Special Feature
Both sides now
HTI
In March, HTI announced that licensing stalwart Richard Hollis would be taking over the role of licensing manager from Michelle Dalziel, shifting his extensive experience as a licensor, with companies including the BBC and DreamWorks, to the other side of the fence – that of a licensee. Having allowed him to get his feet under the table, Toy World sat down with Richard to find out how the move has been, and how HTI’s licensing strategy continues to evolve with him at the helm.
A
s shown by the most recent NPD figures, the licensing sector is growing nearly three times as fast as the overall toy market. Classic brands have performed strongly throughout lockdown thanks to an increased numbers of kids watching their favourite shows at home, and as HTI boasts a number of these classics within its portfolio, that strong performance has trickled down. Licensed role-play toys, which form a large proportion of HTI’s toy range, have also been in demand, further driving sales. Considering there was so much uncertainty mid-pandemic about the impact of Covid-19 on the licensing sector, primarily due to its effect on movie release dates and screening options, it’s nice to see that those with a strong presence in preschool licensing are having such a good year. Before joining HTI, Richard had spent the entirety of his career as a licensor. His move to HTI now sees him on the other side of the table, something he says is fascinating. “You certainly view contractual terms from a different perspective,” he adds, when asked if he now sees things in a different light. “It’s often the same old clauses that get haggled over in licensing agreements. Having spent years arguing one side of the case, I’m now starting to see – and sympathise with – the other side. I’ve long thought that licensing will only work if there’s a proper partnership in place, with each side understanding the needs of the other, and this is perhaps truer now than it’s ever been. You get licensors who fail to appreciate how fast-moving and time critical product development is, something you certainly see much more of on the manufacturing side, and it’s important for them to understand that licensees need room to develop and evolve their ranges. You don’t just want a single product – you want to be able to take it somewhere over the years and build up a range around that licence. Narrow categories and double licensing
can really hamper brand development.” Richard’s experience as a licensor means he’s perfectly placed to guide conversations between parties, while lending his knowledge to his new team means they, too, can benefit from a different perspective. After all, he notes, sometimes all that’s standing in the way of a solution is a simple explanation that his prior roles enable him to offer. HTI’s focus is on working closely with selected licensors to form strong relationships, a strategy Richard references multiple times during our interview. Two-way trust is clearly important to both him and the wider team, and results in partnerships that can be carried from brand to brand, and category to category, while licensors are selected based upon how well they complement HTI’s product focuses. HTI prides itself on its bespoke product ranges; Richard tells me the company isn’t interested in ‘label slapping’ existing products, an approach that really doesn’t help either party in the agreement. Instead, HTI seeks solutions that meet the core play patterns and themes offered by a particular licence, in categories where it has tangible expertise. The company also works closely with the master toy partners to offer products that will complement those from other companies, a generous and altruistic way of working that, like its bespoke tooling, provides benefits for consumers, suppliers, and licensors alike. “Role-play is a major category for us, with prams and pushchairs among our leading products,” Richard explains. “We dominate in this space and offer marketleading licences including Chicco, Mamas & Papas, and Joie. It’s a different sort of licensing to what I am used to, but, away from characters, it forms the other half of our licensing portfolio. We’re now looking at how we can introduce more lifestyle brands to this area. HTI wants to become the go-to supplier for the whole
Toy World 90
role-play category. We’re also exploring and developing every aspect of the category, from plastic to wooden toys, large outdoor kitchens and shops to smaller sets and cases, big-ticket gifting items to pocketmoney and impulse lines. As an expert developer and manufacturer, we want to cover the whole spectrum of role-play toys.” HTI is also a category leader in licensed vehicles, thanks to its 22-year strong licensing partnership with the world-renowned digger brand JCB, and recently on shored the manufacturing of its Bubblz range, which includes licensed bubbles for Peppa, Hey Duggee and Paw Patrol. The company used to have a much broader variety of licences in its portfolio than it does now, having decided to concentrate its efforts on strong, classic brands going forward. HTI’s approach – trimming back its selection of properties and brands while at the same time pushing each one out into new categories – has resulted in a streamlined but exciting portfolio that offers retailers and licensors a clearer choice of product. Richard says that when he was a licensor at the BBC, he found the sheer breadth of HTI’s product range sometimes made it difficult to identify the optimum solutions. This has completely changed now though; the company is laser-focused on the areas where its expertise can shine through, making it a far more logical choice of toy partner than it arguably used to be. Retailers, meanwhile, can be assured that HTI’s toys suit each licence down to the ground, and that, being a privately owned family business, the company can act quickly on emerging trends. HTI supplies a variety of retailers, from indies to multiples and grocers, plus everything in-between, with regular new launches supported by strong marketing across social media, influencers and gifting, and product video. This is where Lucy Warren, licensing and marketing executive,
