The retail winds are blowing consistently “exclusivity,” “direct-to-retail,” “supply chain management,” and “Big Names Only” at mass, department, and dollar stores, leaving niche entertainment and media properties for kids for everywhere else.
“Toys R Us told us flat out they don’t want [our property] if they’re going to see it at Target. Not just the same designs — anything,” says one publisher who is both licensor and licensee. “And we’re hearing the same thing everywhere.”
Retailers are increasingly dictating which vendors they’re willing to deal with and giving their own design direction. For children’s properties they’re insisting on more testing in addition to that required by licensors, and for all properties, more and more are demanding contractual assurances of fair labor practices (as are licensors).
Pre-school was on many agendas at Licensing Expo in Las Vegas last month, but literally no one we asked could define “pre-school” without stopping to think.
“‘Pre-school’ is any way the retailer lays it out,” says FremantleMedia’s David Luner. Practically, “we use multiple definitions. It’s what we use internally, it’s what the [TV] network uses, and what the retailer uses.”
At Dreamworks, Kerry Phelan says, “The sweet spot for us is 3-7 even if it’s not sold in the pre-school aisle.”
Marketing merchandise tied to pre-school properties is about who you have to target, points out Hasbro’s Bryony Bouyer. “You’re selling to the mom with pre-school. As you get older, you’re selling to the girl or boy.”
Among the properties looking to transfer foreign success to the U.S.: Peppa Pig, Mike the Knight, Pocoyo and Bananas in Pajamas.
Digital World
Dreamworks’ Madagascar 3 opened the weekend prior to Licensing Expo with $60 million at the box office — and 1 million downloads for its app in just a few days.
Nothing could have been more emblematic of the importance of apps as marketing tool, as source of new properties, and as revenue stream.
Saban acquired My Pet Monsters from American Greetings Properties a little over a year ago and used apps and other digital media to test and develop the property — a process Saban’s Elie Dekel says it will follow with another property acquired from AGP, Popples. Popples is being positioned for girls 3-7 with the licensing program focusing initially on apps, toys (Mattel was the original toy licensee in 1986), plush, publishing, stationery, and party goods.
Contacts and Connections: DreamWorks Animation, Kerry Phelan, Worldwide Licensing, 1000 Flower St., Glendale, CA 91201; 818-695-3991; kerry.phelan@dreamworks.com; www.dreamworks.com.
FremantleMedia Enterprises, David Luner, EVP Consumer Products, 4000 W. Alameda Ave., 3rd Fl., Burbank, CA 91505; 818-748-1137; david.luner@fremantlemedia.com; www.fremantlemedia.com.
Hasbro, Bryony Bouyer, SVP Licensing, 200 Narragansett Park Dr., E. Providence, RI 02916; 401-431-8422; bbouyer@hasbro.com; www.hasbro.com.
Saban Brands, Elie Dekel, President, 10100 Santa Monica Blvd., #2600, Los Angeles, CA 90067; 310-557-5124; edekel@saban.com; www.saban.com.
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