Tag Archives: Riverside Brands

Poetic Brands brings Gigantosaurus into its baby, children’s wear and accessories fold

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Poetic Brands has added the award-winning children’s IP, Gigantosaurus to its growing baby, children’s wear and accessories division. The move marks a new partnership between bRAND-WARD Services and Cyber Group Studios, brokered by Riverside Brands.

Targeting children aged three to six, Poetic Brands’ Gigantosaurus collection is due to include a range of children’s apparel, outerwear and swimwear, as well as luggage. The collection is inspired by the popular Gigantosaurus, and the case of characters, including Rocky, Bill, Tiny and Mazu.

Written by Jonny Duddle, published by Templar, and sold to 300,000 units in the UK alone, Gigantosaurus follows the adventure of four dinosaur friends who are trying to avoid the Gigantosaurus while playing in the forest. 

In 2018, the story was adapted into an CGI-animated TV series by Paris and Los Angeles-based producer and distributor, Cyber Group Studios. The popular CGI-animated programme, currently airing its first season on Disney Junior worldwide, Tiny POP (UK) and on other major broadcasters, is also available on Netflix and Disney +.

In addition, the series has just been commissioned by The Walt Disney Company and France Télévisions for seasons two and three and by Super RTL (Germany) for season two. 

Gigantosaurus has also been adapted into a video game. Developed by Cyber Group Studios and published by Outright Games, Gigantosurus the Game was launched on March 27th, 2020.

In addition, Jakks Pacific Inc introduced a Gigantosaurus toy range in the US in Q4 last year and Templar will have 40 new TV tie-in books published over the next three years in the UK. Many more categories will be announced and are in discussion for launch in 2021.

Anne Bradford, director, Poetic Brands, said: “Gigantosaurus was actually the first licence that we signed for our Baby and Children’s wear division which was a significant moment for us! Although extinct, dinosaurs will never go out of fashion, and this has already been a really fun collection to start creating and sharing at retail.

“With a huge following across boys and girls, we are looking forward to sharing the collections and providing everything for pre-schoolers from tee shirts and joggers, to puddle suits and jackets. We have also just found out that Gigantosaurus will be one of the 12 featured book titles for World Book Day 2021, so now is the perfect time to speak to us and create some amazing product for spring.”

Trudi Hayward, co-founder of bRAND-WARD Services Limited, added: “We are delighted to be partnering Poetic Brands, as they are a great company to work with and Cyber Group Studios has been delighted with their interpretation of Gigantosaurus on their range of clothing products, and will look forward to seeing lots of children wearing their favourite dinosaurs when the product launches early next year.”  

Ash Holman from Riverside Brands, concluded: “Poetic Brands has a best in class retail distribution network, and we are in the midst of some very exciting joint launch plans. Fans of the show will love to wear the product that will be available on shelves early next year.”

Early Learning Centre partners with Poetic Brands for baby, children’s wear and accessories

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The Early Learning Centre brand is expanding into baby, children’s wear and accessories, thanks to a new licensing partnership with the clothing specialist, Poetic Brands. The partnership has been brokered by the Early Learning Centre’s licensing agency, Riverside Brands.

The new ELC collection will incorporate baby and children’s wear products, including baby layette fashion, as well as accessories such as baby changing bags and slings in the baby collection. In the children’s category, Poetic Brands will launch children’s daywear, as well as accessories including luggage, beach towels and bags, and flip flops.

Having traded in a number of guises since 1974, the Early Learning Centre has become a destination retailer for expectant mothers, new parents and beyond. Currently owned by The Entertainer, ELC operates both online and within The Entertainer stores with a vision to support parents with their child’s early years learning and development through play.

Anne Bradford, director, Poetic Brands, said: “When we heard about the opportunity of establishing ELC as an apparel collection, we jumped at the chance to come on board and work with Ash [founder of Riverside Brands] and The Entertainer on this project.

“In the initial year of setting up the business it has been so important to us to look for new opportunities to the market and the ELC brand absolutely ticks this box. Our team has a huge amount of experience across both baby and toddler and they are looking forward to creating a unique apparel collection at retail.”

Ashley Holman, MD, Riverside Brands, added: “We have had a fantastic initial response to the Early Learning Centre licensing opportunity since announcing it a few months ago and it is really exciting to be partnering with Poetic Brands, as they really understood the vision we have for the brand from the outset. We are confident this will be the start of a very successful partnership for all involved.”

Rugby League World Cup 2021 is ‘biggest project the sport has ever seen’, and there’s no better time to brand build

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As the world waits for sporting events across the globe to open their doors to the crowds once again, the Rugby League World Cup 2021 brand has its own, additional project underway – developing and rolling out a comprehensive licensing programme designed to ‘transcend the sport’ itself and tap into the millions of potential fans worldwide.

Licensing.biz talks with Jon Neill, commercial director, Rugby League World Cup, and Ashley Holman, MD and founder of Riverside Brands, the agency tasked with building the RLWC 2021 brand through a portfolio of licensing partnerships about sport licensing, and developing the blueprint for sports teams to follow in the years to come.

Firstly, we hope you guys are well and have managed throughout this pandemic. How is the Rugby League World Cup brand positioned as we begin to emerge from it all? There must be some pent up energy among fans and consumers?

Jon Neill, commercial director, Rugby League World Cup: We’re all very well thanks at RLWC2021. It’s obviously been a hugely testing time for everyone around the world in recent months. It’s put sport and events into perspective as there are clearly more important things going on than our tournament. Although we’re fortunate that we’ve been able to continue with our planning during the period. There are certain things outside of our control, but we are hugely optimistic that we’ll be in a position to deliver the best ever Rugby League World Cup and the biggest standalone sporting event in England next year.

Last month we actually launched our new brand to celebrate 500 days to go until the tournament starts. Part of this was a new positioning around ‘Power of Together’, which is very apt in terms of our inclusivity values, but also appropriate given the times we are experiencing and people wanting to get back to seeing friends and family.

The fans are at the core of everything we do and we’ve been conducting detailed research into propensity to purchase tickets and attend events, with our pre-sale going live in September this year. This shows there is clearly a desire for live events with fans attending again, and we want to create and allow people to share experiences with each other.

Ashley Holman, founder and CEO of Riverside Brands: Thankfully, as a nimble agency operating across three key areas of the industry, we have managed to weather the storm relatively well. Not least thanks to the support of our existing clients and the great brands we work with.

We are also really fortunate to have picked up new opportunities, such as working with Jonathan Neill, Rob Hutchison and the team at Rugby League World Cup 2021, particularly as it’s set to be the largest and most exciting event the sport has ever had. It is also here in England and with everything that has happened in 2020, we think sports fans and those living locally will really engage with it. That means we will have a really engaged and enthused customer base to be able to provide best-in-class licensed product to further their experience of the tournament and keep those memories going beyond the final.

How have the past few months shaped your approach or strategy for the RLWC brand? Has it given light to new avenues or platforms for the brand, or how have you guys evolved with the changing lay of the land?

Neill: Everything we do is focused on our vision, mission and values, and they are all relevant and even more appropriate in the current circumstances we find ourselves in. There is much talk for companies of being able to ‘pivot’ at the moment, and we think we are in good position to continue to provide something positive for people, communities and our stakeholders.

From the beginning of our journey, dating back to the successful bid in 2016, our mission has been about creating inspirational moments, that engage, excite and leave a long lasting legacy. We’ll do this in many ways via RLWC2021 and we have plenty of hard work to come, and we need partners who will support us in achieving that, such as Riverside Brands for our licensing programme.

We’ll be the first major tournament to run the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments concurrently, so inclusivity is hugely important for us. Our matches will be held at 21 venues across 18 towns and cities, with 85 per cent of those in the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ region. We also have a fantastic legacy programme taking place before, during and after the tournament, which is engaging people within communities in multiple ways. So we have a huge opportunity to celebrate our host locations, drive civic pride, and create positive engagement and memories for people.

Holman: The strategy was agreed with the RLWC2021 team in early February and we still feel the base is there for sure. However with the changing dynamics of bricks and mortar retailers, and the surge in online purchasing now, we need to ensure this element is factored into our plans accordingly.

You talk about transcending the sport of Rugby League to engage new audiences – what form do you think this will take and how will licensing achieve this for you? What areas do you think Rugby League World Cup will work particularly well within?

Neill: We have overall targets for RLWC2021 that require us to positively engage new audiences, ones that are outside of the core rugby league fan. The core fan is hugely important to us, and quite rightly they can’t wait to celebrate and engage with the biggest and best ever Rugby League World Cup next year. Just in the UK there are 14 million people who ‘follow’ rugby league, so the potential is there for us.

To sell 750,000 tickets for example across our 61 games, we have to bring new people into the tournament, alongside our core fans. We’ve spent a great deal of time looking at who these people might be, and Deloitte, one of our official partners, have helped massively in this space. These audiences include broader sports fans, families, women, millennials, students etc. We have to provide a reason for them to engage with our tournament, and we think licensing, merchandise and consumer products is one way to do this.

Holman: As Jon says, the licensing strategy revolves around catering for the core fans who follow the sport avidly, while also playing on the history of the tournament, teams and rugby league itself. These elements will also be used to proactively engage a wider audience, including families and children in particular, who are much newer into the sport. This is being done by a really progressive style guide that we’re developing working with the great team at Skew Studio and will allow us to cater for both sides of the audience.

Why is now the right time to be looking at building the brand in this way? What do you think building out a licensing programme for the brand can do for the sport overall, particularly from a grassroots level, and will this be a key market for you guys?

Neill: Rugby League World Cup 2021 is the single biggest project the sport has undertaken in its 125 year history, so now has to be the right time to build the brand in this way – we ultimately won’t get a better opportunity to do so. Our objectives for licensing are to increase our profile, create fan engagement and ultimately drive revenue.

Grassroots is very important, and also creating future fans for the sport. We have to create a legacy from the tournament and engage people in a positive way. This isn’t about picking up a rugby ball – we’re doing this in a variety of ways, whether that be through our volunteering opportunities, our mental fitness charter, our schools education resources, watching a form of rugby league – like Wheelchair rugby league – that someone might not have done previously, creating new heroes, or by engaging with licensing and the associated products and exposure.

Holman: I think the fact that for the first time ever this tournament will bring together the men’s, women’s and wheelchair competitions into one place, creating a world class stage for all categories of the sport, is a huge USP. From a merchandising point of view, this means we’ll be able to cater to a much wider fan base those tournaments will attract, rather than having to focus on just one which is the norm. Not only is this important for getting new fans from all three elements engaged and building brand loyalty, it also provides licensees and retailers with more potential customers for the products on offer.

2020 has by all accounts been a very tough year for sports overall – how do you think the trials of the last few months will impact on the potential for sports licensing? Do we have to re-engage audiences, or will there be a pent-up demand driven by the restrictions of this year?

Neill: “Much of this is still unknown and things are obviously changing on a daily basis, and we need to be flexible, reactive and responsive. We’re committed to a partnerships approach which understands the objectives of all parties and how we can collaborate, so we hope and think there is potential, although clearly the economic impacts are massive.

I think it will be a blend of both – there are going to be lasting impacts, but as you say, that will be balanced with a desire by many to get back to live sport and what that provides. We hope to be able to play a positive role in supporting people as we emerge from the pandemic. Sport has a unique opportunity to emotionally engage people, so we need to find our appropriate place moving forward.

Holman: I really believe there will be pent up demand. We are a nation of sport lovers and the loss of so many great sporting moments this year means next year there will be huge demand for sports brands, especially ones daring to be bold and brave like RLWC2021. Naturally alongside that demand to participate and view sport is the desire to show support for your favourite team, player and event through the consumer products range that will be on offer.

What role do you think licensing has to play in the audience engagement with sport in general in the coming future? How would you apply that directly to Rugby League? And what benefits would come from driving that engagement with the sport in the mainstream?

Neill: Sport and fan engagement is ever changing, and we need to embrace trends, technology and be insight and data led. Licensing has a critical role to play in that, and for us it’s in driving fan engagement and ultimately commercial opportunities to enable us to deliver an event like Rugby League World Cup 2021. At the same time, we can support other businesses and develop a ‘win win’ environment for all parties via mutually beneficial partnerships.

Our fans are hugely passionate and loyal, and the sport perhaps hasn’t embraced licensing too much previously, so we’re excited about the opportunities of bringing like-minded parties together.

The BBC is our broadcast partner in the UK for RLWC2021, and will show all 61 games across the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments live on their platforms, which is a huge benefit for us. We have a great broadcast platform to integrate our activity, alongside the support of our stakeholders such as UK Government, 18 local authorities, commercial partners and sponsors etc. If we can use this network to create and promote positive social impacts from our tournament, then we hope this becomes a blueprint for major events moving forward.

Holman: Licensing plays a huge part in engagement. In the moment, people can show their support for a tournament, sport and team, and it also keeps the memory of the great experience they have had going long into the future.

Any hints on partners you guys may have already lined up for brand? What would the dream partnership be, and what are you looking for in a licensing partner.

Neill: We are really open to speaking and engaging with people who think they can contribute to what we’re trying to achieve, and also help meet their objectives also. We’re delighted to have Riverside Brands on board to lead the charge for us in this space with their fantastic creative thinking and contacts.

The hard work starts now, and we’ll be taking a data and insight led approach to uncover opportunities focused on our audiences, potential customers, and sectors and products which can support this. It’s certainly an exciting time and we’re fascinated to see the progress we can make with licensing over the next 18 months.

Holman: “We have already had some really exciting conversations since the announcement went live. We are keen to explore a plethora of categories from the more obvious ones, such as apparel, accessories and commemorative but also – in line with RLWC2021’s ethos of being bold and brave, world class, authentic and inclusive – we are interested to hear from anyone that has a product category that they feel would be a good fit.

The Entertainer partners with Riverside Brands for ELC brand extension programme

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The UK’s family owned high street toy retailer, The Entertainer has partnered with Riverside Brands to lead its brand extension strategy for Early Learning Centre.

Under the new partnership, both the Happyland and core ELC brand will look to build out wider brand extensions into categories such as apparel, nightwear, health & beauty, publishing, nursery and experiences.

It’s been billed as ‘an exciting partnership for all involved as The Entertainer focuses on growing the Early Learning Centre brand since its acquisition in February 2019’. The partnership also marks a significant move for a retailer into the licensing, highlighting the commitment of the group to support the ELC brand during highly tumultuous times for UK retail.

Stuart Grant, global sourcing officer at The Entertainer, said: “We are extremely excited to be partnering with Riverside Brands on this exciting opportunity for the Early Learning Centre brand. With such a strong heritage as an iconic part of early years development we are confident there is more opportunity for the brand to be an even bigger part of children’s early years by giving them greater access to the characters through carefully selected brand extensions.

“We are confident that Riverside Brands is the right partner to achieve this in a way that protects the brand by securing opportunities to compliment the existing brand heritage.”

Ashley Holman, managing director of Riverside Brands, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with The Entertainer on this exciting opportunity for Early Learning Centre. ELC has been a much-loved brand for nearly 50 years and we’re looking forward to making its iconic characters more accessible through brand extensions into areas such as apparel and bedding.

“Children love these characters, they’re an important part of their early years and we’re looking forward to making them available in categories which will compliment the core toy ranges.”

Riverside Brands scores Rugby League World Cup ahead of 2021 tournament

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The Rugby League World Cup has tapped Riverside Brands to lead its third party collaborations and licensing agreements in time for its much anticipated 2021 World Cup event. Under the deal, Riverside Brands’ remit will be secure partnerships across consumer products, drive brand exposure, and deepen engagement with the tournament.

Founded last year by Ashley Holman – formerly a senior director at Nickelodeon with 15 years sector experience – Riverside Brands will engage the global marketplace for RLWC2021 via the company’s industry network covering leading licensees and retailers.

The Rugby League World Cup is the pinnacle major event of Rugby League, globally contested every four years. England 2021 will be a breakthrough moment in the tournament’s history with the men’s, women’s and wheelchair competitions being staged together for the first-time during October and November next year.

RLWC2021 has also confirmed the appointment of Skew Studio to develop an insight led style guide for consumer products which will support the tournament’s values and brand story, and be used across retail and licensees. This follows the announcement last month of Kappa as the Official Apparel Partner of RLWC2021.

Jonathan Neill, commercial director at RLWC2021, said: “Our licensing strategy and delivery is a crucial part of our commercial programme. We need to transcend the sport of Rugby League and positively engage a new audience, and we feel that Riverside Brands and licensing will play a hugely important role in helping to achieve that.

“With 13 million people in the UK following Rugby League, 750,000 fans expected at the 61 matches at the tournament, coverage of all matches across the BBC, and international TV reach in over 100 territories, we have a significant platform and are excited about collaborating with brands on consumer products.”

Ashley Holman, managing director at Riverside Brands, added: “We’re really delighted to be working with the RLWC2021 team. After a tough year for sport, the prospect of extending the life of a much revered and eagerly anticipated tournament is really exciting to us. We’re looking forward to solidifying partnerships that champions the brand’s effervescent spirit, delights its loyal fans, as well as introducing it to new audiences.”

Licensing chatter: 10 questions with Riverside Brands’ Ashley Holman

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In these unprecedented times for the global community, it’s nice to keep connected – and for an industry as reliant on peer to peer networking as the licensing business, maintaining those connections with our industry colleagues is paramount. That’ why Licensing.biz is kicking off a new series of interviews to get to know a bit more about the people driving it forward.

Continuing our Licensing Chatter interview series, we catch up with the founder of Riverside Brands and Licensing.biz Power 50 alumni, Ashley Holman

Hello Ashley, hope you’re staying safe and well! to kick us off, can you tell us how you got into the licensing business?

I’m one of the few people that actively looked to get into licensing from the outset. While studying for a degree in Marketing at university I was introduced to a number of people by my father in all sorts of industries from Banking to Specialist Ship Insurance Brokering. One introduction was to David Scott from Rainbow Productions who invited me for a beer with Ian Downes from Start Licensing and himself one half term…

They gave me an overview of the industry, the different roles that existed and how it all fitted together as an industry. Following a visit to Brand Licensing Show Europe in 2003 as a visitor I was amazed at the scale of the industry and the size of the commerce but at the same time the fun nature of the subject matter …….(including the Roy Lowe & Son boys walking around in Elvis suits for good measure).

I then knew that it was licensing over insurance for me… Following my graduation, I then managed to secure a role selling advertising into the industry with LicensingPages which gave me a great network and experience before a stint at Coolabi in my first licensing role. From there I moved to Nickelodeon where I had various licensing roles over a 12 year period before setting up Riverside Brand at the end of 2018.

That must have given quite a varied perspective of the industry – what have been the biggest changes you’ve seen in the space over that time?

I’ve spent most of my career in the kids’ space of the industry and the main shift there has been the sheer level of competition. Previously for kids content, consumer products was seen as the icing on the cake commercially but now with so many shows, so many different platforms, CP is a core revenue driving element to a kids IP from the outset.

More day to day in the workflow; retail is now the first element to onboard, with licensees then much more likely to partner once they know there is demand. This is in contrast to around 2005 to 2007, when it was a much more licensee first approach.

What then Ashley, has been the proudest moment of your career to date?

The day I got the Companies House registration certificate for Riverside Brands Limited. Setting up my own business is something I have wanted to do since the very first moment I started my career and I came very close a number of times over the years in doing it, however to have finally taken the plunge and received the industry support that I have been lucky enough to have been afforded has been incredible and I am truly thankful.

Have you got a favourite licensing deal/partnership on the CV – what makes it stand out for you?

Tough one to answer this as I have been fortunate to work on a number of great partnerships from multi-million dollar strategic partnerships which are exciting to be a part of, to smaller yet innovative ones too. A couple that stand out have to be:

My first deal at Nickelodeon was for a range of SpongeBob Real Musical Instruments with John Hornby Skewes and Sons. It was their first foray into licensing, it went on to win a number of awards, was a great commercial success for both them and Nickelodeon and they were still a partner nearly 12yrs later when I left…

Of course, the first licenses which I signed as Riverside Brands on behalf of ZURU for its brand Rainbocorns were very special too which were with Danilo, Fashion UK and Roy Lowe & Sons. I am grateful for their support so early on and the other partners that are now onboard with all the brand I work on.

What are some of the biggest hurdles the licensing business is facing at the moment?

Given we are in the midst of frankly an unbelievable moment in time, aside from the immediate issues of stores being shut, the longer term impact is likely to be the reduction of support of new/smaller brands in or coming to the market. Retailers will likely be incredibly risk adverse for a considerable period of time as they look to rebuild themselves. This will have a big impact into the licensing world with IP that perhaps would have been given shelf space, now likely to get a reduced opportunity to show it can work.

Therefore online will become even more important to get right to ensure you stand out from the crowd.

What conversation do you think the industry needs to be having right now?

Aside from the obvious of when will stores re-open, it will be around how do all sides involved work together with fairer commercial terms for all to ensure everyone can survive the coming 18months or so.

No one knows what the full impact will be or when things will be ‘back to normal’, if indeed they ever do so open dialogue will be key.

Retail is one of the biggest topics of talk at the moment – what do you think the future relationship between retail and licensing looks like?

There is always the balance between own brand/label and licensed brands and the margin mix buyers try to achieve between the two. However there is no denying that with the right brand, you will sell more of the same generic product so it’s about better partnerships between all those involved which is a term that gets thrown around a lot but if done properly will ensure there is a great long term relationship between retail and licensing for years to come.

If retailers get burnt time after time after a ‘big sell in’ and promise, then licensed space will only get less and less.

What would be your dream brand to work with or licensing deal to establish?

If I could work on Peppa Pig / Hey Dougie and Fireman Sam / PJ Masks right now, then I would be a hero in my household. Failing that, there are a number of gin licensed deals being done at the moment so I’d love to get a partnership away in that category… not just because I’m a gin fan, of course.

What is the best part of your job?

We get to talk about fun things like cartoons and toys, yet it is part of a huge commercial industry where no two days are the same. I love working on bringing products to market through a great working partnership between the brand owner, licensee and retailer and ultimately seeing a child’s joy through the product they are using / playing with. That gives great satisfaction.

What advice would you give to anyone starting out their career in licensing?

The industry is really welcoming and there are a lot of people out there that will offer you great advice and help you as much as they can (as they did for me all those years ago) so don’t be afraid to ask.

Also, put yourself out there as much as you can, this is a very sociable and close industry. Hard work gets rewarded but be patient and try and get involved and learn as many of the different aspects to the business even if that is informally from colleagues and peers as it’ll give you a greater perspective of the way it all fits together.

Finally, you’ve got to enjoy what you do otherwise you’ll never be good at it if you don’t.

Riverside Brands signs raft of partners for Zuru’s Rainbocorn toy brand

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Zuru’s popular Rainbocorns toy line is embarking on a new licensing programme under the guidance of Riverside Brands, the UK agency to have just signed a variety of new partnerships for the plush toy brand.

The mystery surprise plush has risen to popularity recently, recognised for its reversible sequin hearts that hide a special surprise. Rainbocorns has already proved to be a hit with girls aged three to seven since the launch of the range in 2018.

Rainbocorns even won the UK and Australian Plush Toy of the Year, and the coveted People’s Choice Award at the Toy Industry Association’ 2020 Toy of the Year Awards. The recognition came as the toy pulled in 147,000 votes from consumers.

New partners to the licensing program covering apparel, accessories, arts and craft, novelty toy collectibles, magazines, back to school, puzzles, greeting cards and wrap in a variety of EMEA territories include: Fashion UK,  Roy Lowe & Sons, Sambro International, Sinco Creations, Redan Publishing, Kids First Group, W&O, and Danilo Promotions.

More partners will be announced across other key categories shortly.

Speaking about the brand’s rising popularity, Aneisha Vieira, global brand director of Zuru, said: “We’re thrilled that the brand’s ethos of all things magical and quirky has really transcended the toy category. We’re excited to work with partners who share our vision for Rainbocorns and are bringing the brand to life in so many different spaces.”

Ashley Holman, managing director of Riverside Brands, added: “We are excited to be working with such great partners on Zuru Rainbocorns. The product looks fantastic and is launching in store from spring onwards, so we look forward to seeing kids everywhere enjoying the wider Rainbocorns offer.”

Following its sell-out introduction, a year and half ago, Zuru has since unveiled several iterations of the plush hatched from a mystery egg – from the giant Rainbocorns Big Bow Surprise to the miniature Rainbocorns Sparkle Heart Surprise, and kids can look out for even more new Rainbocorns coming this year.