The Flava People debut two new Guinness-flavoured sauces

The Flava People have teamed up with Diageo once again to launch a new range of Guinness sauces – Guinness Smoky Tomato Ketchup and Smoky BBQ Sauce, both available at Tesco stores now. The partnership was brokered by Diageo’s global brand licensing agency, Beanstalk.

Dubbed ‘the beer of taste’ and loved by chefs across the world, Guinness adds a recognisable malty, smoky flavour to everyday cupboard essentials.

Part of a wider partnership with Diageo, the ‘Guinness Kitchen’ portfolio is aimed at targeting foodies and beer lovers. The range targets consumers who enjoy experimenting with home cooking but rely on easy-to-use base ingredients and ready-made add-ons to create intense, delicious meals.

Olivia Parkes, Brand Manager for ‘Guinness Kitchen’ at The Flava People, says: “Guinness is a beer with a unique standing in the world of food and has long been associated with hearty home cooking and delicious flavour. The new sauces are designed to expand shoppers’ relationship with Guinness and food beyond that of the traditional – providing more premium, flavoursome alternatives to household cupboard staples, perfect as we enter the summer BBQ months.

“We’re now building the range with products suited to entry level through to accomplished cook, meaning we can capture consumers and introduce them to the concept of Guinness with food through the comfort food they traditionally associate with the brand, like pies and gravy, before transitioning them to more experimental formats and cooking with the Guinness flavour as an ingredient.”

Guinness Smoky BBQ sauce and Guinness Smoky Tomato Ketchup are a twist on Britain’s much loved classic table sauces. Packed full of flavour, they promise to add a little oomph to the well-loved burger and bacon butty. The two condiments are available at over 300 Tesco stores and are an addition to the Guinness food range that includes six other existing products.

Mondo TV Group announces three major licences for Gorjuss in Italy

Mondo TV Group, one of the largest European producers and distributors of animated content, and a licensing agent for many major international brands, has announced that it has secured three major licences for the character brand and international phenomenon Gorjuss on behalf of brand owner Santoro Licensing. The categories are Epiphany confectionery and gifting, greeting cards and children’s rainwear and footwear.

Coriex, a leading company in the production and distribution of licensed products for children, teenagers and young people, is planning a number of capsule collections for both winter and summer. The Coriex Gorjuss range will reach retail in Q4 2022.

Cromo N.B. Srl, a leading producer and designer of greeting cards, will produce three categories: folded greeting cards with special finishes; folded greetings cards with added 3D elements; and printed gift-wrap sheets (70 x 100cm). All items will be available at retail in Q4 2022.

Emmeci, which specialises in the marketing of confectionery products for events, will produce Epiphany socks containing branded confectionery and sweet treats sourced from Italian confectionery companies as well as a special surprise toy. All the items will be at retail for the 6 January feast of the Epiphany in both 2024 and 2025.

The news of these signings comes only a few months after Mondo TV Group’s appointment by brand owner Santoro to represent the hit character brand in the Italian market, underlining the enormous potential of the property.

Santoro’s Gorjuss brand is based on imagery featuring sweet, stripey-socked girls with big hearts. With over 400 characters to choose from, Gorjuss fans know there is a Gorjuss girl for every mood. The brand’s enormous emotional appeal, quiet nostalgia and thought-provoking sentiments have made it a retail phenomenon and a brand that girls and young women have embraced in more than 90 countries.

Since March, Mondo has been bringing this brand into its fast-growing portfolio of third-party licensed properties.

The endearing and relatable quality of Gorjuss, along with its established commercial success, underlines its vast licensing potential in the Italian market, where Mondo is particularly targeting such key categories as apparel, toys, publishing, cosmetics, homeware, gifts, food and confectionery.

UK based Santoro is a multi-brand design house creating covetable gifts, stationery and lifestyle products, many of which have inspired noteworthy brands and successful licensing programmes. Santoro’s latest, highest-profile character brand is Gorjuss. Internationally described as a retail phenomenon, Gorjuss is currently in its 13th year and its enormous popularity is still growing.

Jo Campbell, General Manager at Santoro Licensing, says: “We are absolutely delighted to be working with Mondo TV Group for Gorjuss in Italy and are thrilled with these new signings! It’s great to work with an agency who are committed to achieving our brand direction and they have driven through some excellent deals in just a short time frame. The new products in development are already beginning to look really exciting and we’re feeling very positive about the prospects Mondo has in the pipeline.”

 

CAA Brand Management to drive global consumer product programme for McLaren Automotive

CAA Brand Management has been appointed by British luxury supercar maker McLaren Automotive to support its global consumer product licensing and brand extension programme.

Under the multi-year agreement, CAA Brand Management will support McLaren’s internal team, helping manage McLaren’s licensee roster, in addition to indentifying new business opportunities in key categories, including gaming, jewellery, publishing and apparel. CAA will also help McLaren extend its consumer products programmes into new territories, with an immediate focus on the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

“Appointing CAA Brand Management as our global consumer product licensing agency will help us continue to realise the full potential of our brand, drive significant growth in extending our licensing roster and continue to acquire new brand fans and admirers,” says Gareth Dunsmore, Chief Marketing Officer, McLaren Automotive. “We look forward to working with CAA Brand Management to drive forward our ambitious licensing strategy.”

“McLaren Automotive has experienced a rapid expansion of its core business globally, cementing itself as a leader in modern automotive luxury,” adds Noah Gelbart, President, CAA Brand Management. “We see this as a significant opportunity to support the business and help create new ways for consumers to engage with the brand.”

Defined by extraordinary innovation, design and engineering, and a commitment to providing best in class experience, McLaren hand-builds some of the world’s most advanced supercars and hypercars at its global headquarters at the iconic McLaren Production Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. Now retailed in more than 40 territories, it traces its history and vision back to founder, racer, engineer and entrerepneur Bruce McLaren who wanted to build the world’s most iconic supercars.

RHS and George at Asda bring second kids’ clothing collection to retail

Following the success of its initial collaboration with the George at Asda brand, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has announced the arrival at retail of a second collection, again highlighting children’s apparel and accessories for 1-7-year-olds.

As well as being a hit at retail, the first RHS collection from George at Asda won the Best Brand Licensed Children’s Product or Range at the 2022 Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards. This second collection is set to build on that success, and focuses on a carefully selected mix of apparel for wearing out and about, including shirts, t-shirts, hoodies, dresses, shorts and backpacks, as well as sweatshirts, joggers, dungarees, cardigans, clogs and trainers.

As before, the George design team has collaborated with the RHS to create a unique print direction featuring hand-drawn illustrations of colourful plants, vegetables and insects – there’s even a friendly bumble bee-shaped backpack. Slogans encouraging kids to reconnect with nature and grow plants and veg, such as “My hobby is making garden friends”, “Plant some seeds to save the bees” and the collection’s tagline “Let’s go and grow” are highlighted throughout the collection, which can be found in back neck prints, back neck tapes and packaging.

To further underline the joys of gardening, swing tags have again been designed in the shape of flower pots. The RHS branding, highlighting the RHS tree and shield, is clearly visible on the sew-in tags and packaging.

The range is now available in 86 Asda stores and online at George.com, and selling through at an amazing speed, underlining the continuing appeal of the RHS/George collaboration over a year after the first collection hit the shelves.

Launched in 1990, George is now sold in over 580 stores and through George.com with over two million customer transactions per week combined, making George one of the largest fashion retailers in Britain.

Estella Arroyo, Product Design Profession Lead at George, says: “The positive challenge of this latest collaboration was to build on the appeal of our first collection but offering something new and exciting. The response so far has been fantastic! We are thrilled to be collaborating once again with the RHS on this and the clothing and accessories brilliantly combine style, fun and practicality – perfect for getting outside, exploring and growing!”

Cathy Snow, Licensing Manager, RHS, says: “As one of our earliest forays into children’s products – and our very first collaboration on children’s clothing – the RHS collection from George at Asda was an unqualified success, delighting children and parents and brilliantly underlining our key message – to encourage everyone to ’get growing’. We were understandably eager to develop a second collection with the talented George team, and yet again they have excelled themselves.”

Orkla Cederroth partners with emoji – The Iconic Brand

Oral Cederroth & emoji – The Iconic Brand are joining forces to bring a smile to little ones’ faces.

Designed to bring a pop of colour and happiness to the family first-aid kit, Orkla Cederroth has debuted “Doctor San” X emoji – The Iconic Brand infant and children’s plasters. The range will launch exclusively at Spain’s no.1 supermarket chain, Mercadona, which has more the 1,600 stores.

Each emoji branded pack contains 20 water-resistant and hypoallergenic plasters of various designs. The deal was brokered by Wildbrain CPLG.

“It’s fantastic to partner with Orkla, a company with more than 350 years’ heritage in the personal care sector. We can be sure that emoji brand plasters will bring a smile to many children’s faces,” says Ingo Sonego, Licensing Manager of WildBrain CPLG Spain.

“We are delighted to team up with a company such as Orkla Cederroth that cares about children,” adds Marco Hüsges, CEO and Founder of emoji company GmbH. “Orkla Cederroth is truly committed in R&D and in this joint collaboration we created great products that are simply making kids happy.”

Nelvana and Cloudco Entertainment announce host of new partnerships for Care Bears

The lovable, huggable Care Bears from the whimsical land of Care-a-Lot are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year. To celebrate, Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, a world-leading international producer, distributor, and licensor of children’s animated and live-action content, and Cloudco Entertainment, owner of the Care Bears entertainment brand, are bringing the iconic Care Bears brand to life through food, apparel, and experiential event collaborations with companies across Canada.

“We’re honoured to pay homage to 40 incredible years of the Care Bears, and to provide opportunities for the devoted fan base in Canada to join in on celebrating this landmark anniversary,” says Mellany Masterson, Head of Nelvana Enterprises. “The enthusiasm and excitement from so many well-known Canadian companies to develop unique Care Bears-themed products and experiences speaks to the power of the nostalgic franchise and how much the brand’s values of sharing, caring and togetherness resonates with fans both young and old.”

With anniversary collaborations set to launch this summer and autumn, food and apparel retail partners include:

  • iHalo Krunch – Known for Asian-inspired soft-serve ice cream served in activated charcoal house-made cones, all retail locations in Toronto will offer limited-edition Care Bears inspired twists and milkshakes.
  • Bunners Bakeshop – Toronto’s premier vegan and gluten-free bakery will offer limited-edition rainbow Care Bears sugar cookies, rainbow s’mores squares, mini rainbow birthday cake doughnuts, mini rainbow chocolate chip creamies, and rainbow mini heart cookies with birthday frosting dunking kits at all storefront locations.
  • Eva’s Original Chimneys – Chimneys are delicious and unique, bread-like freshly baked Hungarian pastries – which Eva’s famously serves in a cone shape filled with ice cream. Eva’s Bloor Street, Port Credit, Square One, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia locations will offer limited-edition Care Bears-inspired Chimney Cones.
  • SQUISH Candies – Canadian female-owned gourmet gummy shop with real fruit pieces, no sugar added options, and vegan delights in juicy flavours will offer limited-edition Care Bears-themed candy and packaging, available through their website for delivery across Canada.
  • Peace Collective (PC) PC produces quality apparel that looks good and does good, and in turn makes you feel good. Every garment sold gives back to the communities that need it most. A limited-edition Care Bears clothing collection will feature the characters in unique ways and celebrate sharing, caring, and pride. Available in-store and online.
  • Retrokid – Retrokid celebrates your fondest childhood memories through timeless design, authentic collaborations, and quality apparel. A limited-edition collection of Care Bears tees, hoodies, and sweats is available online now.

This summer, Nelvana will also be delivering one-on-one time with the Care Bears themselves through experiential activations across Ontario, including a Peace Collective x Care Bears event in Toronto’s Distillery District on June 25 to celebrate the collection launch and an event at Pride Toronto on June 26 at Church Street Junior Public School. Events will include meet and greets, photo opportunities, and unforgettable memories for everyone in the family. More events and details will be announced soon.

“The Care Bears have always felt at home in Canada, and we are thrilled to have so many exciting collaborations lined up as we celebrate our 40th anniversary this year,” says Cristina Villegas, Vice President of Licensing for North America, Cloudco Entertainment. “The opportunity to bring sharing and caring to our fans in real life, as well, is always a treat and we look forward to seeing these partnerships come to life.”

First introduced in 1982 through a line of greeting cards, the Care Bears have amassed fans of all ages over the last 40 years, and are now featured everywhere from consumer products and plush toys to animated television shows and feature films. Known all over the world for spreading sharing, caring, and togetherness, and with a reach of over 1 million on social media around the globe, the Care Bears look forward to embarking on new adventures with their fans for years to come.

CareBears.com

Ice cream brand Weis teams with Bounce Foods for healthy new snack option

Unilever Australia’s brand extension agency, Asembl, has lined up the first ever licensed brand extension partnership for much-loved brand Weis – taking the fruity flavoured ice-cream icon out of the freezer for the first time in 65 years and into the muesli bar aisle with Bounce Foods.

Weis’ exciting and delicious partnership with one of Australia’s leading healthy snacking brands rings in a new approach to snacking, with four fruit and cream flavour-filled tasty nut butter balls launching from today in Woolworths stores across Australia.

With flavours including Mango Cream, Raspberry Coconut Cream, Fruito Cream and Passionfruit Cream, this first-time partnership between the two brands is sure to be the taste on everyone’s lips all year long.

Filled with the iconic Weis fruit and cream combination Australians love, the innovative and smooth Bounce snacking balls are Australian made from 100% natural ingredients, real fruit, and nut butters. Each ball contains 10g or less natural sugar (from real fruit), zero refined sugar, are gluten free and contain 123 calories or less.

“This is a momentous day for the Weis brand, getting out of the aisle for the first time with no better match than Bounce,” says Unilever Australia Marketing Manager, Annie Lucchitti. “This is an exciting opportunity for both brands to extend the iconic Weis flavours outside of the freezer and into the exciting muesli bar aisle with four fruity and very tasty snacking balls. Both brands are synonymous with flavourful healthy snacking, so we are certain both Weis and Bounce fans are going to love this innovative and unique snack offering.”

Stephen Hamilton, Bounce Australia’s CEO, says: “Unique to the category, and first to market, our collaboration with Weis merges two category champion brands into a new product for the Woolworths muesli bar category and the impulse food category. At Bounce, we are always pushing the boundaries when it comes to healthy snacking, offering our consumers a fresh and modern approach to ‘better for you’ nutritional snacking.”

The new Bounce x Weis range is now available in the muesli bar aisle at Woolworths for $6 for a 4-pack, or in bulk at bouncefoods.com.au

Crayola partners with WildBrain CPLG to drive growth across EMEA

Crayola is continuing to drive international growth across new and existing categories in EMEA through a new representation partnership with world-leading licensing agency WildBrain CPLG.

The brand’s successful global partnerships with the likes of Vans and Fat Face have driven significant interest from IP owners and brands who see exciting opportunities to explore the colourful world of Crayola.

In partnership with WildBrain CPLG, Crayola will continue its expansion of its consumer products business through strategic licensing programmes targeting fans of all ages, in key categories including apparel, accessories and footwear, toys, homewares and FMCG products across mainland Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Rob Spindley, Licensing Director EMEA, says: “Whilst we will retain the UK business within Crayola, we will be leaning into Wildbrain CPLG across its extensive European network of teams and offices. WildBrain CPLG demonstrated an innate understanding of the Crayola brand values, positioning and strategic growth pillars, making the agency best placed in translating this into licensed product programmes across the territory.

“The team’s experience across all consumer product categories integrated into Crayola’s strategic approach to growth, promises to deliver further expansion and opportunity for licensees and brands bringing new and innovative products into the market.”

Meike de Vaere-Hoorn, VP Partnerships & Business Development at WildBrain CPLG, says: “Crayola is a beloved brand in homes around the world, celebrated for inspiring creative freedom, making it an exciting addition to our EMEA portfolio. We’ll be focused on bringing the brand’s playful and imaginative values to life through an engaging consumer products programme for the whole family and we can’t wait to get started on this colourful journey with the team at Crayola.”

 

Emma Thompson and Axel Scheffler team up for heartwarming V&A Christmas tale

This autumn, Puffin, in collaboration with the V&A, is to publish the heartwarming Christmas tale Jim’s Spectacular Christmas, written by Dame Emma Thompson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

Oscar-winning actor Dame Emma Thompson has teamed up with bestselling illustrator Axel Scheffler to write the story about Jim, the real-life dog who belonged to Sir Henry Cole, the V&A’s founding director. Sir Henry Cole famously sent the first-ever Christmas card in 1843.

Sir Henry Cole founded the V&A in 1852 when it began as a Museum of Manufactures, and it was officially opened by Queen Victoria at its current Kensington site in 1857. Jim was Sir Henry Cole’s Yorkshire terrier, and Cole’s diary entries indicate the fondness they had for one another, regularly strolling around together, with Jim accompanying Sir Henry everywhere around the museum. There is now a commemorative plaque dedicated to the “Faithful Dog” set into the wall of the V&A’s John Madejski garden.

After receiving a Jim-shaped Christmas decoration and becoming enraptured by a drawing that Sir Henry had made of his faithful pet, Emma Thompson was inspired to pen the tale of the scraggly canine hero, who she fondly describes as having a “gamey whiff”. Emma weaves fact and fiction together, as Jim goes on a Christmas adventure filled with high emotion, redemption, unexpected presents and a life-changing brush with royalty. Axel Scheffler’s magical illustrations bring the story to life with his own special brand of warmth and humour, creating what is sure to become a beloved Christmas classic.

Emma and Axel have corresponded for 30 years, their relationship based on mutual fandom for one another. This culminated in the pair finally meeting at a Waterstones Christmas event in 2019, the moment serendipitously captured on video. Jim’s Spectacular Christmas will be their first project together, celebrating their enduring friendship with a heartwarming Christmas story.

Emma Thompson says: “Upon learning about Sir Henry and Jim for the first time, I couldn’t help but run amok with ideas about what it must have been like for this unlikely pet to be living in such an amazing museum. I’ve been a fan of Axel’s work for many years because of the humanity and humour in all his illustrations, so to be collaborating with him on this project is an utter joy.”

“Emma originally contacted me by letter to request a commission some 30 years ago (and many followed over the years),” says Axel Scheffler. “That’s how our correspondence began, and we only met in person at a signing in a bookshop a few years ago. When Puffin came to me with this project, I was very excited to get involved and to do a book with Emma. Illustrating her wonderful story has been a great pleasure and I hope that many readers – young and old – will share the enjoyment in time for Christmas.”

Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A Museum, adds: “Sir Henry Cole’s legacy is relatively unknown to the public, yet it is such an important part of the V&A’s rich history. Working with Puffin has been the perfect collaboration for this wonderful project, and we are completely thrilled that Emma and Axel have taken it on. We can’t wait to share this beautiful Christmas story with the public.”

Jim’s Spectacular Christmas will be published by Puffin in association with the V&A on 27 October. To find out more, and to pre-order the book, visit Penguin.co.uk.

TGI Fridays adds new products to Tesco range

TGI Fridays, the iconic American Bar & Grill, has continued its collaboration with SV Cuisine to launch the new restaurant-inspired BBQ Beef Brisket and Buffalo Chicken Wings, in a partnership brokered by TGI Fridays’ global licensing agent, Beanstalk.

Alongside the launch of these new dishes, the TGI Smoked Pork Ribs with BBQ Sauce has been extended to additional Tesco stores.

“Building on the success in Tesco of our TGI Smoked Pork Ribs with BBQ Sauce, we have successfully widened the offer of TGI products to Tesco shoppers,” says James Conway, Head of Sales at SV Cuisine. “Supported by in-store and online promotional activity, the TGI Fridays brand is set to reach additional shoppers and new levels of sales.”

“We’re excited to see this range in the UK’s biggest supermarket continue to grow, through our partnership with TGI Fridays and SV Cuisine,” says Louise French, Senior Vice President at Beanstalk. “With the addition of these new dishes and the roll-out of the range across even more Tesco stores, TGI Fridays continues to offer consumers even more ways to recreate the TGI Fridays experience at home, for the whole family to enjoy!”

The TGI Fridays BBQ Beef Brisket and Buffalo Chicken Wings are available in Tesco stores and online now.