here<\/a>, they talked about strengthening IP on screens and at retail.<\/p>\nThe session began with a conversation about how the need to be on multiple platforms informs brand-building strategies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many ways to reach kids,\u201d Faier said. \u201cWhen thinking about brand strategy, you have to think about where the audience is, where it is going to be, and develop your content strategy, engagement strategy accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hitz-Tough added: \u201cThere are lots of different directions you can go in in terms of how you build a brand. And there\u2019s no longer one size, one model fits all. There are multiple different ways to begin a brand and to evolve and grow it over time.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s key, she said, to know where your audience is and \u201chow they operate in all of those different spaces. What are they looking for? So many brands can say, I\u2019m on social media, I\u2019m in Roblox, but the experience they have is obviously marketing. It is not an experience that\u2019s true to the DNA of how kids play or the DNA of the IP, the content itself. You start with: What is the core intrinsic DNA of the content? What is it about? Why will kids care about it? Why are they going to be passionate about it? How are they going to want to take it into their life and make it their own? How are you going to provide that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Bencal added: \u201cIt\u2019s never been easier to reach a consumer, but it\u2019s also never been harder because it is so distributed out there. Also, it\u2019s expensive for brands to reach all those different platforms. It\u2019s almost like mining for gold. You\u2019re hitting a couple of these different platforms to see which one strikes. It\u2019s time-consuming. And it requires spending upfront.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goodchild added that where your brand is in its life cycle must inform your strategy. Shaun the Sheep, for example, was birthed on linear TV and has been extended across live events, gaming and more. \u201cIf we were building the brand today, it wouldn\u2019t start in the same place, and you\u2019d build it in a different way.\u201d He added: \u201cIt really is about making decisions about where it is just for a touchpoint because you feel you need to be there and where you really want to invest your time and energy to make it the most compelling and the deepest experience it can possibly be.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for when you start thinking about brand potential, Goodchild said: \u201cDay one. The more you can think about how you build that world and how it will iterate across other platforms, the more it stays true to the DNA. Now that\u2019s very different from saying, when should I launch or when should I go to market? You can go too early and mess yourself up for five years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faier agreed, noting that Epic Story was founded with the intention of building franchises, with creators at the heart of the conversations. \u201cSome creators don\u2019t want to have the toy partner in the room or the gaming partner in the room. It\u2019s about educating the whole chain of creativity throughout the IP development.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bencal added, \u201cThe economic realities of where we are as an industry and as a business, you have to think about it from day one. Just making the financials work off of content alone is a very tough thing in the day of platforms and building a brand through digital. Creators really have to think about it from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo grow [a concept] into a brand, we need to know what other stories we can tell,\u201d Hitz-Tough added. \u201cWhat other experiences can we tell? How can we take this story and expand it? Yes, we want to know that there\u2019s room and growth and evolution for a second series for television. How do we make sure that we have enough that is at the core of the story, but we have something new to tell? If you\u2019re a true fan and you go to see an experience and it just feels like a repetition of the TV show, that\u2019s boring. There is a whole core component of thinking about expansion; how you are going to keep it fresh and interesting? And when you\u2019re handing a property to kids, they are going to want to make it their own. [Creators need a] level of understanding and comfort of what that might look like and acceptance of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faier noted that\u2019s crucial to ask creators: \u201cWhat\u2019s the meaning of this property to the audience and what is the relatability? Everything\u2019s been done. So on the one hand, we want it to be unique. But if you go to Walmart, if it\u2019s too unique, they\u2019re like, I don\u2019t get it. So what is the meaning to the audience, and why do you think this is going to resonate? What does success look like to you? \u2018I just want to get it made,\u2019 is not enough. We all want to get properties off the ground. But what does true success look like? And what role do you want to play in all of that? The challenge we all have is kids\u2019 attention spans are so short now. I love the show. Is there a game to play? Are there toys? And books to read? If there are not, they\u2019re going to move on to another property pretty quickly. And even if you have all that, the life cycle of your super fan hopefully is lifelong, but often it might only be a couple of months. That\u2019s very hard to plan around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bencal agreed that since people are \u201cburning through content\u201d you need to have a lot of elements in place to keep consumers engaged. \u201cIf there\u2019s not enough there, they can disappear or they just don\u2019t come back because there\u2019s just so much being thrown at them. The one good thing we have is, the preschool audience doesn\u2019t mind rewatching that content over and over and over again. When you get into the older kid, 10-plus, which is always an elusive audience, it\u2019s more challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to be continuously on in these different areas and think about what\u2019s next,\u201d Goodchild added.<\/p>\n
The discussion then moved to the metaverse, with Faier highlighting Epic Story\u2019s launch of a Roblox studio. \u201cIt\u2019s a really important new facet of how you can reach audiences and re-engage them to come back to watch on whatever platform they might be on.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Roblox game can be made for $100,000, Faier said, while a mobile game could run you more than $1 million. \u201cThe monetization is difficult,\u201d he added, but as an engagement tool, it is powerful.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrands and IP owners have a unique advantage in today\u2019s world in that as kids exit properties, there\u2019s a chance to have them rediscover it on a different platform or an influencer grabs hold of it,\u201d Bencal noted.<\/p>\n
Carugati asked the panelists what inflation, and a cost-of-living crisis, means for the L&M sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was in the toy business with Mattel for a number of years, we always said Christmas always comes,\u201d Bencal said. \u201cIt was always a silver lining for us. But the reality is that it just might be smaller. Some of the retailers that in the past would support kids\u2019 properties in a big way are no longer with us. Some of them are in different iterations with a smaller footprint. Some of the major ones have a low tolerance for unproven properties to give them a chance in this kind of environment because they just can\u2019t risk something sitting on the shelf, whether it\u2019s physically or in the e-commerce space. It gets a lot tighter for opportunities out there unless you have some of these IPs and proven success in the retail world. Buyers have always been tough out there in retail. But now with consolidated space and consolidated footprint, it\u2019s even more challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faier added: \u201cThere are some things going on this year with an over purchase of inventory last year tied to Covid and supply chain issues, so that\u2019s working its way through the system. It\u2019s still a big number. So if it\u2019s down 1 or 2 percent, let\u2019s say, or even 10 percent; it was projected to be down a lot more pre-Covid and it was up 20 percent. I do think there\u2019s pent-up demand for travel that\u2019s taking some of that discretionary spending. So, yes, inflation has an impact in terms of the cost of products coming out. But if you have a child who\u2019s a big fan of something, parents are going to continue to purchase it. Retail is more challenging, but 50 percent of toys are sold by e-commerce. There is still the possibility to go direct to consumer. So you can test there, or right-size your investment.\u201d<\/p>\n
In this climate, Hitz-Tough noted that IP owners can consider how to \u201cdeliver a brand experience at a price that enables everybody to participate. You\u2019ve seen the growth of the dollar stores and all the discount channels. Obviously, those price point price points are lower. So how do you make sure you create a product that is worthy of your brand, that provides real play value for a child or an activity that\u2019s worth doing at a price point that\u2019s truly accessible? Kids are still having birthday parties. They\u2019re still having experiences with the brand as they travel. That in itself is an opportunity. How do you be the brand that fulfills those needs at a price point that is easy for a parent to say yes to.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
9 Story Media Group\u2019s Katrina Hitz-Tough, Epic Story\u2019s Ken Faier, Aardman\u2019s Rob Goodchild and Cookbook Media\u2019s Rob Bencal shared their perspectives on developing successful brand-building strategies at the TV Kids Summer Festival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":25296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[221,5630,4058,7754,2315,5456,7755],"class_list":["post-25295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-9-story-media-group","tag-aardman","tag-epic-story-media","tag-katrina-hitz-tough","tag-ken-faier","tag-rob-bencal","tag-rob-goodchild","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n
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