Total Licensing Summer 2021 issue

Page 86

TOTAL LICENSING Becky Ash caught up with Emma Hyman, Executive Producer and Co-Creator, and Vickie O’Malley, Rockpool Licensing to talk about how The Baby Club has provided a tower of strength over the last eighteen months and how this is reflected in the growing merch programme...

“The Baby Club on CBeebies was a lifeline for a first-time mum during lockdown when all the baby groups were closed. We learnt some brilliant ideas of how to play with everyday objects and many of the songs are now our firm favourites!” “CBeebies is continuously on in our house and one programme all three kids agree on watching is The Baby Club, they’re all under 4 so they’ve really grown up with Giovanna and Nigel.” “You worry about your baby not being able to see people and be able to interact like they would have done in normal times - but that’s where The Baby Club has been so wonderful: normality in a very abnormal situation.”

86

The Baby Club - A Club for All The Baby Club has been going from strength to strength – can you highlight some recent exciting news? VM: 2021 has been a whirlwind so far! The new podcast “Baby Bear & Me” launched in January, the first series of The Toddler Club at Home launched in February, quickly flowed by the arrival of the latest series of The Baby Club in March. Then, at the start of May, we celebrated the exclusive launch of our babywear and plush lines at Tesco. The range can be found in top 160 Extra stores, in its very own bay in the in the baby aisle (a first for a license!) and with its own Mat in a further 40 stores within F & F. We’ve supported the launch with a social media and influencer campaign and we’re pretty excited about early sales and the incredible engagement and warmth with the range has been received on socials. We’ve even seen our Baby Bear plush being re-sold on Ebay for £30! What do you think is the magic formula that makes the show so special? EH: We are truly passionate about helping people and this is at the heart of the success of the brand. We work with experts and academics so we know how incredibly beneficial a baby club can be and that is at the forefront of every decision we make about the show and beyond.The Baby Club community trusts that we will provide brilliant content and latterly, merchandise,. Do you think it provided extra comfort and enjoyment during the last year? EH: The basic premise of The Baby Club was that if you can’t get to a real baby club, we’ll bring one to you. And never was that more needed than over the last year. With support networks stripped away, parents were

desperate to find new ways to feel connected and stimulate themselves and their babies. The Baby Club offers parents guilt-free, money-free, interactive entertainment for them and their babies. It also offers an opportunity for babies to watch other babies and for parents to see other parents. Anything goes at The Baby Club! How have you kept a balance between entertainment and information/education? EH: Having a baby in a global pandemic has tested new parents like never before. But it is still a real joy to have a baby and many families have found that with their jobs being furloughed or working from home, they’ve benefitted from having much MORE time with their babies than they would otherwise have had. We always consult our academic partners at every stage of our process and this time was no different. We made two lock-down series and one studio series during the pandemic and were acutely aware of the difficulties new parents were facing. We wanted to keep the series upbeat, entertaining and full of practical suggestions. The Baby Club has always focussed on exploring everyday household objects and during our lockdown series’, we showed home videos of families playing at home, together, in new and novel ways. We also beefed-up our social media presence, offering support, ideas and encouraging messages to our online community. Since you began the licensing programme, have you been inundated with potential partners wanting to work with the show? VM: It’s been a more complex journey than that! Our publishing partners, DK and Centum (adult and baby books re-

spectively) came on board early. They inherently understood the goals and value of the show. However, with The Baby Club being a completely unique proposition; parent and baby facing and live action to boot, some potential partners couldn’t see the opportunity early on. Add in C-19, lockdown and an aversion to anything ‘unproven’ and it wasn’t all plain sailing. Happily, there were partners, who watched the show, saw the viewing figures, social media engagement, BBC commitment and thought ‘Yes! This is what we’ve been waiting for!’ It helped that infant, as a category, has thrived in lockdown and that looks set to continue with prophesies of a baby boom coming true. With so many changes to the retail landscape for baby in recent years, retailers have identified an exciting opportunity to increase their share of a growing market – all of which helped momentum for The Baby Club snowball last year. What categories are you looking to expand into? VM: There’s so much scope for us to extend – we’re talking to partners in infant toy, toiletries, bed and bathroom textiles, travel, feeding and gifting but the story doesn’t end with physical products. As well as promotional partnerships, the show itself was born of the idea of bringing the benefits of a baby club into the home and we can now, finally, look at opportunities to take the brand back out into real world experiences that embody the goals and values of the show. With extension of the brand into The Toddler Club, we’re able to do the same for a second property for that older, 18mth – 3 yr age group too. The potential for a brand development and partnerships is absolutely thrilling.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook

Articles inside

Latin America News

18min
pages 109-113

The Licensing International Page

3min
pages 126-127

Legally Speaking

4min
pages 124-125

Roundtable - Navigating a Covid World

42min
pages 115-123

Netflix joins direct-to-consumer boom

2min
page 114

The Enduring World of Ayrton Senna

10min
pages 106-108

The Voice from Colombia

6min
pages 104-105

Brazil Overview

3min
page 103

Betty Boop - Queen of Cartoons

12min
pages 96-99

The importance of Sustainability

10min
pages 100-102

Licensing in Korea 2021

6min
pages 94-95

Experiences are finally back

8min
pages 91-93

Classics are On Trend

3min
page 87

The Baby Club - a club for all

5min
page 86

Dr Seuss - a beloved brand

4min
pages 84-85

Licensing Expo Virtual - Preview

20min
pages 74-78

India - Current Licensing Trends

12min
pages 80-83

A Taste of Freedom with TF1 Licences

5min
pages 72-73

Spotlight on 9 Story

2min
page 79

Moonzy: 10 Billion View and Counting

3min
pages 70-71

Withit Celebrating 30 Years

3min
pages 68-69

ViacomCBS spotlight

6min
pages 66-67

The Growing World of Guru Studios

6min
pages 64-65

Maya the Bee is buzzing

3min
pages 62-63

MIPCOM and MIP Junior Preview

2min
page 61

Cover Story: CTC Media

6min
pages 58-60

The Pandemic Aftermath

2min
page 55

Memories of Eric Carle

5min
pages 56-57

Care Bears lead up to 40 years

12min
pages 50-54

Expanding Program for Steven Rhodes

3min
pages 48-49

Pokemon’s 25th

5min
pages 46-47

How The Toniebox is helping children

3min
pages 42-43

Continuing growth for Beyblade

2min
pages 32-33

Olive Oyl repositioned

5min
pages 36-38

What can retailers learn from LEGO

8min
pages 21-25

The World of Boat Rocker

3min
pages 30-31

Interview: Robert Marick, MGM

8min
pages 26-29

El Ocho Update from Spain

6min
pages 39-41

Global news

18min
pages 10-20

Exquisite Gaming

2min
pages 34-35
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.