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MCV 24/09/10 27 BRAND LICENSING
BRAND AND DELIVER
Licensing.biz editor Samantha Loveday gives us her view on the licensing sector today, and what brands you should look out for in the future…
LIKE MOST industries, 2009 was a challenging year for the licensing business. The closure of Woolworths hit certain sectors hard – toys and apparel in particular – and coupled with the general economic uncertainty, it meant that many companies had to look again at their business strategies, targeting new areas. The silver lining to this particular
cloud turned out to be digital platforms and video games. Traditionally, the three foundations for any entertainment licensing programme have been toys, publishing and DVD. Video games are fast becoming the fourth and even 65-year-old pre-school properties such as Thomas & Friends are making the move into iPhone and iPod apps. Whereas a few years ago, a gaming
licence would almost be an afterthought for a particular film franchise, now it’s considered a part of the plans right at
“Video games are fast becoming a key foundation for any entertainment
licensing programme – even Thomas & Friends is coming to iPhone.”
the beginning of the entire merchandising process. And, in turn, video games are being
In a time where profits can be gained by licensing the strongest brand in a genre for a specific audience on the ideal platform, they need advice and resources to sharpen their focus. AT New Media will be launching a new service at Brand Licensing Europe 2010 – named AT Project. This is one way we want to help and enable licensors to fully understand the details behind the development of games using their IP. It will also enable developers to streamline approvals processes. The inter-reliance of games and licensing continues to grow. As companies emerge from the recession and seek new business, few business models offer so many opportunities and such rapid returns to shrewd games licensors and licensees. The event helps firms to find these opportunities. Brand Licensing Europe kicks off on Tuesday, September 28th at
London’s Olympia and runs to Thursday, September 30th. Free registrations are available at
www.brandlicensing.eu.
DRIVING LICENCES
AT New Media has brokered several licenses into games…
The first PDC Dartsfor Wii was released at a time when consumers were looking for more casual sports games to play with friends.
Horrible Historieswas the ideal licence to enable Slitherine to expand its core adult PC audience to children and console owners.
Family Fortunes with Vernon Kay for Wii – developed by Slam Productions, published by Mindscape and distributed by Koch Media – is a family game based on the TV show.
AT New Media brokers licenses between brand owners and games publishers or
developers, which provides a deep insight into the needs of each type of company. The company’s stand at Brand Licensing Europe will be in the ‘Advice Centre’ area of the show floor.
turned into brands in their own right. The PlayStation brand, for example, will be seeking opportunities in the stationery, apparel, gift and homeware sectors at upcoming trade show, Brand Licensing Europe. IPs such as EyePet and LittleBigPlanetare well on their way to becoming standalone franchises since Sony hired Target Entertainment as its licensing agent. Microsoft’s Halo also has a licensing programme. Pre-school is a burgeoning area, too.
It’s a crowded sector, so you need to be selective in which properties you choose, but the likes of Peppa Pig(from eOne) and Dora the Explorer (Nickelodeon), to name just two, have proved there is definitely audience demand. Ones to watch include ZingZillas(BBC Worldwide), a new music-based show airing on Cbeebies; Timmy Time(Aardman); Chuggington (Ludorum); Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom (eOne); and Waybuloo(RDF Rights). If you’re after an older demographic,
it’s worth checking out Mattel’s new Monster Highfranchise; The Jungle Book(DQE); GoGo’s Crazy Bones (Bulldog); and Suckers(4Kids). And if you’re really looking for
something out of the ordinary, 65-year- old digger maker JCB is aiming to grow the interactive part of its business…
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