MISFIT
Dodgy Characters I
have just bought and sold a parcel of dodgy shoes. I hear my detractors muttering “so that’s how Misfit really makes his money – fencing stolen shoes!” Not so, oh ye who evil think. Let me explain: the goods concerned were children’s character trainers, branded
with a well known personality like Mickey Mouse, but it wasn’t him and I’m not going to tell you who it was. For those who don’t know the way character merchandising business
works, someone, say a manufacturer, asks the owner of the character, I take Disney as an example for simplicity’s sake because after more than eighty years they are still the industry leader, for a licence to adorn his goods with a character which he thinks will help sell his goods. Disney agrees in principle, after checking out who the applicant is and what market they intend to sell into. In return for the right to make and sell a range of Mickey Mouse shoes Disney gets a royalty on every pair the sold. Disney will ask for a payment up front for obvious reasons, which will usually be set off against the royalties as they are due. The manufacturer sends in a regular list of what shoes he has sold and to whom, both to check that the goods are only going to suitable outlets and for financial reasons. The manufacturer sells lots of shoes, Disney gets lots of money and everyone is happy. Disney, and every other character owner, very
fiercely controls the details of the characters and how they are presented, which includes the packaging. If Mickey’s ears are a touch too small or his trousers the wrong shade of red (the Pantone numbers are part of the licence agreement) Disney is entitled to jump on the manufacturer like a ton of bricks and get the shoes taken off the market. The only thing the poor manufacturer can do if this happens is obliterate the character, an almost impossible task in most cases, or dispose of the goods somewhere where the character’s reputation will not be damaged, subject to Disney’s approval. In extremis he has to destroy the shoes. All of which involve losing money, which is why most licensees are very
he saw the name of his best friend in all the world spelt wrong on his new wellies. Who knows? At all events, the news got back to the character owner who demanded
the wellies be destroyed and, much worse, cancelled the licence. Which is how I came to be approached by a friend of a friend who thought I had lots of contacts in odd places so would know where several thousand pairs of iffy stock could be unloaded. As it happens I did know a buyer acceptable to the character owner who would take them, at of course a considerably reduced price. The maker took his loss on the chin like a gentleman and crawled on bended knees to the character owner and got his licence back, so everyone was as happy as could be in the circumstances. This sad story shows, not only that retail is detail, but how careful you
have to be where the written word is concerned. Somehow, making sure you have got everything right before you go into production does not apply in the minds of a lot of people I have met. This character merchandise business is one of those things which appears
easy to anyone not involved. You have to be meticulous in carrying out the terms of the licence, as we have seen, checking and counter checking at every stage.
The maker took his loss on the chin like a gentleman and crawled on bended knees to the character owner and got his licence back, so everyone was as happy as could be in the circumstances. This sad story shows, not only that retail is detail, but how careful you have to be where the written word is concerned.
These characters do not come cheap but you get access to a very
very careful to get every little detail right, and check and obtain approval from Disney at every stage in design and manufacture, from all of which you will gather this corner of the business is very much a partnership. It is not simply a matter of Disney allowing Mickey to be put on any old shoe and collecting some useful dosh for not doing very much. The shoes concerned in my deal, actually wellies and actually not Disney, had been destined for a foreign market and some clever soul had decided that as the name of the character would sound funny in the language of the destination country, he would make a slight alteration in the spelling of the name so the kids there would pronounce it correctly. No doubt he told himself that no-one would ever know, as the wellies were going to be sold out of sight of the character owner, in a distant corner of Europe where no-one ever went. He took a chance, and sod’s law promptly operated. I don’t know what happened. Perhaps the character owner’s aunt decided to holiday in that far off land and bought a pair for her little grandson who burst into tears when
12 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011
substantial market, especially children’s. I know a young lady who is entranced by Peppa Pig. Not only does she have the entire DVD set, but she has Peppa Pig pyjamas, hat, wellies, sandals, slippers, as well as lunch box, pencil case, and other items too numerous to list. Her parents pray she goes off Peppa Pig before they go broke. Which is all very well, but if you are thinking of going in for this business,
you have to study the actual characters very carefully. Some of them have a very short shelf life, here today and gone tomorrow, while others like Mickey and Thomas the Tank Engine, seem to go on for ever. It occurs to me that the world of character merchandising is very similar
to that of sports endorsements, with one critical difference. I have worked with celebrities like the aforementioned Mouse, Thomas the Tank Engine, Postman Pat and Batman and have found them all delightful and charming. Every single one of them leads an exemplary private life, not one of them has touched drugs, or been found incapable from alcohol or cast so much as an eye on his neighbours wife.
Call for Nominations –Don’t forget to nominate by 30th November
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