{"id":12322,"date":"2017-05-19T10:16:47","date_gmt":"2017-05-19T14:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/buzzy-brands\/"},"modified":"2017-05-22T09:31:12","modified_gmt":"2017-05-22T13:31:12","slug":"buzzy-brands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/buzzy-brands\/","title":{"rendered":"Buzzy Brands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ahead of Licensing Expo, <\/em>TV Kids\u00a0investigates L&M trends and strategies in today\u2019s competitive marketplace.<\/em><\/p>\n

Toy sales in the U.S. bumped up 5 percent last year, to $20.4 billion, according to The NPD Group. Among the growth drivers for the industry were collectibles\u2014which was a top contributor\u2014followed by outdoor and sports toys and the games\/puzzles category. A number of brands helped strengthen the segment, with Pok\u00e9mon being the number one growth property of 2016 in toys, coinciding with the release of the explosively popular Pok\u00e9mon GO augmented-reality game that saw players wandering the streets trying to \u201ccatch \u2019em all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fact that Pok\u00e9mon, which has been around for two decades, was the year\u2019s leading growth property in toys is representative of the ongoing trend that retailers oftentimes still prefer to stock their shelves with established brands.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very hard, sometimes, to launch new brands and original ideas, because [retailers] are looking for sustainable business with many well-known key brands,\u201d says Hans Ulrich Stoef, who heads up m4e and Studio 100 Media. \u201cBut luckily enough, after Studio 100 bought the majority of m4e, we also have classic [properties] in our portfolio, like Maya the Bee<\/em> or Vic the Viking<\/em>, for example, which makes it a little easier because the products already have shelf space.\u201d Newer key properties for licensing and merchandising (L&M) in the combined m4e\/Studio 100 portfolio include Mia and me<\/em> and Wissper<\/em>, as well as the in-development The<\/em> Beatrix Girls<\/em>, which will be more of a focus next year.<\/p>\n

According to Alexandra Algard-Mikanowski, the international licensing and marketing director at Cyber Group Studios, retailers \u201cwant to take the least risk possible and to secure a level of turnover, so it\u2019s very difficult to reach their expectations. And you need to have very good TV programming with good channels and come with a whole category of product in order to be successful.\u201d The company\u2019s L&M highlights include such established brands as Zou<\/em> and Zorro the Chronicles<\/em>, as well as the upcoming Gigantosaurus<\/em>, an animated show slated for broadcast on France T\u00e9l\u00e9visions, Germany\u2019s Super RTL and Disney Junior channels around the globe.<\/p>\n

\u201cRetailers are looking for brands and products that resonate with consumers both through brand recognition and also\u2014more than ever, especially as it relates to kids\u2014the message the brand delivers to its audience,\u201d says Frederic Souli\u00e9, the executive VP of global distribution and consumer products at Saban Brands. \u201cPower Rangers<\/em>\u2019 core messages of teamwork, diversity and fun are a great example of this, which has helped the brand stand the test of time and continue to be a staple among retailers for nearly 25 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mondo TV is taking advantage of retailers\u2019 desire for known brands with its first live-action series, Heidi, Bienvenida a Casa<\/em>, which was inspired by Johanna Spyri\u2019s classic children\u2019s novel from the late 1800s. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a long-term project based on a total of 180×45-minute episodes,\u201d says Valentina La Macchia, the company\u2019s director of consumer products. \u201cThis is very important because we are able to secure a long-lasting program based on the merchandising.\u201d Mondo TV\u2019s L&M slate also includes the animated properties YooHoo & Friends<\/em>, Invention Story<\/em> and Robot Trains<\/em>, the latter of which is a collaboration with CJ E&M.<\/p>\n

ANIME MANIA<\/strong>
\n4K Media, a subsidiary of Konami Digital Entertainment, has been enjoying success with the long-running Japanese property Yu-Gi-Oh!<\/em>, for which it manages the licensing and marketing outside of Asia. According to Jennifer Coleman, the company\u2019s VP of licensing and marketing, Yu-Gi-Oh!<\/em> has been a hit in the L&M arena due to \u201cthe timeless appeal of anime and boys\u2019 action\/hero adventure.\u201d 4K Media also represents the girl-skewing brand Rebecca Bonbon.<\/p>\n

Another company with anime is Toei Animation, whose L&M catalog includes Sailor Moon<\/em>, the Digimon<\/em> franchise, One Piece<\/em> and Dragon Ball<\/em>. \u201cThese properties are well known by many anime fans and most of our properties were first broadcast in the late \u201990s and early 2000s in the U.S.,\u201d says Jennifer Yang, Toei\u2019s senior licensing manager. \u201cKids who grew up watching this anime are now young adults, and they are the main target for Japanese anime in L&M nowadays.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dragon Ball<\/em> franchise celebrated its 30th anniversary last year in Japan. \u201cOur Dragon Ball Z<\/em> merchandising efforts are still very strong among teens and young adults after so many years, but we are hoping to gain more interest in children\u2019s categories for Dragon Ball Super<\/em>,\u201d notes Lisa Yamatoya, Toei\u2019s senior manager of film and merchandising.<\/p>\n

There is also anime and manga specialist VIZ Media, which is owned by Shueisha and Shogakukan. At this year\u2019s Licensing Expo, the company\u2019s central focus is the older-skewing Death<\/em> Note<\/em>, with additional highlights including One-Punch Man<\/em>, Naruto<\/em>, JoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure<\/em> and Bleach<\/em>. \u201cOur audience is what I like to consider the next generation of fanboys,\u201d says Brad Woods, the chief marketing officer at VIZ Media. \u201cYou\u2019ve got guys like myself, who grew up with the world of DC and Marvel and what have you\u2014still very valid and amazing properties\u2014but then you\u2019ve got this whole new generation and this groundswell of kids that started out between 8 and 12 a few years back, who have grown up into the teen and young-adult space and are all about anime. And so anime has kind of taken over that next generation of fandom.\u201d<\/p>\n

PERFECT TIMING<\/strong>
\nThere is really no definitive answer as to when is the best time for companies to begin thinking about licensing and merchandising. Some like to start right away, while others wait until a brand has reached a certain level of maturity in the marketplace.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt depends on the property,\u201d says Cyber Group\u2019s Algard-Mikanowski. \u201cWhen you have a good broadcasting [reach] with huge TV channels, it\u2019s better to start directly\u2014that\u2019s the case with Gigantosaurus<\/em>. And for some other properties, it would be best to wait a little bit because if you have [a smaller] channel, it is better to have some ratings on television before launching a licensing program.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever we produce a new show, of course the content comes first,\u201d says m4e and Studio 100\u2019s Stoef. \u201cThe entertainment values of a concept come first. So we are not really in the arena of just producing a commercial for the toy only.\u201d<\/p>\n

Souli\u00e9 notes that Saban Brands approaches every property \u201cwith a 360-degree lens and a vision of both what the show and L&M possibilities can be.\u201d The company is executing this strategy with the new animated Netflix series Cirque du Soleil Junior\u2014Luna Petunia<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe usually start thinking about licensing and merchandising right away because we are a production studio, so we are always involved in the co-production of the TV show,\u201d adds Mondo TV\u2019s La Macchia. \u201cWe don\u2019t wait until the property has reached a certain level in the market because then it will be too late for us to develop a long-term licensing program. We always start at least a year and a half before the time to market, especially when we have to place the master toy deal. We know that the licensee needs the right time to develop the products.\u201d<\/p>\n

FIERCE COMPETITION<\/strong>
\nAs in any business, the ability to keep up with competitors in the L&M industry is crucial in order for a brand to stay alive. Survival of the fittest is a phrase that applies to more than just the natural world.<\/p>\n

Regarding challenges that are currently facing the segment, 4K Media\u2019s Coleman says, \u201cWell, one of them starts with a D and ends with a Y. So there\u2019s that factor. And then there\u2019s still that retail consolidation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the most important [challenge] is the number of properties already on the market and launched by big companies, like Disney for example,\u201d says Cyber Group\u2019s Algard-Mikanowski. \u201cIt\u2019s always very difficult to compete with this kind of a big company. You need to spend a lot of money on marketing and [put in] a lot of effort with retailers.\u201d<\/p>\n

m4e and Studio 100\u2019s Stoef agrees that it is very hard for independents to compete with the majors these days, although it does help raise the bar on quality. \u201cCreativity does come from the one who is having to pick his pocket; that encourages us to come up with new content and deliver more creativity. The biggest challenge is, how can you produce a sustainable business when you have to invest millions and millions of euros into a new production? And how can you make sure that you reach enough kids, and what can you do to convince retailers to put your product on shelves? It requires really big funds to do so. And not all companies are able to deliver that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saban\u2019s Souli\u00e9 adds: \u201cInnovation is key in an extremely competitive market, and retailers are evolving to speak to the current consumer, which means brands need to continue to innovate and evolve as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much like piracy is a major headache for the television, film and music industries, bootlegging is among the issues that L&M players continue to contend with. \u201cWe are facing a lot of bootleg items and\/or ridiculously cheap parallel items imported unofficially to our territories,\u201d says Toei\u2019s Yang. \u201cThese affect a lot of our official products. I\u2019m sure this is a problem for everybody in this industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

4K Media is trying to reduce the amount of unlicensed Yu-Gi-Oh!<\/em> consumer goods on the market by launching an online shop that sells official branded merchandise. \u201cWe\u2019re hopeful that with that happening, with our ability to provide this product for our customers, they won\u2019t necessarily be making their own T-shirts and putting them up on [an online marketplace like] Redbubble,\u201d says Coleman. \u201cObviously that\u2019s going to benefit us because we\u2019ll be getting the royalty payment, but it\u2019s also going to hopefully strengthen [our licensees\u2019] resolve in the brand and help show them that it still has legs and is still a money-maker.\u201d<\/p>\n

A challenge for VIZ Media is \u201cweighing the appropriate size of the opportunity, and making sure that we\u2019re working with our retailers to create clean programs,\u201d says Woods. \u201cOften you find our licensing and retail partners trying to create too big of a program, or create a bigger statement than it really merits or than the market will support. That, to me, is how you kill a trend. It\u2019s one of these things where our content\u2019s certainly on fire, but it\u2019s still very niche in its appeal. And so I want to make sure that we\u2019re meeting the customer demand, but also leaving those retailers with a clean shelf at the end of the day so that they come back and do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

One way that 4K Media stays relevant in today\u2019s extremely competitive L&M environment is with experiential offerings. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to take more advantage of some experiential marketing to really touch and feel our consumers and help engage them in the brand,\u201d says Coleman. \u201cAnd we\u2019re looking to expand that even more with some of the live events that we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

KEYS TO SUCCESS<\/strong>
\nOver at Cyber Group, Algard-Mikanowski says the strategy is to use \u201ca global approach\u201d for some products, while it is better \u201cto deal territory by territory,\u201d with others. \u201cAs we are a licensor, it\u2019s possible to mix between global and local.\u201d<\/p>\n

La Macchia notes that Mondo TV always aims to work on a long-term basis. \u201cLong-term is a must nowadays to compete in the market. It\u2019s very important to grant to the licensees at least 52×26-minutes of a TV show because a license agreement is usually based on a two-year-term period, so we cannot work with very short TV series. We have to be able to assure from the beginning that we will help our licensees to grow their business and together increase the awareness of the property in the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Saban, maintaining the \u201ccore brand DNA\u201d in both series content and L&M is key. \u201cFor example with Power Rangers<\/em>, knowing its wide, global audience spanning kids to adults, we look to provide experiences that directly speak to them,\u201d says Souli\u00e9.<\/p>\n

As the world becomes more and more computerized, digital opportunities are increasingly important in the L&M arena.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are investing a lot to grow our digital business,\u201d says Mondo TV\u2019s La Macchia. \u201cWe are now working to develop a new application based on our characters. So we have big plans to grow the digital business here. And we do believe it\u2019s really the main segment emerging so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

m4e and Studio 100\u2019s Stoef notes that digital is a good way to test out new properties with small budgets on viral platforms. \u201cYou can pre-approve certain concepts via the internet, social media and AVOD platforms, and then spend money later on in a deeper way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the opportunities lie in how you can disperse the brand appeal and the information in a more concise, bite-sized way,\u201d says VIZ Media\u2019s Woods. \u201cBrands are coming out of the woodwork having been built on nothing but that. You look at the AwesomenessTVs of the world and a lot of the web-space influencers\u2014these are people who built their entire awareness on 10-minute, 5-minute shorts. So for us, if we don\u2019t stay abreast of that and shift our marketing in that direction, [we could] get lost and left behind pretty easily.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adapting to change has always been an essential business mantra, and as the way children consume content continues to evolve, it is one that companies should keep top of mind to stay ahead in the L&M game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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