Brand Licensing Preview
Olly the Little White Van is here to help!
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Toy World spoke to Ideas at Work founder Henry Becket about the company’s first hit pre-school property, Olly the Little White Van.
deas at Work’s charismatic founder Henry Becket is a well-known figure in the world of toy advertising. Over the past thirty years Henry has made over 2000 commercials around the world for the likes of Hasbro, Hornby, Vivid Imaginations, Spinmaster and Tomy, to name but a few. Henry’s belief that
a good TV ad “is all about telling a story to sell a product” perhaps explains how he has made the move from the world of TV advertising into the world of programming so effortlessly. Ideas at Work’s first show – Olly the Little White Van – made its debut on CITV in June, and by August the series had achieved an impressive 233% increase in viewers from its first episode, outperforming other stalwart pre-school competition in its timeslot. From 5th September it has been broadcast twice daily, which is testament to ITV’s faith in the show.
Henry told Toy World: “We didn’t set out to make a TV series and build an empire around it. First and foremost, it’s about building ‘Olly’ into a successful long-term brand. And we’ve brought together a project team of really talented people to help make this happen.” Entirely funded by private investors, included some well-known names from the toy and media world, over £3m has been raised to develop and market the property. There are currently 52 x 5 minute episodes of ‘Olly’, produced to the highest standards in 3D HD CGI. Each episode is underpinned by a strong underlying theme of helping friends and neighbours, which Henry describes as “encouraging Britain’s little helpers by extolling positive and nurturing values.” There are also highly engaging music and dance sequences throughout the series, and the show calls upon
a widely respected pool of voice talent including Justin Fletcher (CBeebies’ Mr Tumble). To back up the show’s on-air presence, an
extensive marketing campaign kicked into gear earlier this year, utilising all key social media platforms to encourage interaction, views and peer recommendation. Mummy bloggers in particular are big fans of the Show. Spring 2012 will see the launch of master toy partner Hornby’s innovative range of ‘Olly’ merchandise, with more licensees to follow later in the year. A worldwide distribution agreement has been signed with Parthenon, the first App is due out pre-Christmas, and an announcement is imminent about a major DVD deal. The brand will be premiered on Ideas at Work’s
first ever stand at BLE, G60. Stand G60
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