For any animation IP creator aspiring to get to a character based L&M paradise, the fundamental points that need to be reflected upon include, “Is my character’s personality clearly defined to the viewer? Does the character have depth? Is there likeability and is the character relatable?”
From the Animation Xpress lens, that was the gist of the session on Animation Character Licensing at the Brand Licensing & Merchandising Show 2009. The session also put forth quite a lot of interesting statistics.
Elaborating upon the art and science of L&M and the data around the business were panelists, Graphiti COO Munjal Shroff (Besides making a series of 3D animated shorts around the character, Graphiti also represents Fido Dido L&M in India), Extend Brands Co Founder Mayuri Pitale (Extend represents L&M in India for Popeye, Baby Popeye, Betty Boop and No Rules) Spacetoon MD & CEO Rajiv Sangari (Spacetoon has launched a kids channel recently, is into IP creation as well and also represents a very large portfolio of iconic L&M properties). The session was moderated by LIMA SVP – Industry Relations & Information Martin Brochstein.
The session took off with Spacetoon’s Sangari emphasizing, “Licensing is the epitome of emotional sell. The hook is affection, the goal is a purchase, and the target is the consumer.”
The case for L&M potential in India
“Factor this”, he said, making a case for the L&M potential in India, “360 Million Kids, 580 Million youngsters, 8 dedicated Kids channels, 130 Million Kids who are viewers of TV, Organized retail boom and increasing disposable income, increased exposure to media and entertainment, all of this is leading to the growth of the L&M biz in India.”
“The India story is also about the numbers,” he smiled, “We have 1.1 Billion reasons to believe this industry will grow.”
Adding to the list of interesting statistics, Sangari stated that the Kids L&M market in India was around US$140 Million and was a third of the overall L&M biz in India. He also shared that “Organised retail is merely 7% of the total retail trade and is expected to reach 25% by 2011.”
Sharing more information, Sangari pointed out that product licensing is one of the most popular forms of licensing using the imagery and characters for creating a pull towards the product, and usually it works on an MG and royalty rate of 8 to 12 %. Another category is promotional licensing which due to its large volumes, usually works on flat fees and with royalty rates being around 2%.
Talking about his company he shared that Kids Media India had signed more than 60 license deals in the last 12 months in India, with several brands including Indiatimes, Bombay Dyeing, Liliput, Funskoool, Portico, Toonkidz, amongst many others.
The vast KMI Spacetoon L&M library includes Hello Kitty, Doraemon, Shin Chan, Spiderman, Marvel Heroes and the complete Marvel portfolio, Barney, Dragonball Zee, Ninja Turtles, Garfield, WWE. “We are trying to create an absolute 360* model for kids entertainment. We have some fantastic properties in our LM library including,” concluded Sangari.
The phenomenon that is Fido
Up next was Graphiti’s Munjal Shroff. Graphiti is one of India’s renowned studios involved in production service work as well as development of IP. In the past few years the company has added interesting divisions including education and with Fido, the company is also into Licensing & Merchandising representation for characters in India.
Shroff’s presentation was focused on the Fido phenomenon and an attempt to analyze what makes the Fido magic work.
“Fido is from the past, but he also represents the future” he began.
A very important point he shared was about the philosophy of a character and what it represents. “As a character, Fido has a unique philosophy of let’s not judge people by the size of their pockets but with their heart. He is simple, loyal, faithful, and exudes self confidence in a manner that he does not have to put anyone down to be cool or to stand out.”
“There are no rules, but gentleness and accessibility. He is about ‘be yourself’ he is not about a select club but is a character for the masses.” He said adding, “Interestingly, Fido has cut across age barriers, he is still cool for me, I wear a Fido T-shirt, not necessary that I would wear a Mickey T-shirt.”
Talking about Tshirts, Shroff shared that Apparel and Tshirts were a prominent category in Fido’s phenomenal L&M run. He shared that the character was born out of a doodle on a napkin done by its creators Joanna Ferone and Sue Rose and that Fido didn’t grow popular by conventional mediums like Television but by appearing first on Tshirts and as Graffiti(Co-Incidence) on the walls of New York City.
Fido has done more than a Billion Dollars revenue in L&M and has a global craze. Some of the Fido L&M examples he shared were that of US Tshirt company Freeze, Cativa from Brazil which has created a super successful line of Fido centric Uber cool apparel for youth, he also shared that Fido was huge in China with a massive range of Apparel, furnishing and Toys.
“In India, Pepsi is one of the biggest licensees, Jump is doing Mobile Games and our animation studio is working on a series of 3D animated shorts around Fido which are slated to air on Nickelodeon in the US, and will be aired shortly in India as well.” Shared Munjal adding, “We are planning 360* content for Fido”
When Licensees and Consumers take the Icon to another level
The licensee is as important as the licensor and the character. Giving an example to that effect, Munjal shared, “One very strong point about Fido L&M is that the licensees have consistently come up with great promotional material, plussing things to an altogether different level.”
Talking about consumer involvement and interactivity with the Icon, He shared that there was a whole range of Fido Art the world over, which organically kept on feeding and growing it-self over the past 20 years and still growing strong, “And that was great news for Fido licensees, who can draw upon a lot of great design and art.”
This Fido pop art has a wide variety and range and reflects the cultures of the regions where it has been created.
Untapping the potential of L&M through characters around us
Mayuri Pitale of Extend Brands gave an interesting presentation. “Identify the USP of your property, devise a program around it and evolve with the TG” shared Mayuri while also pointing out how important it was to continue building a property over years to develop it as a classic. “That’s when you can actually milk it” she emphasized.
Urging the audience to think different, Mayuri said that one needs to think about where characters originate from. She said that Gaming was such a contemporary platform but was not at all being tapped. Same was the case with brand mascots such as Air India’s Maharaja and the Amul girl.
An interesting point that Mayuri shared was that while the original new story movie based L&M was a quick action, quick return business, which had to be treated differently, the L&M for sequel based characters, TV series, Brand Mascots and the like was of a different nature where there is ample time available to explore and tap into the character’s potential.
L&M during recession
In these days of global recession, Mayuri pointed out that DTR or Direct to Retail was one of the best strategies for L&M. “it gives you better visibility and better sell through as well” she shared. Also from the retailer perspective, a good strategy would involve tie-ups for exclusive licensed merchandise which could drive in footfalls.
Power of Popeye. 80 and still going strong
Amongst the many characters that Extend Brands represents is Popeye the Sailorman. His spinach saga has been going on for 80 years and is still going strong.
“Popeye is the No 1 licensed character in the food category globally” she shared.
An interesting point she put forth was that, the character has to have specific programs for specific TGs and in the case of Popeye, his appeal was across a vast age group, with Popeye Baby, Popeye, Popeye and Friends, Popeye for grown ups and so on….
She shared some very interesting pack shots of products which had L&M tie ups with brands including Bossini, Mango, Zara, Oishi amongst others. Mango had come up with a vintage , washed, retro look of Popeye in uber cool and hip apparel range and so had other brands…
In terms of kids, popeye was the super strong hero who could make school bags and bed and bath and stationery dearer.
Talking about brand endorsements, Popeye is a super celeb, having endorsed the likes of BMW, Toyota, Mazda, Duracell, Kodak amongst others.
Baby Popeye has also been introduced as a brand extension.
And there would have been more interesting information, had time permitted the panel to go on.
Surely a great session to attend, this one was.