Leading Kids IP Execs Talk Multiplatform Strategies

Banijay Kids & Family’s Delphine Dumont, Moonbug Entertainment’s Andy Yeatman and Spin Master Entertainment’s Jennifer Dodge took part in a MIPJunior panel yesterday on successful multiplatform IP strategies in conversation with TV Kids’ Kristin Brzoznowski.

The session with Dumont, chief commercial officer at Banijay Kids & Family; Yeatman, managing director for the Americas at Moonbug; and Dodge, president of Spin Master Entertainment, saw the executives weighing in on how to build out successful brands across multiple touchpoints with Brzoznowski, the executive editor at TV Kids.

“Our fundamental philosophy is to meet kids where they are,” Yeatman said. “We want our content to be wherever kids and families are spending time. We know kids are platform-agnostic, so we try to have our shows be on as many of the major platforms where families are spending time around the world.”

Most of Moonbug’s shows are on YouTube, Yeatman noted, with a network of hundreds of channels reaching 725 million subscribers. That accessibility is key to Moonbug’s strategy, alongside a presence on the global SVODs and leading local players such as Sky, Super RTL and Gulli. “Our content is on about 150 different channels or platforms or streamers around the world,” Yeatman said, adding that audio is also key to the company.

“In a world with increasingly nearly infinite choice on all of these on-demand platforms but limited time, we really think brands matter. Our brands being consistent across those platforms is fundamental to what we’re all about.”

Dodge runs the entertainment unit of the toy company Spin Master. “For us, it’s all about building brands and franchises and taking a franchise-management approach to how we look at each individual property or piece of IP and making content for every size screen, every platform imaginable.”

At Banijay Kids & Family, Dumont noted the challenges around commissioners and buyers wanting exclusive rights. “We have to find common ground and ensure we retain as much as we can to then exploit it successfully on digital platforms. Retaining the rights is a big issue.”

She continued, “You need to make sure you grab the audience. You have to have a long-term strategy and work out a launch plan—digital, social media, marketing, brand, distribution—territory by territory. You won’t have success everywhere at the same speed.”

Dodge agreed that taking a long-term approach is paramount. “Depending on what our main platform is, we might start with a social campaign or gaming or YouTube, or we can launch with a big global partner and then stagger other areas from there. Especially in streaming, where you’re dropping a season, it’s important to have a strategy that keeps your properties and characters in audiences’ minds. That long-term planning is more important than ever.”

For kids’ properties, it’s “less about a big launch and more about building over time,” Yeatman noted.

In preschool, in particular, Dodge noted the importance of building trust with parents and caregivers.

On when to extend a show into gaming and L&M, Dodge said those decisions need to be based on brand awareness and affinity rather than a hard and fast schedule. Yeatman agreed, noting that a 20 to 30 percent affinity level is a good target.

“It depends on if it’s a brand-new show or a heritage brand,” Dumont added. And when it comes to digital extensions, “it’s about how you create content without killing the high-end production you’re doing. We are looking at how to do brand extensions to close the gap between season launches.”

Digital and social media platforms are crucial in brand-building, Yeatman said. Instagram and Facebook allow the company to reach parents and caregivers, and the company is also making content for TikTok.

And gaming platforms like Roblox are also key to rollout strategies, especially among viewers 6-plus. Dodge pointed to virtual screenings and in-game partnerships ahead of show launches, which can also help inform which characters are popping with audiences.

“We’ve been very cautious because most of our IPs are preschool,” said Yeatman. “We’re getting more aggressive. There are a ton of UGC Blippi games on Roblox, so we see the demand. We’re leaning in a little more. We just launched a games division this year. Next year, we have more planned in terms of self-published mobile experiences, educational experiences and games launching on some of the bigger platforms.”

Dumont said Banijay Kids & Family is actively pursuing metaverse partnerships as part of promotional efforts and market testing. “We also want to be aware of making sure we protect our brands. We can’t let our characters be used in a sinister way. We are looking more to partner with existing parties in this space.”

On the challenges in the L&M space, Dodge cited the macroeconomic headwinds, leading the company to look at its entry-level price points. “Retailers want to have a robust selection of those entry-level price points so that kids can come in and enjoy the brand.”

There have also been post-Covid shifts now that kids are spending less time at home. The upshot is that “character-driven IP is the shining star right now, especially in preschool. Kids and caregivers still want to connect with characters. But there are challenges as well.”

Moonbug, too, has been focusing on entry-level price points in its partnerships with licensees. “Also rationalizing SKUs and focusing on the most productive ones,” Yeatman said.

The market is risk-averse, Dumont noted, so having heritage brands helps.