Discovery Inc launches its Shark Week 2020 consumer products programme

Posted on 21st July 2020 by Sam Giltrow

Discovery Inc has revealed its list of merchandising partner’s for its long-running summer event, Discovery Channel’s Shark Week 2020. The week-long programming event will air on Sunday, August 9th and run until Sunday, August 16th.

This year’s consumer products programme includes new and returning partners across apparel, accessories, toys, and publishing categories, with the likes of Build-A-Bear and Mattel on board for new toy ranges for 2020.

New in 2020, Smathers and Branson, the personalised accessories company, will launch a line of Shark Week themed hand-stitched needlepoint accessories including belts, hats, card wallets, koozies and key fobs in July available at SmathersandBranson.com. Meanwhile, the apparel company RSVLTS is joining Shark Week with men’s apparel, including short-sleeve button ups, neckties and pocket squares available on RSVLTS.com or through the @rsvlts Instagram in July.

Also new, men’s and women’s apparel company The Forecast Agency is debuting an apparel line at the end of July retailing at Urban Outfitters, PacSun and DesertDreamerLA.com.

Discovery has also lined up an extensive list of returning partners that includes Build-A-Bear and its Shark Week collection featuring the Great White Shark and Saw Shark, while Mattel is launching a Shark Week themed UNO this month. Bright Kingdom is returning with a line of shark play-sets, plush shark toys will be made available courtesy of Dandee, and Meredith is partnering with Discovery on a shark-themed bookazine called The Ultimate Book of Sharks.

On top of this, a number of accessories partners are returning for this year’s Shark Week. Knockaround Sunglasses is returning for a sixth year, launching its special release shark-themed sunglasses on Knockaround.com with a portion of the proceeds benefitting Oceana, a charitable organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the world’s oceans on a global scale, and Discovery’s charitable partner.

Sock Fancy is back for a third year with a line of unisex socks, launching in July on SockFancy.com. Freestyle Watches is back for year two with a new collection of its Classic Shark timepieces available with digital or analog movements launching in July at Freestyleusa.com, Ron Jon’s, Tilly’s, Zumiez and other fine retailers.

Freestyle will also be launching a limited series of its signature leash and clip watch straps made to accessorize Apple Smart Watches, launching in July and available exclusively at Freestyleusa.com

“Every year, we look forward to enhancing our viewers’ love for Shark Week by providing them with an appealing and diverse slate of merchandise,” said Carolann Dunn, vice president, consumer products licensing, Discovery, Inc. “Our goal is to allow shark lovers to go beyond watching shark-themed programming by wearing or playing with shark-themed products, and this year’s consumer products programming provides the opportunity to do just that.”

Each year, Shark Week takes fascinated viewers on a week-long journey to the depths of the sea to uncover the secrets of the ocean’s top creature. Found in 220 countries and territories around the globe, Shark Week is a pop culture phenomenon that thrills fans of all ages with dynamic programming around these often-misunderstood sea creatures.

Outfit 7 scoops another Diamond Creator Award for 10 million Talking Angela YouTube channel subscribers

Posted on 20th July 2020 by Sam Giltrow

The family entertainment company, Outfit 7 has been handed the Diamond Creator Award from YouTube, having reached an impressive 10 million subscribers milestone for its hit Talking Angela channel. This is now the third Outfit 7 channel to receive the Diamond Creator Award to date.

The awards are further confirmation of the incredible popularity of Outfit7’s channels. Combined, they have over 35 billion views and more than 61 million YouTube subscribers to date. In July 2020, the company reported over 67 million views across its channels in just one day, a new record for the brand.

The Talking Tom channel, which also has a Diamond Creator Award, has been number one in YouTube’s family entertainment category for the past three months, according to Tubular Labs. It also consistently ranks among the Top 50 most viewed channels in the world.

The other Outfit7 channel with a YouTube diamond is Talking Tom and Friends, which hosts the franchise’s popular animated series. The series is currently the ninth most in-demand family show online on the planet, with 7.1 times the demand against the average same-category shows globally.

“It’s incredible to see how many people from all over the globe tune in to watch the adventures of Talking Tom and Friends,” said Jaka Benedičič, senior media content director. “The recent awards and achievements mean a lot to our team. We’re working hard on the upcoming pipeline of exciting new content – so watch this space.”

The franchise also celebrates another impressive milestone this month, with the launch of the newest game, My Talking Tom Friends. The new virtual pet mobile game, which is now available to download on iOS and Android, soared into the top charts for Android and iOS worldwide within days of its release.

To date, the game received over 90 million downloads. Even its four trailers have had incredible success, with over 70 million views recorded in just one month.

Intellivsion CEO joins Comic-Con@Home panel to talk the future of family gaming

Posted on 20th July 2020 by Sam Giltrow

Intellivision CEO, Tommy Tallarico will be taking centre stage at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con@Home event, alongside a cast of experts in the technology and family gaming space, to discuss just how emerging new tech will shape the future of entertainment.

Intellivision is recognised as a pioneer in the videogaming space, and was one of the first consoles to bring sports licensing into the video gaming arena when it struck up its first US-centric deals with the likes of Major League Baseball in the 1980s. Since then, video games have become an influential part of culture, creativity and connection across the decades.

Tallarico will be joined by the co-founder and CEO of Resolution Games, Tommy Palm, and the tech-entertainment expert and founder of Collabsco, Valerie Vacante for a discussion on how creators are designing new experiences across various platforms to shape the future of family gaming.

Called Transforming Together Time: Family Gaming and the Future of Play, the panel session will take place on Thursday, July 23. The panel will discuss the history and future of gaming, from the console wars, memorable mobile gaming moments and gamifying the world with augmented reality, to taking off into new immersive worlds through VR, voice, and beyond.

According to the latest Verizon research the global gaming market is booming, with 3 billion gamers estimated by 2023. Verizon recently reported a 75 per cent increase in gaming traffic, and according to a recent study by Hasbro, 96 per cent of families playing games feel closer.

“With all of the family togetherness during lockdown, it comes as no surprise that parents are looking for more ways to keep their families engaged and entertained from within the home. We are seeing exponential growth across VR, AR, Voice and Interactive Gaming Market in addition to PC, mobile and console platforms,” said Valerie Vacante, director of strategy at LiveArea and founder of Collabsco.

“Families are spending more time gaming together in new ways than ever before, the near future of gaming is multigenerational, collaborative and immersive.”

Transforming Together Time: Family Gaming and the Future of Play will feature real world examples behind some of the most beloved family gaming experiences and latest announcements. Find out more about the exciting work from Resolution Games, Intellivision Entertainment and Collabsco’s collaborators Virsix Games, Firebolt Games, Rocket Impact and Pressure Games among others.

“Comic-Con is one of the most significant cultural events on the planet. And, VR is quickly emerging to be the ultimate platform where core gamers, Sci-fi and fantasy fanatics, and others can go to immerse themselves in their favourite worlds. Fans can also engage with their favourite characters and games like never before by actually being IN the experience. Seeing these two come together is an exciting sign for what’s to come,” – Tommy Palm, co-founder and CEO at Resolution Games.

“It’s always a huge honour to be a part of Val’s panels. She always brings in the biggest and brightest people at the top of their industries and her commitment to family and fun is boundless.” – Tommy Tallarico, CEO, Intellivision Entertainment

Licensing International heralds its German event, Day of Licensing a virtual success

Posted on 20th July 2020 by Sam Giltrow

Licensing International has heralded its Day of Licensing – its premier German licensing event usually held in Cologne – as a virtual success, having transposed the conference to an online only event last week.

Over 600 registered visitors attended the virtual show – a change of pace from its usual gathering in Cologne due to the ongoing covid-19 measures – where they got a better look at the franchises and properties driving the industry forward in the near future.

The event hosted a number of brand presentations, many of which are still available for registrants to download, with one presentation bringing in 3,000 views. All together, the Day of Licensing boasts 3.8 terabytes of data for 9.5 hours of content.

“Overall a fantastic, smooth running day, thanks in no small part to the excellent platform-build and back-end support from Blank Promotion,” said Peter Hollo, external lead consultant for Licensing International in Germany. “It’s never easy to translate a physical gathering into a virtual setting, but I’m proud of what we were able accomplish. With this Digital Day of Licensing, I think we’ve set a high bar for future events – a great template for more events of this kind.”

Gisela Abrams, SVP global partnerships, Licensing International, added: “Ensuring that this important event could happen virtually was crucial to us to support our members and the industry. I am grateful to all the participants who engaged with the platform and more importantly, with each other, to make this event such a success.”

The event saw the likes of Alibaba/Alifish executive Alex Tsai offer insights into the world of a giant of commerce in the keynote session, while anchoring the day were video streams from exhibitors including Bavaria Media, CAA-GBG, Edel Kids, Euro Lizenzen, Hasbro, Jochen Schweizer, KIDDINX, Mattel, Playmobil, Pokemon Company, ProSieben Sat1 Licensing, Studio100 Media, Studio71, ViacomCBS Consumer Products, WDR mediagroup, Wildbrain CPLG and ZDF Enterprises.

Attendees also had access to a Matchmaking Area and the Licensing Lounge, which allowed attendees to share fun snapshots into their home offices and pet “colleagues.” All presentations are still available in the “Mediathek,” where they can be downloaded at www.tagderlizenzen.de until July 24, even for new visitors who register now.

Ricky Zoom is racing onto Australian TV screens for the first time

Posted on 20th July 2020 by Sam Giltrow

Entertainment One has secured new broadcast deals for its latest CGI animated pre-school series, Ricky Zoom, that will see the already popular property race onto TV screens across Australia for the first time.

The 52×11 min episodes from series one of Ricky Zoom are set to launch on Nickelodeon’s pre-school channel, Nick Jr., in Australia from today (Monday, 20 July, 2020), with new episodes airing weekdays at 10am. From November this year the series will also begin airing on Australia’s Channel 9.

Entertainment One’s Monica Candiani, EVP content sales, family brands, said: “We’re proud to be bringing Ricky Zoom to audiences in Australia by extending our partnership with Nickelodeon and welcoming Channel 9 as our terrestrial partner in the region.

“Ricky Zoom is an action comedy adventure series with real heart and these latest deals are testament to the strong appeal of the show.”

Since it debuted on screens in late 2019, Ricky Zoom has achieved strong ratings in multiple markets. Nick Jr. is already home to the show in both the US and UK, while Australia’s Channel 9 joins a growing list of broadcast partners bringing the show to a global audience.

The show currently airs on CCTV (China), Channel 5 Milkshake! (UK), Clan TV (Spain), Discovery Kids (Latin America), Thai PBS (Thailand), Gulli (France), Karusel (Russia), Minika Cocuk (Turkey), NRK (Norway), RAI (Italy), Spacetoon (MENA), Super RTL (Germany), SVT (Sweden), Treehouse (Canada) and Youku (China).

Barbie launches health and beauty partnership with GlamGlow

Posted on 20th July 2020 by Sam Giltrow

The health and beauty specialist, GlamGlow has teamed up with Mattel to unveil a new, limited edition with the fashion doll icon, Barbie, and the toy brand’s own GlamGlow beauty collection.

The new collection has been developed to celebrate self-confidence through self-care skin health, and features Barbie themed spins on popular lines in the GlamGlow range, including the Charcoal Clearing Treatment Mask, and the GlowStarter Mega Illuminating Moisturiser.

The fashionista is also lending herself to GlamGlow’s SuperMud, that helps draw out dirt, oil, congestion and impurities.

A press release read: ‘GlamGlow’s GlowStarter Mega Illuminating Moisturizer,-in Barbie Glow Getter custom shade, floods skin with lasting hydration while universally flattering Illuminating Pearls instantly blur, reflect and enhance the look of bare skin or makeup for an instant Hollywood glow.’

The Barbie Limited-Edition SuperMud retails at £44, and the Barbie Limited-Edition GlowStarter at £36. Both are available online now.

It’s World Emoji Day 2020 – Emoji Company CEO, Marco Huesges talks the continued success of the global brand

Posted on 17th July 2020 by Sam Giltrow

It’s World Emoji Day 2020 and a happy World Emoji Day to you all, a day on which not only the Emoji Company itself, but the hundreds upon thousands of emoji users the world over celebrate the global popularity of those little icons that have been helping people spread their messages, and finding their way into the modern day lexicon and communication on a daily basis.

But today isn’t just about celebrating the estimated six billion emoticons used everyday as the world finds a universal language in emojis and emoji stickers, but also a day to celebrate the global success of the official Emoji brand – an award-winning lifestyle brand that spans the global licensing scene from retail partnerships, to making new waves in gifts, collectables, and more.

Over the past two weeks, Licensing.biz has been catching up with just some of the leading licensees of the Emoji brand in a series of video snippets talking to the strength of a brand that has continued to keep conversation going, even throughout the world’s ‘Great Pause’ throughout these testing times. And it all culminates with today’s celebration.

Licensing.biz catches up with Marco Huesges, CEO and founder of the Emoji company to talk about the international appeal of the brand.

Firstly Marco, Happy World Emoji Day to you. How are you celebrating World Emoji Day this year? What makes this such an important day in the calendar for you?

World Emoji Day is the day of celebrating the global popularity of icons and how they enable us to spread unmistakably messages and to connect with people from all over the world.

For us as emoji company, creator and owner of the Emoji® brand, it is also the day to celebrate the global success of the brand together with our license and agents whose ambitious and enduring brand support is the fundament for our success story and that motivates us every day to develop new concepts, style guides and emotional consumer product strategies.

We’ve seen from the video series you’ve been running with Licensing.biz that there is a great energy from licensees across the globe for the Emoji brand. What is it about the Emoji brand that unifies licensees, retailers, and consumers in this way?

Licensing is an emotional business. In an overloaded, fast moving consumer product world each company constantly seeks to find the perfect way to connect with their target audience. The Emoji® brand offers the ideal foundation to do exactly that. Our brand truly connects products and people; it builds inevitable relationships and helps to deliver understandable consumer messages.

The video series also highlights the real breadth of partnerships you have in place for Emoji. What’s the key to maintaining such a far-reaching portfolio of partners?

The universal character of the brand, its depth, its popular content variety and diversity allows us to work with partners from any industry sector which leads to our broad portfolio of licensing partners which come from so many diverse areas, such as consumer product, entertainment services or the marketing and advertisement space.

Can you talk us through some of the biggest campaigns/biggest success stories for the Emoji brand this year? What have been some of the break-through categories for you guys?

The year 2020 started with some great initiatives. We launched a very successful direct to retail program with the leading discounter LIDL in multiple countries. All through 2020 we continue to work with Ferrero for KinderJoy in various territories and Burger King will be launching a QSR program with collectable Emoji® plush toys in various countries.

Our brand collaboration program Emoji® by Britto has seen some great new partnerships with Goebel Porzellan GmbH for Europe that includes bags, spectacle cases, umbrellas, coaster and cups and that has recently launched.

In short we will be able to announce some new digital licensing as deals, some loyalty programs in South East Asia as well as some exciting international apparel brand collaborations very soon.

How does this position you for the coming months and years? Looking ahead, you’ve dropped hints of some pretty major partnerships coming, what have you got in store for us in the coming months?

Despite the Covid-19 situation we have partnered with lots of new licensee since the beginning of 2020 and continued existing partnerships. 2021 will see some exciting loyalty programs happening in Europe and the opening of more Emoji® apparel stores in Mainland China will continue.

We entered into various direct to retail partnerships with leading retailers from various countries and entered into some serious licensing deals in the digital space which will increase global brand visibility.

For now, we really want to wish everyone, all our partners, licensees, agents, and friends to stay healthy and hope to see them soon in person!