Tag Archives: blippi

Moonbug Entertainment signs Poetic Brands for Blippi apparel range

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Moonbug Entertainment has signed Poetic Brands to design an apparel range based on the kids’ entertainment sensation, Blippi. The move arrives as digital entertainment brands continue to gather momentum in the licensing space.

Blippi has connected with children globally through his show Blippi, where he takes them on fun play-dates, learning through playing and doing. Blippi is available in the UK on Virgin Media, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube. 

The children’s apparel range from Poetic Brands is set to include accessories, children’s daywear, outerwear and swimwear.            

The aim of Blippi is to inspire and explore children’s curiosity with fun and educational activities. The playful character takes children on adventures in each 15-minute episode, presenting viewers with a range of subjects and facts. 

Additionally, the wider consumer products programme for Blippi, managed throughout EMEA by brand licensing specialist The Point.1888, has begun with a toy range from Jazwares, featuring talking dolls, vehicles, role-play and outdoor toys. The property also features a monthly magazine from DJ Murphy.

Anne Bradford, Director, Poetic Brands, said: “Blippi is already an established kids’ phenomenon with over 15 billion views worldwide. There is no doubt that children are more than ready for Blippi to launch an apparel line and we are looking forward to discussing opportunities across retail.” 

Becky Langer, senior commercial manager, soft goods at The Point.1888, added: “What better way for a child to express their adoration for a brand than to wear clothing emblazoned with its characters? Apparel was one of our priorities when devising Blippi’s brand licensing programme, and with Poetic Brands being an advocate of the use of sustainable fabrics, it was our first choice.”

The Point. 1888 and Moonbug Entertainment sign six new partners for pre-school hit Blippi

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The Point. 1888 and Moonbug Entertainment Ltd have secured six new licensing partners for the popular children’s brand, Blippi. The latest raft follows the brand’s recent publishing partnership with DJ Murphy and builds on the growing demand for licensed Blippi products.

The Point. 1888 was appointed in the summer as the master licensing agency across EMEA for Blippi, along with other brands in Moonbug’s portfolio, including CoComelon, My Magic Pet Morphle and ARPO.

Since coming on board, The Point.1888 has sought to capitalise on the show’s popularity with young children as well as the need to keep them entertained and engaged by signing licensees across a broad range of categories, including clothing, puzzles and games.

The new licensees secured by The Point.1888 for Blippi include Scholastic as master publisher, Poetic Brands for kids daywear, Misirli for Blippi branded socks, TDP Textiles and Aykroyds & Sons for Blippi pyjamas and swimwear, RMS International for Blippi puzzles, and Zak for Blippi branded lunch boxes.

The new line-up joins Blippi’s existing partners in Jazwares, Creative Kids, Texco, Round Room and DJ Murphy.

With over 12 billion content views worldwide, the fun and playful Blippi educates and entertains children aged two to six years old across the world, empowering them to explore their curiosity.

Bethan Garton, Commercial Director at The Point.1888, said: “The brand licensing programme for Blippi is really picking up pace, and that is in part thanks to the incredible team at Moonbug who have been so open to our ideas and share our passion in making this a success. It may look like there’s a lot going on now but trust me when I say it’s about to get even busier.”

Simon Philips, senior in-house advisor, Moonbug, added: “The Point.1888 has been an excellent partner and these new licensees are a testament to the hard work that the team has put into expanding the playful world of Blippi.”

Moonbug’s Blippi lands UK kids’ magazine partnership with DJ Murphy through The Point. 1888

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Moonbug Entertainment’s popular pre-school brand, Blippi, a YouTube sensation turned children’s entertainment franchise, is coming to the UK’s children’s magazine space thanks to a new partnership with publishers DJ Murphy.

The deal was brokered by The Point. 1888 on behalf of Moonbug Entertainment, and looks to capitalise on the show’s popularity among children. With over 12 billion content views worldwide, the fun and goofy Blippi aims to educate and entertain the two to six year old market the world over.

Blippi aims to inspire and keep children busy with fun and educational activities. The Point.1888 signed a deal with DJ Murphy to take the show’s best elements and turn them into an interactive magazine.

 Issued monthly, the 36-page fun-zine is designed to surprise, challenge and delight fans with activities, games and puzzles while Blippi helps them to understand the world.

 This is not the first time that The Point.1888 and DJ Murphy have collaborated, having enjoyed a great working relationship for many years with client L.O.L.. Due to the publishing group’s rich history of working with YouTube brands including Shopkins and equestrian This Esme, as well as its strong retail relationships, The Point.1888 was keen to secure them as Blippi’s publishing partner from day one.

Zoe Cannon, managing director at DJ Murphy, said: “From the moment we saw how engaged Blippi’s fans are with his shows, we wanted to work with the brand. His passion and excitement for discovery and curiosity is contagious and we desperately wanted to make a magazine that would be as immersive, educational and fun.

“Working with our existing contacts at The Point.1888 and with new licencing partner Moonbug, has been great. Moonbug’s creative team are so excited and passionate about the brand that it’s really contagious. There is such a wealth of assets for Blippi that literally anything is possible in the magazine.”

Bethan Garton, commercial director at The Point.1888, said: “Alongside the monthly magazines for 2021, there is so much more in the pipeline for this brand with partners secured across apparel, bedding, toy, arts and crafts and more. We’re thrilled to be working with the industry’s best people to make it all happen.”

 The magazine is now in stores and available to buy in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, WH Smith, Asda, Waitrose, Co-op and all good newsagents, or online from ponymag.com/shop.

Space mission: How Moonbug Entertainment’s rocketing success is disrupting the pre-school space

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It may be highly competitive, it may even be getting a little bit crowded at times, but there’s one thing that the pre-school sector hasn’t become in recent years – particularly now, as audiences shift their viewing habits and the means in which they engage with it – and that is, a done deal.

Compared to the work that has been going on behind the scenes of some of the most powerful digital brands in the pre-school space today, it’s relatively early days for the licensing world. It’s not been until recently that licensing has paid close attention to the kind of pre-school IP grown from the ground upwards on platforms like YouTube, and only in the last year or two that it has recognised the power that such brands can wield.

Moonbug prides itself as being one of the pioneers of this space. Just take a look at the portfolio it boasts today: CoComelon, Blippi, Little Baby Bum, and more waiting in the wings, all of which have managed to strike a particular chord with children and families on a global scale, and all of which have been the subject of some world-spanning master toy and consumer products partnerships, all driven by worldwide demand.

The world’s recent lockdown at the hands of the coronavirus pandemic, suggests Moonbug Entertainment’s senior in-house advisor, Simon Philips, simply helped to drive that engagement further. Suddenly, co-viewing between parents and children increased, and families the world over began to better see the value in the digital medium as both a means of entertainment and education for children.

 Licensing.biz catches up with Moonbug Entertainment’s Philips to talk about the rocketing popularity of the company’s portfolio, it’s ongoing mission to disrupt the pre-school sector, and what kind of plans it has in place for 2021 and beyond.

 Can we kick off with an overview of what Moonbug incorporates, you guys create, produce and publish much of the content yourselves, before handling the licensing and merchandising opportunities?

Today, Moonbug is the largest digital kids media company in the world. We have done this primarily by identifying and acquiring the most exciting kids shows with untapped potential and investing in them to create more episodes, develop new storylines and expand their reach across multiple platforms. This approach then allows us to make those brands more accessible through licensing and merchandising opportunities – deepening our connection with the audience and growing the brand identity. 

There’s been a lot of activity from Moonbug this past year, and a lot of demand for the IP portfolio, including CoComelon, Blippi and Little Baby Bum, what is it that Moonbug is bringing to the licensing space and the children’s entertainment space?

The licensing world is now turning their attention to something we are proud to have been pioneers in – the potential and power of digital brands. Early on, we focused almost exclusively on tapping into the undiscovered pool of talented creators on digital platforms who not only had significant viewership, but also a very loyal audience. 

Our thesis, which now has been proven, was simple: empower our creative team to build on these huge hits, increase the speed of production, and then distribute it across our vast distribution network. This seemed like an obvious opportunity to offer kids and families new and engaging content while growing these brands into global franchises. Over time, our creative, data and distribution teams are always looking at what works, what doesn’t, and how to deliver more of what kids and families want.

Moonbug has demonstrated that there is room in the pre-school space to disrupt and break the traditional, how has the past year or so been for you guys in terms of growth, engagement, audience reach? Why is now the right time for Moonbug to be doing what it is doing?

Historically, there was a focus on exclusive content on individual streaming platforms. Our strategy from the beginning has been more content on more platforms. It has been validating to see that the viewing patterns of the modern family reflect our approach – with increasing co-viewing across streaming platforms and connected TVs. 

The democratization of content and the freedom for families to decide what, when, and where they watch their favorite programs has been a huge driver in the growth of our portfolio, which culminated with two of our largest acquisitions and raising an additional $120 million in funding.

We believe we are well positioned to keep growing as we continue to see the immense value ‘content-everywhere’ has to our audience as pre-schoolers are platform agnostic, caring only about watching their favorite characters on screen.

We think this means meeting your audience where they are. This is why we are incredibly excited that today, Moonbug’s shows are on over 100 platforms globally and at the top of the Netflix rankings. Our portfolio currently has more than 7 billion average monthly views on YouTube alone. 

Is there an overall mission or goal for Moonbug in terms of its licensing and consumer product partnerships?

 We are making educational, family-oriented shows more accessible. By acquiring new shows and expanding them to new platforms, we’re bringing our programs into even more homes around the world. The trust of families is especially important to us and we provide the programming parents can trust will keep their children entertained while also learning along the way. We are very deliberative and thoughtful to make sure that the licensing product fits the value of the content and reflects a fun learning experience for children everywhere. 

It’s been a bit of an odd year – how have you guys seen consumer and viewer habits change over the course of 2020 and how are you placed to tap into these changes? What of these changes do you think will stay with us going forward?

 The co-viewing between parents and children was one trend we saw increase during the lockdowns, leading to a greater appreciation of how content can be used as a learning tool. As parents are taking a more active role in their children’s learning, our shows have become both a resource to parents and a moment of joy for the child. 

We began to see this shift before the lockdowns and it has since accelerated — we expect the trend to continue as an expression of consumer behavior. 

Can you talk us through the strength of the Moonbug Music arm of the business – how big a market has the children’s music/audio space become and what are your plans for developing and innovating in this space?

 We view music as an essential part of how kids and families engage with our content. A show’s soundtrack not only draws people in, but helps with their retention of the content. Our team is always working to understand the interplay between the music and narrative. We’re continuing to experiment with new ways to use music as a critical component to developing compelling, educational and family-friendly content.

What’s the next big step for Moonbug?

While this has been a very big year for us, it is only the beginning and there are many new things to come in 2021. Next year, there will be more of the engaging shows that kids know and love, along with many more original products. On the licensing side, we will be building on the incredible success of Little Baby Bum, Blippi, and CoComelon toys by introducing complementary products from apparel to games, bedding, and everything in between.

Moonbug Entertainment partners with Virgin Media to expand kids’ programming in the UK

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Moonbug Entertainment is partnering with Virgin Media to expand its children’s programming across the UK. Under the partnership, ten new shows will air on Virgin Media’s TV platform, starting with a roll out from mid October.

The children’s programming set to air includes Blippi, Little Baby Bum, Playtime with Twinkle, Go Buster, Toddler Fun Learning, Digley and Dazey, Dr Poppy, Supa Strikas, My Magic Pet Morphle and Gecko’s Garage.

“We couldn’t be more delighted to enter this strategic partnership with Virgin Media, one of the leading platforms in the UK,” said Nicolas Eglau, head of EMEA and APAC at Moonbug.

“Brands like Blippi and Morphle have become household names in the UK and by bringing them to Virgin Media customers, even more families will have the opportunity to enjoy these blockbuster titles. We look forward to working with Virgin Media on bringing more Moonbug shows to their viewers in the future.”

David Bouchier, chief digital entertainment officer at Virgin Media, added: “We’re constantly looking for ways to expand our kids offer and we’re very pleased to add Moonbug’s impressive range of popular children’s characters for our customers.

“Not only will families gain access to more than ten new franchises, but they’ll have exclusive access to new episodes of Blippe before anyone else, from November 2nd.”

Blippi is the most recent program to join Moonbug’s impressive lineup. Through singing, dancing, and exploring, Blippi helps children understand the world around them and encourages vocabulary development. Virgin Media exclusively gets a selection of new Blippi episodes for one month before they air on other platforms in the UK.

My Magic Pet Morphle, an animation show loved by children aged aged three to six, follows Little Mila and her magical pet Morphle as they turn playtime into a series of fun and educational adventures while teaching themes of friendship, problem-solving and creativity.

Gecko’s Garage is a show about friendly neighbourhood mechanic Gecko and his team of clumsy robot Mechanicals who together help any vehicle in need. Whether it’s a bus with a leaky oil tank, or a goldfish trapped in an exhaust, they’ll always try their very best and get the job done.

Moonbug and The Point. 1888 eye ‘evergreen retail space’ for CoComelon, Blippi, and rest of portfolio

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Following on from last week’s Moonbug and MGA Entertainment partnership announcement, the global entertainment company has now turned to the brand licensing agency, The Point. 1888 to expand the Moonbug portfolio, including CoComelon, Blippi, My Magic Pet Morphle, ARPO, Supa Strikas, and T-Rex Ranch.

Under the new partnership, The Point. 1888 will look to ‘provide streamlined consumer products roll-out across EMEA’, with the ambition of owning evergreen retail space for the collection.

“As our audience continues to grow, we remain focused on widening consumer engagement touchpoints at a global level, and part of that is having a trusted partner in EMEA,” said Simon Philips, Moonbug. “We’re confident in The Point.1888 and look forward to seeing what we can achieve together.”

Collectively, Moonbug receives over 7 billion monthly views, and will now operate the largest network of kids channels on YouTube, encompassing 235 million subscribers, and its beloved kids’ brands are available on over 100 platforms globally, including major on-demand streaming services such as Netflix, Apple TV, Sky and Hulu.

Will Stewart, founder and managing director at The Point.1888, said: “We are so excited to get started on this. It is not often that you find a unique digital IP partner like Moonbug that is ahead of the crowd producing safe and fun content, with such speed that appeals to all the family, every gender and all our diverse nations.

“The stats speak for themselves proving the success across all the properties and really offer endless opportunities for this licensing programme.”

The Point.1888’s retail-first brand extension model has been one of the biggest drivers of the agency’s growth in the last 12 months. Its team, headed up by Commercial Director Bethan Garton is rapidly expanding and is currently made up of 19 industry professionals with vast and relevant experience having previously worked with other big brands such as the Gruffalo, Star Wars, LOL Surprise, Marvel, Clangers, Mr Men, Noddy and Sesame Street.

Funko, Ryan’s World, and MoMA among first Licensing Leadership Summit speakers confirmed

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The first speakers for this year’s new-format Licensing Leadership Summit have been confirmed, with representatives from the Museum of Modern Art, Funko, Ryan’s World and more on the bill for the virtual event. The summit will be the closing event of this year’s all-virtual Festival of Licensing and will take place on October 28th and 29th 2020.

The summit is the only virtual conference to unite C-level executives from the world’s largest players across manufacturing, retail and brands to discuss, debate and collaborate on the future of brand licensing. It will take place in the last week of the four-week Festival of Licensing virtual event taking place throughout October.

Drawing from modern art and youth culture to tackle top brand licensing trends and topics such as TikTok, eSports and gaming, to evergreens like museum licensing, early Licensing Leadership Summit speakers will include:

Robin Sayetta, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) – Different by Design: MoMA’s Modern Approach to Museum Licensing

Lauren Winarski, Funko –I Want it Now!: Using the Fan to Expand Distribution

Stone Newman, Pocket.watch, and Shion Kaji, Ryan’s World – Influencers: Are they Delivering on their Brand Promise?

Chris Petrovic, Zynga – How Games Ate the Licensing World

Maca Rotter, Panaderia – Esports: The Hottest New Licensing Category

Greg Goodfried, UTA – Session on TikTok

Sid Kaufman, UTA, and Stevin John (Blippi), YouTube star – Digital Talent: The Future

Max Luthy, Trendwatching – Finding Opportunity in the Overwhelm: Key Trends in Consumerism

Connie Chang, C-Life Group, and Tonya Kirby, Retro Brands – What Do Licensees Want?

The Global Licensing Group at Informa Markets, the organisation behind Licensing Leadership Summit and Festival of Licensing, is calling for additional speakers now and are asked to visit Call For Papers to submit for topics or speaking opportunities.

Amanda Cioletti, event and content director, Global Licensing Group, Informa Markets, said: “As with everything, if you look in the right places, there is always a silver lining. Transitioning Licensing Leadership Summit online and bringing live broadcast content to our attendees means our event is now more accessible than ever to a truly global C-suite audience, which means more diversity of speakers, more opportunities to connect and richer content on offer. We are excited for our speakers and content to reflect a world vision of the future of the brand licensing industry.”

Anna Knight, vice president, Global Licensing Group, Informa Markets, added: “The Licensing Leadership Summit will bring together leaders and decision makers from around the world with the experience, expertise and influence to shape the future of the industry. They will analyze the huge, world-changing events of 2020 including, of course, the impact of COVID-19, and draw on key learnings from the previous three weeks of Festival of Licensing to drive strategic direction for this sector in 2021.

“It is an unmissable two-day event for all senior leaders working directly or indirectly with the licensing industry to play a critical role in ensuring this sector is fighting fit for a future beyond the pandemic.”

Delegate information can be found at www.licensingleadershipsummit.com

Moonbug Entertainment acquires Blippi and Cocomelon to become world’s largest digital kids media firm

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Moonbug Entertainment has acquired the popular kids’ entertainment properties Blippi and Cocomelon. It’s a move to become one of the world’s largest digital kids media companies.

 Blippi is a live-action program that has struck a chord with parents and kids through its engaging and accessible educational content, successful toy line, and sell out live shows, while CoComelon – the world’s largest YouTube channel – brings an animated show whose hallmark positivity helps kids constructively go about their daily routines.

These acquisitions boost Moonbug’s monthly subscribers to over 235 million across its more than 100 platforms globally, with more than 7 billion average monthly views, making the outfit the largest digital kids entertainment company in the world.

“Blippi and CoComelon represent what lies ahead in the years to come for children’s entertainment: dynamic characters with a close relationship to their audience through content, licensing, merchandise, and social media. We could not be more excited to welcome these shows to our line up,” said René Rechtman, co-founder and CEO of Moonbug.

“Moonbug is transforming the industry by constantly creating new content, forming strong partnerships with merchandisers, and making entertainment more accessible to viewers,” said Simon Philips, senior in-house advisor at Moonbug. “Digital-first properties are at the forefront of children’s programming and revolutionizing the way families consume content – with these new acquisitions, Moonbug is a proven leader in the industry.”

Moonbug plans to apply its model of rapidly scaling the brands with proven global potential by adding characters and storylines and distributing the shows more broadly across its global distribution network. By expanding their content and reach, Moonbug will enable both shows to leverage new licensing and merchandising opportunities, as well as original productions and new brand partnerships.

By coordinating content and product releases, Moonbug has the ability to analyze data and work with retailers to address trends in real time–rather than looking back at what was successful after the fact or guessing at what might be successful in the future.

Investors have taken notice of Moonbug’s success in applying its model to its current programming line up, including Little Baby Bum, My Magic Pet Morphle, Supa Strikas and many more. The recent $120 million financing round was led by Growth Equity (GS Growth), part of Goldman Sachs’ Merchant Banking Division, and Fertitta Capital. The Raine Group and Felix Capital participated.

Funds will be used for growth and to make additional acquisitions in the continued drive by Moonbug to consolidate the most interesting and popular properties in the kids space.