The Hut Group debuts new Swizzels collection

DTC platform The Hut Group has added Swizzels Matlow to its portfolio of brands.

Brokered by Blonde Sheep Licensing, the deal includes multiple sweet-inspired products including apparel, homewares, gift, and more, which first launched in February with ranges on www.IWOOT.com, www.zavvi.com  and www.veryneko.com.

Swizzels is the largest independent British-owned manufacturer of sugar confectionery in the UK and is still run by members of the families who founded the business back in 1928. The company makes a range of well-known products including Love Hearts, Squashies, Refreshers, Drumstick Lollies, Rainbow Drops, Double Lollies and Fruity Pops.

“It’s great to see the range of on-demand products available through various websites,” says Natasha Dyson, Managing Director at Blonde Sheep Licensing. “The Hut Group is recognised for selling the biggest on-trend brands, so we’re thrilled to be part of their portfolio, which offers the opportunity to get Swizzels products directly into the hands of fans both old and new.”

Blonde Sheep Licensing continues to investigate other opportunities for Swizzels in categories including jewellery, toys and food.

 

 

The Point.1888 doubles Moomin UK licensing programme with raft of new partnerships

The Point.1888 has announced a raft of new Moomin licensees for the UK market, including The Hut Group and Moonpig.

Since announcing its partnership with Moomin Characters Ltd and Rights & Brands in January 2020, The Point.1888 has focused its retail-first brand extension model to widen both retail and licensing partners on the much-loved heritage brand.

The last two years have been hugely exciting for the Moomin brand, from celebrating their 75th anniversary to launching their ABC initiative, a literacy programme to help develop young readers and writers. This initiative has been hugely successful and will be the basis of a touring exhibition, with the first stop being held at the Eden Project this February half term.

The Point.1888 has now added new partners to the licensing programme, covering a broad range of categories and distribution channels including, but not limited to:

The Hut Group for a DTR consisting of apparel, homewares, furniture, stationery & paper goods, own brand, and collaborations

Fashion UK for kids’ and adult daywear, hosiery, and accessories

Denicci for baby and kids’ day and nightwear

Aykroyds for nightwear, swimwear and underwear

William Lamb for footwear, bags, purses, wallets and umbrellas

Moonpig for personalised POD greeting cards

IAMFY for prints, cushions, and throws

PSTR for print on demand art prints

Heart & Soul for celebration crackers

Artisiana Miniatures for miniature figurines

Potato Cellar for tote bags via Etsy

The Point.1888 has worked alongside Moomin Characters to grow the depth of distribution over the past two years, with licensing deals ranging from a partnership with Oxfam to HMV cross-category activations, through to new lines with dedicated partner Truffle Shuffle for key trade events.

2021 also saw the launch of new babywear SKUs within ASDA George, and new ladieswear lines.

Katie Wilkinson, Head of Publishing & Operations at The Point.1888, says: “We are so privileged to work with Moomin Characters and Rights & Brands on Moomin. It’s a brand whose values are more relevant today than ever before and that chimes so clearly with us as a business and individuals.

“The love for Moomin from both retailers and licensees is palpable and we are excited for how much there is in the pipeline for this brand.”

The Point.1888 secures 7 more licensees for Percy the Park Keeper

WildBrain CPLG lands wave of European licensees for Sony’s The Boys, Cobra Kai and Outlander

WildBrain CPLG has secured a wave of cross-category European licensees for Sony Pictures Consumer Products’ hit TV series The Boys, Cobra Kai, and Outlander.

Getting the action underway for the superhero series The Boys, WildBrain CPLG has landed UK partnerships with Forbidden Planet for a t-shirt and gifting line, The Hut Group for apparel and accessories, Fashion UK for apparel and accessories, and Pyramid International for posters and accessories.

Over in Germany, and Spreadshirt is on board for print-on-demand apparelm and EMP.com for an apparel range across Europe. Additionally, Cotton Division is developing apparel for the French market while in Spain, Stor SL is creating homewares. Grupo Erik has signed for calendars, posters and gifts.

The Boys is an Amazon Prime Video original series based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The series follows a team of vigilantes as they combat superheroes who abuse their power and abilities.

Elsewhere, and the martial arts comedy-drama Cobrai Kai – inspired by the iconic Karate Kid film franchise – is kickstarting the year with new UK deals with Pyramid International for accessories, Bioworld International for apparel and accessories, The Hut Group for apparel and accessories, and Ecell Global for phone accessories.

Created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, Cobra Kai is set over 30 years after the original Karate Kid film and follows the arch-rivalry between Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence as he reopens the Cobra Kai karate dojo. The third season launched on Netflix in January 2021.

In the UK, WildBrain CPLG has also secured deals for the hit romantic time-travel drama Outlander, which include: Aurora of Orkney, for a jewellery line; and Ecell Global for phone accessories. For the Germany, Austria and Switzerland markets, Spreadshirt, EMP.com and Nastrovje P. GmhH & Co.KG are on board for apparel collections.

Set in Scotland and based on the bestselling novels by Diana Gabaldon, Outlander follows the story of a time-travelling 20th century doctor, Claire Fraser, and her 18th century Highlander husband Jamie Fraser.

John Taylor, VP Northern Europe and managing director UK and France at WildBrain CPLG, said: “Sony Pictures Consumer Products has a rich and compelling TV portfolio, which offers great entertainment for every audience. From the grittiness and thrilling twists of The Boysto the nostalgia and humour ofCobra Kai, and Outlander’s gripping storylinesthese series are hits that have captured the imaginations of audiences internationally. We look forward to bringing fans across Europe diverse and engaging merchandise selections inspired by this fantastic trio of shows.”

WildBrain CPLG represents Sony Pictures’ extensive theatrical film and TV catalogue across EMEA, which also includes much-loved blockbuster entertainment franchises such as Ghostbusters and Jumanji; hit TV series Breaking Bad and spin-off prequel Better Call Saul; and popular Columbia Pictures’ back-catalogue classics including The Karate Kid and Poetic Justice.

MyProtein partnerships and print on demand furniture: The Hut Group is building on a record year in licensing

There’s certainly been a shift of gear surrounding recent licensing developments for the British e-commerce specialist, The Hut Group, who not only quadrupled its licensing team in 2019, but has since expanded its facilities in preparation for further growth in the space this year.

Across health and beauty, lifestyle, and the pop culture entertainment sectors, the firm has just come out of ‘a record year’ in terms of its licensing operations where the company achieved record sales for its print on demand portfolio for both Zavvi and IWOOT.

Now, The Hut Group is preparing for a successful 2020 as it continues to push new collaborations and product launches across some of the hottest trending licensing sectors of the moment – whether that is a MyProtein deal with Warner Bros, or a boundary-pushing print on demand furniture operation.

Licensing.biz catches up with Rick Kay, licensing manager at The Hut Group to find out more.

Hi Rick, can you tell us how business has been for you guys over the past 12 months?

 Excellent. 2019 was a record year for the group and the licensing team especially. Print on demand was a primary focus for us as a licensing team and we saw record sales in that regard. Our capsule launches have been our biggest win.

A particular highlight was the Original Hero range we did with Nintendo on Zavvi.com which turned over £140k gross sales in just seven days.

And what increase in licensing activity from you guys would we have seen over that time?

On Zavvi we launched at least two clothing collections every month in 2019 which is a massive step up from where we were in 2018. In January 2020 alone we have launched a Harley Quinn range to tie-in with the Birds of Prey movie release, a Star Trek and a NASA collection.

We have also increased our product capabilities and have expanded hugely into the accessories and homeware space. We have launched a Ramen range on IWOOT.com this month which covers multiple products including apparel, phone cases, mugs, prints, cushions, coasters and travel mugs.

We can also print a host of other products on demand including wall vinyl, tote bags, blankets, greeting cards, glassware, doormats, chopping boards and with a dedicated NPD team the list is constantly growing.

Could you talk us through some of the biggest developments The Hut Group has seen in the licensing space over the last few months?

 We consider Zavvi to be the home of pop culture and with this in mind video game licensed products have become impossible to ignore and is a big growth area for us.

Nintendo has been a big partner for a few years now but over the last few months we’ve partnered with Sega (Sonic, Football Manager, Streets of Rage etc), Rare (Sea of Thieves, Banjo Kazooie, Battletoads etc) and Borderlands with many more discussions ongoing.

So that’s pop culture, but what are you guys bringing to the lifestyle, luxury, wellness, and beauty space in terms of licensing?

Our focus on our lifestyle division will remain throughout 2020. Our print on demand model allows us to be quick to market and also allows us to develop product for more niche licenses as we don’t have to commit to minimum orders.

On wellness, our biggest brand MyProtein is about to launch a collaboration with Warner Bros. Phase One is a limited edition Justice League collection including protein powder and accessories.

Further phases and licenses will be rolled out throughout the year. This is an exciting and unique licensing opportunity for us which represents the potential for huge growth

We are also looking into opportunities in the luxury and beauty space and this will be a key driver for growth in the future.

We notice that there’s been quite an expansion of the licensing team at The Hut Group – can you talk us through the team and the new additions?

 The core licensing team has grown from one person to four in 2019.

Natalie Kumeta is the head of licensing and really got the ball rolling with regards to licensing at The Hut Group. I was then brought in towards the back end of 2018 having had experience on both the licensor and licensee side at Viacom and Sambro.

Ben Smith was then added to the team, with seven years’ experience in print on demand his production knowledge has proven invaluable. Finally, Chris Beck joined in July having previously worked at Mattel and eOne.

Beyond the core licensing team we have grown our dedicated design team from four to eight over the last year with their focus almost exclusively being on print on demand product for Zavvi and IWOOT.

We are also expanding our NPD team which will see us bring in much more product beyond print on demand. Expect to see a lot more exclusive and limited edition collectible product and apparel on Zavvi and IWOOT in 2020.

Our multi-million pound print facility in Warrington will also see further investment as we look to expand the volume we’re able to print as well as the quality and variety of product. Expect print on demand furniture to launch in 2020.

We have also started a new initiative called M-A-N-A which will leverage The Hut Group’s tech platform to allow us to create end-to-end brand led e-commerce sites in a matter of hours. This will be a massive area of growth for us as we look to expand relationships with our existing partners as well as new.

How has this set you guys up for further growth in the licensing space for 2020 and beyond?

 The growth of our team will allow us to increase both the frequency and quality of our apparel, homeware and accessory launches on Zavvi and IWOOT in 2020.

Beyond that it will allow us to expand our focus beyond those sites and increase our licensed offering in the wellness, beauty and luxury areas of the business.

I’d like to ask what the next big step for The Hut Group will be now – but I fear we’ll run out of room…

There’s almost too many to list!

For Zavvi and IWOOT the next step will be about expanding our current offering. We have a lot of space to grow our portfolio in the gaming, music, anime and lifestyle sectors.

Growing the two above sites in other territories is also important for us, we’ll be opening a dedicated Zavvi office in the USA and so securing more deals in that territory will be vital.

Then of course we will be rolling out M-A-N-A, and continuing to expand the licensing offering in other sectors of the business.