Tag Archives: news

Penguin Random House launches Peter Rabbit summer activity campaign Wild Wednesdays

Posted on by

Penguin Random House has launched a new summer content campaign for its beloved Peter Rabbit property under the moniker Wild Wednesdays. The initiative has been launched to provide families with weekly activities to enjoy at home throughout the summer.

Kicking the campaign off, Instagram influencers have been tasked to create weekly step-by-step tutorials, each inspired by Peter Rabbit’s love of the outdoors. These activities will include recipes using foraged berries and herbs, tutorials to create a big hotel and a vegetable patch, and nature arts and crafts.

The campaign will also promote Puffin Books’ newly launched Hoppy Holidays activity book and Rainbow Toys’ Peter Rabbit plush range.

“We recognise that many families won’t have the opportunity to go on holiday this summer and following the success of our Easter #AtHomeWithPeterRabbit campaign, we’re keen to continue to support parents with new family-friendly activities,” said Izzy Richardson, global brand director, Owned Brands, Penguin Random House Children’s.

“We’ve worked with some brilliant influencers to create fantastic ideas that parents and children alike will love creating at home during the holidays.”

In addition Peter Rabbit will be a partner for the National Trust’s new Play Week campaign. Play Week will run from August 3rd to 7th and will offer National Trust members activities and suggestions, with a new play theme every day.

Peter Rabbit colouring and activity sheets will be included alongside downloadable Audio stories from the newly announced audiobook, Beatrix Potter: Complete Tales. These have been made available exclusively to the National Trust to inspire play, ahead of release on September 17th.

Igloo Products welcomes Funko’s Andrew Perlmutter to its board of directors

Posted on by

Andrew Perlmutter, the president of the pop culture giant Funko has joined the board of directors at Igloo Products. Known in the pop culture world as a renowned brand builder, Perlmutter brings decades of professional expertise to the role and will guide the company’s strategic plans for the Playmate collection through licensing and partnerships.

Igloo is widely known for its expertise in the coolers category, and has recently expanded its offering and audience with a raft of licensed products under the Playmate umbrella, including coolers featuring graphics from Scooby Doo, Batman, Star Wars, Hello Kitty, and more.

“We are very excited to have Andrew Perlmutter assume his new Board of Directors role. He is an immediate asset to the team and the brand,” said Dave Allen, president and CEO of Igloo. “Through the years we’ve seen how he has strategically grown Funko’s business and what his team has accomplished under his leadership. We look forward to leveraging his experience to continue to expand and grow the Playmate category and licensed offerings.” 

Perlmutter added: “I am very proud to join the Igloo board. Igloo is an iconic brand within American culture. When I think about the brand, it brings back nostalgic memories I’ve made throughout the years and how it’s played a part in my life’s moments. It’s an honor to be part of the team and I look forward to contributing to Igloo’s success.” 

With decades of experience, Perlmutter is the co-founder of Bottle Rocket Collective, a board and travel games company, President of Funko, Inc., President at Funko Acquisition Holdings LLC (a subsidiary of Funko, Inc.) and holds an B.A. in Interpersonal Communications from Southern Illinois University.

 

Planeta Junior invests in ZAG Entertainment as the studio eyes greater presence in Europe

Posted on by

The European family entertainment company, Planeta Junior has acquired a participation in ZAG Entertainment in an extension of a long-standing relationship between the two who have successfully expanded ZAG Entertainment’s presence across Europe.

Under the new agreement, Planeta Junior will join the production company’s management board.

Planeta Junior and ZAG began their relationship in 2016 with an agreement to promote and represent the globally renowned, empowering and aspirational action-comedy series, Miraculous – The Adventures of Ladybug and Cat Noir, in Europe. In 2017, the two companies expanded their relationship with a coproduction agreement covering five new Zag Heroez series.

Among these was the 3D CGI-animated/live-action hybrid series Power Players, a recent global release about a boy who transforms into a living action figure who embarks on the biggest “small” adventures a kid could ever imagine alongside his favorite toys; and Ghostforce, currently in production for Disney Channel EMEA and Discovery Kids Latin America, about three junior high school students who form a secret team to defend their city from the ghastly ghouls haunting it.

Furthermore, Miraculous: the Ladybug show, co-produced by Planeta Junior, leapt onto the stage in Madrid last December with the musical and moving soon to Paris followed by key cities around the world in 2021

Alongside this capital agreement, both companies have drafted a European strategic plan, which includes an ambitious content creation agenda for cinema and television audiences and experiences, as well as a road map to strengthen licenses and merchandising.

A toy line from Zag Lab, ZAG’s new toy division, and Playmates Toys will debut this fall in key territories around the world, and in fall 2021 across the U.S. And, a $70M budget animated Miraculous feature, co-produced by ZAG, ON kids & family and Planeta Jr., will also be released globally, scheduled to premiere in fall 2021 or early 2022.

“We are very proud to announce this agreement, which intensifies our business relationship and our longstanding friendship with ZAG. Planeta Junior shares ZAG’s enthusiasm for creating quality content that excites and entertains children, and is capable of becoming a very powerful brand,” said Ignacio Segura, general manager, Planeta Junior and future Zag board member.

Jeremy Zag, founder and CEO of ZAG, added: “Planeta has always believed in Zag and has given us the strength to push beyond our limits, and we are thrilled to have them on board in this next new chapter to continue the journey to build the ZAG dream.”

Vans celebrates pop cultural icons The Simpsons in new collection

Posted on by

Icons of animation and longest running US sitcom series, the now Disney-owned The Simpsons has teamed up with the lifestyle specialists Vans to launch a new collection spanning footwear, apparel, and accessories.

An American icon in its own right, Vans uses its collaborations o pay tribute to American culture, this time launching a new range that pays homage to the popular animated series that leapt onto the pop culture scene over 30 years ago to provide a satirical insight into suburban family life in the US.

‘This season, Vans honours The Simpsons with a vibrant collection of footwear, apparel, and accessories that celebrate iconic moments from the historic series,’ read a statement from the lifestyle brand.

The new collection will be available from August 7th this year.

 

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

Posted on by

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

Hasbro and Jazwares team up for retro revival of the iconic Micro Machines

Posted on by

Jazwares and Hasbro are teaming up for a retro revival that will delight all fans of the ’80s and ’90s collectables hit, Micro Machines, with the relaunch of the entire line, including new play-sets and Micro Machine vehicles. The new retro-launch has landed at Target and Walmart stores across the US this week.

Returning for the first time in over 10 years, the classic toy automobile collection enjoyed a popularity for over 30 years. It now retiurns to the scene with a modern update.

A relaunch of the classic brand would not be complete without the cornerstone of the Micro Machines World, Super Van City. With over 20 action-packed locations and areas of play, this updated take on a classic Micro Machines item transforms from Super Van to Super City and features an entire miniature metropolis that can fold up to create an Airstream-inspired motorhome.

Bringing back the Micro Machine bundles, fans and collectors alike can also purchase an assortment of vehicle packs, including blind packs and world-building sets.

Vehicles at launch include Micro Machines Single Blind Packs($1.99), featuring an exciting mystery vehicle for their collection, a Micro Machines Starter Pack ($4.99) featuring three highly detailed vehicles that fall under a unified, iconic theme such as Muscle Cars, Farm, Racing, Construction, Off-Road and more, and Micro Machines World Packs ($9.99) featuring five highly detailed vehicles and a corresponding Micro City scene that allows you to play or display your vehicles.

The line also includes new Core Playsets ($14.99), each featuring an exclusive vehicle,  that will enable fans to build out a connected world.

“Micro Machines is one of those collectable lines forever etched in pop culture and the minds of adults who adored them as kids,” said Jeremy Padawer, EVP and partner at Jazwares. “Not only will fans of the original Micro Machines love the updated collection, but now they’ll have the chance to introduce this iconic brand to their own kids as they connect and collect their Micro Machine universe together.”

“Our collaboration with Jazwares to relaunch such an iconic vehicle property in Micro Machines is driven by our common mission for kids to think big and play small,” said Casey Collins , general manager and SVP, Global Consumer Products, Hasbro.

“Together we want to encourage kids to immerse themselves in a world of vehicle play and collect amongst an expansive diverse set of themed vehicles and playsets. Couldn’t be more excited to see this come to life globally.”

Licensing International hosts first Diversity & Inclusion Workshop and launches toolkit to encourage a more diverse industry

Posted on by

The licensing industry’s trade organisation, Licensing International held its first Diversity & Inclusion Workshop this week where it brought together leading minds in the business to discuss the challenges and opportunities for companies looking to better enhance diversity and inclusive practices.

It was Madeline Di Nonno, CEO of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media at Mount Saint Mary’s University who kicked off proceedings with a presentation of the findings of a recent study of diversity in the licensing industry, commissioned by Licensing International.

Among other findings, the research shows that while 30 per cent of companies surveyed currently have a Diversity & Inclusivity programme, only 10 per cent have budgeted financial support to those programmes.

“If you don’t measure, you don’t you have any substantive understanding of where things stand or a benchmark by which to gauge success,” said Maura Regan, president, Licensing International. “This research is the crucial first step in creating real, lasting change in our companies and the global licensing community as a whole.”

The full research study is now available for download at www.LicensingInternational.org.

Following the presentation of the research results, newly elected Licensing International Board Member Steven Wolfe Pereira, CEO and co-founder of Encantos, was joined by Petco’s chief marketing officer Tariq Hassan, for a screenside chat about what it means to create an organization that is truly inclusive and how to go about doing it.

“You cannot only do this from executive-level down,” said Hassan. “If you want to tell people to bring their authentic selves to work, you’ve got to allow them to have a place to express it, and you’ve got to allow it to then influence the decisions of the company. … ‘You don’t have to ask for permission to be who you are’ – we have to create a culture that celebrates that insistence. When you put it that way, it stops being about what’s wrong, and it focuses on the energy and creativity of what’s right.”

The panelists who participated in the third part of the event echoed that sentiment, and shared details about how they are nurturing diversity at their own companies. They included: Bryony Bouyer, senior vice president, Diversity & Inclusion and Multicultural Strategy at Hasbro; Cindy Levitt, senior vice president of Licensing, Mad Engine LLC; Dolores Ordas, vice president of People and Culture, Mad Engine LLC; and Eric Ueno, SVP of Human Resources of Hot Topic Inc.

Much of the conversation throughout the event centered on where and how organisations can start to take action. To that end, Licensing International is proud to share its new Diversity & Inclusion Toolkit, developed in conjunction with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.

For the next month, Licensing International is making this Toolkit available to the global licensing community at large, after which time it will continue to be available to Licensing International members and partner trade organizations.

 

Mental health brand Book of Beasties puts children’s wellness at the top of the learning agenda

Posted on by

A London-based Children’s mental health games developer has launched a new platform for parents and teachers offering access to multi-award winning mental wellness and educational resources that prioritise mental wellness across the curriculum.

Since publishing a series of free home learning kits to support children’s education throughout the COVID19 lockdown, the start-up, Book of Beasties saw nearly ten thousand downloads from families and schools worldwide.

Oisin Bishenden, ex-teacher and chief operating officer of Book of Beasties, said: “With the unique situation and risks to the mental wellness of children across the UK embodied by the closure of schools and other restrictions to social support networks that acted to safeguard against infection during the COVID-19 outbreak, we sought to provide free resources to support both parents and teachers in prioritising mental health across the curriculum.”

Recognising the need for easier access to mental wellness themed PSHE materials at home as well as at school, the team behind Book of Beasties: The Mental Wellness Card Game teamed up with fully UK trained teachers and experts to create new, focused content.

Each learning kit is a self-contained package providing hours of learning in both curriculum subjects and mental wellness exercises with cross-curricular links drawn as widely as possible. All of the learning has been dual designed to be delivered both at home and in the classroom to allow cohesion between parents and teachers in supporting young people.

Since its launch, Book of Beasties: The Mental Wellness Card Game has been recognised by healthcare industry awards, and used by thousands of children in the UK as well as in Ty Hafan Children’s Hospice, and Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital school.

Head of psychological services at Great Ormond Street, Mandy Bryon, said: “I am very impressed with Book of Beasties, I have not come across something so engaging for young children that enables ease of discussion about feelings in an acceptable and positive way.”

Oisin concluded: “By gathering the expertise of specialists and teachers from across the curriculum we built learning kits that were used across the English speaking world both inside classrooms and at home. Now we plan on building on this success to provide a more permanent solution to a large gap in education provision.

“Making it through the lock down period was only the beginning for our children; now the task of supporting them back into schools under the new normal begins.”

Book of Beasties’ subscription platform is now live after a very successful beta stage, with a special offer for early bird subscribers.

Rubik’s launches first official app to teach players to solve the Rubik’s Cube

Posted on by

The world famous puzzle brand, Rubik’s has produced the first official app that uses mobile technology and artificial intelligence to track a real 3D Rubik’s Cube and teach its user how to solve it in real-time. The app also features audio and visual clues to help solve the real-life puzzle.

The concept has been billed as an example of augmented reality giving real play value and user experience. The app comes with a choice of learning to solve the Cube in either the simplest way possible, which is called the Rubik’s method, or the fastest way, which typically takes just 20 moves.

The new Rubik’s Official App is initially available only on iOS and includes games with a virtual Cube, so users can learn and have fun simply by swiping a finger. They can select their choice of game from Rubik’s Mini (2×2) or the original Rubik’s Cube (3×3), to the more challenging Rubik’s Master (4×4) or the Rubik’s Professor (5×5).

The app will also allow users to keep track of their solving times and allow them to share the information digitally.

Christoph Bettin, the CEO for Rubik’s Brand, said: “The Cube has fascinated fans for four decades and I’m the first to admit that the puzzle can be challenging. Research supports the view that solving a Cube links brilliantly with the teaching of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), and this high-tech app captures this, while creating fun and excitement.”

Ascot Racecourse renews its global licensing partnership with IMG

Posted on by

Ascot Racecourse has renewed its exclusive global licensing representation and on-site retail agreement with IMG through to 2025. Since being appointed in 2016, IMG has curated a robust year-round licensing programme for the iconic racecourse.

Highlights of the brand collaborations and products inspired by the 309-year-old racecourse and its flagship racing festival, Royal Ascot have included collections with British brands such as Favourbrook, TM Lewin, Oliver Brown, Radley London, Christy’s Hats, Christy, Charbonnel & Walker, and more.

Products are now sold around the world in licensees’ standalone stores, as well as concessions and online.

Under the renewal, IMG will continue to manage the on-site retail operation on behalf of the racecourse, having expanded the retail experience at Royal Ascot from three stores in 2017 to eight in 2019, spanning all four enclosures.

Juliet Slot, chief commercial officer at Ascot Racecourse, said: “Fashion, accessories and food are key facets of everyone’s experience at Ascot. We have worked hard to create and grow a retail experience for our customers that matches their expectations, and we are delighted that so many wonderful brands are working with us, both on-site and through high-street retail partners.

“We are excited to continue our relationship with IMG and look forward to further expanding our offering in the future.”

 Tim Smith, senior licensing director at IMG, said: “In just a few years, together with Ascot Racecourse, we have developed a carefully curated portfolio of premium partners and products that reflect the brand’s rich British heritage, along with its unique sense of occasion.

“We are thrilled to extend our relationship with Ascot Racecourse and are looking forward to further expanding its licensed product portfolio, in addition to continuing to build the on-site retail experience.”