Penguin Random House Children’s appoints David Sprei as Commercial Director for Penguin Ventures

David Sprei will be joining Penguin Random House Children’s as Commercial Director for Penguin Ventures on 18 October. He will report to Francesca Dow, MD for Penguin Random House Children’s.

In this newly created role David will lead the Penguin Ventures business to further growth, working in close partnership with Susan Bolsover, Global Licensing and Consumer Products Director, and the Penguin Ventures team. Susan Bolsover will report to David.

David joins from his previous role as Director International Business Development ViacomCBS Consumer Products, focusing on new innovative & non-traditional partnerships across the portfolio. Prior to this David has held commercial and partnership roles at Viacom Velocity (MTV Europe), Instrumental and TBWA Stream, London.

Penguin Ventures is a separate business within Penguin Random House Children’s, which manages and exploits a portfolio of literary brands and characters, most notably Peter Rabbit, The Snowman and Spot, focusing on licensing and consumer products, retail activations, theatrical, exhibitions and commercial partnership strategies. In the UK Penguin Ventures’ most recent successes include a multi-year partnership with Cadburys as well as a global collection with Cath Kidston, both for Classic Peter Rabbit. The team also created a fashion and digital collaboration with Barbour for The Snowman, expanding upon Raymond Briggs’ timeless story through an innovative ad campaign, and were responsible for the UK, Australian and Japanese licensing programme for global box office smash hit movies Peter Rabbit and Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway.

 

Little Brother Books welcomes LOL Surprise, Barbie, and Fortnite to the annuals roster

LOL Surprise, Barbie, Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft will each be expanding their presence across the children’s Annuals market, thanks to a bolstered new portfolio of titles to launch from Little Brother Books.

The UK Annuals publisher is preparing to launch a range of six new titles this spring/summer, which will include three Fun, Play and Learn titles hitting shelves this May, featuring the popular toy brands LOL Surprise and Barbie. The pair will be joined by World of Dinosaurs.

This season will also see the launch of three Ultimate Gaming Guides, including GamesWarrior’s Ultimate Guide to Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft.

All six titles will feature new content created exclusively by Little Brother Books and will each be priced at £5.99. The series will go on sale this mlnth across Amazon, TJ Morris, Sainsbury’s, Smyths Toys, and other book retailers.

Little Brother Books believes that high visibility at retail is key to driving impulse sales and has been successful in placing 1000s of dedicated FSDU/POS in major retailers over recent years.

Matthew Reynolds, MD at Little Brother Books, said: “Our mid-year Annuals and Gaming Guides launching this season are testament to our success in refreshing this market and I’m thrilled that we have six titles to delight parents and children alike this summer with six of the hottest properties in the market.

“Despite 2020’s challenges, Little Brother Books once again dominated the Annuals market, and we retained our position as the number one publisher in this sector for the third consecutive year with unrivaled distribution for our leading brands.

“2021 is shaping up to be even more successful with other major retailers coming onboard, as well as exciting new brands joining our portfolio.”

Edutainment Licensing secures NSPCC Buddy partnership with Kennedy Publishing

Edutainment Licensing has secured a new partnership with Kennedy Publishing for its NSPCC ‘speech bubble’ mascot, Buddy. The campaign will start on May 26th in the publisher’s Busy Time, and will continue in Get Busy on June 24th.

Kennedy Publishing is a leading publisher in the children’s magazine sector, with a portfolio of over 50 children’s magazine titles, licenses for over 30 properties, and a global readership of over 15 million. 

The NSPCC’s Buddy is a bright green ‘speech bubble’ mascot used to communicate the NSPCC’s ‘Speak Out. Stay Safe’ (SOSS) campaign, which has so far reached 90 per cent of primary schools nationwide. 

The age appropriate assemblies and workshops are delivered to children across the UK to encourage them to speak out if something is worrying them.

In February this year, the NSPCC held an online assembly with the help of TV stars Ant and Dec, as volunteers were unable to deliver assemblies in person due to school closures. It has since been watched more than 600,000 times.

The Buddy page will feature the key message from the campaign alongside an activity for the child to enjoy and engage with.

“We are excited to be working with the dynamic team at Kennedy for Buddy,” said Denise Deane of Edutainment Licensing. “We know that they passionate about creating high-quality, engaging content that helps support their young readers’ development and are grateful for their support.”

Sophie Rowlands, licensing director, Kennedy Publishing, added: “We are proud to support the NSPCC in our pre-school magazines which offer unique, play-based learning opportunities. Buddy will join a wealth of popular character activities that encourage children’s imagination and creativity.”

Percy the Park Keeper picks up partnership with Poetic Brands for baby and children’s apparel

The evergreen children’s property, Percy the Park Keeper is moving in on the baby, children’s wear, and accessories space thanks to a new partnership with Poetic Brands, adding to the firm’s strengthening portfolio across the kids’ market.

The collection with include babywear, layette and baby accessories including bibs, hats, scratch mitts, booties, and muslin cloths, as well as baby changing bags. For children, the range will include apparel and outerwear, swimwear and towelling ponchos, as well as nightwear and essentials.

Percy the Park Keeper’s narrative has encouraged generations of children, especially in schools, to take an interest in, and care for, the natural world around them. Written by award winning author, Nick Butterworth, Percy the Park Keeper has sold around nine million books since its first appearance in 1989. Since then the character has been the subject of an animated TV series, where he was voiced by Academy Award-winning British actor, Jim Broadbent. 

As the brand celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, there has been a range of activity around the much-loved park keeper, including a partnership with National Trust at Blickling Estate, and Dunham Massey, featuring online activity including story time with Nick himself.

Anne Bradford, director, Poetic Brands, said: “Percy The Park Keeper was already on our radar for 2021 and as soon as Hannah at The Point.1888 confirmed that they were representing Percy, the deal memo was signed.  

“The brand is a true evergreen from both a book and television perspective, but has a completely clean retail space for apparel. We’re looking forward to working with these incredible illustrations to create some premium ranges with a broad appeal to adults and children alike who know and love these books.”

Olivia Wiggett, senior commercial executive, at The Point.1888, added: “‘We are absolutely delighted to be working with Anne and the specialist team at Poetic on this truly magical range of products. Percy is a brand dear to so many families, across the generations – and we look forward to expanding this brand to retail across various categories in 2021.”

Dr Seuss Enterprises expands European licensing programme and makes first mark in Slovakia

New partnerships across Germany, Slovakia, and Albania have seen Dr Seuss Enterprises expand its licensing portfolio across Europe, as the company continues to build momentum around properties including How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Oh, the Places You’ll Go, and Happy Birthday to You.

Under the slate of new partner signings, the portfolio will span multiple categories such as book publishing, kitchenware, and gift items.

Thalia, one of Germany’s largest bookstore chains, has increased its product offerings in 2020 to include snow globes, cereal bowls, plates, slippers, plush Grinches, socks and kitchen towels. Thalia decided to expand its offerings in 2020 due to the success they had with the 2019 How the Grinch Stole Christmas! program.

Last year its offerings included post-it notes, metal buttons, enamel pins, gift bags, gift tags, gift boxes, cookie tins, ornaments, mugs, napkins and travel tissue packs.

Meanwhile, Verbarium Publishing will be releasing How the Grinch Stole Christmas! in Slovakia. This is a new publisher for Dr. Seuss Enterprises and marks the first time that one of its books will be published in the Slovakian market.

Alongside this, Botart Publishing House – who has been a publisher of Dr. Seuss titles since 2015 – will be adding Happy Birthday to You! and Oh, the Places You’ll Go! to its list of titles. These two books will be published in Albania in addition to the other five titles they have already published there.

Susan Brandt, president of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, said: “The Dr. Seuss portfolio continues to resonate throughout Europe and we’re looking forward to bringing our fans new products and books that enable them to continue to engage with their favourite stories and characters within our portfolio.”