products have supported thousands of Australian children with disabilities and their families. Current publishing partners include Harper Collins publishing who produce the original works of May Gibbs, Hardie Grant continue to produce the May Gibbs biography & diaries, and Scholastic Australia who this year produced a new range of baby board books, picture books and baby record books.

For further information, please contact Merchantwise at T: +613 9520 1000 | E: info@merchantwise.com | W: www.merchantwise.com

to see their favourite Crusty riders fight for glory. Crusty Demons is a youth brand powerhouse. In Australia & New Zealand, the Crusty Demons have toured since 1999 to massive audiences both in regional centres and capital cities. The brand has 95% awareness amongst males aged under 40.

Become a part of King Features’ world famous brands, with a strong and successful history, whose appeal spans generations of loyal fans.

The consumer products program includes major presence at retail partner Target, comprising of products such as boys’ apparel, fashion accessories, backpacks and bedding. Additional products on the market include the official Crusty Demons magazine, DVDs, showbags and auto accessories.

The Phantom remains unchallenged as the BIGGEST selling traditional comic book in Australia, selling in excess of 50 million copies since launch.

The standard-setter for science-fiction and adventure, Flash Gordon debuted in 1934 under the legendary hand of Alex Raymond.

Hagar the Horrible doesn’t live up to his name. He devotes himself to raising the kids, paying bills, drinking the occasional brew & answering to his wife.

Since his first appearance in 1929, Popeye the sailor has evolved into a pop culture icon. Dolce & Gabbana recently launched a worldwide Popeye apparel range.

Lancome, the undisputed mascara expert, is reinventing glamour, bringing together two icons, Betty Boop and international supermodel Daria Werbowy, in a worldwide campaign to promote Lancomeôme’s latest brand extension Hypnose Star.

For further information, contact Merchantwise P (+613) 9520 1000 E info@merchantwise.com www.merchantwise.com

Italian fashion house Moschino has showcased olive in highly successful campaigns for fragrance products & an accompanying line of umbrellas & silk and wool scarves.

Merchantwise Continued

The Phantom was the first fictional superhero to wear the skin-tight costume that has become the hallmark of comic book superheroes. He was also the first depicted wearing a mask - another superhero standard!

and set things right. Despite his rough exterior, Popeye always bounces back from adversity and never gives up. Popeye remains popular with adults who were children during Popeyeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s years as a TV star.

The Phantom is the heroic crime fighter created by Lee Falk in 1936, which began as a daily newspaper strip, and followed into comic books, publishing, TV, movies and video games.

Internationally in 2012, Popeye partnered with Dolce & Gabbana globally for a Popeye apparel collection for Spring/Summer 2012 under the D&G brand.

The first comic book was released in 1948, with the first edition of the comic book for 2012 the 1650th issue! The total number of comics sold in Australia since launch is in excess of 50 million copies and the brand remains unchallenged as the BIGGEST selling traditional comic book in Australia

T-shirts, sweatshirts and tank tops for both adults and children were produced for WW distribution.

Since his first appearance in 1929, Popeye has evolved into a pop culture icon. Known to perform astounding feats of strength when fortified with spinach, Popeye is the perfect reluctant hero who is often forced to step up

The most glamorous starlet of the animated screen is none other than Betty Boop. Currently, she is featured in a global advertising campaign for the prestige cosmetic brand, LancĂ´me. Betty appears, together with international supermodel Daria Werbowy in print ads, POS, product demonstrations, and extensive social media and mobile applications promoting the Hypnose Star mascara and Ombre Hypnose eye shadow. No one knows more about lashes than Betty Boop!

For further information, please contact Merchantwise at T: +613 9520 1000 | E: info@merchantwise.com | W: www.merchantwise.com

D&G joins a high-profile list of fashion licensees and retailers who have carried Popeye, including Benetton, Myer, Bloomingdaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, Gap, H & M, Miss Sixty, and Zara. For additional information, please contact Merchantwise on: Phone: (03) 9520 1000 visit www.merchantwise.com or email info@merchantwise.com

FremantleMedia Enterprises Asia Pacific Monsuno Jam-packed with gripping highstake adventure, aspirational heroes and iconic monsters – Monsuno is the ultimate boy’s action animation following three kids as they battle forces of evil! Monsuno, this year’s biggest and most exciting new boys’ action-adventure franchise, has officially launched in Australia and New Zealand with a 52x30 minute animated TV series now airing on Nine Network’s GO! Channel and Nickelodeon, supporting a trading card line already launched and a toyline hitting shelves shortly. Targeting 6-11 year old boys, Monsuno is a high-octane, animated actionadventure series where kids discover, command and battle creatures with destructive potential. A race to harness the power of Monsuno ensues between a group of heroic kids and the evil forces focused on destroying the planet. In Australia and New Zealand, Hunter Products will distribute the JAKKS Pacific’s toy-line, which was awarded Boys’ Toy of the Year by the Australian Toy Association earlier this year. The range features innovative, kid-controlled action figures, accessories, playsets, collectables, electronics and integrated role-play, with products launching in August, supported by a heavyweight TV campaign. The toy line has been a roaring success in the US where it is flying off the shelves of retailers including Target, Toys R Us, Wal-Mart and K-Mart.

The TV series is co-produced by Pacific Animation Partners LLC, a joint venture between JAKKS Pacific, Inc. and Dentsu Entertainment USA, Inc. with FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) and The Topps Company, Inc. Nickelodeon, which has the pay TV rights to Monsuno, is currently airing the series on Nicktoons in the US, UK, Germany, Australia and New Zealand and will soon roll it out in over 60 markets worldwide. In addition, FME recently announced several new deals that will see the series broadcast on free-to-air channels including CITV in the UK, Switchover Media (K2) in Italy, RTVE (Clan) in Spain, YTV in Canada and Spacetoon in the Middle East. As worldwide (excluding Asia) ancillary rights agent for Monsuno, FME is currently seeking partners in certain key categories for phase two including apparel, graphic novels, sticker and activity books, and for phase three in categories across games, outdoor toys, dress up and role play, activity and craft, board games and puzzles.

Broadcast Success • Premiered on Nine Network’s GO! Channel in Australia this June and Nicktoons in April 2012 • Audience on Network GO! perform 35% higher than the channel’s afternoon average series to date for children up to 15 years

Banter Toys have successfully launched across all major retailers the Topps Company range of collectable trading cards, which allow for multi-layered game play. They have supported this launch with promotional giveaways with kids’ titles as well as in store demonstrations starting from July across major retailers.

FremantleMedia Enterprises Asia Pacific Hannah Laird, VP Consumer Products Australia and New Zealand Phone: +61 2 9434 0723 | Email: Hannah.laird@fremantlemedia.com

• Aired in UK on Nicktoons since April 2012 - attracting 30% above Nicktoons’ afterschool average for boys 6 -11 • In the US reruns continue to drive ratings with audiences at 30% above Nicktoons’ slot average for children 2-11 • Launching on Nicktoons across EMEA and ROW from Q2 2012

Global Consumer Appeal • Hunter to support Monsuno Australian toy launch with heavyweight TV campaign • Banter Toys campaign already underway with retail demonstrations & promotional giveaways with Just Kidding, K-Zone & Channel 9 Go! • Flair launching UK toy range July 2012 with 15 SKUs – supported by heavyweight TV campaign, with over 2500 TVRs • Jakks launched US toys in Q1 2012 – early sell has been high with awareness supported by Monster Power Tour sampling at retail • Giochi Preziosi launching toy range across EMEA from Q4 2012 For further information and licensing enquiries please contact: Hannah Laird, Fremantle Media Enterprises, VP Consumer products Australia Hannah.Laird@fremantlemedia.com +61 2 9434 0723

Haven Market Wrap

In April Fox Consumer Products held their annual agents summit in Los Angeles and the Homey Awards. The Homey Awards are a prestigious annual awards ceremony that recognizes outstanding achievements across the agents, licensees, retailers and promotional partners of Fox globally. 2012 has seen Haven bring home the Gold Homey Award for Licensee of the Year, Hot Shots. Hot shots are a long standing partner of the Simpsons since 2006, a well-deserved win for the team. Haven also had a great result cleaning up Product of the Year going to On Track with their range of gift wares. Speaking of the Homey Awards and Fox Consumer Products, Haven has big plans for the upcoming 25th anniversary for the Simpsons in 2014. With an abundance of great new initiatives from Fox’s exciting new themes, there is to be a great new range of innovative products anticipated. Two of the most recognizable names in entertainment – FAMILY GUY and KISS – are teaming up for an upcoming co-branded product line that will hit shelves later this year. Gene Simmons made an appearance at Fox’s booth at the Las Vegas Licensing Show. KISS has appeared three times on the series which taps into the band’s references within the show. Contact Haven for more information on opportunities for this exciting launch. Fox also showcased their lineup of TV franchises all of which are having huge rating success in Australia. Sons of Anarchy, Modern Family and New Girl all have many opportunities in merchandising and promotions. Also in the works for FOX are expansions to its portfolio to include Ultimate Fighting Championship, National Geographic Channel and Fox Sports. Exciting news on the movie front for FOX with Robopocalypse due to hit cinemas mid 2014 with legendary director Stephen Spielberg set to take the helm as director. Power rangers are going from strength to strength with a highly successful presentation at the 2012 Vegas Expo. Saban has unveiled the Mega force which sees 20 new half hour episodes airing on the Go! Network, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of Power Rangers in 2013. Bandai has new ranges lined up along with a new DVD. DVD releases from Roadshow Entertainment have been great as well as the meet and greet appearances through the Entertainment Store. 2013 marks Power Rangers 20th Anniversary welcoming an abundance of opportunities for the brand.

Haven Licensing Sydney Head Office call 02 9357 9888 Melbourne Office call 03 9015 6688

Vegas wrap-up: Hello Kitty!! Hello Kitty led the way for licensed brands at this year’s Vegas Licensing show, proving just what a brand can achieve. One of the most talked about events this year included the appearance of Gene Simmons, who dropped in to promote the latest Hello Kitty x KISS collaboration which is currently setting the internet a flutter with its irresistible cross-generational appeal. With the recent announcement that KISS will tour Australia in 2013, as part of their global ‘Monster’ tour, this will be sure to ignite their legion of fans for the ever-popular KISS stadium rock shows. This activity comes at the perfect time for the Hello Kitty collaboration, with the Australian retail rollout set to launch from the end of 2012. Hello Kitty was also brought into the Vegas spotlight with the major announcement that the prestigious Sephora x Hello Kitty beauty range won ’Licensed promotion of the year’. Which continues Hello Kitty’s ongoing commitment to provide fresh and innovative interpretations of brand for their fans to enjoy and consume.

Hello Kitty product is set to take the shelves in abundance, as this key license continues to be a star performer in every category the brand enters. From nursery, preschool to tween, teen, young adults and woman – Hello Kitty continues to grow as a fashion icon. Lead category highlights included fashion, fashion accessories, health & beauty, stationary, iPhone & car accessories, luggage and much more. Hello kitty product is set to be ranged across an assortment of high-profile US retailers from Macys to Nordstroms, Hot Topic to even the Sanrio store at Fashion Show Mall and more. Sanrio held a private stand within the Vegas Licensing Show this year, to which only selected guests were invited to attend. For the privileged few that managed to catch a glimpse on what is around the corner for this Kitty, news travels fast! As Hello Kitty was hot on the lips of most attendees. Which comes further to the news that Hello Kitty has again topped the UK/European and US NPD Data reports, for the second year running. This European strategy has already started to take hold down under as Hello Kitty hits the Australian NPD data report for the very first time last month!!!! ........ watch this space.....

Haven Licensing Sydney Head Office call 02 9357 9888 Melbourne Office call 03 9015 6688

Haven

Nickelodeon

Thomas and Friends

After an eventful 2011 which saw Thomas & Friends move to new owners Mattel, the world’s leading toy company, the brand will continue to expand and grow its product lines and work closely with Haven Licensing locally to dominate the preschool category in 2013. With Mattel’s ownership comes a renewed focus on brand building coupled with a plan for long term investment in new content, 6 trend guides per year, new product development, and increased marketing, PR and advertising. The rollout of the CGI style guides by Haven has resulted in a dramatic lift in sales across all categories. The strong focus on product development will continue to be a priority as well as expanding the range into new markets and product differentiation across the various retail channels.

Market Wrap

and Melbourne followed by 9 weeks of cinema screenings at 38 Hoyts cinemas across the country and 7 in New Zealand beginning on 21 July and running through to 16th September. The event will be supported across all channels including retail, broadcast, digital and social media. With the buzz already building this release is expected to be the highest ranking preschool movie release for Hoyts this year! Tie-in merchandise from partners including engines, playsets from Fisher Price®, publishing, apparel and accessories will be launching into stores in October. The integrated marketing campaign will include TV, print, radio, outdoor, online and retail POS.

Now in its 32nd year globally and 16th year in Australia, Nickelodeon is the number 1 network and entertainment brand for kids with a portfolio that truly represents “something for everyone”. Nickelodeon has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. Leading into 2013 Nickelodeon have ramped up their portfolio with brand new programming that will target the boy and girl segment specifically.

Looking ahead

For the remainder of 2012 we will discover the mystery of the lost engine in the new CG direct to DVD Thomas & Friends™ movie “Blue Mountain Mystery”. There’s a mystery engine on the Island of Sodor! Join Thomas as he follows the clues to unravel a secret that will help a new friend. This must see special introduces captivating and diverse new characters and exciting new destinations, so climb aboard for a thrilling ride!

2013 is shaping up to be a massive year for Thomas. In Q1, fans can look forward to another mini tentpole event with the release of ‘Go Go Thomas’ DVD, toys and merchandise launching in March. This will be closely followed by another big CG animated feature length movie release titled ‘King of the Railway’ in September which will once again introduce new engines and a new destination.

Prior to its release on DVD on 20 September, Blue Mountain Mystery will have two Blue Carpet Premiere events in Sydney

Hold on to your tracks and get set for a wild ride in 2013 with Thomas & Friends!

Clearly the star of the show at LIMA in Las Vegas, ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ was unveiled to attendees in all its lean, mean & green glory! Nickelodeon kicked off Vegas celebrations with an exclusive cocktail party, revealing all-new footage from the Turtles TV series, which received overwhelming feedback from the crowd of industry experts that this is the greatest Turtles creative yet. This all new CGI animation TV series premieres on Nickelodeon on Monday, 8th October at 4.30 p.m. with free-toair television kick starting during the first half of 2013.

Haven & Nickelodeon will be rolling out merchandise locally, starting with Playmates toys and Head Start as their local Australia distributor & Planet Fun for New Zealand. The focus will be on using toys, as much as TV, to re-establish these iconic heroes to a new generation of Turtles fans. Reminiscent of the ‘80’s Turtles we all know and cherish, combined with an all-new enhanced & personalized look and feel for each Turtle – Nickelodeon has focused on the detail when reviving this mega brand from the city sewers. As Karl Aaronian, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Playmates comments, “The innovative new toys will allow kids today the opportunity to recreate that unique ‘Ninja Turtles’ experience. Nobody can resist that unique Turtle blend of humour, action and fun-loving personalities”. The first phase of consumer products will hit the market in March 2013 and includes core categories such as action figures, role play, dress up, apparel, games, puzzles and more. With the merchandise program set to be in full swing from July 2013, prepare to be shell shocked! The primary target audience for launch will be boys 4 – 8 years old, with a secondary audience teens and adults. A game changer, a blockbuster, a no brainer!

Winx Club Nickelodeon has launched a fresh new Winx Club which blends relatable storylines and situations with fashion, music and magical transformations – key ingredients that appeal to girls of today. Airing twice a day, Monday to Friday on GO!, Winx Club, is an animated modern fantasy adventure series that follows six best friends - Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa, Tecna and Aisha - enrolled in Alfea College, the finest fairy school in all the realms. Toys R Us in the U.S. launched their online pre-sale campaign last month and exceeded expectations. The international roll out commences next month across the US, Canada and the UK led by ARGOS. With the new series launching later this year JAKKS Pacific have confirmed Funtastic as the Australian distributor who will be launching a new line of dolls, playsets, accessories, dress-up and role play items September this year. Paramount Home Entertainment will also be releasing a feature length DVD to coincide with toy launch. Further product categories will roll out from April 2013. The Winx license programme will be supported by a multi-platform Marketing and Publicity campaign including TV, online, print magazines, kids press and much more. The perfect hit for today’s girl!

Haven Licensing Sydney Head Office call 02 9357 9888 Melbourne Office call 03 9015 6688

Nickelodeon Market Wrap

Dora The Explorer Multi award winning, Dora continues to be the No. 1 pre-school girls animated show broadcast daily on Nick Jr and on the weekends on Channel Nine, which has been renewed for a further two years. This evergreen franchise goes from strength to strength with her current national live tour selling out, her iTunes app being No. 1 in the Apple store and the licensed programmes growing each year. 2013 introduces new and fresh styleguides, new look TV series including new episodes, all-new toy and DVD “event” releases supported with through the line marketing, major on air promotions plus much, much more. The world’s favourite explorer is also a big hit in New Zealand and 2013 is set for major new retail eventpoles and retail activity. She’s no small explorer!

SpongeBob SquarePants With more ‘likes’ on Facebook than the Beatles, Twilight and Barack Obama, SpongeBob has entertained fans of all ages for more than a decade and is a ratings hit! Combining humour with bright animation, SpongeBob appeals to boy and girl pre-schoolers, kids and tweens. SpongeBob is also a hit with adults, with a third of the TV audience being 18+. Fisher-Price announced at LIMA that SpongeBob SquarePants is the inspiration for their new Imaginext toys which includes playsets, vehicles, and figures where SpongeBob is featured in the iconic Imaginext look. He is also the inspiration for the new LEGO toys launching August. Still the No. 1 animated program on Nickelodeon, SpongeBob continues to air over 60 times per week, reaching 1.2 million viewers per month as well as a

dedicated slot on Toasted TV on Channel Eleven at the weekends. Nickelodeon and Westfield joined forces during the school holidays to showcase a brand new show where kids of all ages were able to submerge themselves in “Stories From Bikini Bottom” and his show at SeaWorld continues to attract widespread audicences. Yellow is the new black!

Team Umizoomi Now broadcast both on Nick Jr and Channel Nine, Nickelodeon’s first consumer products line for Team Umizoomi, the first preschool series to focus entirely on math, will launch with the Team Umizoomi Preschool Math Kits, DVD and books. The kits will provide a hands-on, interactive way for preschoolers to experience math with their parents and incorporate math into everyday life. It is a top-five preschool show on all television and is consistently No. 1 in its time slot.

MTV MTV is the cultural home of the millennial generation, music fans and artists, and a pioneer in creating innovative programming

Haven Licensing Sydney Head Office call 02 9357 9888 Melbourne Office call 03 9015 6688

for young people. Joining forces at the beginning of July, T-Bar and MTV launched a selection of classic teeshirts in both ladies and menswear which have already been spotted on the chests of Daniel McPherson, Molly Meldrum and MTV VJs, Kate Peck and Keiynan Lonsdale. Coming in 2013 is the DVD release of “Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butthead” , Jersey Shore and two brand new South Park series from Comedy Central. Re-invention is MTV’s strength.

Disney Interview

Interview with Kylie Watson Wheeler – GM Disney Consumer Products Australia and NZ

premiering on Finding Nemo in August are both great drivers for these evergreen and strong platforms for our product and retail programs. We believe both Cars Take Flight and the new Toy Story content will provide incremental product opportunities as well as ongoing focus for our existing lines. In terms of pre-school properties we understand that Jake and the Netherland Pirate is performing well for you for the boys. Can you give us an insight into your current merchandise program?

Thank you for taking the time to talk to The Bugg Report after a busy time at the Vegas Licensing Show this year. With the dual portfolios of Disney and Marvel to manage it will be a hectic 12 months ahead for you and your team. We would like to explore some of your most high profile brands and priorities for the Disney Corporation. Can you give us a brief insight into how you saw the 2012 Vegas show from a personal perspective and from a Disney perspective? It was great to see such a strong Australian representation in Vegas – a broad mix of licensors, licensees and retailers highlighting the importance of this industry to our market. The Disney team was very excited by the extent of fantastic new content planned for Disney as well as the continued support and content drivers for our core evergreens.

We are really excited about the content coming out of “Disney Junior”, our preschool channel. The response to Jake and The Neverland Pirates has been overwhelming. The program brings to life the popular pirate play pattern, so central to this range are figures and play sets as well as role play and dress ups. We also hear you have two new emerging pre school shows, Sofia The first and Doc McStuffins. Both Doc McStuffins and Sofia The First will introduce two new endearing girl characters to our pre-school consumers. Both characters have great storytelling behind them as well as delightful personalities, which will ensure consumers connect emotionally with the programming. Both doctor and princess play are key play patterns that will ensure a strong connect with the product programs. We understand Sofia the First is a pre-school offshoot from the Princess franchise. Can you give us a brief understanding of your local plan here?

Sofia is a sweet character in her own right, however the programming will also highlight the key attributes of a Disney Princess – kindness, generosity, courage, honesty and independence, which is the essence of the Disney Princess brand. We anticipate this program will go live on the Disney Channel sometime during early 2013.

To have a 365-day presence in market from a content perspective for Australia’s Number 1 super hero Spider-Man is incredibly exciting. On top of the continuous connect with consumers, the TV show will also introduce a plethora of new gadgets for Spider-Man, which will serve to expand the product offer and increase franchise engagement.

We read that Doc McStuffins was born from the producer’s real life experience of taking her children to the doctors? It looks like the toys are from Just Play? When will it air in Australia and have you signed a distributor for the toys as yet?

Will they be supported with new merchandise?

Doc is a very sweet character and the storyline focuses on the importance of caring for others. The plush, role-play and doll line is from Just Play and will be distributed by Headstart in this market. Doc McStuffins is currently on air now in Australia, on Disney Junior The Marvel portfolio continues to be a powerhouse for boys. The strategy of releasing the movie and following this up with an animated TV series soon after, appears to be a sound plan in terms of keeping the focus on the property for the longer term. How has The Avengers TV series worked for you? What’s exciting about our Marvel portfolio is the ongoing content that will serve to build on the phenomenal base created in market for the Marvel brands this year. The ongoing content both theatrically and on TV will ensure these franchises continue to be top of mind with our core consumers. What are your expectations for Ultimate Spiderman and Hulk and the agents of Smash TV shows.

Absolutely – expect robust ranges at retail for our 3 key Marvel Animated Series, Ultimate Spider-Man, Avengers Assemble and Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. Finally, your movie roster is also packed, from what we hear, The Amazing Spiderman looks hot. What is your next priority for our market from the remaining line-up: The second half of this year is jam packed, with exciting new Disney films. From Tinker Bell and the Secret of the Wings, to Finding Nemo in 3D, Frankenweenie in October and Wreck it Ralph in December. From Disney Animation Studios, who brought us Tangled, we have Wreck-It-Ralph, an action packed visually stunning CG animation set in 3 different game worlds. It follows Ralph, a bad guy in his computer game, who longs to be loved, so he travels to other computer games to find a new destiny and meets some interesting characters along the way. Our major film for 2013 is of course, the much-anticipated prequel to Monsters Inc, Disney- Pixar’s Monsters University. Get ready for monsterization!

We understand there are a number of key events for Disney during 2012. Two of the biggest, CARS TAKE FLIGHT and TS3 MOVIE – Free to air on the 7 network should be huge for you. Do you have a merchandise strategy behind these key drivers of your business? Continuing to drive our core franchises with new content is a key strategy of Disney. Cars Take Flight brings new news, new stories, new play patterns and characters to the Cars mega franchise and is also a strong lead in to our much anticipated movie “Planes” for 2013. The Australian marketplace continues to over index the rest of the world with its love for the incredibly popular Toy Story franchise. It’s a favourite with both boys and girls. The free to air broadcast of Toy Story 3, plus the new short-form content

The Walt Disney Company Kylie Watson - Wheeler, General Manager - Licensing T: 9832 6000

Penguin Licensing and Consumer Products Penguin Group announced the launch of the new global Licensing and Consumer Products division at the 2012 International Licensing Expo in Las Vegas. Penguin’s beloved characters and recognisable books reflect a company that has been telling great stories for over 75 years. The leading publisher is a prime source of intellectual property for the licensing industry across multiple platforms, including digital, media, entertainment, and merchandise. With diverse and engaging brands, Penguin offers licensing opportunities on every page. The Penguin Licensing and Consumer Products division’s mission is to transform these bestselling series into different platforms, allowing consumers to experience great stories in new ways. Among the literary brand highlights within Penguin’s stables are Hairy Maclary and Friends™, The Art of Graeme Base, Spot™, Flower Fairies™, Vintage Ladybird, Penguin Collection, Corduroy, Llama Llama, The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series and many other bestselling franchises globally.

adventure of the particularly rapscallion cat, Slinky Malinki, whose tales of nighttime mischief are a childhood favourite of many. On the back of a successful 2011/2012 summer season of the Hairy Maclary and Friends Live Show at the Sydney Opera House, Hairy and his gang of mischief-making friends will tour the live show throughout Australia in the second half of 2012. The first two states on the tour calendar are Melbourne and Perth. With plenty of excitement to come in 2013, Hairy Maclary is set to keep tails wagging well into the future. Graeme Base is one of the world’s leading creators of picture books, known for his beautiful illustrations interwoven with clever games and puzzles. His alphabet book Animalia, received international acclaim when it was first published in 1986, and has achieved classic status with worldwide sales approaching three million copies. It has now inspired an animated TV series. His most recent book, The Jewel Fish of Karnak, has been shortlisted in the 2012 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. In addition to the plethora of accolades for Graeme’s books, four

titles have featured on the New York Time’s bestsellers list – Animalia, The Waterhole, The Eleventh Hour and Jungle Drums. His two most-beloved titles, Animalia and The Waterhole, now available as apps for iPad, are bringing his wonderful artwork to digital life in a way that both challenges and delights children and adults alike. His next book Little Elephants is due for release in October. Spot, the world’s most lovable puppy, was first created by author Eric Hill to read to his son over 30 years ago. Within weeks of publication, his first book Where’s Spot? reached the top of the UK bestseller list. Since then, Spot has become an international success, with more than 50 million Spot books sold in over 60 languages and across 100 countries. His playful adventures, depicted in bold primary colours, have made him a timeless favourite among babies and toddlers alike. Contact Details: For all licensing queries contact reagan.croucher@au.penguingroup.com

2013 will mark 30 years since Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy first went ‘out of the gate and off for a walk’. Now, with a total of 19 titles in the series and worldwide sales in excess of 10 million, Hairy Maclary’s perennial appeal as a classic brand is well established. “A cooler dog there has never been”, the ABC shop website declares when promoting their Hairy Maclary DVD. There is plenty of activity around the brand at the moment, with the original book, Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy, now available as an app narrated by David Tennant of Doctor Who fame. The next book in the series – Slinky Malinki, Early Bird – follows the latest

The Penguin Group For more information contact: Reagan Croucher | Licensing Manager Penguin Group (Australia) Phone: +61 3 9811 2675 or Email: reagan.croucher@au.penguingroup.com

BBC Worldwide Australia Market Wrap

Doctor Who With preparations for the 2013 Doctor Who 50th celebrations in full swing, licensees are working on some special anniversary products, including a diary with features on all 11 Doctors as well as a bespoke Doctor Who Monopoly game with the usual tokens replaced with miniature Sonic Screwdrivers, scarves and bowties. ew artwork assets are now available including 50th N anniversary iconography, Anthony Dry artwork and fun cartoon-style imagery based on the Worlds in Time MMO game. A new logo and 50th Anniversary icon is currently being developed and will be available soon. BBC Worldwide is excited to be working on some new categories for Doctor Who, with an exclusive baby wear range currently underway. Expect quirky onesies to be available from ABC Shops in time for Christmas, the perfect gift for the Doctor Who fan with kids who have everything! ocks and beach towels are also headed to ABC Shops, just S in time for Father’s Day September 2012. Series 7 will see all new episodes of Doctor Who on Australian screens later this year.

Top Gear The lead up to Father’s Day will see a new apparel range launching in Big W with partner Mac Group and “Laboratoire Stig” toiletries from Universal Brands available through Woolworths, Big W & BP.

ids can try their hand at racing the Top Gear test track whilst K their parents shop this September school holidays when Showtime rolls out the new Top Gear game zones in selected Westfield shopping centre’s nationally.

BBC Earth BBC Earth Live will present the first series of concerts in Australia at the Sydney Opera House in late 2012. Blue Planet and Planet Earth in Concert are two unique, breath-taking celebrations of music, featuring George Fenton, composer conducting the Sydney Opera House Orchestra, performing his score alongside a specially edited feature presentation of HD footage from the landmark BBC series of the same name. eadly 60 product from Character Options through Ikon is due D to launch in ABC Stores from October. The range includes foilbag collectable and construction play sets. Series 3 will launch first on ABC 3 from September, with ABC 1 TV launch to follow shortly after. inosaurs are back and with the Walking with Dinosaurs 3D D film slated for release next year, expect some big licensing announcements shortly.

Dancing with the Stars ancing with the Stars series 11 wrapped up in spectacular D fashion Sunday 17th June, with 1.2 million viewers tuning in to see singing sensation Johnny Ruffo and partner take out the glitter ball BBC Worldwide has launched on two online social platforms to further engage fans with their favourite TV show, including:

Dancing with the Stars Keep Dancing online game at dwtskeepdancing.com.au. Fans love the show, now they can play the game - recreating their favourite moments from with glamorous costumes, sexy dance moves and intense competitions. Dancing with the Stars room in Stardoll at www.stardoll.com. Stardoll is the largest online community for girls aged 7 to 17. Fans can join the Dancing with the Stars club, chat with their friends and see new prizes delivered directly to their suite.

Lonely Planet The Lonely Planet brand garnered big interest at the Las Vegas Toy Fair recently, stay tuned for some new product ranges to be announced shortly.

Charlie and Lola Jasnor will launch a new toys and plush range in August 2012. The Charlie and Lola soup range, available through Coles, is garnering solid sell thru with cooler weather hitting town. More FMCG products are in the works as a result. Following the success of Charlie and Lola’s Best Bestest Play, BBC Worldwide are planning a new Charlie and Lola live event for late 2012. Keep an eye out for more details.

The Adventures of Abney & Teal New funny and timeless 2D and 3D animation for children launching on ABC4Kids later in the year.

Abney and Teal are two friends who live on an island in the middle of a lake, in the middle of a park, in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the big city. They share their island home with a group of friendly and hilarious characters, and together they are always ready for adventure. Plush, toys and a DVD release are set to follow the launch.

BBC Worldwide arrive at Dymocks Brisbane After a successful trial at Dymocks Doncaster over the Christmas/New Year period, Dymocks has launched the first permanent BBC Worldwide shop-in-shop at its flagship store in Brisbane. Dymocks on Albert Street is in the heart of the city of Brisbane with a daily traffic of 2000. The BBC Worldwide shop-in-shop will feature books, DVDs and licensed product from our biggest brands, including Top Gear, BBC Earth, Doctor Who and Lonely Planet Dymocks is a leading provider of books, entertainment and informational products and services with over 96 stores in the Australia/Asia region Contact Details: For further details please contact Elie Mansour at elie.mansour@bbc.com or on (02) 9744 4544, Rachel Hammond at Rachel.hammond@bbc.com or on (02) 9744 4585 or Brigid Roberts at brigid.roberts@bbc.com or on (02) 9744 4569.

Wild Pumpkin offers the marketplace a unique and tailor-made approach to brand building, offering a full range of integrated services. Wild Pumpkin is a market leader in brand licensing, brand management and product development introducing a specialised, strategic management and consumer marketing consultancy to brand owners, licensors and licensees both domestically and internationally.

ANGRY BIRDS IS A TRADEMARK OF ROVIO ENTERTAINMENT LTD. COPYRIGHT 2009-2012 ROVIO ENTERTAINMENT LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ©2011-2012 Activision Publishing, Inc. Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure is a trademark and Spyro and Activision are registered trademarks of Acivision Publishing, Inc. All WWE trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. ©2012 WWE. All Rights Reserved. BEN 10 OMNIVERSE, ADVENTURE TIME, CARTOON NETWORK, the logos, and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and ©2012 Cartoon Network. ©2012 Crayola. Crayola™ are trademarks of Crayola, used under license. ©The Jim Henson Company. JIM HENSON’S mark & logo, Dinosaur Train mark & logo, characters and elements are trademarks of The Jim Henson Company. All Rights Reserved. Care Bears™ and related trademarks. ©2012 Those Characters From Cleveland, Inc. Used under license by (Wild Pumpkin Licensing International). PEANUTS © United Feature Syndicate, Inc. ©2012 Original Appalachian Artworks, Inc. ©2012 Hi-5 Operations Pty Limited. ©2012 Skatelab. Skatelab is a trademark of Skateboarding Hall of Fame, INC. ©2012 DQ Entertainment. ©2012 Universal Studios. ©Feld Motor Sports, Inc. ©2012 The Jim Henson Company

xpressions

Angry Birds has soared past 1 billion downloads with over 18 million downloads in Australia alone! Angry Birds: Space has helped push Angry Birds over the magical billion mark with more than 100 million downloads in just 3 months! The hottest brand on the planet also flew away with 3 licensing excellence awards at the 2012 Licensing Expo in Las Vegas, including the Overall Best Licensed Program of the Year! The fastest growing franchise ever continues to break new ground globally with further amazing plans in place for 2013 and beyond including the introduction to the new girl bird Stella.

From the Jim Henson stable, Pajanimals premiered in Australia in February 2012 and rated fantastically! It is currently airing 6.15pm on ABC2 weeknights and was featured on Channel Seven’s The Morning Show in June. There is an exciting new toy line launching October 2012 from Tomy along with sleepwear and accessories.

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Ben 10 is back with a new look, a new Omnitrix, and a brandnew show. Get ready for Ben 10: Omniverse! Ben is all set to be a solo hero, but Grandpa Max teams him up with a rookie, by-the-book partner, and together they explore a secret alien city. Meanwhile, a mysterious hunter sets his sights on Ben! With 10 new alien heroes to choose from, the fun is just getting started. With an incredible new toy line from Bandai & Funtastic supporting the Omniverse launch; it’s a whole new Omniverse starting in October!

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On October 2, 1950 the PEANUTS comic strip launched in seven US newspapers. Little did anyone know the impact that the brand would have around the world for decades to come. 60 years later, the comic strip appears in over 2,200 newspapers, in 75 countries and in 21 languages around the world! The fashion program continues to grow globally and locally, and is selling exceptionally well across all age groups, with retail partners including Big W, Myer and Cotton On. Summer 2012 will see further expansion of the brand across retail.

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expression 1.3 Cartoon Networks’ latest hit, Adventure Time, has taken off worldwide. One of the most popular shows on Cartoon Network has also developed a cult following in Australia! 10 new licensees are on board in Australia and this number is growing quickly! Product launched in the recent Toys R Us June toy catalogue, further product launches across retail will commence from August 12.

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Monster Jam has again partnered with Burger King to showcase six Monster Jam truck toys in kid’s meals.

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The Monster Jam promotion is set to run through June at restaurants in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Middle East and Latin America.

2013 is the 30th anniversary of Care Bears! With their caring ways and iconic belly badges, the super hugable Care bears are determined to help children everywhere understand their feeling and emotions through love, music, belly badge and , of ofcourse, big Care 9 NEWmagic Poses for each these bears: Bear hugs. No one Funshine Bear makes caring cooler than the CareGood Bears! Many exciting Care Bear Luck Bear announcements Love-a-Lotare Bearcoming soon!

Even MORE Care Bears Character Content

Wish Bear

Stay Tuned for news on the launch of the Monster Jam consumer products program at retail coming ver soon!

Despicable Me made $540 million worldwide and was the world’s 9th highest grossing film in 2010! Gru, his girls and his vast army of minions return in Despicable Me 2 premiering in Australia June 29, 2013. The all-star voice cast returns to tell the next chapter in the life of everyone’s favourite super-villain. Despicable Me 2 is sure to be the family hit movie for 2013.

THE GIANTS ARE COMING IN OCTOBER! Activision’s Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure was the big hit of 2011; thrilling kids around the world with its unique gameplay and winning awards for its revolutionary take on toys and video games. It ended 2011 as the No 1 Best selling kids video game (including game and toys) in Australia and was in fact the Toy of the Year as voted by K Zone and Sunrise. The momentum has continued in 2012 with the game currently the No 1 Best selling video game year to date (including game and toys). Skylanders has also become the number one boys brand property, further demonstrating that Skylanders is the hottest brand on the market!

Skylanders Cloud Patrol landed on iPhones and iPads worldwide early April! The engagement of Australian fans in the brand has never been so big with Australia the 3rd biggest country for consumers that have downloaded the game on the app store. Skylanders Cloud Patrol is an exciting new app that lets kids select their favourite Skylanders character, take to the skies in their flying gunship and look for escaped trolls who need to be knocked out of the sky. Within a week of release it had reached number 6 on the paid iPhone app chart and number 3 on the paid iPad app chart, which were both phenomenal achievements!

FOR ALL LICENSING ENQUIRIES: ELIE MANSOUR Licensed Consumer Products Manager T: + 61 2 9744 4544 M: +61 (0) 403 457534 elie.mansour@bbc.com

RAchAEL hAMMOND Senior Licensing Executive T: + 61 2 9744 4585 rachael.hammond@bbc.com

BBC Worldwide Ltd, Level 5, 6 Eden Park Drive, Macquarie Park, NSW 2113, Australia

BRIGID ROBERTS Licensing Executive T: + 61 2 9744 4569 brigid.roberts@bbc.com

Introduction to Feature Articles and Interviews In our feature article section of The Bugg Report Magazine, we provide you with a number of interesting and timely interviews and articles to give you the inside scoop on what is happening in the Licensing Industry, here in Australia and New Zealand. Whether it is the latest interview, market analysis or opinion article, you will find this here in the feature article section of The Bugg Report Magazine.

One Direction Feature Story

Interview with Ami Dieckman and Andrew Carley on Peppa Pig

Edition 4 brings you interviews with Ami Dieckman and Andrew Carley (Entertainment One), Chris Rodman (Topps) and Ashley Maidy (Activision), as well as articles that give you market analysis and opinion on the industry from respected figures in Licensing. The interviews and articles in this edition are listed below for your information. We hope that you enjoy our feature article section for edition 4 of The Bugg Report Magazine. Please feel free to shoot us an email with your thoughts on any of the interviews or articles that you will read on the coming pages at info@buggreport.com.au.

Interview with Chris Rodman on Topps

Interview with Ashley Maidy on Skylanders

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Interview with Alex Ness - Toys for Bob Chief of Staff on Skylanders

The Bugg Report Magazine Edition 4

Feature Story

The King of Rock and Roll Merchandising picks up One Direction!

The Bugg Report recently interviewed the legend of Rock and Roll merchandising, Barry Drinkwater.

Barry began his career designing producing and selling merchandise outside Wimberley Stadium. He was selling Status Quo merchandise under his own steam when they asked him to come inside the stadium and continue selling. The catch was the band wanted a royalty on what he was selling. Up until then he had traded without such restrictions! Barry discovered the Spice Girls whilst he was with Bravado and developed merchandising around the group. He commented: “when the band saw the dolls, they instantly went wild over them” Barry was the founding owner of the Bravado group, which he later sold to Universal. Barry remained on in a consultancy and advisory role. He was able to hang in there for the short term however he soon realised that his burning desire to create something else of his own doing was more important than managing merchandising programs for his former company.

2. Go, Go PowerRangers. Or should that just be Go Go Saban? The guys from LA are on a roll with a sleuth of new deals and plans. Not only does Power Rangers celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2013 with MegaForce but Saban announced the launch

Whilst he was sitting out the mandatory non compete term in his former contract he sat down with some of his trusted business associates and soon formed a new company, Global Merchandising Services. Founded in 2008 Global creates unique international merchandise programs. He took shared offices in London with a management company. This company fortuitously was the management group of the new phenomenon, which is One Direction.

Barry has toured with Iron Maiden and has long standing associations with most of the big Rock bands around the world.

The Bugg Report Magazine Edition 4

of TV animated series Julius Junior relating to its hot to trot lifestyle brand Paul Frank. Those clever little monkeys! 3. Nickelodeons stand might have been empty but its suites in the conference center were always busy. There was no showcase this year from the Nick team but the Turtles made a guest appearance at a short and sweet drinks reception. The all new look Turtles looks fantastic… Cowabunga! 4. Trash Pack – Great news from the Trashies who seem to be taking their Aussie success to other territories around the world. The US and UK are performing really well for Moose Toys, with Target, Walmart and TRU all investing in the brand. Fall 2012 sees launch of publishing (Parragon has global English language rights), licensed apparel, board games and a video game from Activision. 5. Could the Sony Smurfs 2 actually be the thing to watch – definitely trying to build momentum on the success of Movie 1?

6. Mattel Monster High – this brand seems to have really captured the imagination of girls with great webisode content, some very cool toy lines and an ever growing licensing program. All the product looks great at retail – those guys sure know have to execute good product 7. I definitely need to forget strange people dressed in strange outfits. I thought for one moment I was at Comic-Con. The joint award for most random outfit goes to Burlesque lady who seemed to be a hit with the boys and the odd couple wearing male and female body parts as a character costume. Freaky. 8. Walking around the show reinforced yet again that great commercial opportunities come from many different areas–entertainment, sport, digital content, books or toys. The powerhouse brand creators of Disney, Nickelodeon, Mattel, Hasbro, sat alongside newbies and much smaller organisations behind brands such as Annoying Orange, Talking Friends, and Cut the Rope. Who knows what brands or companies might be exhibiting in 2013. The world is definitely changing… 9. Congratulations to Angry Birds from Rovio Entertainment Ltd, which flew away with three awards, including Best Licensed Program and Best Character/Toy Brand Program of the Year.

Barry has recently picked up North American rights for One Direction and has engaged Fred Gaffney to manage the merchandising programs in Australia.

10 Things we learned at Vegas

1. Disney always puts on a good show with another impressive presentation. Bob Chapek has certainly had a busy few months, with a complete change in Disney Consumer Products organizational structure to focus on franchise and retail. Especially impressive was the slate of new content coming through the pipe-line, from Disney Junior, Doc Mcstuffins to Disney Channel Teen Beach Musical and Frozen, a Fall 2013 animated release featuring... wait for it, not one but two Princesses. Double the merchandising fun! Disney always have a way of resurrecting something and their latest effort is a cute little lady in pink called Minnie Mouse – hot, hot, hot! Across lots of markets and licensed categories. It’s not just Lady Gaga that wears a bow in her hair.

Barry has been instrumental in the evolution of creating and executing these programs all over the world. For over 40 years he and his companies have represented most of the big global acts including, The Spice Girls, Iron Maiden, Elton John, Status Quo to name a few.

One Direction will be back in Australia for a concert tour and we understand that the shows are already sold out. A new pop up shop opened in South Yarra recently in conjunction with Barry’s business partner Derek Glover, the event merchandising doyen.

Publishing with Mark Scott

From the left: Derek Glover (pop up shop Doyen), Barry Drinkwater (CEO) Global Merchandising Services and Fred Gaffney (Gaffney Global)

10. Vegas may have been packed with teenagers attending various warehouse house music parties but it was the eye-candy bar where it was really happening. The licensing moves were definitely being thrown down on the dance floor. Daddy dancing? I don’t know what you mean...

Please send any questions or feedback to mark.scott@parragon.com

Peppa Pig Feature Interview Ami Dieckman and Andrew Carley of Entertainment One

Andrew Carley 15 years in the licensing industry with an additional 4 years in retail in buying. Experience across film, TV, and sport licensing across multiple territories with relationships with companies including Lucas Film, DreamWorks, Paramount, UEFA, FIFA and The FA. The last five years have been spent with eOne overseeing the implementation of global licensing programmes across its portfolio of Family TV properties – notably Peppa which has seen retail sales rise to in excess of £200 million in the UK alone.

Ami Dieckman With over 10 years experience within the licensing and broadcast industry, working across international family brands such as Barbie, Postman Pat, and Little Princess, Dieckman joined eOne’s licensing division in 2010. The last 3 years has seen the implementation of both the company’s film and international merchandising programmes, managing properties including The Twilight Saga and the launch of Peppa Pig as a global brand.

Congratulations on your award at the Las Vegas Licensing Expo in June for Best Film, Television, Celebrity or Entertainment Program. Can you tell us who Entertainment One are, and what the award means for the company? Entertainment One is a leading international entertainment company that specialises in the acquisition, production and distribution of film and television content. The company’s comprehensive network extends around the globe including Canada, the U.S., the UK, Ireland, Benelux, France, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The company provides extensive expertise in film distribution, television and music production, family programming, merchandising and licensing. Its current rights library is exploited across all media formats and includes more than 20,000 film and television titles, 2,500 hours of television programming and 45,000 music tracks. The recent LIMA award win for Peppa Pig demonstrates that the success of the

UK licensing programme is recognised by the international licensing community and it puts us in a strong position for the growth of the property overseas which is a key focus for the business. With the first Peppa Pig product line launching in the US imminently, the timing couldn’t be better! Can you give us a run down on Peppa Pig and tell us about the concept and its origins? Peppa Pig was created by awardwinning British animation studio Astley Baker Davies, which consists of Nev Astley, Mark Baker and Phil Davies. They met in the animation department at Middlesex Polytechnic in the 1980s and decided to make a preschool animated series for kids about a family of pigs. They chose to make the lead character a girl because at the time they felt that there were very few cartoon shows with a female lead in the UK. Nick Jr. were the first broadcaster to commission the series in the UK and it was aired at peak time, in the same slot every week, so that Peppa would become a regular fixture in the lives of her young viewers.

For further information, please contact Merchantwise at T: +613 9520 1000 | E: info@merchantwise.com | W: www.merchantwise.com

Can you tell us about the format for Peppa Pig in terms of the series, episodes and structure? Core Target: 2-6 year old boys & girls Broadcast in over 180 territories Programming: 209 x 5 minute episodes (6 series) Peppa Pig is a bossy little pig who lives with baby brother George, Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig. She loves jumping in muddy puddles, snorting and laughing. Every five-minute episode involves the entire Pig family, plus friends, rolling on their backs laughing. Essentially the series is about Peppa’s day to day adventures, her family and situations familiar to small children. This is why it resonates with children around the world. What is the growth plan for Peppa Pig given that the brand has slowly grown into one of the most unique properties in Licensing? Going forward eOne’s focus is to establishing Peppa Pig as a global brand. Peppa has enjoyed a consciously managed growth and consequently great success in the UK broadcast on

Channel Five’s Milkshake! & Nick Jr. / Nick Jr. 2 since 2004 in the UK – a top rated show on both channels for the last 8 years. Peppa Pig now generates £200m at retail in the UK alone Internationally, our strategy is to follow the UK model in terms of carefully managed programs with complete coordination across all aspects of the business(Broadcast,HomeEntertainment, Merchandising, localisation of the brand). A strong broadcast platform & committed scheduling is a core part of brand growth/awareness - as has been demonstrated by the strong support for Peppa from the ABC in Australia. eOne ensures the TV platform remains strong in order to continue fostering the growth of brands through new product launches & targeted marketing with key partners launching with product that reflects current local programming. In addition to Australia and Europe, the USA is an exciting market with Nick US acquiring all six seasons of the show (broadcasting daily) and Fisher Price launching a 2012 toy line. In terms of Licensing, what are the biggest and most successful categories for Peppa Pig? In the early stages of the licensing programme, the more traditional categories of Toys, Games and publishing were the driving force of the programme sustaining over half the brand’s revenue stream. Although these remain the dominant categories we have seen substantial growth in apparel, housewares and more recently FMCG. Let’s not forget the Peppa Pig theme park, Peppa Pig World at Paulton’s Park in the UK, which has been a smash hit for Peppa Pig fans young and old. It certainly shows the investment in Peppa Pig as a long-term and evergreen brand Does the popularity of Peppa Pig vary significantly between markets

throughout the world, and if so where is the property most popular? Although it has a multilayered appeal, the key to Peppa’s success (when reduced to its most basic form) is the theme of family. Essentially, the show mirrors the daily life of a typical family and further to that: the daily life of an average preschooler. Despite now being firmly established in the hearts of viewing habits UK families, Peppa is still a relatively young international brand with many territories launching at the end of 2012. Peppa has been the number 1 UK preschool property in 2010 and 2011 by toys sales (NPD data) ahead of Thomas. Again, the popularity of a brand is intrinsically linked to the strength of its broadcast platform and in territories where we have full support; the brand is championed by the consumer even ahead of product launch! Territories such as Australia have been incredibly responsive in viewing numbers and online interaction. For example, upon the show’s launch (Sept 2011) the Spanish broadcaster TVE received over 11 million hits on their dedicated Peppa microsite (5 million visits above the average hit for their existing top shows). Central Eastern Europe and Italy have also proved a success with strong TV ratings and highly successful publishing programmes (holding the # 1 spots for pre-school magazine title in Poland and licensed publishing character in Italy). Merchantwise are your agent here locally in Australia, how have you approached the introduction and ongoing development of Peppa Pig in Australia? When Peppa Pig first commenced airing in Australia a few years ago, we tested the waters with the brand to see if it was ready for a consumer

products program. We decided that the time wasn’t right, and decided to hold back on further building the brand in consumer products, until we gained enough consumer & retail demand to launch at the right time. The time is certainly right now – ABC Retail has proved a successful launch of Peppa Pig into the market (they had many consumers asking for Peppa Pig regularly!). Merchantwise are looking to mirror the UK strategy; managed growth, slowly building demand and a long-term brand strategy. What can we look forward to seeing from Peppa Pig moving into Christmas 2012? Currently ABC Retail is supporting a range of Peppa Pig toys, apparel and bags, with new product categories being rolled out prior to Christmas. Big Balloon will be distributing additional toy lines across the market prior to Christmas 2012, including new playsets, plush and learning toys. New DVD’s & books will be rolling out during the course of the year, with new Peppa Pig bedding, games & puzzles also rolling out prior to Christmas. Will we see any sub brands or major new character introductions to Peppa Pig in the coming years? As a brand we will remain faithful to the spirit of the original programming always focusing on the core family and friends however the upcoming 10 year anniversary will definitely bring a few surprises and indulge those who love the old favourites! As for details – you will have to wait and see!

For further information, please contact Merchantwise at T: +613 9520 1000 | E: info@merchantwise.com | W: www.merchantwise.com

Topps Interview

With Chris Rodman - Vice President and Group Managing Director of Topps Europe

I was part of the Merlin Publishing management team that sold the Merlin business to Topps in 1995 and at the time was responsible for new business including our International business. In fact it was whilst I was in this role that Croftminster (now Banter Toys) became our distribution partner a relationship that has flourished over 18 years, making it Topps longest running International partnership. We have been very lucky as it’s not often in business that you have the opportunity to build such a strong and enduring partnership with two companies whose respective skill sets compliment each other so well.

Vice President and Group Managing Director of Topps Europe since October 2004. Chris is responsible for all of Topps Sports & Entertainment business outside of the USA and joined the Company in 1995 with the acquisition of Merlin Publishing. Previously he was a board director of Merlin Publishing and Chairman of Merlin’s US-based subsidiary. He also has experience as Chief Executive of Admiral sportswear, a global football (soccer) brand, and a founder and board director of its parent company, Warwick Sports & Leisure. He founded his own sports marketing and promotions business, which he subsequently sold after he left Aston Villa FC where he was head of the club’s commercial operations. He began his marketing career at Nielsen and has a Bachelor’s degree from Keele University, England and a Masters degree from Springfield College, Massachusetts. Thank you for taking some time to chat with us Chris. Firstly, could you tell us a little bit about Topps and where it originated? In Europe, Topps has existed for over 30 years but Topps originated in the USA 75 years ago and actually invented the modern trading card when we launched Major League Baseball cards in 1951 with another iconic Topps brand, Bazooka bubble gum. Over the years things have changed massively and Topps have grown to be synonymous with sports and entertainment collecting. Nowadays we have a portfolio that includes collectables for IPL Cricket in India, the English Premier League, Bundesliga football in Germany, the NFL & MLB in the USA as well as a host of entertainment brands like Marvel, Star Wars, Moshi Monsters and WWE. How did your role with Topps come to be and what is the best part of working for Topps?

As to the best part of working for Topps it has to be working with so many motivated and engaged people both within our business and the partners with whom we work. The Topps business is about building long term enduring relationships that work for both parties and that underpins the way we work, for example we have been for 20 years now the longest serving licensee of the English Premier League and have been a partner of Lucasfilm since the first Star Wars movie in 1977. Working within the sports and entertainment collectables business is one of the most exciting businesses around and is akin to running an FMCG business on steroids in that we have to deliver the most engaging and compelling products that capture, excite and retain a child’s interest during what can be a small window of opportunity. Topps is the market leader in trading cards of many sorts, such as sporting cards and cards featuring licensed properties. Can you tell us a little bit about the Topps range of products and where your main business comes from? Our ability to innovate in new markets has contributed greatly to our success and I can say with great pride that our very own Match Attax brand, which was completely developed in-house by the Topps team, has since become the World’s biggest selling sports trading card game and is now exported to over 40 countries worldwide. The success of this and other licenses like Star Wars, Moshi Monsters and a range of high profile sports, including the AFL Chipz in Australia, Bundesliga football in Germany and IPL cricket in India, has seen the company reach out to new audiences all over the world. Where trading cards are concerned, product placement is obviously very important. How do you usually work with your distributors and retailers to set up point of sale displays to ensure sell through is high for Topps products? We’re very fortunate that Topps have such a good relationship with retailers and distributors built over many years of collaboration. Working closely together means that we can really engage with our collectors through fabulous placements in-store that are tailored to work within the space. Ultimately

Please contact Banter Toys for more information Phone: +61 3 9799 3422 | Email: info@bantertoys.com.au

that’s good for the product as it creates awareness and demand, which also increases footfall in store. The boom in online retailing has meant that for a lot of products, the traditional routes to market have become less successful than a few years ago. Has the online effect made any impression on the trading card business? Innovations in the digital space are really very exciting - they are transforming every business and Topps is no exception. So it’s really vital that we embrace technology if we are to remain market leaders and stay abreast of how our collectors’ habits are changing with digital advances. In recent years we’ve had some success with our own Bunt and Pennant baseball apps in the US and we have an exciting online presence with a ‘virtual’ world of gaming and collecting to support our English and German football products. That said there is something very pleasing about how Topps products are embraced in the ‘real’ world where we see the enthusiasm to swap and trade collections face-to-face is as popular as ever. Is there a significant difference in which licensed cards are the most popular in terms of different markets, or do you see trends in markets worldwide? It’s a very interesting question as the trends really do vary from market-to-market. For example, we are seeing some incredible success in Germany with Topps Star Wars products that we are not seeing at the same level elsewhere despite the license being as popular in other markets. But we have learned that each market is different; in India we see a market that loves the game and strategy of Topps Cricket Attax, US collectors enjoy authentic memorabilia, and UK collectors are passionate about special cards. When you understand the market, you can tailor the product to maximize the enjoyment for its collectors and this is what Topps aim to do. Working with such great international brands like the English Premier and Star Wars helps too!

You recently attended the Las Vegas Licensing Expo in June, can you tell us how the show was for you and about the LIMA award that Topps received at the awards event? Yes we were very pleased to receive a LIMA award and I think making an award to a company doing business in India and for cricket, a sport that has little traction in the USA, was a significant step forward in the development a truly global perspective of the licensing industry. The success was a reward for all the hard work the Topps teams based back in Mumbai and Milton Keynes England, devoted to the project and the pioneering nature of what we are doing as we try to build the collectables category in India from scratch. Actually it’s great that just as Topps excited and engaged US children back in thirties with our baseball cards we are now 75 years later doing the same with Indian children using cricket cards. Which at a time when our lives and our children’s lives are being dominated by digital interaction it proves that if you get the proposition right trading cards and trading cards games can be as meaningful and relevant with kids today as they were when we were kids. As to the show I don’t think it threw up many properties that we weren’t already aware of and did more to confirm the buzz and excitement around properties such as Skylanders, Star Wars and Moshi Monsters. Finally, have you been to Australia before, and would you consider coming to the Melbourne Toy Fair in March 2013? I am very lucky to have visited Australia many many times since the early nineties, and I have to say it has been a wonderful experience both professionally and personally and I’ll be back again later this year and also in 2013 for the Lions tour… not that England will provide many of the test team!

What is the most successful market for Topps globally? Collecting trends are always changing but Topps have enjoyed success all over the world by learning about and understanding the market. In Europe, the UK has been one of the core markets, as has Germany where we are market leaders in both territories. Also through licenses like Pokémon and more recently Moshi Monsters we have increased our global footprint. India has over the past three years grown significantly and our Latin American business is expanding rapidly. It’s a very exciting time and we are looking at new products for new markets all the time.

TM & © 2012 Marvel & Subs. TM & © 2012, WWE, Inc. All Rights Reserved. © 2012 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. © 1996 F.A. Premier League Ltd. TM © IDI 2011. © Disney. © Mind Candy Ltd. Moshi Monsters is a trademark of Mind Candy Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please contact Banter Toys for more information Phone: +61 3 9799 3422 | Email: info@bantertoys.com.au

Skylanders Giants Interview With Ashley Maldy from Activision

Thanks for giving us this interview Ashley. Can you tell us about your role at Activision and your work on the Skylanders brand? I was brought in last year to head up and build an in-house licensing and partnerships division for our core game franchises, including Skylanders and Call of Duty. Skylanders is a unique opportunity for Activision because we have never released a game that lends itself to such a broad merchandising program, so setting the strategy and determining the product categories and timing in which products enter the market is critical to the program’s success. Skylanders was arguably the biggest hit at the Las Vegas Licensing Show in June. Can you tell us about how you plan to grow the brand in terms of additional characters, games, etc.? Activision’s plan is to continue to build and foster Skylanders brand loyalty through a variety of interactive experiences, including new toys and places for them to play, whether on

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traditional gaming consoles, the free online social destination - Skylanders Universe, and our mobile games. We will have more than 20 new inter-action figures to collect in Skylanders Giants, including Giants, new Skylanders, LightCore Skylanders, and Series 2 Skylanders, which are returning fan favorites. Can you give us a brief run down of how many licensees there are now for Skylanders globally and what are the major categories for the brand? We have over 80 licensees worldwide. Our strategy is essentially to follow our own game footprint. Our major markets are in the U.S. and Canada, Australia/NZ, Western and Eastern Europe, Nordics, and LATAM. To date we have built robust merchandising programs in the U.S., AUS/NZ and Europe in product categories including Publishing, Apparel & Accessories, Back-to-School & Stationery, Party Goods, Bedding & Room Décor, Plush, Construction Sets, Puzzles, Sporting Goods, Costumes and much much more.

Skylanders Giants Interview With Alex Ness - Toys for Bob Chief of Staff

Can you tell us about your role at Toys for Bob and your work on Skylanders? I can and hopefully it makes sense! My official title here is “Chief of Staff” but since I’ve worked with the company since we were only 11 people, I tend to wear many hats. On Skylanders, I was a producer, a writer, a designer, and I helped our president, Paul Reiche, run the studio and helped make sure his creative vision got executed. So hopefully I should be able to answer any Skylanders question you may have! Can you give us a background to Skylanders and tell us a little about Toys for Bob? You bet! Let’s start with Toys For Bob. The core group has been together for about 14 years now (and some of us have worked together even longer). We used to be a development team at Crystal Dynamics/Eidos, but in 2002, we went independent and formed our studio. Activision was the first publisher we worked with, and I think it was love at first sight. Or at the very least, both sides liked working together because after developing two titles for Activision, they decided to buy us in 2005 and we became a wholly owned subsidiary. During our time together, we worked on a Disney title; two games for the Madagascar movie franchise and a Tony Hawk Downhill Racing launch title for the Wii. We didn’t consider ourselves a “Kids’ Game Company”, per se, but we did prefer to work on colorful, whimsical, cartoonish style of games and we were quite suited to it as well. When we finished our last game before Skylanders, Madagascar 2, we were tasked with trying to reinvent the Spyro franchise and potentially age it up for an older demographic. We followed that direction for a while but quickly realized that just wasn’t us. Luckily, around that same time, the Nintendo Wii console started to really take off and become quite popular. We then changed course and went

about trying to find a way to bring Spyro to more of a Wii audience. Besides just the aesthetic, we thought a lot about what the Wii had been so successful at. On a high level, it was coming up with a new way to play video games. That inspired us a lot. We wanted to come up with our own brand new way to play video games and incorporate that into the Spyro franchise. There were a lot of different ideas thrown out there some good, some bad - but what really stuck with us was this concept of bringing toys to life. We had all played with toys as kids and imagined them having all kinds of adventures and we loved the idea of having these adventures in a video game. So that was what we pitched. And thankfully, we didn’t just pitch it like that. With words. We prototyped the experience. Our character artist, I-Wei Huang, made early versions of some of our Skylanders toys out of clay and paint. Then one of our programmers, Robert Leyland, created the early technology/ magic that is the Portal. So when it was time to show this idea to Activision, we could really show it working in game. That, I believe, made all the difference. When did it first become clear that Skylanders was going to be a huge hit? It was really only pretty recently. About a year into development, we definitely believed it had potential to be a big hit, but you never really believe it’s going to happen until it happens. Plus you don’t want to jinx it or get complacent. We worked as hard as we’ve ever worked to make sure not to blow this amazing opportunity! There are many great features to the game, can you tell us about the game in terms of gameplay and what it is all about? We’re talking about Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure, right? At its core, it’s probably a dungeon-crawler, action-adventure RPG lite. Kind of a combination of Diablo and the Lego games,

Wild Pumpkin Licensing International For all licensing enquiries call 03 9427 0370 or email info@wild-pumpkin.com

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Skylanders Giants Interview With Alex Ness - Toys for Bob Chief of Staff - Continued

then mixed with the whimsical humor and charm that we see in a lot of 1st party Nintendo games, particularly the Mario ones. What it’s all about, from a story perspective, is that you are Portal Master. With your Portal of Power, you possess the ability to bring these exiled heroes, toys in your world, back to their own dimension to help save it from evil. The Skylanders themselves were exiled by a bad guy named Kaos. Like most bad guys, he wants to take over the world. Your job is to stop him by repairing something called the Core of Light, which brings elemental balance to the Skylands, and ridding it of Kaos and his evil henchmen. The Skylanders toys are very interactive with the game, where you can actually use the toys as avatars and use them to unlock parts of the game. Can you tell us how the idea to do this came about and the technology behind the toys? I touched on the where the overall toy idea came from earlier. But in terms of them accessing different parts of the game, that was just another way we wanted to add value to the toys themselves. So if you purchase another Skylander, you not only get that toy and to play that character in the game but you also get to access certain special areas of the game that other characters can’t, both elemental areas and some things we call Heroic Challenges. There’s never been a game like this before, using toys in the game the way we do, so we wanted to make sure that we really delivered and made you feel like you got your money’s worth. The Skylanders Giants were recently introduced to the game. Can you tell us a bit about the new Giant characters and how they fit into the game play?

Wild Pumpkin Licensing International For all licensing enquiries call 03 9427 0370 or email info@wild-pumpkin.com

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Wide Eyes News from the Tube A leading industry expert offers a snapshot on News from The Tube

Yes, and just to be clear, Skylanders Giants is a separate title. It’s a sequel to Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure. The Giants are a brand new type of Skylander. They were actually the very first Skylanders that existed over 10,000 years ago. They’ve been buried for centuries and recently unearthed to deal with an equally ancient threat that has returned to Skylands. Like the name suggests, the Giants are HUGE! Over twice as big as normal Skylanders and more powerful too. There are also special things that only a Giant can do. They can pull floating islands towards them using a chain, they can pick up large boulders and throw them, they can crash throw certain parts of the floor and access underground areas, and they can do many other things that you might expect a big, powerful creature to be able to do. All the normal Skylanders can play in Giants too though, and we made sure to make a fun game for both types of characters. We know people have special attachments to some of their old toys and we weren’t going to let them down with this new game.

The passing of another year in time was marked by the fourth year of the International Licensing Show being held in the Mandalay Bay convention centre in Las Vegas.

Finally, with the mega successes of the iPhone and iPad by Apple, are there any plans to take the Skylanders game to iOS or incorporate an app into the Skylanders game?

The show was awash with app properties – a person couldn’t even go to the bathroom without advertisements for apps plastered in front of your face on the bathroom walls.

I believe we have already started down that path. We have an iOS game out there currently called Skylanders Cloud Patrol that is actually super fun and addictive. And I know we have plans for future mobile game releases soon that have yet to be announced. While we develop the console products here at Toys For Bob, I know that Activision as a whole is very committed to bringing Skylanders onto every platform imaginable so expect more things like this down the road.

I did not believe it possible but I managed to get myself lost on the show floor more times this year than in previous years and it is staggering how difficult it is to navigate yourself around that room – everyone says it is because it is an “L” shape which I know but it just doesn’t help. ttendances seemed to be down on A last year but this doesn’t matter as every licensor is at the show and happy to take meetings on the half hour every half hour.

Angry Birds continues to be the king of licensed apps and a tour of US retail shows the massive extent of Angry Birds merchandise across every conceivable product category.

agreed that Skylanders was a smash hit property.

Monsuno which is also on Go! is

Another property causing a lot of noise was the YouTube video sensation the Annoying Orange which has been made into a 60 x 15 minute TV series which launched in the US on Cartoon Network in June.

Australia in July.

The Annoying Orange is based on 150 different 2 minute YouTube videos which are the most streamed videos ever on YouTube and they are, you guessed it, unbelievably annoying but loved by kids 8-18 years old.

SlugTerra launches in the Toasted TV

I n respect to traditional TV series, competition in the boys’ action market seemed less crowded this year with the stand outs at the show being Monsuno, Power Rangers, Turtles and the heavily promoted SlugTerra.

launching toys and trading cards in

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is on Nickelodeon in Australia and there is the beginning of a buzz based on the new TV series.

block on Channel 11 later this year – the Toasted TV block is however struggling in the ratings since the block was moved off the main channel Ten in March. Beyblade toys are still selling well but the licensing is not as strong as was hoped for going into year three of the relaunch but there are at least another two seasons of TV being

ower Rangers toys are flying in P Australia with the current and new TV series being broadcast on Go!

produced featuring ever more intricate

ext year will be the 20th consecutive N season of Power Rangers TV and there will be an avalanche of promotion for the brand celebrating this landmark achievement.

is The Amazing World of Gumball and

battling Beyblades. My favourite TV series over the last year it was good to see this appearing as a licensed property for the first time on the Cartoon Network stand.

Moshi Monsters seems to be struggling in the US and is not experiencing the same level of success it is still enjoying in the UK. I n the US, Domo’s stature as a cult icon with the internet generation grows ever larger and Domo plans to conquer the world as a viral meme (pronounced “MEEM” – wikipedia it.) ther new internet properties creating a O lot of buzz were Doodle Jump, Cut the Rope, Fruit Ninja, Talking Friends and Temple Run. he electronic game which was T definitely working for merchandise was Skylanders and for my money this was the hit of the show – everyone

The Bugg Report Magazine Edition 4

Wide Eyes News from the Tube Continued

In the girls’ TV space, there was not a lot to get excited about in respect to new TV series – Nickelodeon’s Winx Club was the exception and very prominent but for the girls, the toy brands seemed to dominate with Barbie, Lalaloopsy and Monster High crowding the retail shelves. I n respect to pre-school TV shows, the new Hit Entertainment property Mike the Knight was highly visable in the trade magazines and it will be interesting to see if knights are internationally successful – the ratings for the show on ABC2 have been good which is always a positive start. The TV series that has had an amazing impact from its first broadcast on ABC TV this Easter is Guess How Much I

Love You? based on one of the world’s bestselling children’s books of all time. The first DVD has just been released and is selling like crazy – it’s nice to see such a traditional property doing so well in this app crazy world. I walked passed a presentation for The World of Eric Carle licensing which is another beautiful book based property and the licensed merchandise looked fantastic. Other pre-school shows launched at the show were Tickety Toc, Maya the Bee, Tree Fu Tom, The Hive and Paul Frank Junior which is an animated kids show based around the Paul Frank monkey which is a big success as a teenage/ young adult fashion brand.

Overall this year’s Licensing Show highlighted how all consuming the internet has become as it continues to integrate and reshape all of the world’s traditional industries – film, TV, music, books, and magazines making content and communication of opinions of content instantaneous across the globe. Nearly every human being with money now has constant access to 5 screens - smart phone, tablet, lap top, PC and television – which makes communication of wide eyes content accessible whenever, wherever and however – just come up with something a lot of people enjoy consuming and merchandise will be sure to follow.

Food For Thought Las Vegas Licensing Expo Edition!

While in Las Vegas for LIMA I had the opportunity to visit supermarkets in the US and see the penetration of licensed product. s the largest retailer in the world, Wal-mart was the best A direction to go. There are over 3,000 Wal-mart supercenters in the United States, the biggest in New York spans across a whopping 260,000 square feet over two floors. You could quite literally get lost. You can buy almost anything at Wal-mart but obviously I was on the hunt for licensed FMCG product. The sheer size of the store allows for much more shelf space than we see in Coles and Woolworths, which results in more suppliers and wider ranges. This opens the door for heavy licensing in strong areas. Licensing was very strong in the personal care category. Wound Care offered a wide selection of licenses including Scooby-Doo, Spiderman, Toy Story, Cars, Disney Princesses, Hello Kitty, Dora the Explorer, Kermit the Frog, Mickey Mouse and Angry Birds. Johnson & Johnson had also secured an off location unit in the area with their Band-aid brand. Bath care was also strong with Dora the Explorer, Disney Princesses, Hello Kitty, Spongebob, Elmo and Spiderman. There was a strong penetration of licenses within the vitamin area with a whopping 9 SKU’s with The Flintstones.

The Bugg Report Magazine Edition 4

Others included Disney Princesses, Mickey Mouse, Marvel Heroes, Finding Nemo, Toy Story and Cars. Within the food area, the fruit snacks aisle was bursting with character licensing much like the Australian market. The usual suspects featured including Scooby-Doo, Dora the Explorer, Spongebob, Tom & Jerry, Thomas the Tank, Disney Princesses, Cars, Spiderman, Angry Birds and Mario Bros. The Flintstones was very strong in cereal as was Dora the Explorer – a category clear of licensing in Australia.

Other products spotted include: • The Avengers pizza • Cars chicken nugget sticks • Spongebob and Madagascar pasta shapes • Spiderman cookies • Superhero Squad fruit chillers

The Bugg Report Magazine Edition 4

Introduction to Licensees In our Licensee section of The Bugg Report Magazine we take a look at some of the best upcoming products and brands from some of the top licensee companies in the business. In edition 4 of The Bugg Report Magazine, we take a look at: • Part 2 of the Goldie Marketing road to global success story

The Bugg Report Magazine Edition 4

• News on the new direction for Licensing Essentials • All the latest news from Big Balloon • Profile on footwear company Neet Feet We hope that you enjoy the licensee section in Edition 4 and as always please feel free to email us at info@buggreport.com.au with any feedback.

LIMA Australia

2012 Las Vegas Licensing Expo Update

As we clock up 12 months on the LIMA team, it is satisfying to see that we have made some serious in roads into securing a local chapter here in Australia. LIMA made further strides forward this year with a dedicated offering of space for both North American members and International partners. Representatives from most key territories were all in attendance to develop the LIMA platform. We were fortunate to host five new members who for the first time participated in both the LIMA CLS Certificate and the Licensing University. Andy Lown - Sydney Opera House, Karen Patterson – Smiling Bear, Shannon Major – Living Social, Annelies Vandoorn – TPF and Celia Murray were all enthusiastic to learn more about licensing. We have more good news with the signing on of The Sydney Opera House and Penguin’s new licensing division as new members. As we break through the 20-member barrier we encourage you all to join us and to assist in the development of a strong licensing structure in our market. LIMANET is yet another fantastic initiative for our members. It provides an online environment for you to communicate with other companies from around the world in terms of your products and services. It is more than

just a database; it is a dynamic, realtime licensing marketplace. Here are a few of the invaluable Limanet features • Construct and instantly manage your own homepage • Receive customized alerts regarding specific licensing opportunities • Post videos on your LIMANET homepage such as movies, television show apps, video games and more. • Post photos on your LIMANET homepage of your intellectual properties, the products you manufacture, design you represent, artwork you have created and anything words alone cannot describe. Visit www.limanet.com to learn more about how this can generate business for you. The LIMA awards night this year was attended by over 1,000 people. We saw the induction of Howard Roffman from Lucas into The Hall of Fame along with many global awards. Interestingly, after a strong focus from the LIMA UK office several UK companies were nominated this year and more importantly seven of these entrants were winners on the night! It is clearly our desire to engage Australian companies to nominate for the 2013 Awards supported by the local office here in Australia. We will be in

Local Australian LIMA Representative - Bugg Marketing Solutions Contact Tony Bugg for any enquiries on 03 9769 3963 or email info@buggsolutions.com.au

contact with many companies over the coming months to develop a strategy for entry for next year. We encourage you all strongly to make the effort and nominate Australian brands, programs and promotions for next year’s awards. Now that we have returned from Vegas we will be giving some thought to running our next networking evening. This will be an opportunity for us to offer both our current members and aspiring members a forum to get together and socialize. Finally for this edition we are also planning to run a Basics of Licensing seminar in Melbourne and Sydney over the next 12 months. This seminar will focus on providing an educational resource for those who are wishing to learn about our industry from the beginning. This course will be ideal for new comers to our industry and junior roles. The plan will be to offer evening drinks at the end of the day, which will include the more senior people in our industry.

Goldie Marketing The road to global success - Part 2

Goldie Marketing is continuing its rise to success within the global toy market. It develops, manufactures and distributes merchandise and third party items across the world. Having founded the company in 2002, Stephen “Goldie” Goldsworthy had a vision to surprise and delight people of all ages with his diverse range of products and a clear mission of how to achieve this. “The product must be king” is his mantra, and it has seen the company propelled into success beyond anyone’s expectations over the past decade.

Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants, Hello Kitty, Mr. Men and Little Miss and Stig Power to name a few. Endorsing and enhancing these brands has seen worldwide success for Goldie, as kids of all ages have embraced the products and merchandise that the company has developed. From humble beginnings with licensed library bags, to present day with a never-ending list of product items from R/C vehicles, figurine collections, plush, pullback vehicles,

pillows and much more, the public has purchased the product and supported the global Goldie Marketing brand. Moving forward, the company has big ideas, big ambition, big goals and even bigger ways to accomplish it. Innovation is key to the company’s success, as it works tirelessly at creating exciting products. Continuously coming up with new ideas for the characters and brands and bringing them to life is what the company is all about.

Fast-forward 10 years and Goldie Marketing has a solid global distribution network delivering their own developed products worldwide. A global office structure has been implemented with offices placed across the globe to accommodate to the evergrowing industry and to secure Goldie Marketing’s place within it. The head office in Melbourne is where the magic begins. The San Diego office (Goldie International Inc.) gives Goldie a direct link to the largest market in the world, with a US sales network, while also dealing with sales and shipping. The China office (Goldie International (China Ltd) focuses on manufacturing and quality control, while the Hong Kong office (Goldie International (Hong Kong Ltd) deals with shipping and sourcing. Goldie is ensuring that no stone is left unturned and every target market is reached. Shipping to over 70 countries across all continents of the world, Goldie has also gained affiliate offices through reliable business contacts in London and Paris. Goldie Marketing holds the licensing rights to many of the worlds most iconic, popular and much loved characters and brands including; Super Mario Bros, The Smurfs, Dora the

Goldie Marketing Pty Ltd For any enquiries please call 03 9720 6186

Goldie Marketing

The road to global success - Part 2 - Continued

Goldieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s determination, focus and spirit have been instrumental to the success of his business and ensuring his recognition as a visionary. With over 20 years experience in the toy industry, his vision to create a place and purpose for his product in the market and his dedication to quality have lead to some of the great triumphs of the Goldie Marketing story. With the support of his dynamic team, Goldie continues to deliver bestselling toys with blockbuster results. Goldie has a dedicated and loyal team of people across the world. From sales, product development, shipping, warehouse, admin, licensing, PR and finance, the team has all avenues covered with a shared goal to make Goldie Marketing the best it can be. The Goldie team knows what needs to be done to achieve success and share Goldieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s passion for toys and vision of delighting all that come into contact with the products.

has high hopes for the future. By sourcing new methods of distribution and building stronger client relationships, the team is doing all it can to create a paramount brand.

Expanding into further international markets and broadening and developing current licensing agreements, Goldie

Over the coming months, there is plenty to get excited about! Loads of new product will be released to market

and new ventures undertaken as Goldie Marketing comes up with continuously exciting merchandise to surprise and delight people of all ages. The Goldie team is constantly striving to come up with new and exciting ways to keep people entertained around the world, ensuring everyone shares the enthusiasm and delight that they do for licensed characters and products Goldie Marketing is dedicated to creating the ultimate play and gaming experience for customers, from developing merchandise people will love, to manufacturing products with the highest quality materials and distributing them around the globe. The company values superiority and excellence. Goldie Marketing delivers authentic items designed true to the games, shows, movies, books and the fans. Goldie Marketing hopes to captivate, amaze and entertain with its iconic licensing brands and innovative products while fostering the ultimate kid-appeal and long-lasting playtime with the finest and safest toys.

Goldie Marketing Pty Ltd For any enquiries please call 03 9720 6186

Licensing Essentials New move, hot licenses, new direction.

develop a range of products relevant to the target market whilst delivering good margins for the retailers. Other exciting children’s properties in the pipelines at LE include Looney Tunes, Batman and Superman. LE will be working closely with the team at Warner Bros to broaden existing product offerings and create branded destinations for consumers.

For over 20 years, Licensing Essentials (LE) has been at the forefront of the licensing industry. Founded by father and son, Scott and John Bingley, the business manages a portfolio of over 30 licensed properties. Lead by Managing Director, Scott Bingley, the business began from modest beginnings specialising in bar accessories to now producing and distributing a diverse range of merchandise including adult & children’s apparel, giftware, children’s dinning, back to school and plush. LE’s recipe for success has been to provide its customers an end-to-end solution from product design through to manufacturing, distribution and strategic product placement. The comprehensive brand portfolio allows LE to provide the retailer complete offerings in the genre of sports, liquor, motorsport, music and entertainment. LE works closely with its retail partners on providing the consumer with a quality product and tailoring retail solutions to help drive sales. Not surprisingly LE was awarded “Account Manager of the Year” at Chrisco’s 2012 Annual Supplier Awards Night. One major area of growth for LE over the past seven years has been its sports licenses via the representation of leading sports brands the Australian Football League and National Rugby League. Actively working with the principals, LE has devoted its efforts and resources to growing this area of their business and

Licensing Essentials Pty. Ltd 800 Wellington Road, Rowville, VIC. 3178 Phone: (03) 9754 0754 www.licencingessentials.com.au

has plans on further expansion in both product category development and distribution.

The future for LE is bright. With a stable of the most iconic brands and a passionate team, LE continues to go from strength to strength. Positioning itself to cater to the growth of the business, LE recently

relocated its corporate head office and distribution centre to Rowville. The new premise is set up to handle the logistical needs of all major retailers in Australia and New Zealand. With the ever changing retail landscape and customer sophistication, LE continues to work hard on maintaining its lead as Australia’s most innovative and solution driven licensing company. If you’re looking for a partner who has expertise and is equipped to handle the growth, development and distribution of major brands through the end to end process, LE may be the right company for you.

With LE’s established success in sports and adult licensing, LE has more recently made inroads into children’s licensing. LE has been quick to harness the worldwide phenomenon of the Apps and gaming favourites Angry Birds and Skylanders. Brand representation will be across multiple categories including plush, novelty, gift, back to school and showbags. Skylanders’ extraordinary success across the globe has meant unprecedented retail demand for product. LE recently entered into partnership with US company, Just Play and are working together to develop a comprehensive and innovative program over the next 2 years. Currently in development and due for release this side of Christmas, the Skylanders range will include character bag clips, traditional character plush, must-have “soft stretchables”, talking plush and talking 18” Giant plush with light up luminescent feature that is going to provide hours of fun and recruit new devotees to the game. Another stellar year lies ahead for LE as they work closely with Wild Pumpkin on a number of fresh and exciting Cartoon Network properties, Adventure Time, The Regular Show and Gumball. The two companies will work closely together to

For further details please contact: Scott Bingley, Managing Director Wendy Long, Marketing Manager

E: scott@licensingessentials.com.au E: wendy@licensingessentials.com.au

For further details please contact: Scott Bingley, Managing Director Wendy Long, Marketing Manager

Licensing Essentials Pty. Ltd 800 Wellington Road, Rowville, VIC. 3178 Phone: (03) 9754 0754 www.licencingessentials.com.au

Big Balloon

Home of the best preschool brands

From our favourite fireman, to a particular bossy pig, Big Balloon is making a splash in the preschool market with four of the hottest preschool brands in the Australian market today. Fireman Sam has been a central brand in the preschool landscape for over 20 years. Since the brand’s relaunch in the Australian market in October 2011, retailers have been enjoying fiery hot sales with a brand new range of high quality toys. The recently updated Fireman Sam CGI animation has offered the brand a new breath of air, ensuring another generation of Fireman Sam fans to follow. The latest range of Fireman Sam toys features a Deluxe Firestation, adventure playsets, vehicles, figures and characters all from the latest series of Fireman Sam television series. Bob the Builder and his “Can Do” team are back and ready to build up your sales with a brand new CGI animation series and new toy range from Character Options. Backed with strong TV ratings and key viewing times Bob the Builder’s latest series Ready, Steady, Build is set to strongly support the new range of Bob the Builder toys. The latest range of Bob the Builder toys launched in the market in April 2012 featuring a brand new style of play sets, vehicles and favourite Bob characters in figures. Number 3 UK girls preschool brand Peppa Pig has relaunched in Australia under the Big Balloon banner and is making some serious noise - *Oink Oink! Launching exclusively in ABC stores in May and available to all retail in October, this bossy

pig comes to our shores with a brand new range of toys and new TV series. Peppa Pig toys focus around Peppa’s family and friends with products scaled to all price points. From Ty collectible Peppa Pig plush from at $9.99 to the Peppa Pig Deluxe Playhouse at $59.99 - there is something for every Peppa Pig fan. To date there are 144 episodes with a further 52 in production, Peppa Pig is set to become an iconic brand in the preschool mix. Our favourite ghost busting, mystery solving gang are back with a bang and a whole new look. Like Fireman Sam, Scooby Doo has been revamped with a brand new CGI animation capturing a broad audience of boys and girls of all ages. On TV across Cartoon Network, Boomerang and GO! for over 30 hours a week, the new range of Scooby Doo toys caused such a scream there was a seven week wait on stock! The Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated range is based around ‘goo’ themed toys. From the Mystery Machine to Scooby Vehicles, to figures hidden in pods of goo, there is never ending fun for little Scooby Doo fans to join the gang and solve the latest mystery. As these key preschool brands continue to grow in the Australian market, Big Balloon is set to expand these ranges with new and exciting toys, offering great sales opportunities for Australian retailers and ensuring these brands are constants in the toy aisles for years to come.

www.bigballoon.com.au

For more information please contact Big Balloon Phone: 03 9020 1358 www.bigballoon.com.au

Neet Feet Established in June, 1995, Neet Feet has grown to become one of Australia’s most highly respected footwear suppliers distributing in excess of ten (10) million pairs per annum in the Australian and New Zealand markets.

Neet Feet is a service based company which has built an enviable reputation for providing superior, value added service to our customers. We have a dynamic team of 14 in Melbourne.

Founders Alex and Walter Ripani have in excess of 60 years experience in the footwear industry spanning manufacturing and production, wholesale and retail functions. Their expertise enables us to value add our customer relationships providing expert advice and product innovation to sustain consumer demand and achieve our customer’s business goals.

We take full accountability for the design, development and manufacture of our range and provide a ‘hands on’ approach spending time in China every 4-6 weeks to over-see production.

Neet Feet has a comprehensive product portfolio comprising retailer brands, license brands and our own brands. Our primary office is located in Kensington Melbourne with a regional office base in Shenzhen China which provides us with a consistent presence and representation in this key market, as well as the resources to proactively build relationships on the ground to maintain our quality and service commitments.

For more information please contact Nick Nicolaids 74-80 Stubbs Street, Kensington VIC, 3031 T: (03) 9376 5511 | E: nick.n@neetfeet.com.au

We demand service excellence from our team and invest in programs and initiatives to develop their skills and support them to consistently deliver ‘best in breed’ client service. We sustain a dynamic environment underpinned by high energy, performance, reward, professionalism and teamwork. At Neet Feet, we pride ourselves on our personalised, tailored and strategic customer relationships that have been forged over a 20+ year period.

2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo Every year around June the gaming industry makes it way to the Los Angeles Convention Center to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). The three day expo is the biggest video game convention of the year where every major company, studio, developer and game journalist come together to show off what’s instore for the year ahead. This year E3 was no different and one of the most anticipated games of the year, Call of Duty: Black Ops II made its public debut showing off a single player level to close out the Xbox press conference on Day 1 of the event. The year is 2025 and the level opened up in Los Angeles in the midst of destruction with hundreds of rogue drones flying across the city creating mayhem. The level showcased the blockbusting and spectacular story missions which fans have grown accustomed to in a Call of Duty game. We were also introduced to a new element in the game – choice. Regrouping with your squad at the edge of the destroyed freeway, you’re offered the option – simply by moving to different points – of staying on the freeway and providing sniper cover, or rappelling down to ground level for some more conventional CoD thick-ofthe battle action. Call of Duty: Black Ops II, adds a vast amount of gameplay diversity to the CoD blueprint, and it does so without letting the sometimes excruciating levels of intensity slip, even for a moment and with the release on 13th November, the game is once again set to be a favourite with gamers. Another big hit was Skylanders which in Australia was the No 1 New IP for video games in 2011 and in fact was the only new IP in the Top 10 for video games. When seeing Skylanders Giants the quality of the characters was again evident and the large inclusion for this

The Bugg Report Magazine Edition 4

years game was the Giant characters. Dwarfing the original characters these Giants will add a new dimension to the gameplay with superior strength what boy doesn’t like to smash things in a more destructible way. There will also be the introduction of the Lightcore characters which purely work from “magic”. As the name suggests the characters themselves lightup and create an even bigger ‘wow’ moment

when placed on the portal of power. Coming out this October this follow up to the No 1 kids videogame title in 2011 will sure be a big hit with fans. Again E3 proved to be a great advertisement of what the video game industry has to offer and with hits such as Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Skylanders Giants there is something that everyone can get excited about.

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COMING OCTOBER 2012