Category Archives: Highlight

Planeta Junior names Paula Taborda dos Guaranys as director of content

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Planeta Junior has bolstered its executive team with the appointment of Paula Taborda dos Guaranys as its director of content. She will lead the creation of a strong content portfolio through co-productions, original productions, and acquisition.

She will report directly to Diego Ibáñez, Planeta Junior’s international commercial director.

Paula Taborda dos Guaranys was the creative and business mind behind the Globo Group children’s channels, responsible for putting Brazil on the map of major kids’ players, closing several coproduction agreements including Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, Paper Port, Trulli Tales, Denver, Power Players, Alice & Lewis, Dronix, and others.

“It is an honour to have the opportunity to work at Grupo Planeta, a communication leader in Spain, and to extend my content expertise from Planeta Junior in Spain throughout the group’s offices in Europe,” she said.

“It’s a brand new start full of challenges and joy and I’d like to thank Ignacio Segura and Diego Ibáñez for entrusting me with this opportunity.”

Paula Taborda’s new role forms part of the Planeta Junior strategy for becoming a global children and youth entertainment company. It currently owns over 350 hours’ co-produced content featuring big name series like Gormiti, Power Players and Squish, with further series in development including: That’s Joey, Milo, Tilly, Superpigs and Pio Rocks.

WildBrain CPLG launches Lifestyle division to be run by group brands director Victoria Whellans

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The entertainment, sport and brand licensing agency, WildBrain CPLG is launching WildBrain CPLG Lifestyle, a new formalised division to oversee and drive revenue for its lifestyle and corporate properties.

WildBrain CPLG Lifestyle will be headed up out of London by Victoria Whellans, who has been promoted to group brands director with immediate effect, and will be responsible for developing strategies for new and existing partners.

She will also over see the directing of consumer products roll-outs and securing pan-regional partnerships in key lifestyle categories.

Whellans will work with a dedicated sales executive and WildBrain CPLG’s 14 regional offices to oversee the company’s growing lifestyle portfolio which currently includes: Absolut Vodka; BBC Earth; IRONMAN; Osprey London; Parental Advisory; Perfetti Van Melle’s confectionery brands Chupa Chups, Mentos and Smint; and  Yale University.

Previously senior business development manager, brands, Whellans has been with WildBrain CPLG for three years and reports to WildBrain CPLG’s, EVP and managing director, Maarten Weck.

Weck said: “The launch of WildBrain CPLG Lifestyle demonstrates our commitment to supporting our corporate and lifestyle brands, which are often new to licensing and require high-level, strategic roll-out plans.

“With Victoria’s impressive industry knowledge and tenacious approach, she is the ideal candidate to head up this new initiative and maximise the consumer products potential of these brands across Europe.”

Whellans added: “We have a fantastic portfolio of lifestyle and corporate brands so it’s hugely exciting to have the opportunity to head up the newly created WildBrain CPLG Lifestyle division which will be fully dedicated to these properties.

“I look forward to working closely with licensors and our regional teams to develop and implement impactful strategies for each brand, which will deliver long-term growth and open up new sources of revenue.”

Egmont is launching a new Milkshake! magazine for early years audiences

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Egmont Publishing is to launch a new Milkshake! magazine later this month, bringing Channel 5’s multi-platform pre-school brand back to the publishing sector.

During its day-part, Milkshake! is the top performing TV segment on a free-to-air channel and is currently experiencing a 15 per cent growth in kids’ viewership year on year.

A compilation magazine for all children who love Milkshake!, Egmont’s new title will be aimed at three to five year olds. In the new Milkshake! magazine, readers can learn and play with their favourite characters including Peppa Pig, PAW Patrol and Thomas & Friends, as well as their favourite Milkshake! presenters too.

All 44 pages of Egmont’s first issue of Milkshake! magazine will be full of pre-school fun, plus an extra eight-page Peppa Pig mini mag and an amazing Peppa Pig shopping set, so Milkshake! readers can extend the world of play and discovery beyond the magazine.

Through Egmont’s own research, Milkshake! magazine’s content will be rooted in Early Years Foundation Stage learning, delivered through fun and play, with Egmont’s Ages and Stages insight to make sure that each page caters to multiple skill levels and abilities.

Over the next twelve months, Milkshake! magazine will be promoted at the end of Milkshake! programmes on air. Milkshake! fans will also be in with a chance to win a year’s worth of the new magazine, as a competition to win subscriptions will run on air and online.

As well as social media advertising across Milkshake! and Egmont platforms, a website takeover for Milkshake! magazine will run on popular parenting website, UKMums.tv.

Kiran Vara, publisher of Milkshake! magazine, said: “We’re thrilled to be launching our take on Milkshake! magazine and to be offering a high-quality magazine to the segment’s 1.6 million monthly viewers.

“We’re sure that the package of Egmont’s lively and engaging editorial, vibrant, contemporary design and quality cover mounts will mean that this new look magazine is a big hit with Milkshakers!”

Issue number one goes on sale on February 12th and is priced at £4.99.

Opinion: How I met Vincent Van Gogh and its future for licensing

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It was at the opening of the Van Gogh Museum’s newest UK venture, the Meet Vincent van Gogh experience along London’s South Bank last night, that a glimpse into the high-spec future of immersive licensing was offered.

A collaboration of efforts between Holland’s Van Gogh Museum and the UK’s own Golden Tours, the three month exhibition comes with a big promise; to give art lovers and families an all immersive insight into the life – and mind – of one of history’s most celebrated artists.

And it’s a promise on which the Van Gogh Museum – first established in 1973 and now watched over by the Van Gogh family, relations of the Dutch artist himself – truly delivers; bringing visitors as close to the talent and his family – short of meeting the man himself – as is possible.

In a statement to opening night visitors, Mikesh Palan, the managing director of Golden Tours, with whom The Van Gogh Museum has partnered to bring the UK leg of the experience’s global tour to life, riffed off the company’s own mission statement, that tourism is the only business that brings cultures together.

I believe now that a caveat can be respectfully added to the sentiment, and that is that licensing, tastefully done with as much care, attention, and scrutiny as carried by those presiding over the Van Gogh estate, can do it just as well.

Today, more so than ever, the most successful licenses know that key to it all is a brand’s ability to tell a story. There’s certainly no lack of storytelling when families put on their headsets and step straight into a story of love, vision, and a relationship between Vincent Van Gogh and his brother Theo, all while walking through, engaging with and becoming part of the art work that has made Van Gogh (although visitors learn he’d rather be known as Vincent) the revered artists, and by extension, the brand, he is.

Families and art fans are invited, if not actively encouraged, to engage with the installations around them – whether that is touching the walls, the table and chairs of a Parisian café setting, the hay bales of the Wheat Field, become the Potato Eaters by getting their hands quite literally on the focal point of the famous painting, or scale the walls of the Yellow House with their eyes as they peer into – and out of – some of the most significant windows of Vincent’s life.

A chilling walk through the passages of the asylum the artist spent a year of his life within takes visitors on a deeper journey of Van Gogh’s mind as it battles those famed psychotic episodes that encompassed the ‘Yellow Years’, and draws empathy from an audience that, in Meet Vincent Van Gogh, finds a new way to engage with art and artistry.

All of this, of course, positions Meet Vincent Van Gogh as the perfect platform from which audiences can continue their love affair with the work of the artist in a gift shop that could just as easily be a part of the exhibition itself, so seamlessly does it transition from 1890 and the death of Van Gogh, and the legacy that his art left behind him.

Were I an art critic, I’d be singing my excitement for the future of art exhibition from the roof of the National Theatre that this experience sits tucked behind. For the licensing community however, this is a prime example of immersive entertainment done the right way. Now, time to go and get my hands on all that merchandise.

 

To the victor: Warhammer and it’s march upon the global hobby, retail, and licensing scene

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Games Workshop’s Warhammer is massively successful. Seriously. Over the past three years – since the onset of Brexit fell upon us – Warhammer has doubled the size of its business. Last year, it ended £81million in profit. Robert Hutchins talks to senior licensing manager, Zoe Smith about how the franchise is building on this success for 2020

If ever there was a Great British success story, Games Workshop is it. A company that can’t seem to keep out of the press year in year out, the Nottingham-based unit has truly bucked the trend of the UK’s retail narrative over the last few years.

At the end of 2019, Games Workshop – yes, the retailer-come-licensor of the world spanning and vastly popular Warhammer franchise – broke all of its own records when it closed the year by announcing its £257 million in sales, marking an £81 million profit for the organisation that has built its business on fantasy miniatures and orc warfare. And they tell you playing games won’t get you anywhere…

In fact, Zoe Smith, senior licensing manager at Warhammer Licensing, the consumer product licensing unit of the Games Workshop enterprise, tells ToyNews that its business has doubled
in the last three years.

Let’s put that into some context – that’s a business that has seen continual growth and profit since the on-set of Brexit. Perhaps there really is more than a hint of magic to the fantastical franchise that has the world so gripped.

ToyNews catches up with Zoe Smith to talk about the ongoing success of the retailer, its brand portfolio, and its franchise model.

Hi Zoe, so wow, not a bad few years for you. What’s business been like for Games Workshop and Warhammer over the year?

We had a really, really successful 2019 for Games Workshop, in fact it was a record breaking year. Year on year we have been seeing record-breaking results and really strong growth. Our full year results for 2019 came in at £257m in sales, marking an £81m profit. Our business has doubled in just three years, which is amazing, especially in a climate where retail is particularly challenging at the moment.

We are currently one of the top five best performing investments on the London stock exchange over the last decade (+2630 per cent).

It’s also been our biggest ever year for Warhammer Licensed products with Retail Sales of £104m. We signed 21 new partners bringing our number of licensees to 94.

A big part of our business at the moment is video gaming, from a licensed product point of view, but there is a massive focus from us – from since I started in May last year – on growing our presence at retail. We are really focusing on our retail relationships, meeting with lots of them, to get that face to face relationship.

We had some really exciting announcements, including that we are in development with a live action TV series. Then we secured our partnership with Marvel for Warhammer Comics, which will be coming later this year. Talking about Marvel and Warhammer in the same sentence is really cool, and I think – talking to retailers – it’s a great hook and breaks a few barriers.

What have been some of the biggest successes for the brand in the licensing space?

We had some great launches with our first range of Warhammer Funko Pops, which actually went on to win the Community Choice Award at the International Licensing Awards in Las Vegas, and we launched our first ever action figure from Bandai, which sold out in just 48 hours. It goes to show that when we get the product right, and it’s something that the customers want, they really invest. We are looking at how we can now broaden this out for the future.

We also had our first ever nomination in the Licensing Awards for Best Licensed Gaming property, up against some very tough competition like Fortnite or Minecraft. The nomination went to demonstrate how we are engaging with the licensing industry now more than ever.

We continue to develop stronger relationships at retail. Barnes & Noble are a good example where we have seen strong success, having launched three boardgames with them. Very soon after, these games appeared in their best sellers list for that category. For the following season B&N increased their buy significantly and we have been able to recognise their support of the brand by directing our fans to B&N via our marketing channels.

We saw reports at the end of the year of another successful run for Games Workshop – why do you think it is resonating so well with audiences at the moment – be that through its retail operations, Warhammer gaming, or overall licensing business?

One of the great things behind our success is that the core business is still a vertically integrated business, meaning that everything still happens here in our Nottingham HQ. We manage every stage apart from the actual printing of the packaging.

Over the past three years we have established incredibly strong marketing channels including a Warhammer Community site. We have an extremely dedicated fan base and they are highly engaged via these channels. We see much engagement and response from our fans. We are not just about sales, we host videos on how to paint your miniatures, gaming demonstration videos; it’s a real community that focuses on the hobby.

We are not driven by the next big film or TV series release, but we are driven by our own product release cycle and therefore our customers keep coming back for the products they want and love. It means that we can be an evergreen brand, and our customers are never restricted – there’s always something new for them to sink their teeth into.

Even though the gaming space is getting crowded with a lot of successful gaming properties, there is still nothing quite like Warhammer. People love the uniqueness of this franchise, and look at it, it is unique.

We are now seeing growth coming from international markets, with America being our biggest single market, while Japan and China are our two fastest-growing territories with still lots of untapped potential out there for us.

Warhammer caters for different types of audience with our core pillars of collect, build, paint, play. We also have an extremely successful publishing division (the Black Library) where we have over 2000 individual titles including multiple NY Times Best sellers, an extensive video game portfolio and various other consumer products such as board games, card games and so on. The thing is, however you like to indulge in the hobby of Warhammer, there is something for everyone.

The IP has a real strength and depth and it is all so cohesive, so whether you are playing the video games or reading one of the books, it is all connected.

How does Games Workshop tap into a current consumer demand for hobby gaming and pop culture?

We have really benefited from the growth in gaming and pop culture globally, which is a really growing trend at the moment. As a brand with more than 40 years in the gaming space, we are seeing fans introduce their children and grandchildren to Warhammer.

We have managed to remain really relevant, and we are seeing new generations getting into Warhammer now – this is a brand that still resonates as something cool, edgy, and timeless with audiences.

How has the success of the last year set you up for 2020? What will be some of the biggest moves to come from you guys this year?

A big thing for us will be to keep building on the successful partnerships that we
have in place, those with Funko, Bandai, the upcoming Marvel partnership that will introduce Marvel Warhammer comics in Q4 this year.

At the same time, we will continue to develop and release all new examples of the finest plastic model kits in the world and the accessories used to build/paint and play games with them.

With all of this behind us, we hope that 2020 will see us doing even more with retailers. We have had some really good conversations with retail at various shows, and I would like to see some of that coming through this year and increasing our presence within retail for the brand.

How are you adapting to the changing demands of the licensing space today, and how is this helping you maintain your position as leaders in the field?

We are one of the most prolific video game licensors at the moment, and you will definitely see us building on the success of some of the recent AAA releases such as Warhammer Total War 2 and Vermintide 2 with some more big budget, high quality titles on the way in the next couple of years.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned, Warhammer fans are driven by quality rather than price. This applies across the whole licensing space. As we’ve already mentioned Funko, Bandai, Marvel, we will be focussing on working with best in class category leaders across a broad range of consumer products.

Sanrio extends its partnership with Licensed to Charm for Valentine’s Hello Kitty collection

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Licensed to Charm has extended its partnership with Sanrio to launch a new valentine’s gifting collection of Hello Kitty jewellery.

The new charms are retro-styled and based on the original 1970s Hello Kitty designs, with Kitty holding a bunch of roses along with a love letter, double-sided Hello Kitty winking coin charm, and a magical rainbow.

To create a fresh spring feel, the new pieces come with a bright polished Sterling Silver, or 18ct gold vermeil finish.

“These new charms are a must have for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day gifts, designed with loved ones at heart,” read a statement from Licensed to Charm.

“We know they will be loved as much as we have loved designing them in collaboration with the Sanrio team. Whether you’re a flower fan, want a symbol of love in a letter, want a cheeky winking coin or the rainbow to signify all love is equal – the choice is yours.”

Hello Kitty made its debut in 1974, becoming a cultural icon in the last almost 50 years.

There are eight charms to collect in the first range of the collection, including Seated Hello Kitty, Hello Kitty Face, Peek-a-boo Hello Kitty, Kitty’s Milk Bottle, her Bow, and her Handbag.

SEGA joins forces with Puma to launch latest Sonic sports style collection

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SEGA is once again joining forces with the sports brand Puma to bring Sonic, the world’s fastest hedgehog and the video game maker’s flagship character to the world of sports style fashion.

Launching ahead of the release of the upcoming blockbuster Sonic the Hedgehog movie, SEGA’s famous character will feature in a new collection that plays with the designs and graphics that appear in both the game series and film.

The Puma x Sonic collection consists of the RS-X³ Sonic sneaker in two new colourways with a semi-transparent white or black grid look, bright colour pops and gold accents, available in adult and kids sizes.

The collection is supplemented with the Puma x Sonic hoodie in bright blue or sleek black, and the Puma x Sonic tees with graphics on the front and back as well as a tee with AOP print.

Completing this Puma x Sonic drop, the new collection also offers matching apparel, footwear and accessories for kids, adorned with cool prints and hints of the Sonic universe.

Disrupting the speed of sound with style, the collection hits the shelves globally on Puma.com, at Puma stores and selected retailers on February 7th, while the kids’ collection arrives on February 15th.

Rita Ora to launch own bedding and accessories collection with Ashley Wilde

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Not content with chart success, singer-songwriter and actress, Rita Ora, is making her debut in the textiles sector through the launch of a new interior home collection with the textile experts, Ashley Wilde.

The collaboration was brokered by Attachment Licensing and will see a collection of luxurious bedding and accessories launch this month. It will ‘provide an unrivalled opportunity for her fan base to have a part of their favourite superstar in their home.’

The collection will comprise six unique designs, each inspired by one of Ora’s many loves and reflects the glamorous style she is renowned for.

The designs are available in Single, Double, King and Super King sizes, complete with complementary pillowcases. All designs have accompanying decorative cushions and throws, adorned in lavish trimmings to complete the luxurious look.

It will be stocked at major UK retailers including Amara, Shop Direct, Next, House of Fraser, Seymour’s, Fishpools and Leekes, and exclusive to Myer in Australia. Launching on February 10th, bedding sets will retail from £65 to £134 and accessories from £34 to £120.

The collection will be available for an exclusive pre-sale to fans from ritaorahome.com from February, Thursday 6th.

“I’m so excited to launch my first bedding collection. Interiors are a passion of mine and it’s been fun to be able to incorporate my favourite things into the designs,” said Ora.

“I hope people love the collection as much as I do. It’s comfortable with a touch of luxe, with colours that are warm and calming; perfect to make your bedroom a sanctuary.”

Charlotte Clisby, managing director at Attachment Licensing, added: “This partnership is a brilliant example of how effective working with global superstars can be. When there is authenticity, originality and integrity in a new talent led brand, matched with a pioneer in their consumer product category, there really is no boundaries.

“That’s what Attachment Licensing is excited by and this is the perfect example. Working with both Rita & Ashley Wilde has been nothing short of brilliant, this is just the start of very big things to come.”

Marc Strong, Brand Director at Ashley Wilde Group, concluded: Ashley Wilde Group is thrilled to add the esteemed celebrity, Rita Ora, to our roster of established lifestyle home brands. We’re very pleased to partner with the globally respected artist as she begins this new venture, to launch her first bedding collection with the support of our industry expertise and exceptionally talented design team.”

Pokémon soars at UK and German retail as both toys and trading cards ‘enjoy best year ever’

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Sales of both the Pokémon Trading Card Game and toys from Wicked Cool Toys soared at retail across the UK and Germany throughout 2019, according to the latest figures revealed by NPD.

The Pokémon Company has reported year on year sales that ‘continue to be substantially above the market average’ for Pokémon in what has become somewhat of a regular achievement for the brand in recent years.

According to figures recorded by the NPD Group Toys retail tracking service, total UK toy sales for Pokémon in 2019 were up 24.1 per cent against an overall market downturn of 7.1 per cent, while Germany recorded a remarkable 100.6 per cent increase in sales against market growth of just 3.3 per cent.

The Wicked Cool Toys range is distributed in the UK and Ireland by Character Options and in Germany by BOTI.

Meanwhile, in Strategic Card Games (SCG), Pokémon continues to be the category market leader with the number one slot in both the UK and Germany. UK sales were up 30.8 per cent – almost double the total market, which grew by 17 per cent, while in Germany the increase was an impressive 98.8 per cent, which helped the market to achieve total growth of 71.7 per cent.

Pokémon generates over 50 per cent of the total revenue of the top 14 best-performing SCG brands in the UK, and more than triple that of the 14 next best-selling brands combined in Germany. The Pokémon TCG is distributed by Asmodee in the UK and by Amigo in Germany.

“In another fantastic year for Pokémon, we are delighted to see an ever-growing appetite for our product,” said Mathieu Galante, licensing director (EMEA) for The Pokémon Company International.

“Wicked Cool Toys’ innovative and extended toy range is really connecting with fans, coupled with huge demand for tie-in products from the hugely popular Pokémon Detective Pikachu film. We also enjoyed great success from yet another first this year with our new video games Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, when the first partner Pokémon plush were available to buy from selected retailers on the same release date as the VG for the first time ever.

“With an even bigger toy line to showcase at this year’s key top toy shows, which we expect to do just as well, we are very excited for 2020.”

Simon Benton, vice president of Pokémon TCG sales for Europe, added: “We had one of our best-ever years at retail in 2019 with exciting consumer promotions and highly impactful permanent and temporary space solutions that capitalised on the incredible TCG content and elevated Pokémon brand profile throughout the year.

“With the first Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield expansion launching at retail on February 7th, supported by major retail promotions and media campaigns, 2020 will see TCG sales achieve new records. We’re looking forward to a successful year with our distribution and retail partners and thank them for their ongoing support.”

The global phenomenon of Pokémon was first launched in Japan in 1996 as a role-playing game for Nintendo’s Game Boy system and reached the United States and Europe in 1998–99.

Pokémon has since grown into one of the most popular entertainment properties in the world, encompassing video games, the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG), mobile games and apps, animation and movies, Play! Pokémon competitive events and licensed products.

It is recognised as one of the most successful video game franchises of all time with more than 340 million video games sold worldwide. In addition, more than 22 billion TCG cards have been shipped to 77 countries in 13 languages, while the mobile game sensation Pokémon GO has received more than one billion downloads globally since launching in 2016.

More than 1,000 episodes of the animated TV series span 22 seasons, licensed for broadcast in 169 countries and regions in more than 30 languages.

Surprise results at Funko as Q4 2019 financials take 8 per cent dip

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In a surprise turn of events in the narrative of the pop culture specialist, Funko has detailed lower than expected net sales of $214m in its preliminary fourth quarter 2019 results.

The company reported its preliminary financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2019 this week, showing that it expected to see a decrease of eight per cent compared to the $233m is totalled in Q4 2018.

Net sales were below expectations in mature markets, including in the US, due to the challenging retail environment, which according to the firm, resulted in lower than expected purchases among Funko’s top customers over Christmas.

The lack of big hitting, box office films through 2019 has also been highlighted as a reason for the decrease. These factors more than offset the strong growth that Funko had seen in Europe, as well as the strength of the Loungefly brand during the quarter.

“While we are disappointed in our fourth quarter results, we are confident that our strong track record of innovation through new product categories and properties, as well as continued international expansion, will continue to propel the company in 2020 and beyond,” said Brian Mariotti, chief executive officer.

“The underlying strength of our Pop! And Loungefly brands, combined with Funko’s unique ability to leverage evergreen properties will enable the company to achieve high-single-digit to low-double-digit sales growth in 2020.

“Since 2017, we have grown sales at a compound annual rate of more than 20 per cent. The key drivers that have fuelled our growth and brought Funko to where it is today remain intact. Looking forward, we plan to continue investing in existing and new products, people and global operations to ensure the company is positioned for long-term success.”

Pop!, Loungefly and new product introductions in toys and games have all been highlighted as drivers for the company’s growth throughout 2020.

Funko will report its fourth quarter and full year financial results after the market closes on Thursday, march 5th this year.