TOTAL LICENSING
the Middle East.In 2006, MBC opened in Dubai Media City. Responsi- Mickey Mouse weekly and monthly,
launched their licensing di- ble for the business in the Middle East Disney Princess, W.I.T.C.H and Winnie
vision, headed by Nor- and North Africa and reporting to the Pooh in Arabic. The magazines are
man McDonald DCP Emerging Markets central office distributed in all the Gulf countries as
a fifteen-year located in Paris, its employees cover well as Yemen, Jordan and Lebanon.
veteran of mer- more than 14 countries including Didier Vanneste, Disney’s VP for
chandising in the the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Emerging Markets is very confident
Gulf, who previously Oman, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco and of growth in the regions. “Obviously
ran the Disney Con- Tunisia - prioritizing development at some categories are always better
sumer Products divi- key accounts and strategic partners than others”, he explained. For exam-
sion in the region. like Carrefour, TRU and Landmark ple in Egypt stationery is showing huge
Today, MBC represent a Group (Baby Shop, Shoe Mart, Home potential whilst in the GCC countries
number of internation- Center, Max). apparel and accessories lead the way.
al properties includ- Under the new direction, interna- In Saudi Arabia our best category is
ing Loonland’s Little tional agreements have been installed bags and back-to-school”.
Princess, HIT’s Barney, to strengthen the key franchises in With a staff of over 250 people, The
Bob the Builder and the Middle East region: Winnie the Rubicon Group is the Middle East and
Thomas, Nelvana’s Pooh, Cars and Mickey Mouse Club- North African region’s largest produc-
Ruby Gloom, house with Mattel, Power Rangers tion, media, animation and entertain-
together with with Bandai and Disney Princess with ment company. Since its inception, in
other properties Simba. As of 2008 Disney’s partners 1994, Rubicon has created and devel-
including Shaun the Sheep, Fairly are rolling out High School Musical, oped entertainment and edutainment
Odd Parents, Totally Spies and Sonic Hannah Montana and Disney Fairies products based on cutting edge tech-
X. Most recently MBC have signed to to the region. nologies. Rubicon is highly active in
represent Blue Dragon and Pucca. The Walt Disney Signature line the areas of education, animation, lo-
MBC are also actively licensing Eish launched in Dubai in July 08. This home cation based entertainment and brand
Safari, a locally produced children’s se- furnishings and lifestyle brand is avail- licensing. Headquartered in Jordan, the
ries. For two months, children battle able from the Al Abdulkader Furniture company has offices in Dubai and Qa-
against each other, fighting the ele- Co, which has also four stores in Saudi tar, Studios in Amman, Manila and LA,
ments in a competition to win. The Arabia and one store in Qatar. and joint ventures in Qatar, England
series, which has become enormously In order to create further synergy, and the US.
popular with boys and girls aged be- key category licensees have created On the licensing side, Rubicon has cre-
tween eight and twelve across the corners at retailers including Futtaim ated an expansive licensing program
Arab countries, airs on MBC 3 six Watches, Hallmark /Gulf Greeting, complementing their various divisions.
times each week and there are thirty Toys’RUs and Toy Store. The company acts as exclusive licens-
episodes per season. On the publishing side, Disney’s pub- ing agent for MGM, Fox , Sony Pictures,
MBC believe that the potential for lishing business for the Middle East Paramount, CBS, Bruce Lee Enterprise
product based on the series is enor- and North Africa is managed from and Zorro Productions.
mous, particularly plush, publishing, DCP’s office in Turkey. In March 2007, 2008 was an important year for Rubi-
collector editions, stationery and fash- Disney Publishing Worldwide signed con’s Brand Licensing division. Starting
ion apparel. an agreement with The Saudi Spe- from forging solid partnerships and
MBC have already signed Toy Triangle cialized Publishing Company (SSPC) agreements with various organizations
Company as master licensee for Eish - a subsidiary of the Saudi Research to participating in international licens-
Safari. Based in Saudi Arabia, Toy Tri- and Marketing Group – to publish ing shows and conferences, Rubicon’s
angle is one of the region’s largest dis- five children’s magazines, including Brand Licensing Division has lever-
tributors of toys and aged its market position in
has recently branched the region and within the
into home and statio- industry to build stronger
nery categories. ties with the industry’s ex-
As one would expect, ecutives, manufacturers, re-
Disney has a major tailers and distributors.
presence in the Middle A locally-created prop-
Eastern markets. erty that is making waves
In Summer 2006, after in the region is, of course,
the termination of a Freej from Dubai-based
13 years old joint-ven- Lammtara Productions. A
ture operation, the feature about Freej imme-
first DCP local office diately follows this Middle
50
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