Licensing Magazine October 2020 ENG

#03| 2020

LICENSING | BRANDING | MEDIA&DIGITAL | PUBLISHING TRADE MAGAZINE

2021 PLANS BY THE MAJOR LICENSING PLAYERS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS

NEXT TRENDS TO FOLLOW

NEXT ANIMATION PROJECTS

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Editorial

Dear reader The theme of our last issue of 2020 is the future: the future of the industry as relayed directly by the key players on every topic in the world of licensing.

We all know how much retail has been affected by current event. The trend, skewed towards e-commerce, does not foresee a return to pre-covid numbers, but a confirmation of a very specific trend that professionals and entrepreneurs must learn to deal with it. So here we will talk about the future of retail which has new challenges to face such as omnichannels, but also new e-commerce platforms that can be used by social networks.

Continuing on that same theme, we will discuss how social media has become an essential tool for defining branding strategies.

Additional insights will focus on Asian and preschool content for those looking for something innovative and unique, as well as an in-depth section on publishing and animation. In the publishing sector we talk about editorial trends on inclusivity and sustainability, while in animation we have our yearly report on Cartoon Forum, the prestigious showcase of upcoming animation projects.

This issue is packed with interviews with industry leaders who have spoken to us about their projects and how they see their business in the future.

We invite you to read and enjoy this informative issue with the same thoughts that inspired us to produce it, that is, thinking about the future and what could be.

We remind you also that we are media partners of the Festival of Licensing and we invite you to come and visit us at our virtual booth!!!

Enjoy as always!

Cristina Angelucci

DIGITAL VERSION

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PUBLISHER BM Srl EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Cristina Angelucci GRAPHIC DESIGN Francesca Wolfler SPECIAL THANKS TO Rossella Arena, Alessandra Maccaferri, Andrea De Amicis, Jane Garner, Vaughan O’Grady, Katie RobertsMason, Matteo Melani, Lisa Hryniewicz, Neal Hoskins, Steve Reece, Marcel Portmann PUBLISHING, ADVERTISING AND ADMINISTRATION BM Srl - Via Po, 14 - 10123 Torino, Italy Ph. +39 011 1921 1996 info@bm-eu.com www.bm-eu.com PRINTING Pixartprinting SpA, a Cimpress Company Via 1° Maggio, 8 - 30020 Quarto d’Altino VE, Italy The editorial staff has taken every care to obtain from copyright holders the authorization to publish the pictures in this issue. In any cases where this has not been possible, the editorial staff would like to make it known that they are available to eligible parties to settle any amounts that are owed.

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Contents

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Cover story 14

News

CTC MEDIA Russian brands to become global

32

Interview

News 18

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THE POKÉMON COMPANY INTERNATIONAL Pokémon continues to go from strength to strength in Italy VIACOMCBS CONSUMER PRODUCTS An increasingly central, strategic and integrated business HASBRO 2021: a newsworthy year for Hasbro

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STUDIO 100 MEDIA New plans for 2021

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PLANETA JUNIOR Strategic partnership with Zag Entertainment

80

TEAMTO 15 Years of growing success

News

Interview 30

MONDO TV MeteoHeroes: saving the planet - and that’s just the start!

ACAMAR FILMS Bing plans long stay in Italy as pre-schoolers take him to their hearts MAURIZIO DISTEFANO LICENSING An even richer portfolio with many news to create fast sell-out products

News 66

ETS LICENSING Combining tv and digital for an offer adapted to the consumer evolution

72

XILAM The rich animation portfolio

by Xilam

Interview 74

Interview

CRUNCHYROLL Future plans of Crunchyroll

50

VICTORIA LICENSING & MARKETING Mattel ‘s projects for the future

News 78

ATLANTYCA ENTERTAINMENT Hello Maestro, the edutainment pioneer

80

WILDBRAIN CPLG What’s new in Wildbrain CPLG portfolio

News 54

SANRIO A new season of friendship

58

BOING SPA Re-launch plans for Boing’s portfolio

60

RAINBOW 25 Years rolling and roaring 44 Cats

Interview 82

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PANINI Panini brand insights

IGT - COOL THINGS A new creative factory

News

Interview 62

EL OCHO LICENCIAS Y PROMOCIONES El Ocho view on the future

84

TEEN TV The new european Teen TV is online

Contents

Retail 89

Publishing

RETAIL MONSTER Converting online engagement to consumer products sales

130

WORLD LIBRARIES The best libraries around the world

Trends Interview 90

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CICABOOM It’s time for a new group of mythical heroes...the Letrabots!

PLAY AROUND A new player in the toy industry

134

Retail 110

TEAM MARKETING Uefa Club competition licensing programme

RESTAURANTS AND BRANDING Brand extension, the potential of restaurants

PUBLIC AND TERRITORIAL BRANDS The strength of public access and regional brands

Media&Digital 138

SOCIAL MEDIA The new life of brands on social networks

Trends Entertainment

Events 97

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114

BOLOGNA KIDS LICENSING TRADE FAIR Bologna 2021: focus on kids FESTIVAL OF LICENSING The global licensing big reunion

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E-COMMERCE Social-marketers, instagram and tik tok expand their market

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BOOKS FOR CHILDREN In children’s publishing no one is excluded

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CHILDREN’S PUBLISHING Loving the earth through books for children

Trends 120

PERRY ELLIS INTERNATIONAL What’s new for EMEA and Asia OMNICHANNEL Omnichannel future: the integration between online and offline FRANCHISING Franchising and licensing.

Differences and similarities

142

Publishing

Retail 100

PRESCHOOL The importance of quality for preschool licenses

STATIONERY A passion for paper

Events 146

152

DANCE All for the love of dance

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KIDZ GLOBAL What are the world’s most popular kids’ entertainment brands? Which are the 2020 trends?

YOUTUBE To YouTube and beyond

Trends 128

TOYS Toy licensing trends 2020

CARTOON FORUM The future of European animation at Cartoon Forum 2020

Trends

Media&Digital 124

ASIA Asian content for kids

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Cover Story

CTC MEDIA

Russian brands to become global KID-E-CATS is on its way to become an international leading preschool property conquering the youngest fans in Europe, Asia and the rest of the world. LM met Ksenia Gordienko, Director of Animation Department at CTC Media (the owner of the IP) to learn more about this increasing success and the next plans. manage to achieve it?

Kid-E-Cats is aired in more than 150 countries around the world, and it has been translated into 29 languages. It was first broadcast internationally in Q4 2017 in Canada. When Nickelodeon group bought the show for the broadcast on its international channel platform, it gave an immense push to the global TV exposure of the project. Since 2018 Kid-E-Cats has been rolling out across dozens and dozens of territories. Today you can watch the series on more than 30 FTA channels, 15 pay TV channels and 10 VOD platforms across the globe. TV rights distribution is managed by our international distributors: APC Kids globally (except Russia and China), and Joy Media in China.

Ksenia Gordienko Tell us more about CTC Media’s main business? How Kid-E-Cats was born?

CTC media is a leading Russian entertainment media holding. Our company incorporates four national TV channels and one Pay TV channel in Russia.

Animation is a relatively new business for the company: we started to develop it since 2015 when we launched our first animated TV series - KID-E-CATS. Our first animation IP quickly became a resounding success in Russia and now gaining more

and more popularity all over the world. I’m proud to say that I’m one of those people who have been part of the Kid-E-Cats journey from the very beginning and one of those who helped to bring the project to life. It’s amazing to see how the seed that was planted only five years ago has grown into a massive, strong tree that will hopefully stay evergreen.

Tell us about the TV distribution of the series. We know it is big! How do you

Also on the licensing front, the IP is having its momentum in different territories. Could you tell us more?

We’ve been gaining momentum globally since last year. Together with our dear partner APC Kids, we are building the brand on multiple European, Latin American and Asian licensing markets.

We have established a global network of 15 licensing agents across the world, and we are working hand in hand with them to bring the brand to their territories.

In China, we are partnering with highly professional team of Joy Media, as China needs special attention and care.

Kid-E-Cats licensed products are already present in stores in Italy, Eastern Europe (Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, the Baltic states) and China. Kid-E-Cats toys appeared on the market in Latin America in December 2019, but the worldwide crisis affected our plans quite a bit, and distribution has been temporarily suspended. Right now,

Cover Story

we’re resuming all our processes also due to the actual emergency. Toy sales in that market should start again this December.

Despite the pandemic, we managed to get licensed Kid-E-Cats products (toys, publishing, candy) onto the shelves in Chinese stores last May. China is one of the first markets where we’ve started offline retail sales. This September toys went on sale also in Italy, Poland and several other European countries. The pandemic has affected our business for almost nine months. I hope we’ll be able to quickly make up for that lost time.

Finally, we have big plans for Spain and France for next year.

What are the additional values of KEC brand and why it is so unique among the current pre-school shows on offer?

Our preschool show tells the story of three kittens: Cookie, Pudding, and their

Food and Beverages Promo in Chinese retail

CTC Media Team at Las Vegas Licensing Expo 2019

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Cover Story

kid sister Candy who are always ready to jump into action with endless enthusiasm and energy. Their imagination knows no bounds; these kittens can come up with the most absurdly funny problem-solving ideas. The show has a strong emphasis on friendship, family, and learning through play. It is positive, fun, and safe – that is why it won the hearts of children and parents around the globe.

The show is produced by Metrafilms Studio for CTC Media. The idea and the concept of the project were developed

by Dmitry Vysotsky and Andrey Sikorsky, two professional animators and veterans of the Russian animation industry. The creators have put their heart and soul into this show and that care and attention is what makes it so special and beloved by millions of viewers.

How the partnership with APC kids has been crucial for the international development of your IP? I want to stress that our partnership with APC kids and personally with Lionel Marty, the Managing Director of this company, has played a key role in establishing the KID-E-CATS brand globally. Lionel has brought a talented international creative team on board (Nigel Pickard as Executive Producer, as well as Ceri Barnes - Floogals, Postman Pat, Casper’s Scare School, Guess with Jess - as Story Editor) and has secured a number of significant deals with key international broadcasters for the series (Nickelodeon, Netflix and many others). We have been working side by

Little Tiaras Fashion dolls promo in Russian retail

Little Tiaras side with Lionel since the very beginning and it has been a great and successful partnership. Lionel and the APC team are taking a big care of Kid-E-Cats. We listen to each other and act immediately when there are needs and things to do.

You are also working on a new property, Little Tiaras. Could you tell us something more about it?

I think we have developed another great IP –not only beautiful, but also very upto-dated. Little Tiaras is targeting girls 4-9, teaching them about girl power, teamwork, tolerance, and diversity.

We’ve had excellent results over the two years since this project has become to life. We have two seasons, 26 episodes each, and in Russia, Season 3 started on September 5th. In Season 3, we introduced two new main characters – the boys Li Van (who is Asian) and Vasko (who is Black). We’re very proud to be the first animated series in Russia with racial and gender diversity among the main characters. The show has been at the top of the audience rating charts for Russian children’s television channels (Karusel) for over six months in a row and now more than 100 licensed products have been put in big retail chains on the Russian market, and over 300 products are currently in development.

Also, we are more than happy that APC Kids and Joy Media came on board for the international distribution of this series as well. Together with our partners, we’re already taking our first steps into international markets: the exclusive freeto-air rights for Season 1 and 2 have been picked up by the Noga for The Children’s Channel in Israel, TVP for TVP ABC in

“Well, the main goal is to strengthen our position on the international animation market.

We have more IPs in production and in development that we are so excited to reveal them soon! We truly love all our IPs, we make ambitious plans, and we dream big… otherwise why to bother with all this? :)” - Ksenia Gordienko -

Poland and All Media for Kanāls2 in Latvia.

Starting this autumn, Little Tiaras will be available in Chinese on major local VOD platforms – Tencent and IQiYi – and on many other platforms in China.

I should mention that Little Tiaras is owned by two major Russian companies– CTC media and CTB Film Company –and this partnership gives extra power to the brand.

A final question: what are your main goals for 2021?

Well, the main goal is to strengthen our position on the international animation market. We have more IPs in production and in development that we are so excited to reveal them soon! We truly love all our IPs, we make ambitious plans, and we dream big… otherwise why to bother with all this? :)

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THE POKÉMON COMPANY INTERNATIONAL

Pokémon continues to go from strength to strength in Italy Another hugely successful year for Pokémon is approaching an exciting climax in the run-up to its 25th anniversary celebrations in 2021.

Its three staple pillars of Video Games, Trading Card Games and Animation continued their outstanding performance, with record-breaking sales and increasing fanbase.

Runaway video game success Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield– the fastestselling Nintendo Switch titles ever which have amassed almost 17.5 million sales to date – saw two expansions. The first, June’s The Isle of Armor, saw Pokémon’s first-ever downloadable game content; both it and this autumn’s The Crown Tundra introduce new Pokémon and new areas in the Galar region.

Recent release Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, which revisits the classic 2006 Mystery Dungeon games, is already proving a hit with fans. A Nintendo Switch exclusive, the game features updated visuals and a stunning picture-book art style.

Also new on Switch, plus mobile devices, is fun puzzle game Pokémon Café Mix, set in a café visited by Pokémon.

Shield — Darkness Ablaze and Champion’s Path debuted more Pokémon discovered in the Galar region.

Pokémon animation also continues to go from strength to strength. Licensed for broadcast in 169 countries and regions in over 30 languages, it is available to viewers in Italy on K2. New season 23, Pokémon Journeys: The Series, follows Ash and Pikachu as they set off to see the world.

Recently announced games include New Pokémon Snap for Nintendo Switch, a photo-snapping adventure through unknown islands that is a contemporary update of the 1999 game; and Pokémon UNITE will be the first strategic Pokémon team battle game, where players can face off against each other.

July’s Pokémon Trading Card Game Battle Academy – the first-ever board game adaptation of the Pokémon TCG – combines strategic Pokémon TCG gameplay within a classic, easy-to-learn and fun-to-play family game experience.

Urshifu from Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield Expansion Pass

Pokémon Trading Card Game Battle Academy

Meanwhile, recent expansions to Pokémon’s traditional TCG cemented its position as the world’s leading TCG, with over 25.7 billion cards shipped to 77 countries and regions in 13 languages to date. Summer releases Pokémon Sword &

This year fans have also enjoyed Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back – Evolution, featuring a new CGI style to animated Pokémon movies; and a brand-new seven-part online series Pokémon: Twilight Wings, whose monthly episodes were released on Pokémon’s YouTube channel.

In July 2016 ground-breaking app Pokémon GO started a revolution in mobile gaming, amassing a staggering one billion plus downloads globally to date, and Pokémon continues to introduce innovative new apps. New this year are strategy and battling game Pokémon Masters, which amassed 10 million downloads in its first four days; and cloud service app Pokémon HOME, which allows fans to manage their Pokémon collection across multiple games.

And the Pokémon Smile app, a unique new mobile experience for the brand, makes brushing teeth fun for kids as they develop good habits while catching Pokémon.

A robust licensing programme complemented by innovative collaborations ensure the brand features across multiple consumer touch points.

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relationships with leading fashion stores Zara and H&M have seen new lines in Zara Kids and expanded adults and kids ranges in H&M. Another licensing coup this year saw Pokémon team up with Ferrero Estathè, the most iconic tea drink in Italy, to produce 12 iconic Pokémon designs for their decaffeinated range targeting kids and all Pokémon fans.

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exciting

releases

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Pokémon Journeys: The Series Whether high street or high fashion, Pokémon apparel is hugely popular in Italy. Following successful highprofile collections last year from leading Italian companies including Geox and GCDS, 2020 has seen more exciting collaborations, including the Z Pokémon collection in August from leading high

street children’s retailer Z, comprising 10 pieces across daywear, nightwear, and accessories for both boys and girls, available from all 360 Z stores in Italy and

Pokémon by Z collection

Pokémon and Ferrero Estathé collaborations in the pipeline across its pillars and products, providing ever more exciting ways for fans old and new to connect, Pokémon’s constant innovation keeps it at the forefront of entertainment.

Approaching its 25th anniversary next year, Pokémon’s status as a much-loved and iconic classic brand has never been more apparent.

Pokémon by Z collection

Pokémon by Z collection in France. Adidas launched a collection of apparel and shoes for children and adults that celebrate the iconic Pokémon video game franchise with classic 8-bit graphics; and UNIQLO’s Daniel Arsham x Pokémon T-shirt collection launched as part of a unique art project imagining what Pokémon would look like to archaeologists of the future. Meanwhile, extended DTR

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VIACOMCBS CONSUMER PRODUCTS

AN INCREASINGLY CENTRAL, STRATEGIC AND INTEGRATED BUSINESS In the context of a strong evolution of the media market on a global level, the Consumer Products division of ViacomCBS Networks continues to gain ground: with a view to diversifying the business, licensing is positioned even more as a strategic, central and constant growth.

ViacomCBS Consumer Products in fact, constitutes a further step through which ViacomCBS continues to be the interpreter and guide of pop culture and the conversations of its consumers.

With this awareness, ViacomCBS Consumer Products operates with the aim of strengthening its position in the licensing market in Italy gained over the years, thanks to a strategic planning franchise and the reinforcement of an established synergy between the other business areas, from programming to communication, PR activities, digital resources optimisation and maximisation of results.

“The period we have lived has had significant repercussions on the entire market.” comments Simone Fenu, Senior Director Licensing for Italy, Greece and Malta. “Despite this, ViacomCBS Italia has been able to rethink priorities, offers and schedules, focusing on those properties, such as PAW Patrol, which have been beacons in the middle of the storm for the company and for small users. Starting from this awareness, from the response of a recovering market and strengthened by the trust that we receive year after year from our audience, we are sure that this is the moment of restart for the whole sector, and we’re certain that in a year we will find ourselves here with renewed enthusiasm, and endless ideas.”

What’s new for the next year for ViacomCBS Consumer Products in Italy The focus for 2021 can’t ignore the preschool market, which has always been one of ViacomCBS’s strengths. With properties such as PAW Patrol, which has achieved excellent results both in terms of television feedback - always among the top properties of Nickjr and FTA programming – and in as figures confirm (*source: the NPD Group, Inc. - Italy Toys POS Panel - data January-July 2020 )

Simone Fenu

it to be the #1 property in the preschool toy category in Italy, despite the current suffering of the segment, with sales up 21%*, according to NPD data January July 2020.

PAW Patrol’s popularity is set to be further consolidated with the launch of PAW Patrol The Movie next year. It will allow the Consumer Products division to forge new collaborations, activate promotions and open new categories. This additional content is set to boost the property with an already loyal audience and fanbase. The constant monitoring of all product categories with retail strategies will further amplify the PAW Patrol products.

A focus on digital tools to power the online distribution, in addition to activities in traditional retail, will emphasize the experiential component of the brand for the whole family.

Among the other key preschool brands for next year are also Blue’s Clues & You!, and Baby Shark, which already has over 25 partners in Italy on board for the development of about 200 products covering all the major product categories including toys, food, clothing, accessories and more. Accompanying the Baby Shark product development, new content will

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be launched to support the products on shelves.

To complete the ViacomCBS Consumer Products portfolio there are two great classics, SpongeBob and Turtles , both properties with a very high awareness. In particular, for SpongeBob it will be a strong end to the year, with the release of the third movie, which will be followed in 2021 by a new TV series inspired by the film.

NEW LAUNCH FOR ITALIAN MARKET

For Turtles, famous producer Seth Rogen, known for producing a wide variety of youth movies, is working on a new animated film for the brand. And new to the ViacomCBS portfolio, is the classic Garfield brand, which will allow the company to reach new and interesting audiences, as well as important collaborations with key partners.

Blue’s Clues & You! is the big news in phase of launch for ViacomCBS Consumer Products in Italy broadcast on Nick Jr. since March 2020 for a preschool audience. The show’s format is loved by children for the musical, entertainment and interactive components and by parents, who appreciate its educational value. Blue, the cute little dog star of the animated series, invites viewers to play with her and Josh, involving children in a fun way and helping to develop reasoning skills. In 2021 the TV series will launch on Free to Air TV, alongside the launch of a brand new toy line.

ViacomCBS Italia Consumer Products will also be focusing on a more adult audience, leveraging the strength of brands such as Paramount, enabling it

to offer differentiated and high quality content, with timeless classics and new releases.

Close to celebrating its 40th anniversary, MTV remains a central brand on the platforms on air, online, social, apps, SVOD platforms, live events and also in the licensing field.

Remaining with the youth audience, it’s worth mentioning South Park, the most irreverent cartoon series in history which has always aired on Comedy Central, and has developed collections with “must have” fashion brands among today’s young people.

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HASBRO

2021: a newsworthy year for Hasbro The coming year will be a very busy one for Hasbro and its globally known portfolio of brands. My Little Pony, Nerf, Transformers, Peppa Pig, PJ Masks and Ricky Zoom will all be hitting the headlines in 2021. Here’s why.

There’s a lot to look forward to in 2021 for Hasbro. The re-launch of My Little Pony and the ongoing conquest of the worlds of sport and entertainment by Nerf are just two of the projects the company is preparing for. There are also plans for new content for Transformers and the consolidation –and expansion – of the hit preschool properties Peppa Pig, PJ Masks and Ricky Zoom.

the NPD top ten: it places first in the outdoor category and third as a male property in the Italian market. Nerf is also a social phenomenon thanks to the

content that kids circulate on Instagram.

This independent activity among young fans underlines the brand’s status as a spontaneous and self-generating phenomenon.

Nerf, however, is not just a toy blaster but an action brand – and in that role it has, in the last three years, become an important driver of the overall Hasbro portfolio.

Of course, Nerf is already a fixture in

The growth path of Nerf has been unconventional but certainly successful.

It started as a toy and quickly became much more. In fact, it has revolutionized the concept of outdoor play, supporting a healthy and active lifestyle. But it has evolved even further; today it is seen by fans as a shared experience. Hence the Nerf Nation, are a community of young people who share interests, lifestyles and ways to have fun.

With this in mind, Nerf licensees have adopted and interpreted this new philosophy of the brand and its target market through fashion products that have definitively launched Nerf as a lifestyle property.

It doesn’t stop there. In 2021 Nerf will add sport and entertainment to the areas it serves, further expanding its market potential.

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However, Nerf is not Hasbro’s only focus in the coming year; far from it. Hasbro will also continue to develop one of the most successful franchises in its portfolio: Transformers. Transformers is a classic brand with more than 35 years in the market, but one that remains fresh thanks to new content created and distributed worldwide, both for the adult target market and for younger fans.

In 2021 the property will be able to boast starring roles in two major TV programmes. First of all, K2 will continue to air Transformers Cyberverse –the adventures of Optimus Prime and the

The coming weeks will see the start of the Nerf Challenge, a three-phase competition involving digital and sports talents worldwide. In the first phase, wellknown football, tennis and basketball players will publish on their social profiles a series of challenges for their followers – with Nerf taking centre stage.

The challenge will continue with an extraordinary contribution from the professional gaming world, whose members will invite fans to virtually experience Fortnite’s Battle Royale with their blasters. The last phase will see the users themselves come up with a Nerf Challenge for some famous Youtubers. It’s estimated that the entire digital campaign will reach an astonishing figure of more than 18 million users.

But there’s much more on the way from Nerf. The Nerf Games, a challenge involving Nerf champions, will be promoted by special ambassadors: Nerf Challenge stars will invite Nerfers to register for the Games, participating in a virtual qualification system.

Nerf will then become content – visual entertainment – as the Nerf Games will be broadcast on TV and on online platforms.

The final, held in the US in October, will see the Nerf Champion crowned.

This added dimension to the brand will not only make it even more connected to the active play its younger Fans lovers, but will underline its identity as a sports lifestyle brand, expanding the target audience to take in teen boys.

other Autobots and their battle against the Decepticons – with narration and graphics aimed at an audience of children up to eight years old.

For older fans, the War for Cybertron trilogy started exclusively on Netflix from July 2020. It will continue next year with the new chapter, Kingdom.

The TV series is especially intriguing because it deals with an unusual aspect of the history of the Transformers: the battle on the planet of Cybertron, devastated and reduced to a pile of smoking rubble due to the conflict between the Autobots and their deadly enemies the Decepticons.

The Transformers usually begin their stories with their arrival on the Earth. This time the entire trilogy is set on the planet Cybertron.

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year and to continue, at regular intervals, throughout 2021.

RickyZoom joins Hasbro’s two preschool properties par excellence – Peppa Pig and PJMasks, both loved by their little fans, both successful on the licensing market, and both now considered classic brands.

The style of the animation is reminiscent of the character design of the First Generation. In addition the main players are developed in a very original way, adding depth to their characters beyond the heroes we are used to seeing. All in all, War for Cybertron is an ambitious project that yet again underlines the adaptability of the brand.

A more recent addition to the Hasbro portfolio is the television series RickyZoom on RaiYoyo, with new episodes available from the 14th of September. The second series is due to arrive at the end of this

Peppa Pig is one of the most popular of all preschool brands and brings together young and old fans of all nationalities.

Infact, it is the sixth most important property across the five leading European markets of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom – and the second-biggest character brand in the

preschool segment. It has also won a number of licensing industry awards.

In Italy this brand is very popular, with 96 per cent brand awareness among young girls aged 3-6 years and 90 per cent among boys of the same age. PeppaPig is well known not only among parents but also among grandparents, who recognize its popularity with small children and buy Peppa Pig licensed products for their grandkids.

Programming continuity and regular release of new content have gained Peppa

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PJMasks too has a preschool target audience but with a particular focus on children aged four to five years. There’s a lot of action in these stories but no battles and conflicts, making the brand particularly popular with parents, who approve their children’s passion for Owlette, Catboy and Gekko and consider them positive role models.

PJMask is aired daily on RaiYoyo: in November the show will be on air with new episodes and in April 2021 season four will be launched.

And kids can play with their favourite characters thanks to the master toy products distributed by Giochi Preziosi.

They can also have fun with educational games, art and craft sets, puzzles, soap bubbles, scooters, bicycles and much more.

Pig new fans every year. In October the last part of the eighth season began; new shows will appear in March 2021 when season 9 will be launched, again on RaiYoyo.

Food too has inspired several licensed products such as sweet and savoury snacks, cereal bars and Easter eggs.

There’s also PJMasks bed-ware and– of course – stories from the La Coccinella publishing collection.

As well as the daily broadcast of the cartoon, children can follow Peppa on her official YouTube channel which boasts more than 230,000 subscribers in Italy.

They can also play with apps that are available in every territory, full of minigames and fun activities.

PJMasks also plays a strong role in live entertainment: children can meet their favourite characters on board Costa Crociere boats or visit the special PJMasks City attraction just opened in Leolandia theme park.

The licensing programme is obviously a rich one – and it’s constantly growing.

As well as distributing master toys Giochi Preziosi has developed a line of wooden games. There are also licensed bicycles, educational games, puzzles, soft construction, soap bubbles, oral care products, sweet and savoury snacks, Easter eggs, art and craft items, beach games and more.

Publisher Giunti takes care of the line of books for the bookstore channel, while PonPon has created a collection of activity and colouring books for newsstands.

In addition to all the licensed products, Peppa Pig is of course a live event, thanks to a partnership with Costa Crociere and the theming of an area at Gardaland Amusement Park, where the Peppa Pig House plays host to thousands of people every season.

Our last big piece of news in this Hasbro roundup is there launch of My Little Pony with a new movie produced by Paramount

that will be released in Italian cinemas next autumn.

The new movie (MLP) will present a new crew– irreverent and colourful heroines who will also star in the television series launching in 2022 – with the aim of winning over a whole new generation of young girls.

It looks like 2021 will be a full-on year for Hasbro, one in which it will build ever more diverse strategies to bring more of its beloved brands into the everyday life of young and old fans.

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PLANETA JUNIOR

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH ZAG ENTERTAINMENT Planeta Junior recently acquired a stake in ZAG Entertainment, the prestigious French production companybehindthe mega hits Miraculous: The Adventures of Laydbug and Cat Noir and PowerPlayers.

The agreement will see Planeta participate in the production and strategyof ZAG’s Miraculous World from its inception, especially in Europe. Over the next four years, new characters with great potential will be developed for the series, films and - of course - licensing.

But the big novelty of 2020 is undoubtedly PowerPlayers, a brand new animated series full of action and fun, which transports viewers into the extraordinary world of animated toys. Aimed at a 4+ Kids target, PowerPlayers features the incredible adventures of a young boy and

his toys. Thanks to a partnership with CN / Boing the series already has a strong TV platform: it launched in spring 2020 on Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Boing with Cartoonito joining the fray in September 2020 in Italy.

Playmates is the Master Toy Partner, while GiochiPreziosi will handle the distribution for Italy and other European countries.

What child hasn’t at least once wished for their toys to come to life and take off on a fantastic adventure together? Luckily for Axel, the nine-year old star of the show, this is exactly what happens.

Axel’s life is turned upside down when he discovers that his uncle Andrew, a toy inventor, created a special series of living toys, the PowerPlayers, which can be brought to life with magical bracelets, the PowerBandz. This is how Axel meets his team of inseparable friends: wrestling action-figure Masko; lizard-toy star of TV Galileo; BeardBear, a teddy bear with the soul of a hero; gentle Bobbie Blobby at the helm of a mega giant robot; military toy Sergeant Charge; and Slobot, the slow robot. With his new friends Axeldiscovers he too can transform himself into a toy hero, complete with high-tech accessories, and become the unbeatable Super Axel!

But troubles for the group of super toys begin when the evil Crazy Head comes to life with the PowerBandz: Uncle Andrew’s first unsuccessful experiment on a toy superhero. Crazy Head escaped from the lab and, together with his army of evil accomplices, is intent on carrying out a terrible mission: to steal Axel’s PowerBandz bracelets and use them to turn all humans into toys under his power, thus conquering the whole world. Axel and his friends, with the help of neighbor Zoe,

will do anything it takes to thwart Crazy Head’s terrible plan - without alerting the oblivious Uncle Andrew.

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TO DISCOVER NEXT PLANETA JUNIOR’S PLANS, LM INTERVIEWED IGNACIO SEGURA DE LASSALETTA, GENERAL MANAGER AT PLANETA JUNIOR.

always seen ZAG, and its brands as the strongest independent animation studio around today. Their powerful content, business potential and experience make their characters a major source of income for Planeta Junior.

So we decided to produce their TV series, feature films and the Ladybug Live Show. Taking a share in their capital was the natural next step.

Ignacio Segura de Lassaletta How did your partnership with ZAG Entertainment begin?

Our relationship with ZAG began at the 2016 Licensing Show in Las Vegas.

The moment we saw Ladybug on their stand, we knew we were looking at a phenomenon. Girl empowerment and the idea behind the series were a perfect

fit for a clear global trend. And then, our strong instincts did the rest.

How did you make the decision to become part of the big ZAG Family?

Planeta Junior recently crossed over from being merely an Agent to working as more of a Producer/Agent. We have

What will the key Planeta Junior 2021 properties be?

Miraculous, Gormiti, Pucca and the latest ZAG creation: PowerPlayers. We are also exploring new opportunities for our two classic series: Maya and Heidi.

Global phenomenon Miraculous has achieved incredible TV and digital ratings, with over 13 billion views on YouTube and 88 million app downloads.

And in addition to the TV series, three TV specials will be launched between the end of 2020 and the end of 2021 and Miraculous the film will be released between the end of 2021 and the start

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of 2022. Such increased exposure will strengthen the commercial potential of the franchise.

Gormiti is another one of our major properties, born out of our partnership with GiochiPreziosi, our Master Toy partner, and co-producer together with Kotoc. The main Italian TV partner is Rai, with regular programming on Rai Yoyo and Rai Gulp. Gormiti is becoming increasingly international, and it is now broadcast in over 20 countries as well as on Netflix and Amazon Prime. This will improve its potential licensing for Christmas 2020 and next year.

Power Playersis unquestionably our standout new title for 2020. It targets upper preschool and tells the story of a boy who stars in incredible adventures with his toys. The series has achieved massive programming thanks to our partnership with Cartoon Network/Boing.

Lifestyle property Pucca has great international, cross-target appeal and

reaches everyone from Generation Z to young children. We started out with a more adult target and a digital strategy that achieved incredible results, including 130 million YouTube views.

Seasons 1 and 2 are available online on platforms including Tim Vision and Netflix, and we are defining our Season 3 Italian TV partner to reach younger audiences.

What are your main strategic IP objectives?

Our key strategy is to find more comprehensive opportunities and partnerships with retailers and licensees to perfect increasingly attractive consumer proposals. Consumers are at the heart of our strategy. They are more and more demanding, and look for better purchasing experiences, which poses a real challenge to the industry. Licenses can make a significant contribution to improving experiences.

We are also focused on product

development and support our partners by providing new inspiring materials in addition to classic style guides. We’re going to implement these macro strategies, which illustrate our renewed business approach, for all our key properties.

How has the tough COVID-19 period influenced these objectives? How are you adapting your strategies?

This period slowed calendars down and left many projects pending, which has made it essential to redefine strategies, delivery deadlines and implementation methods. The internet was an effective answer to the speed with which we all had to adapt to the tough reality and new behaviors.

It has now become a vital tool for content, communication and sales and we will carry on developing digital in an integrated and strategic manner, alongside more traditional platforms, hand-in-hand with our retailers and licensees.

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Interview

CRUNCHYROLL

FUTURE PLANS OF CRUNCHYROLL LM interviewed Waell Oueslati, EMEA Acquisition and Licensing Director at Crunchyroll to learn more about the future plans of the leading anime’s collection company.

Crunchyroll’s top properties in 2021 will include “My Hero Academia” and “Captain Tsubasa” in Europe, and the Crunchyroll Original series “Tower of God” and “The God of High School” alongside “Jujutsu Kaisen”, “Bananya”, “Mobile Suit Gundam”, “Re: ZERO”, “The Junji Ito Collection”, “One Punch Man”, “Dr. STONE” and “Black Clover”, just to name a few.

Which are the additional values of your brands?

Anime is an incredible storytelling medium that crosses many genres including sci-fi, sports, thriller, adventure, action, romance and more. There is truly an anime for everything.

Which targets are you able to cover with your anime and manga content? And which are the major licensing categories you are used to developing referring to your main audience?

Anime is a very specific category as it speaks to a plethora of audiences including boys, girls, kids, teens, adults and also so many genres whether it is action, drama, comedy, sports etc.

Waell Oueslati This issue of LM will be focused on the Future of the Licensing Industry.

So, which are your 2021 licensing and entertainment plans?

Crunchyroll’s global growth has been incredible reaching today a global community of more than 3 million subscribers and 70 million registered users all over the world that enjoy the world’s largest collection of anime, including more 1,000 titles and 30,000 episodes.

Crunchyroll currently manages all-rights for more than 350 anime titles, working with more than 100 global licensees to provide anime fans with the best lifestyle, fashion, toys and home goods products from their favorite series.

Crunchyroll has different divisions and souls. Could you tell us more about how this big content factory is structured?

Crunchyroll, a WarnerMedia company, is the world’s most popular anime brand, connecting anime and manga fans across 200+ countries and territories with 360-degree experiences.

Fans have access to the largest collection of licensed anime through Crunchyroll, Anime Digital Network (in partnership with Citel, a subsidiary of Média-Participations), and Anime on Demand video streaming services, translated in multiple languages for viewers worldwide. Viewers can also access simulcasts — top series available immediately after Japanese broadcast.

Crunchyroll’s services also extend to licensing of theatrical, TV, home video, consumer product, and video game rights.

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worldwide Virtual Crunchyroll Expo with an incredible lineup of guests, premieres, panels, performances and more over the three-day digital event.

Finally, the Crunchyroll Games. Many of our games are available internationally.

Notably “Mass for the Dead” has been particularly popular with fans in Mexico and Latin America. We’re planning to bring more games to fans!

Fans engage further with events (including owned events as Crunchyroll Expo, Anime Awards, Crunchyroll Movie Nights, KAZÉ Movie Nights), consumer products through eCommerce and retail partners (Crunchyroll, KAZÉ, AV Visionen), Crunchyroll Games, KAZÉ Games, and manga (KAZÉ Manga, Crunchyroll Manga app, Crunchyroll Manga Store).

We’re also looking to extend our broader

Basing on the new consumers’ habits, due to the COVID period, how are you keeping to entertain through online platforms?

Like most streaming companies, we’ve seen an uptick, but we’re fortunate to be able to provide comfort and entertainment during these times. We’ve just wrapped the first-ever worldwide Virtual Crunchyroll Expo with an incredible lineup of guests, premieres, panels, performances and more over the three-day digital event.

the same experiences online or virtually.

This change was actually predictable and already ongoing, but let’s say that the world situation we’re all facing today has accelerated the process of finding ways to keep our community in connection.

Finally, we are still seeing a strong eCommerce business, and we are working closely with our licensing partners to be nimble during these times.

360-approach internationally within this next year on three fronts. First of all, in terms of Distribution, we recently worked with Cartoon Network in LATAM and TNT Comedy in Germany, to bring fans linear offerings to connect.

As for the Events, we know the world has changed this year, but our team has participated in a number of virtual conventions, panels, and events both in the US and in our international markets.

We’ve just wrapped the first-ever

How do you feel the partnerships with licensees and retailers have changed following this period and how you will strengthen it in the future?

The licensing business being driven by product and experiences, the pandemic has seriously disrupted some of the planned strategies for 2020/2021, leaving licensing and retail businesses particularly exposed. This disruption pushes us and our partners to explore a number of new creative options to enable

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MONDO TV

MeteoHeroes: saving the planet - and that’s just the start!

MeteoHeroes is a funny and thrilling new series from Mondo TV about six superpowered kids who use their powers to protect the environment. But it’s much more than that. It’s a series that combines a powerful, well-researched message about climate change and pollution with action, adventure, cool characters and great design– and it’s enjoying a very successful rollout.

The four opening episodes of MeteoHeroes premiered on Cartoonito in Italy on the 22nd of April for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. It was a perfect connection for the show, which addresses issues like fighting pollution and climate change through the adventures of six children who transform into superheroes with powers over the weather.

The show’s premiere was accompanied by a major media campaign during which the stars of MeteoHeroes played their roles as ambassadors in the fight to protect our planet. The official series launch was on the 6th of July, when the four opening episodes again appeared, followed by 14 brand-new episodes.

Cartoonito’s commitment was clear from the start – and boosted by very positive results. In fact, the show was broadcast

in primetime continuously for the entire summer to further build brand momentum ahead of the launch of new episodes in October.

This is a 100% Italian co-production that is now rolling out in multiple territories.

MeteoHeroes is already a hit in the Italian market, and broadcast agreements with other EMEA countries and channels have already been secured, including Switzerland’s RSI, where the show launched on 5 September on the main RSI channel LA1, and Minika in Turkey.

The July launch was promoted through a press conference, held on the 1st of July via live streaming on the MeteoHeroes Facebook account. During the event, the various players who had been committed from an early stage to making the project a reality, explained to the web audience why

they supported it and why MeteoHeroes is a unique concept.

One of the earliest supporters of the show was the non-profit organization Legambiente, one of Italy’s best-known and most widely supported environmental organizations with over 115,000 members and supporters. Legambiente saw the importance and scientific validity of the project when it was still in development and gave MeteoHeroes its patronage even at this early stage.

“The primary objective of Legambiente is to raise awareness of environmental issues by making both problems and solution understandable.

But MeteoHeroes goes further. It takes a valuable message into Italian homes and speaks to younger generations who will be one day be in the forefront of change. It is, in fact, unique. There are many television productions that focus on environmental issues, but none of them deals with climate change in a way that is both scientifically accurateand easy to understand for the young.”

- Giorgio Zampetti, General Manager of Legambiente -

The partnership with Legambiente extends to a framework agreement including a number of projects. One such is SAVE THE QUEEN, a campaign to protect bees that play a crucial role in supporting the biodiversity of the planet and, by extension, the existence of humanity itself. This identity of views has led to the co-branding ‘MeteoHeroes support Legambiente’. In fact Mondo TV and Meteo Expert – Icona Meteo, the show’s co-producer and a major name in weather forecasting – have started a fundraiser from the proceeds earned from the sales of licensed products.

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It’s a licensing programme that also reflects the show’s message. The values of sustainability and respect for the environment aren’t just on screen; they will be reflected in the show’s carefully devised and ever-expanding licensing programme, along with the excitement, fun and great characters central to the show’s appeal.

“The show has strong potential in the context of play,” says Valentina La Macchia, Mondo TV Licensing Director, “and many assets within the series have been developed with the aim of building on that potential.” She continues: “The variety of characters and their very different personalities, as well as the richness of the locations, will all help to inspire the imaginations of the young when translated into products.”

Early licensees include Giunti (books and activity books), Pea &Promoplast (which is planning a range of pocket money toys via its Play Around division), Dynit (3D flowpack, putty slime and Epiphany socks), Playpress (magic pens, colouring and activity), Mondadori (a monthly magazine), Eu.Promotions (loyalty promotions), Ravensburger (puzzles and games), Koch Media (home video), IdeaLab (collectibles) and Kimbe (costume characters for meetand-greet activities).

Many other licensing negotiations are completed, including a range of Easter eggs for 2021, or ongoing for educational games.

The first products to reach shelves will be the Koch Media DVDs, whose launch in the normal trade is set for the 15th of October, followed by a launch in kiosks

when the DVDs will be bundled with Donna Moderna and TV Sorrisi e Canzoni, two very popular Mondadori Group magazines.

This collaboration between two licensees is aimed at strengthening the visibility of the launch by making strong use of the kiosk channel, which will also serve Play Press. Play Press will also launch in October, as will Ravensburger.

So what is it that sets MeteoHeroes apart?

What are the qualities that make it such a strong contender to become a successful franchise? Beatrice Fini, Editorial Director at Giunti Editore, summed it up for her company during the streamed press conference on the 1st of July when she said: “MeteoHeroes has all the right qualities to fit perfectly with the mission of the Giunti catalogue: it combines entertainment with education and has something to appeal to many different ages.”

It’s a summary that was also confirmed by a survey conducted by Mondo TV and co-producer Meteo Expert with the collaboration of Italian schools and involving 500 children aged 3 to 10.

Perhaps the most interesting takeaway from the data was that the approval rating of 97% from the younger age group – the core target audience – was also confirmed by older age groups who gave the show 91%.

But there’s much more coming from this new Mondo TV co-creation; a podcast is planned.

This new ‘branded podcast’ is the first inspired by an animated series. Its contents will be fun and informative, with the

familiar voices of the six little stars taking the show’s message beyond the TV screen and onto the new podcasting channel.

Each episode ends with an educational postscript by Andrea Giuliacci, a wellknown Italian meteorologist. MeteoHeroes ambassador Andrea, together with Meteo Expert meteorologists, has supplied the information on the behaviour of the weather phenomena that is used in the animated series – and that will also be used in the podcast.

“It is important to educate children about climate change because it means that as adults they will be more aware of the issues and more open to adopting sustainable behaviours.”

- Andrea Giuliacci -

This is an ingenious tie-in, building on the show’s strong licensing appeal. Indeed, MeteoHeroes product packaging will contain a special QR code. Kids just need to frame it with their smartphone to listen to the podcast.

And there’s much more to come. As Valentina La Macchia says: “MeteoHeroes is a very rich brand, not only in broadcasting, education and licensing terms but in so many other ways. We’ve only just begun to explore the potential of this amazing property.”

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STUDIO 100 MEDIA

NEW PLANS FOR 2021 Studio 100 Media is an international leading entertainment company, ready to face this time’s major challenges. LM interviewed Joachim Knödler, the new Head of Licensing at Studio 100 Media.

How will you share your vast know-how to increase the Studio 100 licensing division?

Licensing is a complex business and by far it is not only done by making a deal and leaving a license on its own. Studio 100 Media brings significant power on the ground with our 360-degree approach on our properties, we attract the consumer with our theme parks across Europe but also with great content in theatre, TV and on social media.

My main goal is to continuously enhance the presence of our brands and IPs with a wide intense licensing portfolio from fashion to toys but also with key driving categories to attract consumers by price point, play value and experience. Of course, we will also drive the activation of our IPs in retail to the next level by supporting licensees and retailers.

Which will be your main goals for the next future?

Studio 100 has a significant business presence in the GAS and Benelux region, we cover all kinds of categories with our core brands and we have a great presence in retail. For the future we will place a larger

Maya the Bee

focus on international markets. In fact, we are driving our business forward in CEE currently we are closing for example a deal with a big retailer - where we will launch a nice kids’ apparel range in Q1 2021 continued by Q2-Q3 activities. For the future we will extend and strengthen the presence of our existing and upcoming IPs in the international markets such as Latin America, MENA, and Asia.

Which will be the IPs you will plan to focus on most?

Our wide mix of IPs will cover boys, girls and tweens for 2021, of course “Maya the Bee” will be one of our key priorities based on her 45th television anniversary in Germany and the upcoming release of her third movie adventure “Maya the Bee – The Golden Orb” in Q1 2021. Along with the movie release we have prepared an immense mix of activities, including a key retailer promotion as a great platform for our licensees. Looking further ahead, we have “Mia and me” back with a 4th season and a movie - and of course the upcoming broadcast of “100% Wolf - Legend of the Moonstone” in various European territories as well as in Latin America. The movie “100% Wolf” recently reached the

Joachim Knödler 1 million visitors benchmark in the UK. In fact, we are also working on new IPs for which we will commence with master toy pitches during the upcoming Festival of Licensing. We will also use the Festival of Licensing platform to support our international approach to drive business in key territories such as UK, France, Poland, China, and Latin America forward.

How do you see the future of the business after the COVID period?

The Corona pandemic was a wakeup call for all of us – it enforced and made us realize how important bricks and mortar retailers still are.

For the time after COVID, but also right now during weeks and months of partially intense restrictions, we need to support each other - from licensor side to licensees and retailers. I strongly believe that in the future the importance of “retailtainment” will be more and more the key for success in licensing – not only with the right concept in shopping malls, but also as an emotional experience instore on shelves in terms of products.

Studio 100 Media is a leading expert as we can play our IPs on all channels - linear and digital, but also as a live experience within Studio 100´s theme parks. We can include licensees and retailers within this mix, and this is even more important now in order to get back to the level before the Corona pandemic.

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WHAT’S NEW IN ANIMATION AT STUDIO 100 MEDIA

TITLE: SEABELIEVERS

Format: Season I, 52 x 11 minutes Animation Type: CGI Created By: Brien Arone Production companies: Baboon Animation (USA), Telegael (Ireland) and AnCartoon (China) Target Audience: Preschool, 4 - 7 years Delivery Date: 2021 Synopsis: SeaBelievers is the first kids ECO-tainment show in the world that tells stories that will thematically matter and empower kids. Each animated episode leads kids on an ECO-adventure.

SeaBelievers is the first ever tv series to represent a whole new genre of ECO-tainment. This genre created by Brien Arone, Founder and SeaEO of SeaBelievers, combines the benefit of edutainment for children – it’s informative and realistic about real-life issues affecting our ocean and encourages kids to make a difference – because they can! And all of this is done in a fun and entertaining way as the show emanates as a stunning and engaging musical ECO-adventure with original tunes to sing and dance along to.

SeaBelievers

FriendZSpace

TITLE: FRIENDZSPACE

SeaBelievers

Format: 52 x 11 minutes Style: CGI Animation Created By: Dan Clark and Oscar Covar Co-producers: T & B Media Global, Flying Bark Productions Target Audience: Kids 5 to 9 years Status: In development and production Delivery Date: 2021 Synopsis: FriendZSpace is about three best friends, Alice, Leo and Kim who may seem like regular human kids, but behind their normal façade they are risk-taking deep space friend makers! Each episode follows the three kids as they jet into space in their unpredictable star cruiser, “The Dart”.

Accompanied by BotDog (half puppy and half high-tech Swiss army knife) their mission is simple and wonderfully weird: locate planets, find alien kids, introduce themselves, and make friends.

But making friends with alien kids is tricky!

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FriendZSpace is all about kids and kid culture — alien kids and human kids — it’s about embracing our differences and getting into exciting trouble in the process!

TITLE: 100% WOLF – LEGEND OF THE MOONSTONE

Format: 26 x 22 minutes Target Audience: 6-10 boys and girls Genre: Comedy, Adventure Style: CGI Animation Production Partners: Flying Bark Productions together with ABC Australia and Super RTL Germany as commissioning broadcasters Created By: Based on the Australian book 100% Wolf by Jayne Lyons.

Synopsis: Freddy Lupin, heir to a proud family line of werewolves was in shock when on his 13th birthday his first “warfing” went awry, turning him into a ferocious… poodle. Now enrolled in the prestigious Howlington Academy, Freddy must prove that he still has the heart of a werewolf!

100% Wolf - Legend of the Moonstone (Naturschutzbund Deutschland e.V.) and its insect protection fund since 2020. NABU has been committed to the protection of insects for years. With its expertise and great commitment, NABU is a strong partner for Maya the Bee’s Project Poppy Meadow, which includes a digital environmental education programme with numerous tips for effective insect protection measures.

LICENSING HIGHLIGHTS

MAYA THE BEE, THE ECOFRIENDLY BRAND More than any other bee, Maya the Bee as an ambassador is giving a face to bee protection. As a testimonial for

the promotion Save the bees with Maya the Bee with supermarket chain rewe in Germany, the important topic also has a reach and a visibility that gives it the necessary attention. This campaign involved more than 4300 German rewe stores and reached over 40 million customer contacts.

Maya the Bee and her bee protection initiative have been supporting NABU

Bees Protection initiatives by Maya the Bee

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Mia and me - The Hero of Centopia The Maya the Bee - Project Poppy Meadow has been established since 2018. It wants to inform parents and their children about bees in a playful way and show them what they can do to protect the insects.

Last but not least, to support Maya’s efforts in nature conservation and to leverage the changes of consumer behaviour that arise from the neo-ecology mega trend, Studio 100 Media has pushed ahead ecological aspects in the value chain of all exploitation departments.

That’s why it has envisaged a new ecosustainability style guide: a special tool that supports producing eco-friendly and sustainable products regarding design, packaging and materials like wood, stone, cork or felt or already recycled materials, but also leverages sales with promotional icon or logo lock-up.

100% Wolf - The Movie

100% WOLF AND ITS GROWING SUCCESS “100% Wolf” as a brand, a movie and a series is a unique action-adventure buddy/best friend comedy, serving the trending topic of mythical creatures in a gender-neutral way with a very distinctive main character and a strong message with high social relevance: Heroes come in many forms!

The feature film “100% Wolf” is going to be released around the globe this year and early next year - in the territories of Australia, the Balkan states, Belgium, Bulgaria, the CIS states, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latin America, the Middle East states, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, the UK, the US and Vietnam.

The series “100% Wolf - The Legend of the Moonstone” will be available in Moldova, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, San Marino and Latin America.

MIA AND ME, NEW CONTENT PLANNED ON 2021 Mia, the heroine in Centopia is already a role model for many girls and this aspect is going to be implemented for the positioning of the brand.

New releases are also on the way, as the feature film “Mia and me – The Hero of Centopia” and the 4th season, which are already in production and will be completed next year.

The feature film will surpass the look of the series once again and bring many new characters - such as Stormy and Hookface - two new unicorns; as with the fourth season there will also be a new look to the artwork.

Like the first three seasons, the new adventures will be shown again on ZDF and KiKA in the German-speaking territories. The completion of the theatrical feature and the 4th season is planned for 2021. The 15 international Mia and me YouTube channels have recently reached the incredible 1 billion video views mark.

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TEAMTO

15 YEARS OF GROWING SUCCESS 15 years ago TeamTO began its journey towards its welldeserved legacy for pushing boundaries, innovative storytelling, and artist-driven creativity, defining the company as a global leader in universally appealing and entertaining kids content.

In 2020 the company marks its 15th anniversary with a host of ground-breaking accomplishments. influential women in French animation, President and co-founder of LES FEMMES S’ANIMENT (French version of WIA) and a10-years board member of Animation France. She was awarded the Cartoon Forum European Producer of the Year Award in 2010, the Cartoon Movie Producer of the Year in 2015,as well Emmy and Pulcinella awards and nominations.

How did you get where you are today?

I would not have gotten where I am if I hadn’t met inspiring women who helped me break into the business, lending me a welcoming hand in a world where men were so dominant. Dora Benousilio (The Crossing,Les films de l’Arlequin) was one of those women I will never forget.

Jade Armor This year alone – even with the COVID challenge – TeamTO entered production on girl-led action comedy Jade Armor; started delivering Presto! School of Magic, the only animated kids show about the art of magic; partnered with Federation Entertainment for distribution of Presto!; and pitched its first preschool show Tiny Island at Cartoon Forum 2020 – where it ranked among the festival’s top five programs.

Since its founding in 2005 by Guillaume Hellouin, Corinne Kouper and Caroline Souris, TeamTO has created awardwinning, world-renown series including its original Emmy®-nominated IP Angelo Rules, Mighty Mike, My Knight and Me, Oscar’s Oasis, and the feature film

Yellowbird. It is also the studio behind eOne’s Ricky Zoom and PJ Masks; Activision Blizzard’s Skylanders Academy; and Disney’s Sofia the First and Elena of Avalor.

TeamTO’s outstanding content is 100% a result of its creative team, starting at the top with multi-award winning and visionary founders, Corinne Kouper and Guillaume Hellouin, carried out by hugely talented developers (Emmy nominated Mary Bredin); directors (Chloe Miller, Guillermo Garcia Carsi, Franz Kirchner), writers (MJ Offen, Amy Jackson, Andy Reingold) and hundreds of talented artists.

LM spoke to its key executives: Corinne Kouper is one of the most

What are the greatest milestones for the company?

Salon du Livre 2006 where I discovered the ANGELO RULES’ books (2013 Emmy Nomination, 2010 Pulcinella Award), the release of the YELLOWBIRD feature film in 2015, and in 2013 the development of PJMasks for 3 seasons with Christian de Vita.

Angelo Rules

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Chloe Miller, co-creator and Director of Jade Armor Where did your inspiration for directing JADE ARMOR come from?

I have been fascinated with the idea of having a girl character with kung fu skills for many years so Jade Armor comes from that place. I’ve always been obsessed with anime, even as a kid, so I’m thrilled to bring some of that quirkiness to this series. I’ve also been inspired by working with an amazingly strong female creative team, it has been so rewarding to channel our ambition into such a fun character that we know will inspire girls in the real world.

Patricia de Wilde, SVP of Marketing, Marketing Mighty Mike What sets you apart from other content creators?

Probably our desire to work in the shadow of our artists, not the limelight.

And what do you hope will be your legacy?

Not ready to leave a heritage quite yet... still lots of other people to work with and lots to accomplish!

Guillaume Hellouin, President, cofounder.

In addition to producing TeamTO’s slate, he is the visionary behind TeamTO’s revolutionary Rumba software and the training program at the inclusive animation school l’ECAS. What contributes to the artistic and commercial success of your productions?

Trying to not compromise, pushing ideas to their limits, not copying ideas - trying new ones, not giving in to what other people say is good but going with our own instinct. Pulling ideas from unusual places and really being open to new ideas.

Moving beyond what already exists in content spaces.

Mary Bredin, Creative Development Producer What are the programs you are most proud of and why?

Tiny Island will be the show I am most proud of, because of working with

Guillermo as a director on this show, he really brought out the “funny” in the show (and in me!). We had a really good process and I think that is so important for developing animated stories. I also was able to build on everything I have learned about pre-school in my career, what works or doesn’t work, and applying what I like best from all the shows I have worked on in the past (like Justin Time, Pikwik, True and the Rainbow Kingdom…)

Presto! School of Magic

What are the latest Licensing developments?

We’re harnessing the current international success of our slapstick pug show Mighty Mike, which connects with kids of all ages, to launch a fun and endearing licensing program geared at a family demo. This is the TeamTO recipe: an amazing quality show with heart, made for a global audience to engage fans for the long run.

And with Jade Armor, we are starting to put in place the building blocks for a new kind of female heroine with great licensing potential.

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ACAMAR FILMS

Bing plans long stay in Italy as pre-schoolers take him to their hearts Italian children have fallen for Bing in a big way since its launch on Rai Yoyo in early 2018.

A celebration of the joyful, messy reality of preschool life, the show’s hugely relatable stories and timeless, universal values have been driving its phenomenal success.

Strong broadcast ratings combined with a rapidly growing YouTube channel and soaring digital communities have created high awareness and affinity among preschoolers, meaning Bing is here to stay in Italy!

Acamar’s multiplatform approach has enabled them to reach, move and delight audiences wherever they are. A firm favourite on Rai Yoyo – and the No. 1 show on its app – Bing is also available on pay TV channels DeA Junior (where it’s the No. 1 show), TIMVision and soon on Amazon Prime Video. Bing’s Italian YouTube channel has seen a huge surge over the past six months, taking it to an amazing 438m+ channel views and 32.6m+ watch time hours.

Time for Bed with Bing and Owly by Giochi Preziosi

Bing-My First Collection of Educational Games by Liscianigiochi Spa numbers. With an Italian team dedicated to growing the Bing community on the country’s digital platforms, there has been constant growth in reach and engagement for Bing’s social channels, demonstrating a huge appetite for all things Bing. The fastest-growing pre-school show on Facebook, Bing has 100k followers in Italy alone, and the show has reached 16.5m people on social channels in the past year.

Maurizio Distefano As Maurizio Distefano, President and Owner at MLD says: “Bing in Italy has become a record-breaking series, with the highest audience every day on Rai Yoyo and DeA Junior, and we are proud to be managing its ever-growing licensing programme. Bing’s Italian social channels are reaching increasingly high numbers, which allows us to have direct contact with a wider audience and to offer lots of content and all the latest exciting Bing news and product launches.”

Acamar’s significant investment in growing consumer touchpoints is reaping rich rewards. The award-winning freemium ‘Bing: Watch, Play, Learn’ app launched in June amassing 100k downloads in its first 12 weeks, while new website BingBunny.com, which launched during lockdown in April, has also attracted large

Earlier this year, the multi-territory campaign ‘Staying at home together... it’s a Bing thing’ launched on Bing social channels, thoughtfully designed to provide a whole host of safe, engaging and interactive activities to support families during lockdown.

New live and experiential offerings are also in the pipeline, such as the new Bing cinema experiences. Having debuted in the UK last Christmas to great success, these are now being expanded for the coming festive season into Italy, along with Poland and The Netherlands. Following a very successful debut at Leolandia in 2019, Acamar are also looking to expand their Live Show and Theme Park presence over time, with major new deals set to be announced soon.

Bing has also been proving a success in the licensing arena, and was named Property

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Bing’s Train and Mini Playset by Giochi Preziosi of the Year 2019 at the Bologna Licensing Fair Awards. Acamar’s Italian licensing agent, Maurizio Distefano, ensured a strong start to their programme with best in class partners such as Giochi Preziosi for toys, Giunti and PonPon for publishing, Lisciani for educational toys and games and Dolphin for seasonal confectionery.

The AW19 toy range from Giochi Preziosi was a sell-out hit and the new AW20 line, with an expanded range of beautiful plush and plastic toys, promises to be as successful. Bing has been Giunti’s bestselling property; 15 new titles this year include unique formats for the Italian market.

Licensees have got behind Bing in a big way Graziano Delmaestro, Licensing Director at Giochi Preziosi, says: “From the moment Giochi Preziosi took on Bing, it has made a very important contribution to our lineup, and given us the opportunity to reach a very young audience. We are confident about continuing growth for our Bing toy line, thanks to the upcoming launch of new Christmas toys in the market, which

Artsana Bing Apparel Collection will be supported by the imminent release of new TV content on Rai Yoyo”. Federica Iezzi, Licensing and Marketing Manager Liscianigiochi Spa, also confirms: “Bing is extremely compatible with the values of Lisciani brands, which are known for high quality and successful products, venerated

Bing’s retail footprint in Italy has been growing both in-store and online. Key accounts include Toys Center, Giocheria, Carrefour, Conad and Auchan, with Bing branded stores recently launched on Amazon.it and toyscenter.it showcasing a wide range of Bing products.

As new episodes launch in a few weeks on Rai Yoyo, Acamar are looking to develop new products to cater for Bing’s Italian audience. With plans to expand into promotions, FMCG and diverse categories in the coming years, Bing looks set for an exciting and enduring future in Italy.

Federica Iezzi

Graziano Delmaestro

by mothers and children alike. We are very proud to be able to apply our educational expertise to Bing to create licensed products with appropriate content, in line with our mission.”

Artsana Bing Apparel Collection

Acamar Films will be exhibiting at Festival of Licensing, 6-8th October 2020.

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MAURIZIO DISTEFANO LICENSING

An even richer portfolio with many news to create fast sell-out products Maurizio Distefano Licensing Agency (MDL) continues to have as its main strength its strategy based on a careful selection of properties that have strong potential to become a success in the Italian market.

This is the key of a portfolio - that boasts great successes and absolute novelties – that is strongly focused on diversification: Cartoons, Brands, Fashion, Music. Even during the lockdown, MDL has never stopped offering a high-level service to its licensees and licensors, thanks to the constant availability and continuous assistance of the entire Team.

Furthermore, also the increasing of new represented brands, retail activities and new licensing agreements did not stop.

Cartoons

MDL has long been a major player in the development of successful licensing programs for children and it

carefully selects animated series with high potential, suitable for a portfolio that boasts names such as Masha and The Bear, Bing, ALVINNN!!! and The

Chipmunks, ZAFARI and Gigantosaurus.

The latest addition to this list is Leo&Tig, a TV series produced by Animation studio Parovoz and managed by 0+Media

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company, that tells the story of everyday adventures of two little friends leopard Leo and tiger Tig that enjoy having fun in the wilderness of the Far Eastern taiga.

The first series is broadcasted in Italy on Rai YoYo, consisting of 26 episodes of 11 minutes suitable for an audience aged 5 to 10.The message behind this animated series is the sense of respect and care for the world that surrounds us, making it a true cognitive entertainment project for kids. The winning combination of fun with the message of respect for the world around us has a lot of appeal among children, and at the same time a very high potential in the licenses for toys, plushes, stationery, publishing and much more.

Lots of news regard the property of records, Bing, which, in addition to having won the Bologna Licensing Award as “Property of the Year”, continues its rise thanks to investments focused on Italy.

In particular, the creation of a program of digital entertainment activities dedicated to children and their parents during the long weeks of lock-down, a new website in Italian, the new “Bing: Watch, Play, Learn” App, to watch all the episodes and play with many activities, a dedicated shop on Amazon, where you can find all official Bing products in an instant. Many other activities are planned for the coming months to continue to entertain Bingsters, their families and support official products sales.

Great news also for Masha and the Bear with the fourth season, Masha’s Songs,

where Masha sings typical performances of different countries of the world, discovering curiosities and local customs.

The debut was on Rai YoYo in June, with the first episode dedicated to Italy, to

thank the Italian fans of the series.

The popular series ALVINNN!!! And the Chipmunks, broadcast on K2 and Nick Junior, takes viewers on a roller-coaster ride of music, laughter, and stories geared to entertain the Chipmunks’ four generations of fans. Born from the collaboration between Bagdasarian Productions and Salani Editore, the new ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks book collection is available across Italy’s best bookstores and mass market retailers. The publishing program launches with five different titles. The aim of the ALVINNN!!! collection is to entertain children through games, puzzles, and stories about everyday life and, obviously in Alvin’s case,

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music. The books are available online, on the Salani Editore website, in bookstores and in large-scale distribution.

Gigantosaurus debuts on Rai YoYo with the first season in September 2020 and will also be aired on Netflix and on main international networks, while the first video game “Gigantosaurus: The Game�, is already launched by Bandai Namco: players can explore the vast prehistoric world in a unique adventure of its kind.

Brands

To meet the needs of licensees interested in teen and adult targets, MDL has also enriched its portfolio with high-impact brands and in some cases, for the first time, managed directly from Italy. The

support of the MDL Agency helps to select and create projects and market launch faster.

International Space Archives (ISA) brings together in a single complete collection the most beautiful static and moving images of the space programs of various countries: USA, Russia, China, Japan and Europe. The Mission Patches, photos, films and videos contained in the archive come from various sources including NASA, in fact it is also possible to use its logo.

Recent acquisition is LIFE, the most famous illustrated magazine of photojournalism in the worldthat boasts highly-acclaimed photographs. LIFE is an archive of human experiences and perception of great

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artists of the world and its iconic images have withstood the test of time, giving licensees the ability to use sophisticated photographic art in product lines, giving them a style of high perceived value. LIFE Logo is internationally recognized and is perfectly suited to the enhancement of all products in the various categories.

The latest news is the management of La Gazzetta dello Sport licensing program, by far the most widely read newspaper in Italy and followed all over the world. The quality and completeness of the journalistic information make it the most authoritative sports newspaper, communicating news of all sports: football, swimming, cycling, basketball, volleyball,

etc. to millions of fans. It offers the possibility to create fantastic collections of clothing, accessories, Food & Beverage and promotions, some of the categories in which this property offers unmissable license opportunities to hook the Italian public who loves sport at 360°.

Fashion

Among the many ongoing projects, MDL has created an offer based on the world of fashion, giving space to versatile Italian Creative Directors for different projects: Filippo Laterza, Stefano Cavalleri and PREMOLI + DI BELLA. In particular, Ferribiella Spa, an Italian company of excellence in the Pet market, has chosen PREMOLI + DI BELLA for the development of a high-positioning line dedicated to our four-legged friends.

Music

Another category with a strong potential for consumers of all ages, from children to teens to adults, is Music, and MDL offers licensing opportunities with some of the best-known bands and artists in history.

The roster of rock music bands includes AC / DC, Kiss, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, The Police, Genesis among others. Wonderful are the Style Guides dedicated to Imagine, the classic LP by John Lennon, Lyrics by Lennon & McCartney and one of the first and biggest music festivals, Woodstock. The strengths of music licenses are the vintage and iconic graphics, always timeless.

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VICTORIA LICENSING & MARKETING

MATTEL ‘S PROJECTS FOR THE FUTURE This year has been a particularly challenging period for companies that base most of their business on toys, such as Mattel. Thinking about the future, LM interviewed Eleonora Schiavoni, Founder and Managing Director of Victoria Licensing & Marketing, exclusive agent for Mattel Brands in Italy.

Zara, T-shirt adult Barbie

Eleonora Schiavoni - Managing Director Victoria Licensing & Marketing How did Mattel manage the first part of this difficult year and how is it preparing for the future?

We are emerging from an undeniably difficult period for the toy industry. In fact

in Italy, according to NPD data, during the complete lockdown period, the toy industry suffered a 12% drop in turnover equal to approximately € 43 million in losses. Luckily, we recently recorded a

first significant re-boot, starting as early as June, with a €7.3 million increase in turnover compared to 2019 (+ 12%).

Mattel also confirmed this positive trend for all its toy brands that somehow came out of the pandemic in a stronger position. In July Barbie was confirmed as the number 1 on the toy market, thanks partly to the excellent performance of Color Reveal, the 4th ranked item on the market. It has also been an excellent time for Fisher-Price, which performed better in July than other brands in its category. In the overall ranking of the Top10 YTD items, there are three of Mattel’s core products in key toys categories: #4 Barbie Color Reveal, #8 UNO Game Cards and #9 Hot Wheels single vehicle.

At Team Licensing we are encouraged by this positive trend and we continue to offer these extraordinary brands to the market through innovative and engaging projects. We have an extremely innovative licensing plan for 2021, which is closely aligned with Mattel’s marketing and sales plans in Italy, with the aim of becoming known as a “franchise driven company”.

After a successful 2019 celebrating Barbie’s 60th anniversary, and after months of lockdown, the positive news coming from the toy market as well as Mattel, we feel inspired to expand and develop Consumer Products strategies for all our Core Brands, from Barbie to Hot Wheels and Fisher Price and Games, across all categories such

Interview

Liscianigiochi, Fashion Boutique by Barbie as Softlines, Hardlines, Publishing and Promotions.

What is your focus for 2021?

Victoria Licensing & Marketing has been dealing with the development of Mattel

Seven, Back to school Barbie

brands in Italy in the Consumer Products area for over 20 years, primarily with Barbie. The Consumer Products strategy has always been linked to the positioning of the brand over time. 2021 we will continue to focus on Barbie’s positioning

Ciao, fancy dress Barbie in fashion and beauty. This strategy has led us to develop successful projects such as the capsule collection Original Marines By Filippo Laterza, or the toiletries and personal care line with So. di.co in the Beauty segment - a sector that was very successful at spring thanks to a partnership with MAC on the launch of a Barbie-dedicated lipstick.

For 2021, we already have a number of very strong projects to be announced in the first quarter. We will also look forward to promoting two significant Barbie anniversaries with some truly fun promotions: first, it’s the 50th anniversary of Barbie Malibu, one of Mattel’s greatest success stories, a toy bestseller, an icon of the ‘70s, beloved by generations of mothers. And, last but not least, next year we will also celebrate Ken’s 60th birthday, a character who, like Barbie, is a fashion and lifestyle inspiration for both adults and kids.

Another important category we have been working on for some time is the development of loyalty and promotional schemes, especially for Barbie and Hot Wheels. We plan to launch the first stage of this latest project as early as next year.

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Mondo Motors, radiocontrolled Hot Wheels Monster Trucks

H&M, kids shoes by Hot Wheels Barbie is now much more than a doll ...

The Barbie brand has been developed with great care, covering every relevant category over the years to create a lifestyle brand designed to communicate the essence of the brand’s DNA to girls, summarized in the mantra “you can be anything“. This makes Consumer Products the perfect tool to complete the brand message by offering products that communicate infinite possibilities and empowerment to girls.

What can you tell us about Hot Wheels ...

Hot Wheels is still the gold standard for boys brands, and another icon of the Mattel world. The brand has been performing well for the last 50 years in terms of sell-thru and incredible popularity. Its success is related to its “adrenaline” experience, the playability of the vehicles and the breathtaking tracks, but also to the positive values it offers, such as creativity, sportsmanship, determination and passion. The recent campaign created for Hot Wheels Accept the Challenge is aimed directly at parents and communicates how Hot Wheels products help children to express their maximum potential by stimulating their problem-solving skills.

In addition to fashion promotions, Hot Wheels boasts many other rich and fun proposals. Among its top licensed toys a special mention goes to the new range of Mondo Motors high-performance remote controls cars, always at the center of every four-wheels adventure: colorful, highly detailed and

faster than ever before! In addition, we developed Play Mats and car cases with ODS Distribuzione, including an original

ride-ons, car seats and tricycles. There is also good news for Fireman Sam, a popular preschool brand: in addition to an important content launch plan that will see Sam aired on Cartoonito preschool channel until Easter 2021, there will be a new distribution launch of the toy line

ODS, Hot Wheels transporter truck Hot Wheels vehicle, which surpassed all sales forecasts last Christmas and will be getting innovations and enhancements this year.

… And Fisher-Price?

Our preschool world is based on another historic Mattel IP, Fisher-Price. We are working to build and consolidate a range of products in the baby gear area that complete our toy offer, such as bath toys,

by Simba Italia scheduled for the end of September.

Can you tell us more about your next plans for the GAMES? For 2021, we are planning a significant development of licensing projects with Mattel GAMES. The Games segment was the only segment that showed no signs of abating during the pandemic, thanks to online sales which were breaking

Interview

record sales performances, similar to the Christmas period. Also in this area, the positive results obtained by Mattel are very encouraging. We have already started to put UNO the third bestselling property in the games and card games segment in Italy and the world, in the spotlight, with a “fashion” partnership: a limited edition of collectible cards of UNO designed by Lorenzo Serafini for the fashion brand Philosophy! In 2021 UNO will celebrate a very important event: its 50th anniversary.

We are already preparing a variety of collaborations with highly prestigious partners. Games will be the protagonist for a year, with TV support: numerous promotional events for UNO and SCRABBLE in shopping centers; and in early 2021 Pictionary and Scrabble will become even more “social”, with Facebook, Instagram, as well as a “technological” version of Pictionary, PICTIONARY AIR.

Finally, Barbie has great followship on social networks, beyond toys and licensed products. Can you give us some figures?

The presence of Barbie on social media has become extraordinarily impactful and critical in engaging her audience. Just to give you an idea that upon its launch in October 2015, the video “Imagine

Prenatal, outfit girls Barbie

H&M, T-shirt adult Hot Wheels the possibilities” was the fourth most successfully advertised videos on Youtube reaching over 20 million viewers. The launch of Barbie Fashionistas in 2016 and the introduction of three new body shapes for the most famous fashion doll in the world (Curvy, Tall and Petite), were supported on social networks through an emotional video and a hashtag created for the occasion (#thedollevolves).

The statistics are impressive: the video

Mac Cosmetics, limited edition Barbie lipstick

SO.DI.CO, toiletries line by Barbie

reached 14.1 million views on YouTube in Europe, while on Facebook it reached 7.1 million views, over 63.000 likes and over 12.000 shares (also in Europe).

Even social profiles on Instagram have dizzying numbers: Barbie has 1.7 million followers, Barbie style has exceeded 2.2 million followers and over 100 collaborations with designers and brands of global renown. Barbie’s Twitter account has over 270.000 followers while her FB page has 14 millions likes. The strength of Barbie’s social channels is decidedly impressive and develops numbers that are comparable only to the most famous fashion bloggers and hottest stylists.

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SANRIO

A NEW SEASON OF FRIENDSHIP 2020 represents a time of great challenges and the whole licensing industry has been looking for ways to overcome the situation, with a positive and reassuring approach towards partners and end consumers.

Sanrio’s corporate philosophy has friendship and fostering of social communication as key values. These play Exclusive collection @ shopsanrio.com

an important role in this delicate process and are taking shape in some fundamental pillars.

First of all, finding new ways to collaborate with licensees has been key to success in EMEA. Sanrio have focused their efforts in providing ad hoc solutions and support for all their partners on both Hello Kitty and Mr. Men sides and in creating synergies on both sales and marketing levels with dedicated sales & marketing teams collaborating with top international agents. In addition, they have secured a substantial investment in the development of new content.

Digital growth is an important factor in Sanrio’s developing strategy and as of today, they already have significant activities in place in videogames, kids’ apps and augmented reality for all age targets.

The opportunities offered to consumers are endless: from the virtual platforms with the first Levi’s x Hello Kitty virtual shop for both avatars and real people on Sansar, and the Hello Kitty Water Park on Second Life to Bublar’s game app based on geo-localization named “Kawaii World”, aimed at younger users.

Significant collaborations are also in place with Nintendo, including the Animal Crossing game and the creation of Nintendo DS themes.

Alongside this, Sanrio are present on all major social media platforms in EMEA with continuous organic growth and are also very active with influencers. For instance, after the collaborations with the French Instagram celebrity Natoo and the YouTube stars Marzia and PewDiePie they launched a partnership with Elettra Lamborghini involving Aggretsuko and My Melody.

Sanrio have recently launched a new owned e-commerce site - Shopsanrio. com - that joins the existing mrmen.com

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and sells exclusive personalized items and unique collections in collaboration with artists, influencers and YouTubers such as the LA-based Korean artist “Esther Bunny”.

Hello Kitty is an iconic brand with a really wide fanbase – including adults. Sanrio will always strive to keep this unique positioning, supported by significant brand collaborations in every category, from automotive to sport and high-end apparel.

After Balenciaga and GCDS’ featuring Hello Kitty on their catwalks and Levi’s and Puma launching their mini - me collections, Dr. Martens, Furla and Charli Cohen followed in their path… and other big news are to be announced for 2021!

2021 will be marked by the introduction of new product lines with key players in kids’ licensing, especially in the toy industry, giving Sanrio the opportunity to penetrate the kids market dramatically.

The German Group Simba Dickie released their Hello Kitty range this summer while the American giant Mattel is launching a new collection focused on Hello Kitty and Friends in Q1/2021. In terms of apparel,

Sanrio consolidated their historical and ongoing partnerships in fast fashion with companies such as H&M, the Inditex Group, C&A, FOX, LLP, Desigual and El Corte Ingles and added Benetton, Undiz and Fix. The experiential factor, offering consumers a full and immersive insight into the characters’ worlds, is also part of Sanrio’s developing strategy, starting with the Hello Kitty dedicated area within Dream Island Russia – Europe’s first indoor theme park – and the opening of themed menus and restaurants.

Another key role in Sanrio’s growth is the diversification of the portfolio. Hello Kitty is a global star but the family counts over 450 other characters with a significant following worldwide, for which Sanrio is planning investments in the development of TV and digital content as well as new consumer product style guides.

The new Hello Kitty and Friends programme was announced in 2020 and will see its consolidation and expansion in 2021 with new collaborations and dedicated communication campaigns.

Gudetama x Charli Cohen collaboration Alongside, the youngest characters gudetama and Aggretsuko are following their own path developing a solid fanbase worldwide. The lazy egg is growing in the streetwear market with Adidas Neo and Reebok partnerships and its fashion collaboration with the British designer Charli Cohen, while the cutest red panda just had her 3rd season released on Netflix (late August).

Collaborations with other IPs will also bring a new fresh look to the Sanrio characters. Sanrio and Chupa Chups, for instance, are becoming BFFs (Brands about Fun and Friends) and recently announced a partnership to share their common mission of “creating a fun-filled experience to be shared with friends”.

Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters – My Melody, Kerokerokeroppi, Bad Badtz Maru, Little Twin Stars, Pompompurin, Cinnamoroll – will get a sweet makeover through new designs and style guides which will be available for licensees in Europe, in categories such as apparel, accessories, cosmetics, social stationery and accessories.

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expression and inclusivity.

For the 50th anniversary celebrations, the Mr. Men & Little Misses have a fun-filled year packed with marketing activities, digital content and highprofile collaborations around the world - as activity and interest for the brand continue to grow worldwide. In Asia, one of the fastest growing territories, the Mr. Men & Little Misses have joined key social channels Weibo, WeChat and Red to reach new audiences. The world’s first standalone retail brand store, Mr. Men Studio, has also opened its doors in Hong Kong. This exciting immersive shopping experience invites customers to literally step into the pages of the classic books and buy personalized and unique items featuring their favorite characters.

Mr. Men studio in Hong Kong Given all the above, friendship is pivotal for the recovery, both on business and personal levels. Sanrio wants to celebrate and put the spotlight on this value in 2021 even more, focusing on kindness but also on inclusivity and diversity because as Hello Kitty always says “you can never have too many friends”, regardless who they are, what they look like or where they are from. Dedicated campaigns will run from the beginning of the year and will live their greatest moment closer to summer with the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

Hello Kitty and her friends will be protagonists of several collaborations and public campaigns to explain to children how to protect themselves from infection, and as social media ambassadors of kindness and healthy behaviors.

Mr. Men Little Miss, the iconic British brand acquired by Sanrio in 2011, follows Hello Kitty in her successful path and continues to go from strength to strength as it approaches the landmark 50th anniversary in 2021. As a brand full of personality, the theme for next year will be ‘Discover You’ – a celebration of self-

In 2021, online activity will also play a key role engaging with fans with the introduction of 50 brand new mini animations and interactive sharable filters for social media. The brand will also introduce five new characters, and for the first time ever ask the public to vote at MrMen.com for their two favorite characters to permanently join the classic 90+ strong cast.

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BOING SPA

RE-LAUNCH PLANS FOR BOING’S PORTFOLIO Boing SpA, Italian publisher of kids free to air channels Boing, Boing Plus and Cartoonito, is developing plans for its rich portfolio.

The focus will be on the recent acquisitions of great high performing shows, such as: Simon and Kid-E-Cats for pre-schoolers, classic franchises from Cartoon Network – The Powerpuff Girls, Ben 10, We Bare Bears, The Amazing World Of Gumball, the animated series followed by entire generations, Holly and Benji and finally, the channel brands themselves, Boing and Cartoonito.

For the preschool brands, Simone and Kid-e-Cats, Boing SpA has signed key new licensing agreements.

Thanks to strong TV ratings and the launch of the third season of Simon, which launched in September exclusively on Cartoonito in Italy, new agreements are being finalised in publishing, entertainment and live events.

New Season 3 episodes of Kid-eCats are planned to launch in October on Cartoonito along with the Master Toy range, distributed in Italy by Lena, which joins an extensive licensing programme from partners such as Magazzini Salani, Lisciani Giochi, Clementoni, Koch Media and Preziosi Food.

Talking about TV audience, Ilaria Rossi, Director Licensing and Merchandising, says: “Kid-e-Cats is performing well on Cartoonito on its dedicated morning slot. In particular, on the week-end of September 18th and 19th, Kid-eCats marked its best performance with 83KAMR and 13,5% share kids”.

discussions for potential licensing partners in hardlines and events categories.

In 2021, Holly and Benji features in an exciting collaboration ahead of next year’s European Football Championships.

There is a collection with Zara for the Zara Man collection which features a t-shirt

Kid-e-Cats toys On August 30th, Boing kicked off a rebranding campaign with a brand new look and feel which has incorporated not only the channel, but also the Boing App, the boingtv.it website and all social media accounts.The rebrand has instigated new

displaying the main characters of the show.

The classic Cartoon Network brands are also part of the company’s plans, and this September, Molly, Lolly and Dolly, the

WHO’S WHO

Boing SpA is a leading publisher in children’s and families’ entertainment, with free to air channels Boing, Boing Plus and Cartoonito - and manages the licensing and merchandising programmes in Italy of properties such as Simon, Kid-e-Cats, Holly and Benji and the Boing and Cartoonito brands. In addition, Boing is the agent of the Cartoon Network portfolio with well-known and acclaimed worldwide brands including Ben 10, Powerpuff Girls, We Bare Bears, The Amazing World of Gumball, Adventure Timeand Steven Universe.

To contact Boing, you can reach Ilaria Rossi, Director Licensing and Merchandising. Email: Ilaria.Rossi@boingtv.it

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CARTOON NETWORK is a division of WarnerMedia and the #1 global animated series network, offering the best in original content for kids and families with such hits as Ben 10, Craig of the Creek, Steven Universe, The Amazing World of Gumball, The Powerpuff Girls, and We Bare Bears. Seen in 187 countries, over 450 million homes and in 33 languages, Cartoon Network inspires the next generation of creators and innovators by engaging its audience at the intersection of creativity and technology.

Its award-winning pro-social initiatives, Stop Bullying: Speak Up and CN Buddy Network are acknowledged and often used resources for kids and adults looking for tools that can assist in dealing with the ongoing issue of bullying.

legendary PowerPuff Girls, are featured in all the Dixie clothing stores and shop windows. Dixie is a relevant fast fashion brand made in Italy, which offers an exclusive collection of women’s clothing.

Capsule collection We Bare Bears by GianMario Stuppello, WHITE*

Holly and Benji T-Shirt by Zara After the great success last July of the popular capsule collection The Amazing World of Gumball x Octopus for teens, the beloved blue cat and his eccentric family will again be involved in a new kids fashion collection, this time exclusively for OVS next autumn. The Extraordinary World of Gumball TV series airs regularly from Monday to Friday on Cartoon Network.

Ben 10, one of the most successful properties in the world of Cartoon Network, is currently on air with new episodes premiering daily.

While on October 10th, the much anticipated animated feature film Ben 10 vs The

Universe will be released.

Finally We Bare Bears, the series starring three cute bear brothers, will see the world premiere of We Bare Bears - The Movie on Cartoon Network in November.

Over the summer the three popular bears were the stars of a Happy Meal McDonald’s campaign in all restaurants throughout Italy.

Finally, the brand will also appear in a brand new capsule clothing collection designed

by GianMario Stuppello, the creative genius of WHITE*. The collection will be available this autumn in selected boutiques.

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RAINBOW

25 YEARS ROLLING AND ROARING 44 CATS Rainbow builds on the success of its flagship brand with a blast of fresh news.

On air in over 100 countries and on the main streaming platforms, the latest animated classic born from the genius of Iginio Straffi and his team confirms its status of brand in constant growth.

After a 2019 full of initiatives that saw Rainbow in the spotlight with the anniversary of 15 years since the birth of its world blockbuster Winx Club, the group is moving towards the end of 2020 with a crescendo of surprises. This year has also marked the milestone of 25 years on the market for Rainbow, and to open the celebrations the group chose the wonderful setting of the 50th Giffoni Film Festival, continuing with a series of truly ambitious multi-channel actions.

The rampant success of 44 Cats has marked the year of the group, which launched the second season of the series on Rai Yoyo on March 2 and exceeded the peak of 1.6 million viewers per day in June. After the first 52 episodes shot the brand beyond national borders, the show continues to excite and promises to amaze with more new episodes. Among the news also a new character, Gattocarlo, the host cat inspired by Carlo Conti, one

of the greatest Italian professionals of the show.

On the licensing side, 44 Cats confirms the positive trend started in December 2019 as a preschool brand in first place in

The Famous Italian Presenter Carlo Conti becomes GattoCarlo

the toy’s category. Great anticipation for the Rainbow collection coming on shelves for Christmas 2020: the interactive plush toy Dancing Lampo, with the original voice and music from the TV series, and the interactive figurine Musical Milady, to have fun singing and recording voices with Milady.

In addition to the prestigious licensees already confirmed, Rainbow has recently introduced some delicious news in collaboration with leading commercial partners. Casa Modena successfully launched the 44 Cats Teneroni Baby, San Carlo is ready to hit shelves with a new chips snack with 44 Cats surprises and Old Wild West has introduced 44 Cats surprise gifts with the purchase of the mini menus. The historic partnership with Ferrero goes on and after the success of Winx Club surprises for Kinder Surprise, 44 Cats will enter the deal. Sammontana as well is going to launch its 44 Cats themed ice cream sticks. In the fresh fruit sector 44 Cats is joined by global fruit company Peviani, to combine taste and health.

On the wake of the 44 Cats Rock Show’s great success at Gardaland Resort, South Italy’s greatest theme park Etnaland is getting ready to host the 44 Cats House, a new indoor slow ride reproducing the house of the lovely Granny Pina.

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partnership with Simba Italia, with a prize contest linked to the purchase of 44 Cats products, but the most remarkable news is the restyling of the Amazon Brand Store dedicated to the world of 44 Cats, the showcase that brings together all the products marketed by the various licensees, integrated with all the latest releases, to support the significant increase in sales volumes for all e-commerce channels.

Trade News: Prénatal, Toys Center, Simba Toys and the new Amazon Brand Store Among the news for back to school, Prénatal confirms as one of the prestigious partners with a collection that debuted in stores throughout Italy and for which Rainbow has created dedicated displays and showcases in 41 selected stores of the brand. Also, from the apparel side, the new Bimbo Store capsule collection was accompanied by material dedicated within the entire sales network.

The fruitful collaboration with Toys Center keeps growing too, with actions supporting the brand like loyalty programs and much more under development for the winter season, including the launch of the brand 44 Cats store in the e-commerce section. In addition, selected stores will also display some special Rainbow features that will enrich the shopping experience.

Among the fall/winter initiatives Rainbow promoted the normal trade operation dedicated to the world of toys in

Italian Food Blogger Benedetta Rossi together with 44 Cats

A dynamic marketing plan: theater premieres, Pasta Competition and partnership with G! come Giocare digital edition After the long months of lockdown, during which the online promo activities never stopped, Rainbow paid back the long wait of its fans with a series of live events exclusively for Italy in September, showing a world premiere of the new adventures of the series and surprising fans with a unique live experience.

Returning to the fervent marketing campaign, 44 Cats is the protagonist of an exceptional partnership with the first content creator and most popular food blogger in Italy, Benedetta Rossi, who launched the Pasta Competition, a culinary competition organized by Italy’s most beloved cook with an exclusive video in the company of the protagonists of the series. The contest will take place in Italy, UK, Poland, Russia, Mexico and Brazil. An unprecedented contest for the little fans who, helped by moms and dads, will cook the favorite recipe of the protagonists of the TV show and get the chance to win special prizes.

Finally, Rainbow confirms also for this year its participation as content partner in the new digital edition of Milan’s G! come giocare.

Teneroni by 44 Cats

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PANINI

PANINI BRAND INSIGHTS Licensing Magazine made an exclusive interview with Tony Verdini, Senior Manager within the Business Development and Partnerships Division of Panini SpA.

Tony Verdini, head of Business Development and Partnerships Office Panini S.p.A. has implemented an important brand extension program to support its core business. The historical sticker company based in Modena has signed relevant agreements with licensees and licensing agencies to create even stronger connections with its fans. The Company, moreover, will blow out sixty candles in 2021 and is ready to celebrate this achievement with its most loyal fans.

Licensing Magazine met with Tony Verdini, Senior Manager Business Development and Partnerships of Panini S.p.A. You have recently assigned Vertical Licensing agency to represent Panini brand for the Brazilian territory, which extends your licensing plan to a very

The Exclusive PANINI X COPA collection

important territory for your company.

Together with our colleagues in Panini Brazil, we are very happy that an agreement has been reached with Vertical Licensing agency for the next two years.

Brazil is one of the main territories for Panini, where no brand program has been developed yet. We therefore decided to invest on this important territory, and we are excited to work with Vertical Licensing team, who immediately stood out for its seriousness, passion, enthusiasm and commitment. The official kick-off of the project took place in mid-September, with a licensing summit, a meeting on a virtual platform with hundreds of licensees to whom we have introduced the Panini brand together with VL. Although we are just at the beginning, we have felt great enthusiasm around the project and this is very encouraging and motivating.

We have already been working for some years with Kopa Licensing in Colombia, WildbrainCplg in Iberia and Bavaria Sonor Licensing, a division of Bavaria Media, which is active in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Benelux region. Despite the difficulties related to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been

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is important to highlight this event and celebrate it with exclusive products.

Several projects are in the pipeline, which I cannot reveal, but I would like to talk to you about one in particular. It condenses the DNA and values of PANINI and it’s a great celebrative tool to meet our anniversary with different references to PANINI’s past. I am referring to a book that will be publishedin 2021. The book retraces the entire history of PANINI through its main collections worldwide and tells about peculiar aspects and curiosities of the PANINI world such as the joy of collecting and exchanging, or the creation of albums and stickers. It is a book for PANINI collectors of all ages, but also for soccer fans to retrace their recent history.

Alexandre Volpi, CEO of Vertical Licensing working together with Kopa and Cplg on some important agreements. In addition, Bavaria has identified two important partners such as E.M.P. Merchandising, which will develop a sui-generis clothing collection available only at its online store, and Leonine Distribution, with whom we have developed a series of audio-plays called PANINI SPORTS ACADEMY. About PANINI SPORTS ACADEMY, would you like to tell us more about this particular project launched in Summer 2020?

PANINI SPORTS ACADEMY is a singular project that differs significantly from other PANINI branded products released on the market over the years by our licensees.

As already mentioned, PANINI SPORTS ACADEMY (PSA in short) is a series of audio-plays, i.e. performed audio stories, for boys and girls aged 7-12 years, in which PANINI has played an important role on the creative side. In addition to being the title of the series, PSA is the name of the prestigious sports academy that hosts some of the key characters of the story. Together with Bavaria and Leonine we have created a teenage world populated by very interesting talents.

The plotrevolves around themes such as enthusiasm for sports, friendship and ambition, as well as dreams, mistakes and first love stories, typical of this age. The editorial and audio contents have been developed in Germany by Leonine, while PANINI took care of the graphic side thanks to the creativity of an exceptional team composed by Giuseppe Camuncoli,

Lorenzo Fornaciari and Fabio Roversi.

They gave life to the world of PSA creating the main characters, the team badges and uniforms, the academy, the logo of the series and the covers of each single episode so far. The first three audioplayswere released in July, while episodes 4 and 5 came out in mid-September.

They can be found both in digital form on the main platforms (Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify) and as CDs in selected retailers, only in Germanspeaking countries (Austria, Germany and Switzerland).

2021 marks an important time for Panini, the sixtieth anniversary of the company as well as the first sticker collection of your flagship football title CALCIATORI. Would you tell us something about the projects you are working on for the year to come?

Sixty years of activity represent a significant milestone for any company. It’s been a long time since the first collections of CALCIATORI, when stickers would be glued. Thousands and more collections of self-adhesive stickers and trading cards and card games such as ADRENALYN XL have marked the past decades so far.

Today PANINI is a global company that reaches sports as well as entertainment enthusiasts across and over 150 territories through its editorial products. We are proud to see appreciation for the efforts and the investments made over the years and to entertain an increasing number of fans and customers around the world with new, interactive and engaging products. It

Beyond collaborations, the list of your licensees is increasing as well. Could you announce any new partners for us in preview?

We have just launched a new line of apparel, which we are very proud of, both for the status of our partner and the quality of its products. Among the new licensees that will join us in 2021, I can definitely announce that ICAM, one of the main chocolate producers in Italy, is going to become our new partner for chocolate Easter eggs and Christmas stockings. After the good results obtained in recent years with the previous partner, we have decided to give new strength to our commitment in this niche market.

Their first selling season will be Easter 2021. We are very excited to start this new collaboration. A preview of the new PANINI Easter chocolate eggs by ICAM will be available soon.

PANINI SPORTS ACADEMY, Episode 1

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ETS LICENSING

COMBINING TV AND DIGITAL FOR AN OFFER ADAPTED TO THE CONSUMER EVOLUTION Entertainment Licensing is traditionally linked to television content, but the last few years have also seen an important development of properties born in a digital field, in particular on social media. Lockdown months have given a further boost to this trend, thanks to a sharp increase in exposure to web content.

A GFK research shows that the use of digital content has even grown during the pandemic by 25%, driven by a strong demand for entertainment, as well as information. (Source: “GFK Insight May’20).

PROPERTIES COMING FROM DIGITAL ARE INCREASING Coherently with these evolutions, ETS has built a license portfolio that reserves an important space for digital, with the aim of seizing the most interesting opportunities and developing innovative projects.

The most recent ETS acquisition on the digital front is Chefclub, the innovative “cooking brand” that grows fastest on social media, with over 12 billion views in 2019 and a community of 80 million followers.

Born in Paris in 2016 from an idea of ​​Lang brothers, it has rapidly developed around the world through the production and distribution of entertaining cooking videos published on the main social platforms.

Chefclub Network offers easy to make recipes, which inspire, amuse, surprise and make the kitchen a space for sharing and joy. Born with the ambition of creating extraordinary recipes using simple ingredients, it transforms recipe videos into real popular entertainment for millions of people around the globe.

Thanks to a unique positioning, halfway between cooking and entertainment, Chefclub can count on a very large and engaged audience, which goes beyond cooking enthusiasts. With 5 digital channels available in 8 languages, ​​it has achieved strong global development and reaches 200 million people every month.

It also has a very transversal reach because through the different social platforms its content addresses a wide audience from 3 to 99 years old.

The brand is also seeing rapid growth in our country: Chefclub’s Italian FB and Instagram pages collect over 5.3 million followers and in 2019 got an average of 86.5 million views per month. Chefclub Original offers super creative ideas to

impress friends and family. On Chefclub Daily you will find recipes that reinvent everyday dishes with imagination.

Chefclub Light & Fun offers extraordinary low calorie recipes to keep your weight on track with a smile. Always ready to spice up evenings with your friends, there is Chefclub Cocktails, and finally Chefclub Kids is designed for family cooking and foster the creativity of the little ones.

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the creation of a community of fans of comics and riddles with over 2 million followers and more than 10 million views per week reached so far.

Strengthened by the enormous popularity on social media, the comic-game was equally successfully proposed in print:

and launching an ambitious editorial plan.

Galinha Pintadinha, the preschool property born in Brazil, become very popular worldwide thanks to funny videos of songs for children, is also part of the licenses coming from digital area. The worldwide Youtube channels of Galinha

Another new entry in the ETS portfolio coming from the digital area is Who killed Kenny?, the innovative comicgame created by cartoonist Pera Toons, aka Alessandro Perugini, which offers mono-comics mini-enigmas where the protagonist Kenny is always the victim of a murder, while the suspects change from time to time. Featuring an essential Pintadinha have a total of almost 40 million subscribers and reach over 20 billions of views. From social networks, the nice blue-hen was also brought to TV with the development of an animated series that is extremely successful as well. The first season with 52 episodes of 6 minutes each, broadcast for the first time in Italy at the beginning of March on Frisbee, will be joined by the second season in early 2021, with 52 additional episodes.

Following the launch in Italy, an official Facebook page and Instagram profile have been also created and have already achieved excellent results, confirming the character’s “social soul”. The Italian

graphic sign and flat colors, the intriguing riddles stimulate reasoning skills and lateral thinking and are aimed at a transversal audience made up of children, adults and families who love riddles, thrillers and comics.

The original investigative format has appeared for the first time on the author’s social media profiles, obtaining a huge following in a very short time, leading to

Tunué published in 2018 the first book Who killed Kenny?, re-printed after only 2 weeks, entered in the Amazon ranking as top seller and also published in the United States.

This first release was also followed in 2019 by a second publication Who killed Kenny? Kenny’s Throne, which replicated the excellent results of the debut, increasing the popularity of the character,

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Facebook page has obtained more than 5,000 followers and over 150,000 users in just 3 months from the activation, while the Instagram profile in the same period has registered more than 34,000 users and almost 5,000 interactions, confirming a high level of satisfaction and an interesting potential for licensing development as well.

Even the super-fashion Hairdorables, popular collectible dolls launched in 2018

by Just Play, and distributed in Italy by Giochi Preziosi, are in strong tune with the web. In fact, they address a large community of young fans by constantly offering new digital content to increase sharing and engagement.

TV SERIES BRANDS ARE A BIG PART IN ETS PORTFOLIO Lockdown months also led to a significant growth in the use of television content (+ 18% - source GFK Insight - May 2020), also highlighting an approach of youngers and confirming TV as a fundamental media for entertainment.

In line with these indications, the properties linked to TV series, animated and live, are an important presence in the ETS portfolio.

The most recent acquisition of ETS in this area is Nefertine on the Nile, an unprecedented preschool animated series which narrates the adventures of a courageous girl from Ancient Egypt who aspires to become a scribe-reporter and is involved in a thousand adventures and intrigues, including mummies, pyramids and sphinxes.

With 52 episodes of 11 minutes each, the series, produced by Graphilm Entertainment, DQ Entertainment and Cyber Group Studios, in collaboration with Rai Ragazzi, will be broadcast on Rai Yoyo in spring 2021.

Also Mini Pet Pals is part of the TV content offer by ETS, a preschool animated series co-produced by Gruppo Alcuni and Rai Ragazzi and broadcast daily on Rai Yoyo.

They are planned 52 additional episodes of the new 4th season in TV on 2021, to be added to the 156 episodes already available.

Quality content with a strong educational

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2021 this important campaign, which includes several international initiatives for the coming months.

vocation, excellent ratings and a consolidated partnership with the broadcaster, guarantees long-term continuity and a privileged exposure to the target. The series can also count on a theme park, a website and personalized social media channels, frequent collaboration initiatives with schools and a dedicated section on Rai Play streaming platform and on Rai Play Yoyo App.

The TV content related IPs include Oggy and the Cockroaches, long-lived French animated series produced by Gaumont and Xilam with a primary target of 4-11 years; Luky Luke and The Daltons, two evergreens born from the world of western comics, with an audience 6 - 11 years, but enjoyable by an adult target; the animated series Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed, which stages the hilarious adventures of Dennis and the dog Gansher , for all children aged 6 and over; Zig&Sharko, recently acquired, a French animated series produced by Xilam, with a target of 6-11 years, which tells the clumsy attempts of the hyena Zig to eat a naïve mermaid, always thwarted by the muscular shark Sharko.

Complete this area Disenchantment, a tv series available on Netflix and born from the genius of Matt Groening.

LIVE ACTION IS NOT MISSING The ETS portfolio also offers licenses related to much loved live action TV series.

Among these, based on the famous book, there is the irresistible Pippi Longstocking, who in Italy owes her popularity above all to a famous TV series from the 70s, still broadcast on several TV channels (Cartoonito, Italia1, DeaJunior).

Pippi is an evergreen global icon that has inspired several generations, continues to represent a pillar in the entertainment of children all over the world and is loved by a wide and transversal audience, thanks to an adventurous and unconventional, universal and timeless spirit.

Taking inspiration from her strength and courage, in 2020 The Astrid Lindgren Company launched, in partnership with Save the Children, the global “Pippi of Today” campaign, with the aim of raising funds to help migrant girls fleeing war and poverty. In consideration of the crisis caused by Covid-19, which puts these girls even more at risk, The Astrid Lindgren Company and Save the Children have decided to extend for the whole

The licensing program is also proceeding successfully, with prestigious international companies including H&M, Ikea, Pantone Color Institute and Happy Socks and important collaborations in Italy, such as: the publishers Salani and Nord-Sud, who have recently published books with new content, Multiprint which has developed a wide assortment of packs with stamps and markers, Fondazione Aida featuring a puppet show, Ottod’Ame who designed an original women’s clothing collection and Clementoni soon launghing a puzzle line.

For the teen audience, there are Penny On M.A.R.S., a property linked to the live series produced by 3Zero2Tv in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company Italia, where dreams, loves, and friendships live to the rhythm of music and Sara e Marti, produced by Stand

By Me in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company Italia, characterized by innovative language and fresh and spontaneous acting.

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THE PARTNERSHIP WITH DISCOVERY The ETS portfolio is enriched with innovative proposals aimed at an adult target thanks to this collaboration that concerns the licensing rights of the channels - Real Time, Food Network, DMAX, Nove -, including also network’s leading TV programmes, and the new HGTV - Home &GardenTV - managed as a brand for their targeted positioning and specificity of content.

Recently it has been launched a line of men’s clothing and accessories for trekking, hiking and work, born from the collaboration between DMax, the thematic channel dedicated to the male audience with factual entertainment and current events, and the mass market chain LIDL. The line has been launched in all LIDL stores throughout Europe.

TALKING TOM: A BRIDGE BETWEEN INNOVATIVE AND TRADITIONAL APPROACH FOR THE USE OF CONTENT In the ETS portfolio, there’s a property that has had incredible success both with

digital and television content: Talking Tom and Friends. Using innovative and

traditional approaches, the fun and family-oriented entertainment property – Outfit7’s flagship – has record results over its decade-long journey. It features an award-winning animated series that’s currently among the most requested shows on the planet (with 7.1 times the demand against the average samecategory shows globally), a portfolio of 23 free-to-play games with over 13 billion downloads and up to 410 million MAU to date, merchandise products and so much more.

Online, the franchise’s video content – which also includes the adventures of Talking Tom Heroes, the action-packed Talking Tom Shorts, and the cute Minis series – regularly tops the YouTube family entertainment charts. In fact, the Talking Tom and Friends YouTube channels rank in the Top 50 most viewed worldwide, with up to 65 million daily views. The franchise has also achieved three YouTube Diamond Creator Awards, with more than 65 million subscribers, and has recorded over 38 billion total views. Offline the animated series is broadcast daily on TV on K2, and has been localized into more than 30 other languages to meet demand. Next, the brand’s staggering global success is leading it to the silver screen.

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XILAM

THE RICH ANIMATION PORTFOLIO BY XILAM Academy Award®-nominated French animation studio Xilam Animation has a distinctive slate of new and refreshed brands which it will be bringing to Festival of Licensing 2020, as well as showcasing to new and existing partners over the Q4 period.

©2020 Xilam Animation / Maga Animation Studio / Alibaba Cultural Media Co., Ltd.

Lupin’s Tales Lupin’s Tales is a new 2D and 3D comedy series for upper preschoolers which is set to be delivered by Easter 2021. The series is set against the backdrop of well-known international tales and each episode takes place in a pop-up book setting, as it follows a young wolf who experiences adventures across Asia to Amazonia. With major broadcasters already on board,

Xilam is now looking to secure publishing, toy and plush partners.

Produced by Xilam’s CGI studio Cube Creative, non-dialogue comedy series © Xilam Animation

Where’s Chicky? © Cube Creative Productions

Oggy and the Cockroaches

© Cube Creative Productions

Where’s Chicky? is targeted at a crossdemographic audience and sees an adorable little chick turn up in a new environment in every episode. Season two of Where’s Chicky? is currently in production and expected to be delivered in early 2021. In the second season, two new characters will be introduced: Bekky, who is Chicky’s best friend and Poyo, a little playmate. There are lots of hilarious situations and unexpected surprises in store for the three little friends.

The series already has an impressive digital presence including 130M monthly views and 4 billion lifetime views on YouTube; 600k ‘likes’ and 120k followers on TikTok; and ranks #2 on Kidoodle TV in the UK and USA. Xilam is currently looking to build a Where’s Chicky? lifestyle focused merchandising programme for millennials, alongside a cross-category offering for kids.

Following the 20th anniversary of its globally renowned Oggy and the Cockroaches, Xilam is also gearing up to launch a rebooted version of the series.

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Scheduled for delivery in Autumn 2021, Oggy and the Cockroaches – Next Gen will see Oggy take on the responsibility of parenthood as his friends’ daughter, a 7-year-old elephant named Piya, comes to stay. Xilam is looking to build a crosscategory consumer products programme which reflects the series’ new modern look and thematic focus on emotions, tenderness and friendship.

Xilam also has two further brands based on Cube Creative-produced series and targeted at upper preschoolers. Set to

© Cube Creative Productions

Tangranimals

© Cube Creative Productions

Pffirates

be delivered in Q1 2022, Pfffirates is set on Calypso Island and sees three crews taught Pfffiracy by the legendary Captain Lamar. The series is full of action and visual comedy, with a core focus on discovery and teamwork during adversity.

Pfffirates’s unique look features a bouncy, inflatable world and Xilam is looking to kick-start the licensing programme with a master toy partner.

Tangranimals is a comedy adventure series which sees Young Geo explore

ABOUT XILAM A major player in animation, Xilam is an integrated studio founded in 1999 that creates, produces and distributes original programmes in more than 190 countries for both children and adult audiences. Xilam’s content is broadcast on television, and is also available on SVoD platforms including Netflix, Disney+, Amazon and NBC Universal, and ADVoD streaming platforms including YouTube and Facebook.

With its creativity and capacity for innovation recognised worldwide, and editorial and commercial expertise at the cutting edge of the industry, Xilam is positioned as a key player in a fast-growing market. Each year, Xilam builds real successes and capitalises on its powerful historical brands including Oggy and the Cockroaches and Zig & Sharko, as well as new properties such as Oggy Oggy for a preschool audience, Moka, Mr. Magoo, and Academy Award® nominated adult feature film I Lost My Body. Xilam’s expanding and strong catalogue now consists of over 2,200 episodes and three feature films.

In 2019, Xilam acquired Cube Creative, a studio providing the company with unique expertise in 3D and computer generated images. Xilam employs more than 500 individuals, including 400 artists, across its studios in Paris, Lyon, Angoulême and Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam.

Tangra-planet, an amazing place with geometrical landscapes, along with his friends the Tangranimals. These adorable and colourful creatures can link together like Tangram pieces, and create all sorts of vehicles, creatures and objects. The series takes a playful approach to logic and is expected to be delivered in September 2021. Xilam is now looking to build the brand’s licensing programme and secure a master toy partner.

“We are very excited by our development projects and the new series which are on the way for 2021,” explains Capucine Humblot, Head of Licensing and Merchandising at Xilam Animation.

“The wide range of heroes within the shows means there will be something for everyone, and the different characters are reflective of the multi-faceted nature and personalities of today’s children. For example, with Lupin’s Tales, the young wolf is impetuous but creative, and always learns from his mistakes, and in Oggy and the Cockroaches – Next Gen we’ll see Oggy deal with a larger range of emotions than ever before - he becomes more open to talking about his feelings and the audience will discover his tenderness, which is sometimes even show towards the cockroaches! In Where’s Chicky, our fluffy hero is always curious and eager to discover new things, but remains audacious even when faced with unexpected, but humorous, situations.”

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EL OCHO LICENCIAS Y PROMOCIONES

EL OCHO VIEW ON THE FUTURE El Ocho Licencias y Promociones is the leading agency for the Spanish licensing market with over 15 years of experience in the licensing market. They select the brands with best values and work along with the owners, to maximize their potential through strategic partnerships with toy masters, local licensees, broadcasters, and international agencies. To find out more about their new and current brands, LM interviewed Pilar FernรกndezVega, Licensing, Marketing and Promotions director.

What new properties do you have this year?

We are constantly looking for unique properties in all categories from animation, celebrities, influencers, fashion, design, and sports. This year, we are happy to announce that we have three new very promising brands: Alexity, Momonsters and Booba. We are also looking to adding new properties to our portfolio by the end of 2020.

Momonsters the new series in Clan TVE

Pilar Fernรกndez-Vega Marketing, licensing and Promotions Director What do you look for in a brand?

We look for brands that add values and with the most potential for the Spanish and Portuguese market. We represent international and local brands in all categories from animation, celebrities, design, influencers, sport, and classic brands. Our mission is to fulfill the market needs. We dedicate time and effort to give in depth counselling of the local market to each client, we create specific licensing programs for each brand based on its target and we seek to offer unique experiences to consumers. We select, build, and develop brands to be the best in the market.

What is different about these properties?

The way in which children consume content is changing and we must adapt to their demands. YouTube, Instagram and TikTok is becoming more relevant each day, that is why we are looking for properties from these platforms.

Alexity is a new kind of property for El Ocho. This is a brand created by Alexia a 10-year-old girl, best known for her YouTube choreography videos and dance

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toy can watch with them. Both will react in surprise to unexpected plot twists or laugh together at funny moments.

Booba is a YouTube star, with 8 million subscribers and 6.8 million views worldwide. It is a non-dialogue animated

series that follows the adventures of a joyful, funny, and curious little creature named Booba and his friends. They always find themselves in hilarious situations trying to explore the world around them. The characters interact like small children with a zest for discovery and an inventive mindset. The action takes place in a world like the real one, but with room for wonders. Booba is also available on Amazon prime, Netflix, iTunes, and other digital platforms in many territories.

YouTube Spanish superstar Alexity tutorial with her aunt Brenda. She has a large community of followers, with over 3.6 million followers on YouTube and 895 million views. She also has important partnerships with brands like Nike and Barbie.

Momonsters is a transmedia brand composed of three products: tv show + app + smart toys. Each can be enjoyed as a stand-alone product but using them together makes the user experience exponentially more enjoyable. The educational TV seriescreated by Bing Bang Box, aired on Clan (RTVE) in March of 2020. Momonsters positioned itself as the #1 preschool series on the channel and a second season is confirmed for 2021. Momonsters will be broadcast internationally in Brazil, Mexico, China, Middle East, and Latvia, with more territories currently being negotiated.

Bandai will be the master toy, launching the first collection during the 2020 Christmas campaign. Unlike other toys, Momonsters plush toy comes to life: when children watch Momonsters animated series on a connected device, the plush

What news do you have from current brands?

We continue to work with some of the best global brands such as Dragon Ball, Simon, Bing, Molang, MasterChef and Asterix, among many others in our brand portfolio. This year we have exiting new deals and we look forward to further growth from these brands in 2020.

Dragon Ball is one of the most successful brands for children and adults. This license Dragon Ball Super collection by Zara Kids

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agreements have been signed. Famosa

by Giochi Preziosi is the Master Toy in Spain and Portugal, Penguin Random House is the editorial licensee and will launch new books in 2021, Cefa Toys is the educational toys licensee, Jugavi is the personal hygiene licensee with an exclusive hygiene bag in October of 2020.

More categories such as back to school, houseware melamine and educational puzzles will launch in early 2021.

Bing celebrates the joyful, messy reality of pre-school life. Bing is a typically curious

the world and over 850 product SKUs. In Spain and Portugal, CYP will launch hygienic mask and gel and a back to school collection. Other deals are currently being negotiated for the territory.

MasterChef is the most successful televised talent show with 8 seasons, 5 seasons of MasterChef celebrity and 8 seasons of MasterChef Junior in Spain.

Kitchen lovers will try to showcase their talent to a ruthless jury made up by Pepe Rodríguez, Jordi Cruz and Samantha Vallejo-Nágera. The contenders for the

Bershka x Dragon Ball continues to grow non-stop and El Ocho has signed deals with the best retail brands such as Zara, Bershka and Desigual. In 2020, new products will be developed

by Zara Kids, Pull and Bear, Sprinter, and a new back to school collection from Karactermania with Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super collections.

Simon is the adorable little rabbit created

by Stephanie Blake, who exudes all the vitality of childhood. The animated TV series aired on Clan on February of 2019.

It has received amazing rating and the second season will air in September of 2020. Thanks to the strength of the brand and the work of El Ocho, many licensing Zara kids x Dragon Ball Super

Simon Plushes now available from Famosa by Giochi Preziosi preschooler and Flop is the grown-up who looks after him. Together, they navigate the ups and downs of everyday life. Famosa by Giochi Preziosi is the master toy. They launched 5 toys in April of 2020 at El Corte Inglés and have been a great success. This Christmas they will expand the range of toys and distribution channels.

Molang is a TV show is produced and distributed by the French independent animation studio Millimages. Molang is an affectionate and humorous look at the relationship between an eccentric, joyful, and enthusiastic rabbit, and a shy, discreet, and emotional little chick, PiuPiu. The TV series is on air in 190+ territories and the property has more than 65 licensees in

title of Master Chef will prepare their best creations for the most demanding guests, cooking in adverse conditions, for a whole army or the most illustrious of dignitaries, in unique settings and with time always racing against them.

Asterix is a French bande dessinée series about Gaulish warriors, who have adventures and fight the Roman Empire during the era of Julius Caesar. It was created by writer René Goscinny and illustrator Albert Uderzo and debuted in 1959 in the French comic magazine Pilote. Asterix is one of the most beloved characters in French popular culture.

The license program in Spain is being developed with Plushes and men’s apparel.

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ATLANTYCA ENTERTAINMENT

HELLO MAESTRO, THE EDUTAINMENT PIONEER Atlantyca is developing promising new plans for the evergreen edutainment IP, Hello Maestro.

Hello Maestro. Edutainment Property par Excellence

Part of Atlantyca’s rich portfolio, Hello Maestro is a classic edutainment property from the French company Procidis, still beloved and sought after today. In Italy where Atlantyca manages the licensing for Hello Maestro, the company has chosen a 360 degree strategy, starting with social media profiles to expand exposure and raise awareness of licensee partners products.

Atlantyca’s collaboration with DeAgostini is now part of a kiosk publishing program: in August 2020, by popular demand, DeAgostini launched a collection of collectables Exploring the Human Body, with 3D elements to build a model of the human body. For this special occasion – when health and its protection is a topic close to everyone because of COVID - the collection was combined with an App and other interactive elements, as well as a special issue dedicated to

the Coronavirus.

The partnership between De Agostini and Hello Maestro continued beyond newsstands, with Comics and an encyclopedia of the human body.

Dynit is another important partner of the project, licensing DVDs and flow packs for newsstand distribution. Another partner in the audio book field in Italy is Lunii, an audio story producer. Children will now be able to listen to the stories of Hello Maestro told by Maestro himself!

And finally, a new series of books by Gribaudo is dedicated to all the human body’s systems (respiratory, circulatory, digestive), will soon be available at bookstores.

LIVE EVENTS BY ATLANTYCA Within Atlantyca there is a dedicated division that deals exclusively with live events and has been developing exciting new projects for Hello Maestro.

Recent agreements include LEFTLOOP, an events management company and long term partner based in Riccione (Italy) which organizes, builds and takes on tour the Hello Maestro Village in Italy. The village is a space entirely dedicated to the Brand, where children can enjoy recreational and educational activities with professional, entertainers and dedicated staff.

And in the field of edutainment, the ADMaiora project, an educational society for schools and museums, natural parks, oasis and cultural events, will begin this fall. ADMaiora organizes workshops and interactive mobile lessons thought to bring directly a new learning experience in schools and museums (and also in libraries or cultural and recreational circles).

All activities are designed with the goal of involving children in playful educational exercises, simulations and experiments that help the understanding of our human body’s parts and systems, with a focus on unique and curious characteristics. Obviously…all accompanied by characters from the famous TV series!

FOR FURTHER INFO https://www.facebook.com/HelloMaestro http://www.hellomaestro.fr/en

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WILDBRAIN CPLG

WHAT’S NEW IN WILDBRAIN CPLG PORTFOLIO As the licensing industry continues to come together and adapt to the challenging circumstances of 2020, WildBrain CPLG is welcoming new brands and securing new deals across its diverse portfolio of lifestyle, sport, entertainment, and classic properties. characters first created by Cool Things in 2018. Each of the eight different unicorn girls features their own look and personality and is accompanied by a magical pet. Following the brand’s popularity with girls across Italy, WildBrain CPLG is now looking to forge licensing partnerships across categories including toys and games, publishing, gifting and apparel among others.

Additionally, Netflix Kids and Family brands have joined WildBrain CPLG’s portfolio which the agency now represents across EMEA. Key properties include Go Go Cory Carson, preschool musical series The StoryBots, and Julie and the Phantoms - a new musical series from Kenny Ortega.

WildBrain CPLG has recently added a raft of new entertainment properties to its portfolio including collectible doll brand The Unicorn Dolls, based on the

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Also new to the WildBrain CPLG portfolio are the faces of one of world’s biggest and fastest growing YouTube kidfluencer channels Vlad & Niki which the agency represents across EMEA and Russia; and Magic Box’s collectible toy phenomenon SuperZings.

Beyond entertainment, the WildBrain CPLG team is working across new IP, including Argentine comic strip, Mafalda.

Written and drawn by cartoonist Joaquín Salvador Lavado Tejón, better known by his pen name Quino (passed away on September 30th 2020), the strip features a 6-year-old girl named Mafalda who is concerned about humanity and world peace. The comic strip ran from 1964 to 1973 and was hugely popular in Latin America, Europe, Quebec and Asia with its success resulting in books and two animated cartoon series. WildBrain CPLG is looking to build a licensing programme targeting women that will cover stationery, gifting, apparel, accessories and personal care categories, among others.

WildBrain CPLG has also recently taken on the EMEA representation rights to

the iconic New York institution The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) and is now assembling a licensing programme designed to appeal to families, millennials and a diverse international audience across categories, including homewares, apparel, accessories, stationery, gifting, toys and activities, health and beauty, and collaborations.

Also new to the agency’s portfolio is leading soy sauce brand Kikkoman which WildBrain CPLG is representing across Europe on behalf of Kikkoman Corporation’s master global agent, Tact Communications. WildBrain CPLG will build Kikkoman as a lifestyle brand, targeting adults, with a focus on fashion collaborations, apparel, accessories, kitchenware, and food gifting categories.

Additionally, WildBrain CPLG is representing Authentic Brand Group’s icons Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and

where Gigio and his friends will face many adventures. WildBrain CPLG has secured a number of licensing partners for the brand already including: Giochi Preziosi (master toy partner), Clementoni (Puzzles and Activities), Gribaudo (books), Playpress (activity for kiosks), Bauli (Easter eggs for 2021), Hoppla’ (costume character), Rai Com (Magazine and Sticker Album) with more to come.

WildBrain CPLG continues to represent popular brands including Emoji and MGM’s Pink Panther. The agency will also be handling licensing rights for MGM’s The Addams Family 2 movie which is slated for release in October 2021 and Sony Picture’s Hotel Transylvania, with the fourth instalment scheduled for release in September 2021. WildBrain CPLG also represents Sony Picture’s much-loved entertainment franchises including Ghostbusters, with new movie

Muhammad Ali. These new additions join WildBrain CPLG’s portfolio of popular properties in Italy which includes TopoGigio, the beloved mouse character created in 1959 by artist Maria Perego. TopoGigio made his TV debut in the popular show Alta Fedeltà and was voiced by Domenico Modugno, before becoming internationally recognised. Starting from October 5th, TopoGigio will return to the small screen on Rai YoYo with a new animated series produced by Movimenti Production,

Ghostbuster: Afterlife slated for release in March 2021, and LINE FRIENDS properties BT21 and BROWN & FRIENDS. WildBrain CPLG will present these properties, in addition to showcasing new initiatives and creative assets, at Festival of Licensing and during the Q4 period.

The company will also hold dedicated territory showcases in late October to provide further local insights and brand updates from its respective international offices.

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IGT - COOL THINGS

A NEW CREATIVE FACTORY Jessica Gasperoni is not only the soul of IGT, a well-known company specialized in promotions and pocket money toys, but also the creator of a new IP for girls, UNICORN DOLLS. LM interviewed her to find out how the idea was born.

by videogames and youtubers, children are free to focus all their attention on toys, with a strong attraction for animals and their world... and the Puppy Club Friends can accompany them in their adventures.

With their colorful design and the magical world they live in, Unicorn Dolls capture the interests of preschoolers, which are our main target. Each character has its own personality and unique design and this is the key to make a little girl fall in love with them.

Jessica Gasperoni IGT is a company in constant evolution. What have been the latest developments?

The last months were not easy at all. Everyone has searched for a solution to this moment of impasse and it is precisely in these occasions that we can reinvent ourselves to find new, alternative ways to develop our business and our lives. Because of this input, IGT will continue on the path of developing its own IPs, as well as new ones.

From your various businesses, you have developed IPs that have traveled around the world, such as Puppy Club Friends and the Unicorn Dolls. What is their overall performance?

Both brands have had worldwide success and are very strong. They have fully captured the interest of the pre-school target, because the deal with preschoolers interests. Before being overwhelmed

Right now Unicorn Dolls are at the center of important developments. Could you share any details?

Unicorn Dolls, famous all over the world, have now also conquered the hearts of chinese girls, their appeal is global. For this reason we have decided to entrust the management of this important IP in Europe to a leading licensing agency Wildbrain CPLG. The rest is still top secret!

Unicorn is very personal to you, more so than any other project. Can you tell us about your special link with this property?

It goes without saying that what makes

Unicorn Dolls so special is the particular bond that unites us. Their idea and creation was born from my personal life: friends and my husband used to call me “unicorn girl”, because I was always immersed in the world of toys, creativity and children. They always told me “you live in a unicorn world!”, almost like making fun of me because I was always positive. So, I created that world, with talented unicorn girls, united with one another, always ready to act as a team and with the strong bond of friendship. These are values ​ which I personally believe in and which I rely on in my everyday life. The Unicorn Dolls represent me in every way!

What are IGT’s other upcoming projects?

IGT is focusing on the development and creation of new IPs, innovative content, web series, toys and collectibles combined with our brands, in different categories and channels, without gender restrictions.

In addition to the growth in our area, we aim for business differentiation which is the key to grow as a business in a very difficult moment like this.

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TEEN TV

THE NEW EUROPEAN TEEN TV IS ONLINE

By Rossella Arena Launched in Italy on April 2020 TeenTv is the first European web-TV platform dedicated to teenagers and companies that are focused on this dynamic market.

Launched only a few months ago TeenTv is already enjoying enormous success: TeenTv, an internet channel, is the first European platform for teenagers and companies focused on the dynamic teen demographic.

TeenTv is the first Italian platform to have introduced the innovative formula of 4k films, structured in mini-series lasting 1015 minutes each. The project, initiated

by EMA srl started on April 4th. EMA is a well established fixture in children’s theater (for example with Masha and the Bear live shows), and was inspired by an American format that produced highend 4k definition series, with the direct involvement of teenagers and influencers.

Edoardo Lombardi, creator and CEO of TeenTv , says: “The project was born almost for fun in full lockdown. At a time when the cultural sector was among the most affected, we wanted to give a

Dance with me Poster

Nathaly Caldonazzo and Natalia Titova

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production will shoot live in theater, it has been shelved for the moment due to COVID. The stars of these productions are and will be emerging artists: aspiring actors, dancers and singers aged 13 to 22 who have had and will have the opportunity to present themselves online and participate in castings on the same social channels they usually use, like TikTok and Instagram.

Edoardo explains how easily and quickly they achieved enormous results: “What started out as an experiment, after a few months reached 10 million views without special promotional operations, and saw 15,000 people participate in the casting. We achieved these numbers using simplicity as the main attraction. We promoted ourselves on

In this page: Dance with me shooting moments positive signal and create a new reality that could make children happy, entertaining them during the forced closure they were experiencing.”

TeenTv started with the production of three TV series. The first is Dance with me and it is about young people struggling to succeed in the world of dance, competing against one other. There are well-known personalities, such as dance teacher Natalia Titova (popular in several TV shows) and showgirl Nathaly Caldonazzo. Shooting began on July 7 and by September 28th the series was already available online, making it the first big notable milestone of their series productions. For the second series Vampire Princess, written by Rosy della Ragione, the first part of online

casting started on September 7th, for which almost 2500 candidates had been booked. The second step involved live casting directly in the locations where the series will be shot, in Campania and in some areas of Central Italy. The third series, Star (15), will be theatrical, the first of its kind in Italy: it draws inspiration from the American show Glee, based on choreographed singing. Many candidates participated in the casting, but since the

FURTHER INFO: www.teentv.it , info@teentv.it Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teentvitalia Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teentv.it/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@teentv.it YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TeenTvItalia

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remotely to take into account the circumstances today.

The large numbers obtained in a short period of time have given TeenTv the opportunity to insert advertising collaborations into the TikTok format profile. The recent launch of the first series on YouTube will further increase the possibility of working on an advertising model. TeenTv’s strong figures have

key social networks, asking young people who trying their hand at auditions to just be themselves, to reproduce what they already do spontaneously on social media every day, through dance and singing videos. For us it is important to underline that to participate in the casting is totally free and that all streaming content will also be free to access, allowing us to reacha very high numberof viewers”.

From October onwards future casting will be focused on singers: young people

Partnership with Burger King (Alifood Group)

can send videos of their performances, even made from home if they are close to professional standards. The most talented ones will be produced by TeenTv with the opportunity to record their single in the studio and subsequently receive an ad hoc promotional campaign.

For those who need to study and improve their artistic skills, the TeenTV Academy is also active, with the support of the MTDA of Fiumicino (Rome). Acting and directing courses can be followed

Character Ludovica (Carlotta Venditti) in Dance with me already attracted the attention of various companies, from which the company continues to receive many collaboration proposals. The platforms very broad target – from 10-22 – is also appealing to advertisers and other potential partners.

One of the first promotions took place with the Burger King brand (Ali Group), a direct partner onthe first series. TeenTv also forms a partnership with the fashion brand Annapurna Milano on Dance With Me. That was a very important deal, which provided technical material for the shooting and sent staff to assist on the set. Excellent contacts are being created with large companies wishing to use the talents found by TeenTv and involve them in other television proposals. The format is also easily adaptable to companies that have their own TV production projects.

Retail

RETAIL MONSTER

Converting Online Engagement to Consumer Products Sales With its portfolio of Gaming and Digital entertainment and lifestyle clients, Retail Monster has built an enviable reputation with brands who play in these strong growth industries for consumer products.

In the digital space, the brands that they represent boast impressive downloads and views, reaching over 20 billion fans, with tens of millions of subscribers and hundreds of millions of monthly views and downloads. With significant growth in engagement throughout 2020.

Oddbods, the much-loved Preschool brand, which Retail Monster represents in the UK, saw its viewership on YouTube grow by 2bn in June and July 2020, and are planning for a targeted retail launch in SS21 with best in class Licensees. Rob Spindley SVP Business Development at One Animation comments: “The Oddbods Brand now reaches 41% of its targeted 2-6-year olds in the UK market.

Working with Retail Monster; our strategic approach to launching consumer products into retail will see our loyal fans given the opportunity to interact physically with their beloved characters.”

In August 2020, Subway Surfers, the hit

mobile endless-runner game, exceeded 3bn downloads. Making it the most downloaded mobile game in the world.

Alpha Group has recently launched the Subway Surfers toy range into Wal-Mart, Tesco, ASDA, TRU Canada and Amazon.

With a comprehensive digital marketing campaign from SYBO and Alpha, and further category expansion by Retail Monster set to roll out in AW20, Subway Surfers is showing all successful signs of how an authentic integration with consumer products should be.

Naz Amarchi-Cuevas; Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Marketing and Licensing at SYBO Games commented: “What sets Retail Monster apart is their tailored approach that each brand needs and the correlation to where its authentic fans are at. Retail Monster can help not only breathe additional breadth to the IP but also, ensure it becomes an evergreen.

Retail Monster has also tapped into

“The Oddbods Brand now reaches 41% of its targeted 2-6-year olds in the UK market. Working with Retail Monster; our strategic approach to launching consumer products into retail will see our loyal fans given the opportunity to interact physically with their beloved characters.”

- Rob Spindley -

the huge global fan base of the iconic Borderlands from Gearbox, building product ranges and promotions that speak directly to these fans, whilst appealing to non-gamers through fashion forward design and high-quality product.

The agency has become adept at converting huge digital engagement to consumer products sales. Working closely with their partners and e-Commerce and Omni-channel retailers to build product ranges and retail programmes that seamlessly bring the digital world into the physical world.

This approach also transcends Retail Monster’s non-digital and gaming clients.

Including Cottonwood’s smash hit, Find Me in Paris, and the much-loved Shelby Automotive brand, and Herschend Entertainment Studios’ Chuggington.

Delivering fashion ranges, for both hardcore fans, and the mass market.

“What sets Retail Monster apart is their tailored approach that each brand needs and the correlation to where its authentic fans are at. Retail Monster can help not only breathe additional breadth to the IP but also, ensure it becomes an evergreen” - Naz Amarchi-Cuevas -

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CICABOOM

It’s time for a new group of mythical heroes...the Letrabots!

The Letrabots are the stars of a brand-new mini animated TV series, broadcast on K2 – the Italian kids’ channel that is part of the Discovery Group. The creators of this property, Fulvio Fantino and Elisabetta Insile of Cicaboom, tell us about the Letrabots project – how it came about and where it is going next. this project.

However, the sales of Letrabots and other related brands, such as Letranimals, have never stopped. That’s why we decided to continue our kiosk publishing programme, with the output of three lines of kiosk products: in April the Kartbots, in May the Numberbots and in June the Letrazoo. All three were incredibly successful. Hence the decision to go ahead with the TV series.

Fulvio Fantino and Elisabetta Insile How and when did the Letrabots project begin?

The Letrabots project began with the Cicaboom company. At the end of 2016 the first kiosk collection came out on newsstands; it was an immediate success.

After that, our creative team started looking more closely at the Letrabots world and defining all its characters.

Despite the events that disrupted 2020 it was an important year for you…

The year 2020 for us has been the year of TV series, just as 2019 was the year of comics.

The TV series had been in the works for over a year. When it came the lockdown, we immediately took advantage of the delays to put some departments on standby, to focus on the development of

Can you tell us something more about the process of bringing the brand to the screen?

We wanted to create a cartoon that could have a recognizable, colourful and bright style, as well as increasing the potential of our characters by adding a touch of comedy to the heroism that already played a strong part in the comics.

In this TV series the heroes are the four Letrabots, their Letranimals and the big

robots they become. The four heroes evolved naturally: they represent the main character aspects that are in each of us.

The dynamics are immediate and funny and the humour can be appreciated on a number of levels, so the show has an appeal to different age groups, from the very young to teenagers.

We are very happy with the result and the work of our exceptional creative team, the production company MOBO srl. They have understood our world and brought it to the small screen in a way that’s both fresh and of very high quality.

From newsstand product to television property: what’s next for the Letrabots?

The second TV season is being written.

The heroic saga continues for the newsstand channel, where the adventures are being collected into volumes. And of course we will be enriching the toy line: new releases are planned for Christmas.

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PLAY AROUND

A NEW PLAYER IN THE TOY INDUSTRY Play Around is a new player in the world of toys, created just under a year ago and already launching important international projects. LM interviewed Massimiliano Piazzolla, Managing Director of Play Around, to learn ore about their latest projects.

To our great surprise, we are proud to say that in spite of the current situation Play Around has expanded over the year and received very positive feedback.

During lockdown, Play Around signed a contract as Master Toy Licensor for Mondo TV’s new property, MeteoHeroes. The agreement confirms our strong position in the toy industry, and related areas in which new concepts are being developed. For Play Around MeteoHeroes is an important project that we strongly believe in.

In recent months we have also completed the development of our property Kawais, which has already signed various licenses and is ready for its promotional launch to the market.

What about cooperation with Rovio?

Our collaboration with Rovio on the development of the Hatchies concept was an excellent training ground for the application of a new model of toy development with multi-channel

Massimiliano Piazzolla The play around concept was launched in January 2020 in Hong Kong. What is your asessment of the first 10 months?

The launch of Play Around in Hong Kong last January was in some way just the formalization of a path that had already begun under the radar for about a year, and was finally ready to be publicized. The excitement around this project was high and the feedback received at the launch confirmed our expectations.

positioning. The Hatchies project was in fact distributed on through newsstands by DeAgostini and Burda, but also through traditional toys channels, with retailers like Splash Toys and Topps bringing it to their markets.

In the last phase, the Hatchies concept a featured property in the world of Loyalty Programs, with three launches in three different countries through TCC. In the wake of this success, we decided to take Hatchies online. In fact the first line of Hatchies Special Pack will be available for American consumers on Amazon US this October. The strategy of the online channel, which had already been planned, showed strong growth due to the COVID effect, as did all the related strategies.

What are Play Around’s future plans ?

We intend to deepen our collaboration with licenses with which to create a new business model that better responds to the needs of the current period. The optimization of investments in the face of maximizing the possibility of licensing on various channels, all managed with a reduced time to market, which allows toys to be released at the optimal time and perform more strategically.

We will also continue to focus on the development of internal concepts and properties to meet current and future trends, always trying to offer fresh and innovative content of interest and value to our partners.

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TEAM MARKETING

UEFA CLUB COMPETITION LICENSING PROGRAMME LM met Daniel Hammond, Head of Licensing at TEAM Marketing AG, the exclusive global agency for the exploitation of media and commercial rights relating to UEFA men’s club competitions, to learn more on the licensing strategies being employed to develop UEFA men’s club competition brands, and the steps being taken into experiential licensing.

Daniel Hammond

Champions League Experience, Brazil How is licensing structured for a brand such as UEFA? TEAM Marketing has been working as UEFA’s full service marketing partner for club competitions since the inception of the UEFA Champions League in 1992, responsible for Sponsorship and Broadcast rights in addition to the Licensing Programme. Regarding licensing, our focus is to find new and credible fan engagement opportunities, promote the competition brands and associated values, and from all this to create additional interest to view matches and create tangible revenues.

The UEFA ambition for licensing is to reach a wider audience, not only those already engaged with football, and to work with Partners who are already experienced in interacting with these target audiences.

This allows UEFA to reach new fans through established and credible partners and products.

I think the starting point when looking at

our licensing programme is to note the complexity of our commercial landscape with many stakeholders, including clubs and European national leagues. The UEFA club competition licensing programme is based around the use of the world renowned competition marks, without having direct access to the centralised IP for competing clubs and players. UEFA Licensing Partners are able to exploit the prestigious and globally recognized club competition brand assets with the possibility to combine any licenses held for clubs, featuring in the competition that season to create a unique offering for fans. Alternatively, each club can order a separate full range of merchandise and apparel unbranded products for any season they feature in that competition via UEFA’s club servicing programme.

Licensing categories for UEFA club competitions must respect any exclusive Sponsor category protection, with the aim to create additional value to UEFA and commercial partners.

Which is the main target for your consumer products, if compared to the football fanbase?

Importantly, licensing can bring new football fans into our environment as well as offering existing football fans additional ways to interact with the competition brands. If you look at the Video Game and eSports category as an example, the majority of gamers come from a younger demographic who often eChampions League

Interview

in Latin America where we have a huge fan base due to the number of local players featuring in the competitions, as well as strong growth in audiences across the US and Asian regions.

Can you tell me more about the eChampions League?

Since 2018 we have worked with EA Sports to integrate the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Super Cup competitions into the annual FIFA simulation game. Using FIFA we have developed the eChampions League e-sport competition which is part of the

wider FIFA Global e-sports series.The concept is to replicate as authentically as possible the real world football matches into the e-sport arena, including the iconic UEFA Champions League identity and anthem, offering gamers a truly unique experience. The eChampions League is exclusive to the Playstation platform as they are an official partner.

These e-sport events offer the opportunity of on-site and digital activations for both UEFA and our commercial partners, providing additional exposure and the opportunity to be exposed to the notoriously difficult to reach younger

Gillette Champions Edition consume football in a very different way to previous generations. For licensing, the youth market is one of our focal target audiences as they are the future fans.

Which are your main territories, in terms of licensing business?

We deliver pan-European competitions with a global viewership and following.

We have over 2.5 billion UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League fans globally and they are present across all regions.

Europe is obviously our biggest market and our primary focus. Matches are played in European time which makes it, in some territories, difficult to follow matches live due to the time difference.

In addition, UEFA club competitions are strong in most global markets, particularly

UEFA Europa League apparel and merchandise range audience.

The annual e-Champions League final takes place on the eve of the UEFA Champions League final in the host city.

The 2020 competition was an exception due to the COVID pandemic and was instead delivered as an online invitational event, showcasing eight of the best FIFA players. EA and UEFA provide players with a unique experience aligned with the UEFA Champions League and giving the gamers a platform to feel like real football stars, enjoying behind the scenes football experiences as well as prestigious products from our Licensing Partners. In addition, the eChampions League winner can lift the trophy won the previous day pitch side in the build-up to the UEFA Champions League final, as happened in Madrid in 2019 when NYC Chris lifted the inaugural trophy. The idea is to go beyond

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Icons.com authentic memorabilia just gaming and to allow the gamers to feel like the icons who adorn the realworld football pitch.

You are also working on the experiential licensing. Could you tell us something more?

Experiential licensing is away to bring the brand to life and allow interaction with the competitions in regions where matchesare not usually played. These venues can create additional retail opportunities for our licensing partners, new activation opportunities for sponsors and broadcasters and offer clubs a platform for activations linked to the competitions in that region due to the wide appeal of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League respectively.

We want to createa unique UEFA experience that the fan may not have been able to have under normal circumstances.

The experiential concepts are wideranging and can include match viewing

Topps Match Attax trading card game opportunities, fan entertainment activations to get people actively playing football, as well as potentially theme parks and brand road-shows in areas with high footfall. The ambition is to effectively engage with fans in interesting ways relevant to a particular region as well as creating value for our commercial partners in a protected competition environment.

We are looking to launch the first UEFA Champions League Experiences in the Brazil Mexico and the UK, each with a very different concept, with many other locations under discussion.

The first experiential venue we hope to open this year will be in SãoPaulo in Brazil and will be named the “Champions League Experience”, but obviously the COVID pandemic is dictating our plans to open venues at this time. This will be a match viewing concept with a sit down food and beverage operation and an interactive UEFA Champions League tour showcasing the best of the competition and its rich heritage.

Am Ball official replica trophy

Topps sticker collection

We also hope to open a “football skills based activation” in London called Metrix. This concept focuses on different football performance elements, such as shooting accuracy and speed, offering the player a score card of their performance.

Supported by a food and beverage operation, the whole family can enjoy an active experience with a competitive element to it. We expect a viral element to this activation with players taking their scores and competing both at the venue and online afterwards to showcase their own performance.

The final experiential concept we hope to launch in the next season will be a threeday UEFA Champions League Final match viewing concept, the “Champions League Fan Festival”. Historically UEFA have a Fan Festival in the host city of the final, but were keen to offer this experience outside of Europe to fans who would not normally get to experience such an event.

What are your plans for the future?

UEFA’s club competitions work on a three-year commercial cycle and we are currently in the midst of the 2018-21 cycle. Our sales team are actively in the market looking at new opportunities for the 2021-24 cycle,with partnerships starting in July 2021.

Excitingly, we are also launching a new competition for the 2021-24 cycle which will open up even more opportunities.

UEFA’s third club competition will be called the UEFA Europa Conference League and will provide more clubs with a chance to play in European club football competitions as well as creating new Licensing opportunities.

Events

BOLOGNA KIDS LICENSING TRADE FAIR

BOLOGNA 2021: FOCUS ON KIDS This year has disrupted professional trade events and has led B2B show organizers to rethink their models to allow the industry players to keep meeting, networking and working together, just as they did before February 2020.

World trade shows have always been a crucial tool in the industry, providing an opportunity to keep up-to-date on the development of specific markets, find out what’s new and network with potential new partners.

In 2020 participants from various sectors and areas have come to expect online continuity from their industry events with a digital substitute of what could not happen in person, with the hope of meeting with partners and friends in person by next year.

This is what Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF) and Bologna Licensing Trade Fair (BLTF) have done for their respective areas, publishing and licensing, with online events, digital dossiers, awards, and business networking.

This year has been particularly important for carrying on the natural evolution that the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair started some time ago. The Bologna Children’s Book Fair is in fact a world reference event for children’s content, starting from the central business of publishing, in addition to media & digital, audiovisual, licensing

For more information: licensing@bolognafiere.it

and (as of 2020) even comics. Bologna is a huge marketplace for the worldwide exchange of rights which allows companies to create books, TV series, films and digital products for children, many of which also have a following in the licensing sector and some of which had their start right in Bologna.

Even before the successful launch and development of the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair in 2008, as a one day event aimed at kids properties, the Bologna Children’s Book Fair was already a global meeting point for anyone working in the field of licensing.

Therefore in 2021 the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair will have a greater role at the show, firmly establishing itself into the Book Fair zone, sponsoring mainly kids properties with an international rather than a domestic approach, just like the BCBF itself.

The future Bologna KIDS Licensing Trade Fair will keep the spaces that have characterized the event so far, such as

the Retail Zone, with a rich program of events covering the main subjects in the industry and the award for the best licensing programs of the year, all with an international twist. The Fashion space that would have been inaugurated in 2020 will also return with greater presence, consistent with the new profile of the event. The fair will offer greater networking opportunities to licensing executives and the thousands of professionals who attend the Bologna Trade Fair every year.

The Bologna Kids Licensing Trade Fair will not only be an unmissable event in 2021 but its services and opportunities will be greatly anticipated, allowing the inclusion of licensing properties in the BCBF’s online rights exchange system, the Global Rights Exchange, as well as online appointments, news updates and networking services that will be launched in the coming weeks.

Save the date: Bologna, April 12-14, 2021

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FESTIVAL OF LICENSING

THE GLOBAL LICENSING BIG REUNION All the industry players are ready to connect online from October 6th through 29th for four intense weeks of licensing content, business and network opportunities. A unique chance to reboost the industry and look forward the major companies’ future plans. LM interviewed Anna Knight, VP Licensing at Informa Markets, to learn more on this extraordinary online event.

Licensing industry. Although we have a global audience for BLE, it’s still all about European licensing taking place on the UK time zone. They’re very market specific.

The final event during Festival of Licensing is our global Licensing Leadership Summit.

This is a paid-for conference, for those who want to learn more about strategic business issues – it’s less about dealmaking and designed specifically for the C-suite licensing executives.

My advice is for people to attend the event or events that are relevant to them – there’s absolutely no pressure to attend for the whole month. Each regional event is live for two to three days and has been designed to give visitors in that region all of the meetings, networking, education and after hours fun they need. Pick and choose what’s best for you!

How is the industry reacting to your initiative?

The feedback from the industry has been amazing. People have spoken really Anna Knight Which is the concept behind FOL? Festival of Licensing is a month-long virtual gathering in celebration of the global licensing community. When we organised Licensing Week Virtual in June, we quickly realised that it’s not possible to host a global event on one time zone, yet our brands have global coverage and resonance so we wanted to organise an event that would serve all of our markets with amazing content and networking opportunities.

By launching Festival of Licensing, we will

have regional-specific events that really work for those markets and the customers they serve, and it means we can host live content specific to each market’s time zone, which is much more convenient for our attendees.

Week one of Festival of Licensing is powered by Brand Licensing Europe and is on the same dates that BLE would have taken place in London. Week two focuses on Asia and week 3 on the Americas.

The main focus of each event is on those licensing markets. So, for example, BLE is about doing deals within the European

Events

there will be exclusive content, too, including presentations and ‘ask the expert’ sessions.

And we are launching License to Move, which is a global charity fundraiser designed to raise funds for three really special charities: The Light Fund, Magic Wheelchair and Licensing International Small Business Global Grants Fund. We really do want to the whole industry to get behind this, and to encourage colleagues, friends and families to join in and donate.

The fundraising page will be announced very soon.

WHAT IS FESTIVAL OF LICENSING?

positively about it and everyone is being very supportive. We are about to hit 100 exhibitors for week one – BLE – and we are expecting the majority of exhibitors you usually see at BLE to be at Festival of Licensing.

Which are your expectations in terms of fellowship for this unique event?

It’s impossible to say how many people we can expect to join us at Festival because it’s a first. Licensing Week Virtual attracted 4,477 attendees including lots of new

faces, which was phenomenal. We’re also seeing registrations come in from very high quality retailers, manufacturers and brands of the level you would expect to meet at BLE in London (e.g. Asda, Calzedonia, Zara, Tesco, Ravensburger and Forbidden Planet) and the fact that Festival is free to attend, doesn’t require travel time and enjoys the flexibility of being virtual means that it’s also easier than ever before for new audiences to join.

Have you planned some special initiatives during FOL? Yes, we have, but let me start by reassuring your readers that they can expect to find everything that they are used to seeing at BLE, where the focus will be on doing European licensing deals and we’re facilitating networking in as many ways as we possibly can. There will be daily live keynotes, live exhibitor showcases and live ‘after hours’ performances, which we’re hoping will really wow people.

There will also be tons of content to view on demand, a Community and Wellbeing offering that will include careers advice and business mentoring. And, for retailers,

The Festival of Licensing is a unique four-week digital gathering that aims to bring together the global licensing industry to connect, learn, strike deals and do business on an international stage.

Taking place 6-29 October, Festival is brought to you by the organisers of Brand Licensing Europe, Licensing Expo, Licensing Expo Japan and Licensing Expo China, in partnership with Licensing International.

Week 1: 6-8 October - Europe, powered by Brand Licensing Europe Week 2: 14-15 October - Asia, powered by Licensing Expo China and Licensing Expo Japan Week 3: 20-22 October – North America and Latin America, powered by Licensing Expo Week 4: 28-29 October - Global C-suite virtual conference Licensing Leadership Summit The first three events will be timezoned around the territories they serve. The festival will conclude with Licensing Leadership Summit.

To register and learn more on Festival of Licensing go to www.festivaloflicensing.com.

To learn more on Licensing Leadership Summit, go to www.licensingleadershipsummit. com/

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E-COMMERCE

Social-marketers, instagram and tik tok expand their market

By Matteo Melani The two most popular social media networks for young people (after Facebook) have opened their platforms to companies that want to advertise and sell their products. This represents a natural evolution of online sales of new content in step with the times.

Social media networks have become a key element in any serious digital sales strategy. Given its strong growth and importance, in recent years social media outlets have created their own marketplaces to allow buyers to advertise their products through content creators such as influencers, photographers and video creators. In fact, making use of well-known faces on the web makes it possible to reach an exact target audience, whatever the product being sold.

Social networks work with algorithms that show users personalized posts based on interests, time spent online and interactions. Today, the most popular social marketplace is Instagram Shop, the sales platform of the popular photo

social network, which is also the creator of Tik Tok, the global platform for smallformat mobile videos.

According to a recent study, around 90% of people who have a profile on Instagram follow specific companies with 130 million monthly users discovering product tags in the post, with a purchase option. There are around 160 million companies worldwide that already use the Facebook – Whatsapp - Instagram ecosystem.

Even Tik Tok, the Chinese social network, has more than 33 million active users, with a growth of 2.8% compared to 32.07 million in December 2019. It is a very fertile land of opportunities to quickly reach potential customers and which are destined to grow in the near future.

INSTAGRAM SHOP: ONLINE SALES IN ONE CLICK Until a few years ago advertising on social networks was limited to ads or fanpages, but with the explosion of Instagram, pictures and stories have become an integral part of the sales strategy. Among the social platforms, Instagram is the one that lends itself most to digital marketing. In fact, in addition to recording strong growth both for

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display you must click on the icon in the shape of the bag that is located in the app and, by clicking on the product, the user is directed to the profile of the company or the influencer. Brands that use multiple tags in posts are more likely to appear in the Shop.

TIK TOK CREATOR, MARKETING TO THE RHYTHM OF MUSIC It has now been proven that quality videos on the web attract a large number of audiences. And if they are well done or

accompanied by a song, then there is a high probability that it will go viral. Tik Tok, which in two years has become superpopular across the globe, has followed in the footsteps of Instagram by opening its own marketplace.

The difference with Tik Tok, besides the content, lies in the recruitment of authors. By using the “Creator Search”, a company can search for acreator using customized filters such as nationality, sex, age and type of video; the audience can also be filtered. Compared to Instagram Shop, Shop is a service that puts the client in direct contact

users and interactions, it is the defacto home of influencers. International brands such as Adidas and Abercrombie & Fitch commission social media celebrities to promote their products on their profiles, and also attract their preferred audience with benefits like discount codes. This technique is also used by smaller brands and retailers.

Given the growing success of this business model, Mark Zuckerberg will also open a Facebook marketplace. The name couldn’t be more evocative: Shop. It is an online space where new and trending products are shown based on user preferences and which entices people to shop when they are most inspired. To with the author and helps the brand with its promotion strategy. To date, the hottest creator has been Charli D’Amelio, a sixteen-year-old American girl who has won over 72 million followers with her dance videos in just a few months. Because of this success, D’Amelio was chosen by Prada to participate in its fall/winter 2021 fashion show.

Launched in February 2020, the marketplace is seeing an increase in registered authors. Given the number of authors, Tik Tok launched a tender for a 60 million euro fund last summer (which will increase to 255 million within the next three years), for the most promising creators around the world. All the selected young authors will be put under contract

by TikTok and can be contacted by big or small brands to promote their products.

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PERRY ELLIS INTERNATIONAL

WHAT’S NEW FOR EMEA AND ASIA Perry Ellis International has initiated various new projects and deals in the last year with more to be seen this year. The below is an update on licensing new business for EMEA and Asia. For the occasion LM interviewed Vincent Panzanella, VP of Global Marketing & Communication Perry Ellis International and Mark Bezodis, Managing Director - Licensing & International Development, Perry Ellis International Europe Ltd. According to you, how this pandemic has changed traditional business models in the future?

From what we’ve seen, the pandemic hasn’t necessarily changed business models but instead has accelerated the importance of our e-commerce channels in the overall consumer distribution mix.

Most fashion and apparel brands were moving in this direction regardless, but the pandemic really pushed the accelerator on our focus in this area. Wholesale brick and mortar department stores are still very important to us, but the retailer’s e-commerce arms have a much more prominent seat at the table.

Which are PEI’s next plans? And which will be the territories you will focus on?

With such a diverse offering of brands in our portfolio, we examined which Original Penguin Fall Winter 2020

brands would be most appealing to each of the global markets. With that in mind, in the coming year we will be expanding into Australia, India, the Middle East and Eastern Europe with a number of our owned properties. Many of our brands have such a rich history behind their creation and how they impacted the apparel and lifestyle market; our international partners see the overwhelming benefit of this story telling and how it relates to their specific audiences.

How have you changed your sales strategies and your customer care during the COVID period?

Over the last eight months, Covid-19 has indisputably reshaped retail and the overall customer experience. As such, like many other brands in our industry, we adapted our way of thinking to work

Vincent Panzanella within the new reality of our everyday lives.

For the protection of both our associates and customers, we have implemented daily deep clean procedures in all of our retail locations, as well as providing full PPE to both our teams and customers.

Through honest, open dialogue between our teams and management, we have instilled confidence in all employees by thoroughly reviewing the protections that have been implemented for their safety.

This trust is the key component that will allow both associates and customers to feel safe within our stores. In addition to the health and safety guidelines that we have activated, we have taken a deeper look at our visual merchandising and promotions - in the short term; we will simplify our visual merchandising, push overall conversion, and keep transaction values elevated, whilst experiencing the inevitable reduced footfall.

Mark Bezodis

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In partnership with Kosovo based licensee Emporium LLC, Perry has expanded into Eastern Europe last year with three American Heritage brands: Perry Ellis, Perry Ellis America and Original Penguin

by Munsingwear. Brand dedicated stores opened in September 2019, serving the needs of a diverse audience, ranging from casual to more dressy products. This launch and subsequent rollouts was supported by an extensive marketing program to introduce the Eastern European market to Perry Ellis’s heritage brands. Coming down the pipe, as part of Perry Ellis’s global brand strategy will be a national launch of the brand in Israel later this year.

HIGHLIGHTS

Gotcha, an authentic surf brand, founded in the late 1970s in California will be launching in different categories and territories. Significantly this year, Gotcha will be launching in the United Kingdom in partnership with No Chaos Ltd. The collection will stay true to the founder’s

Farah Fall Winter 2020 In partnership with Suzhou Yicai Brands Management, Farah launched in China in 2019. Farah, the premium British heritage brand that dates back to 1920 is one of the company’s core brands. This coming Fall Farah will also launch in Japan. In line with the launch, there will be collaborations with Japanese streetwear brands, as well as the core collection. This will also be found exclusively in select retailers outside Japan. As part of the global brand strategy for Farah, Perry International has been involved in further discussions with various agents and potential partners to expand the brand more so in other Asian territories.

Perry Ellis Fall Winter 2020

Vintage Gotcha campaign, 1987 original concepts from the 80s; designs will be vibrant and bold. The core product offering will be available online initially and found in bricks and mortar stores soon after for Spring/ Summer 2021.

This launch will be supported by existing Gotcha licensees; the brand has long standing routes in LATAM and North Africa. Further plans to expand the brand in new territories will be seen in the coming year.

As part of the Perry Ellis International global licensing strategy the company has recently established an agency deal in India, where their partner there is heavily involved in conversations on a range of our core brands to establish deeper roots in Asia.

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OMNICHANNEL

Omnichannel future: the integration between online and offline

By Matteo Melani With the outbreak of the pandemic, all our habits changed and of course, retail was also affected. Firstly with the closure of shops, then with the consequent decrease in sales and, over recent months, with the new anti-contagion products for customers.

How do we deal with this big change?

What methods can guarantee success despite the stalemate? While it is true that in-store sales have dropped, online purchases have also seen a large increase. According to an ISTAT study, in the first seven months of 2020, retail sales decreased overall by 8.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2019, while online business recorded a 28.5 per cent growth. These statistics show that in the current market, in order to be competitive, retailers must implement an omnichannel strategy with the key focus on digital.

Several brands have used the lockdown period to change their strategies, replicating the e-commerce platform as much as possible with the physical store.

Like La Rinascente, which has expanded its online commercial offer with 600 brands and 1500 products.

“This initiative,” explains the company, “represents a new and important piece of La Rinascente’s omnichannel strategy, aimed at providing a multi-

channel experience. We wanted a site that replicates, as far as possible, the experience and entertainment that can normally be found in our physical stores.

All mobile friendly”.

La Rinascente’s strategy did not stop at simply displaying products online, but also combining elements concerning logistics and customer loyalty. By ordering on the site customers are offered free shipping throughout Italy for orders over €30 as well as free returns. Through the Click&Collect option, there is also the option of withdrawal of the product ordered from a store, along with express delivery options. A 20 per cent discount is also available for holders of the Friends Card on the online store. In short, a mix of innovation and tradition which guarantees

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Until a few years ago click and collect was a tool used only by a few, but today it has become fundamental for retailers’ omnichannel strategies. According to a survey by CBRE, the largest real estate consultancy company in the world, click and collect remains the most requested service by customers in shopping centers.

In fact, during the re-opening period following lockdown, many customers collected the product in the store rather than at home.

Each strategy must be accompanied by a strong advertising campaign in which online and offline are equally involved.

To encourage consumers to visit physical shops, retailers can use social networks such as Instagram or Facebook to communicate the latest arrivals, discount opportunities such as Black Friday and, as many do, introduce the staff.

Another widely used method is email customer satisfaction and enhances the retail experience through ad hoc services.

Offline and online are no longer two separate worlds, but two sales systems which work together to create added value to brands. The first step to implement a winning omnichannel strategy is to understand the needs of customers, guaranteeing an offering which meets

their needs. An initiative which does exactly that, is Virtual Artist, developed by Sephora. Products can be tried on using the virtual reality, shoppers can then choose their favourites and order.

As for the availability of products, an adequate assortment must be guaranteed to avoid selling out. An example of this is the O2O project (online to offline) implemented by Intimissimi, allowing a fluid and quick purchase process of online products. With O2O it will be possible to purchase the desired products online within the 1,029 stores involved, of

which over 650 in Italy, by enlisting the help of a sales assistant and obtaining the advantage of a widened range and faster delivery times. The service is already active in Italy, Austria, Germany, France, Spain and Portugal. In the coming months, Poland, Belgium and the Slovak Republic will also be added, with the aim of including all 25 markets where the Intimissimi brand is present.

marketing to inform customers about the store’s activities, experiences, news and growth. In-store, it may be useful to put up signs inviting customers to sign up to a loyalty card or to indicate the brand’s website as H&M does.

So it seems the future of omnichannel has already begun in earnest and the interaction between physical and digital stores requires an ever closer relationship.

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FRANCHISING

FRANCHISING AND LICENSING. DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES

By Marcel Portmann, Global Operations & Strategy, Portmann Consulting Group The question is often asked on what is the best way to expand a product or service, with franchising and licensing coming up as valid alternatives. There are key differences among them, which include terms of duration, initial investment and ongoing payments.

It is important to note that franchising is a form of licensing, specifically the licensing of the intellectual property of a brand, which, when applied as part of a full format franchise program, adds to the brand licensing rights additional elements such as initial training and ongoing support, as well as a defined look and feel for the business, whether it is a service or a retail concept.

To become part of a full format franchised business, the potential partner does not need – in most cases - previous experience in the business being considered, as the Franchisor – owner of the brand and system - will train its franchisees – partners - in all aspects of the business as part of the initial training and provide ongoing support as the business evolves.

include the requirement to open several outlets in a defined territory, in a set period - 10 years or more - known as the development schedule. In what is known as Master Franchising, the initial fee may be calculated considering the revenue generated with sub-franchise fees and sub-franchise royalty payment sharing.

Royalty payments in a full franchise program are a percentage of the sales of the business in a given period, sometimes with minimums. A licensed agreement likely will not have an initial payment, agreed duration of 2 to 4 years average and a percentage of the sales generated

Licensing, on the other hand, in most cases, requires actual experience and existing involvement in the business of choice. In this regards licensing combines the rights to manufacture with the responsibilities of distribution, requiring its partners to have the production and/or sales channels to award the rights.

When we look at duration and payments, full format franchising agreements are longer than traditional licensing, as they have a higher initial capital expenditure because of initial fees to cover training, territory and potential market. An Area development franchise for example will

Franchising vs. Licensing

Marcel Portmann with minimum payment amount by the license holder. Territory wise, the license agreement combines more channels for the licensee to generate sales and achieve the minimum agreed.

TO LEARN MORE mportmann@portmanngroup.com

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RESTAURANTS AND BRANDING

BRAND EXTENSION, THE POTENTIAL OF restaurants

By Matteo Melani To convey their values, many fashion brands have opened bars and restaurants. It is a technique for communicating their mission through different platforms.

The catering sector is experiencing a period of great change, with more and more people who are passionate about cooking and want to spend their free time enjoying food with friends.

In the last few years, television has seen a growth in programs dedicated to food, not only cooking-shows such as Masterchef, but also documentaries that explore traditional dishes from around the world. Consumers are becoming more conscientious about healthier food and there area growing number amateur cooking courses. In short, the globalization of our time means that a restaurant is no longer just a place where you eat and relax, but a vector of experiences where the customer is personally involved. So why not to apply brand extension rules to restaurants?

Armany Cafè

Several fashion brands have understood the strategic skills of catering, opening stores under their own brand name. In addition to advertising, a restaurant also maintains an educational function, in which the individual has the opportunity to discover the brand in various forms and experience it through a different channel. The success of brand extension operations is based on three factors: the ability of the brand to transfer its knowledge accumulated over time to the new category, the perceived difficulty of this transfer of know-how, and the synergy between the category of vocation and the new one”, explained Chiara Mauri, SDA Bocconi Professor of Marketing. Catering reflects all three characteristics of the brandextension, intended as an opportunity

Emporio Armani to promote one’s name in different markets. On a global scale, Giorgio Armani was the first to attempt this path, with cafes around the world which inspired other players in the industry to expand its reach.

THE INTUITION OF KING GIORGIO In terms of food, Italian cuisine has few rivals in the world with huge amounts of tourists coming to that beautiful country to taste the local delicacies. Well aware of this fact, Giorgio Armani opened the first Emporio Armani Cafè in Paris in 1998. Considering the industry and customs of the time, it was an innovative and courageous operation to launch and the first of its kind. In fact through its interior design, the restaurant represented the brand’s values of refinement, quality and minimalism. Particular attention was dedicated to the dishes, which featured

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NOT JUST FOOD The history of the Emporio Armani Cafè shows that to have a good restaurant, serving good food is not enough for branding. First of all, it is necessary to define a consistent extension brand strategy with a clear philosophy, in order to better communicate brand values. Then to the company must have a technique for communication to not only excite customers but also inform themselves about invite them to be curious, for example by creating a website with news or interviews with experts in the food sector or to organize events specific to the target audience, such as dj-set.

In terms of location, all the elements of the restaurant have a role in conveying the brand values. An example is the People’s Choice, Tommy Hilfiger’s recently renovated restaurant located in Milan. It is located in Piazza Oberdan, a few steps from the adjacent shop and mirroring the ideals of sustainability and integration that the multinational has supported. The locale covers an area of 85 square meters in a luscious city garden, where the greenery conveys a sense of peace and relaxation. The entire People’s Choice is made up of 110 seats, designed to facilitate the encounter between people of any ethnicity and origin. To strengthen his brand, Made in Italy products. Chef and director of Emporio Armani Cafè, Massimo Mori recalled that Giorgio Armani’s first request when he was hired was to offer Parisians the best tomato and basil spaghetti ever made in France. Over the years the restaurant has expanded its menu, including more dishes such as vitello tonnato (with tuna from Pantelleria), white truffle risotto (with Alba truffle) and tiramisu (soaked in Illy coffee). A customer who sits at the tables of the Emporio Armani Cafè lives an experience of high prestige, knowing and enjoying gourmet dishes.

King Giorgio’s concept was immediately recognized and in 2018 the restaurant received a Michelin star. It is a record, given that it was the first Italianled restaurant to win a Michelin star in France. Today, there are seven Emporio Armani Cafés worldwide: in Bologna, Paris, Monaco, Dubai, Tokyo, Aoyama, Cair and Milan.

People’s Choice

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Tommy Hilfiger created cocktails with the name of his collections such as Flower Power Seventy, Disco Eighty, Denim Ninety and 2020, which tell the evolution of Tommy Hilfiger as a designer through the decades.

Even for a restaurant with a famous brand, it takes experience before reaching a high level. It is in fact necessary to experiment, equip oneself with staff up to the job, and know how to combine dishes with the tastes of one’s target audience.

LATEST EXAMPLE OF FOOD BRAND EXTENSION While it is necessary to follow a logical thread between brands and restaurants, it is important to follow trends to offer choices that are in step with the times. In this case again, Armani proved to be at a maverick. In fact with the chef Nobu Matsushisa he was the first to propose, in Italy and in the world, the melding of traditional cuisine withPeruvian and Italian influences, defining the concept of fusion. Inside the Armani shop in via Monzoni in Milan there is a restaurant led by Matsushisa that Gucci

Hello Kitty cakes serves dishes in which the different cuisines are mixed and the symbol dish is the amberjack sashimi with a touch of jalapeño.

Highly recognizable names are

guaranteed to always attract a lot of attention and to re-launch their own image.

So Gucci hired Massimo Bottura, awarded in 2019 as the best cook in the world, as chef. Thanks to appearances on television, great chefs have become public figures in many respects which helps to promote the restaurant. After a first opening in Florence, Gucci and Bottura opened a similar establishment in Los Angeles.

In addition to niche brands, there are also non-fashion and more accessible brands. Hello Kitty, for example, the brand with the famous kitten, boasts two bars in the United States: one in Irvine and one in Las Vegas. Both places have white and pink furnishings and mostly serve sweets and drinks. The target audience is children and millennials. In addition to ordering food, the brand organizes afternoon teas some days where you can drink and eat sweets. In this case it was a way to build customer loyalty and, given its success, it seems to have worked!

In recent years, the idea of pop-up bars has also become popular. A good example is Zara which set up a food-truck in New York in 2019, i.e. a kiosk where sandwiches and chips are sold twice a year, one in autumn and the other on Gay Pride day.

All the cases mentioned show that by opening a restaurant or a bar a brand can deepen its resonance and communicate its core values to its customers in a new, creative and delicious way!

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Trends

PRESCHOOL

The importance of quality for preschool licenses

By Alessandra Maccaferri Licensed preschool products usually have a great response.

Many companies choose to enhance the power of licensing further by focusing on product quality.

Peppa Pig Clever Car by Wow! Stuff as ensuring that Mummy or Daddy Pig are in the driver’s seat. Successfully matching the colours activates a narrator, who congratulates the child’s skill, before the smart car sets off.

Peppa also inspired Giochi Preziosi to create a brand new wooden range of toys, which is set for launch this autumn.

The toys are characterised by simplified and rounded shapes, which make them suitable for babies. Strictly equipped with FSC certification, which distinguishes products made with wood from certified forests, the objects include all the most iconic places and vehicles in the animated series: the school, the school bus, the red car. There is also a giant house, over 50 cm high featuring eight different rooms in which to play.

The Trudi company is known for its experience in the plush toy market, but

Peppa Pig wooden school bus by Giochi Preziosi The pursuit of quality is a key strength for any company and this becomes even more important when it comes to the preschool audience. Licensed products are already a great attraction for this age group, but with attention to quality they can become unbeatable successes. This means that more attention is paid to the way they are created, the raw materials used and the message they convey.

Here we look at some preschool licenses and their quality products.

Peppa Pig is one of the most important

brands for preschoolers and offers an impressive range of licensed products.

One of the latest lines is the Peppa Pig Clever Car, whose launch in Europe is scheduled for October 2020 and in the US for the spring of 2021. It was developed by Wow! Stuff, known for its quality games, in partnership with Hasbro. The product includes obstacle avoidance technology, which it uses when it detects something in front of it and thus manages to veer around it while its horn sounds. Before setting off, the child is challenged to match the colour of the characters to that of the car seats, as well

Flower pollen milk shampoo by Trudi Baby Care

Trends

CHICCO AND ENPA CREATE WOW PETS Chicco has started a beautiful collaboration with ENPA, the Italian institution for the protection of animals, giving life to the innovative Wow Pets line with soft toys that stimulate children’s cognitive and emotional abilities. The first product is Lucky, the storytelling puppy, recommended for children aged 18 months and over. Thanks to infrared technology, when the child opens the puppy’s book, the little dog begins to tell a story. When the pages are turned, Lucky follows and continues to narrate.

Through this partnership with ENPA, Chicco has committed to the adoption of 14 puppies throughout the year. After purchasing Lucky, the child can download the adoption certificate from the ENPA website and feel part of the project.

Lucky Storyteller - Wow Pets by Chicco

Orange honey milk bath by Trudi Baby Care has also worked with other brands for very young children through licensing activities.

One of these is Trudi Baby Care, a range of cosmetic products from SILC. The offering is vast: milk baths, shampoos, oils, moisturisers, cleansing wipes and more.

New to the range is the orange honey milk bath. Thanks to the presence of delicate surfactants derived from olive oil, it gives a feeling of hydration, softness and wellbeing from the first use. Also new is the milk shampoo with flower pollen: among the ingredients is coconut, ideal for gently cleansing the hair and moisturising the scalp of children.

Sophie la girafe is considered one of the essential baby toys and licences, with millions of them sold all over the world. Next year it will celebrate its 60th anniversary. It was designed by Vulli, who still produces it today with a traditional process, which involves more than 14 manual operations. It is made from 100 per cent natural rubber derived from the latex of the Heavea tree. Among the latest licensing offerings are two products from the children’s perfume line by Angel Cosmetics. The 96 per cent natural eau de toilette has a pleasant fragrance of

orange blossom and vanilla; it is suitable for children aged three and over and their mothers. The scented skincare water is 97 per cent natural and contains cherry and savory extracts. It has been designed from birth to delicately perfume hair, body or clothes. Serge de Oliveira, who works for Robertet, was called upon to design these perfumes. Another new collaboration is one with toy brand SES, known for its creative, safe and quality products. With Sophie, the company has created, for example, a finger painting set for children aged one to four.

Scented skincare water - Sophie la girafe by Angel Cosmetics

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BOOKS FOR CHILDREN

IN CHILDREN’S PUBLISHING NO ONE IS EXCLUDED

By Rossella Arena In a world where acceptance of difference is a very topical theme, there is a notable increase in children’s books that touch on diversity, disability and inclusion. Here we look at how these issues are being addressed by children’s publishing.

In bookstores the number of children’s books that talk about inclusion continues to increase. It is a concept that is both very necessary and very broad, taking in diversity of every type: physical, mental, ethnic, geographical, religious and gender.

The aim is to emphasize the need to welcome uniqueness – in oneself and in others. In much recent children’s publishing these themes have been addressed in many different but highly effective ways, making them enjoyable for children and for everyone. Here are some recent examples.

The Little Red Fox is the story of a fox who lives happily in the forest with his parents until one day he feels weak and ill. He doesn’t know what to do. After a long journey and many adventures, he manages to overcome his fears. The text is by Emanuela Nava and the illustrations are by Annalisa Beghelli. Suitable for ages three and up, the book was published by the Italian publisher Carthusia, in collaboration with the Letizia Verga

Le Cheminde Jada by Cambourakis

I Promise by Harper Collins

LeBron, the book takes the name of his foundation’s programme, which supports kids from all over the world in expressing their uniqueness and in promising themselves that they will always give their best and always demand the best. The illustrations are by Nina Mata and the recommended age range is 4 to 8 years old.

The Little Red Fox by Carthusia Committee for the study and treatment of child leukaemia and AMGEN Italia. Its aim, elegantly expressed, is to instil courage in all sick children.

Another book recommended for kids aged three and up comes from Parisian publisher Cambourakis: Le Cheminde Jada, by Laura Nsafou, illustrated by Barbara Brun. Inspired by an African tale, it tells the story of two twin sisters who have similar features but a different skin colour. Iris’s skin is as clear as acacia, Jada’s as dark as cocoa. In their village Iris is praised but Jada is mocked. During a game of hide and seek in the forest, however, Jada’s perception of herself will change.

From NewYork publisher HarperCollins comes I Promise, a book that immediately became a number one bestseller on the New York Times chart, and was an Amazon Book of the Month. Written

by NBA champion and superstar James

Lilly Gehört Dazu!, from the German publisher Coppenrath, was written by author Irmgard Partmann and illustrated

by Laura Bednarski. Lilly is a child with Down’s syndrome, much loved by her sister and all her family. She can’t speak too well and she is a bit slow and stubborn, but she paints beautiful colourful pictures and laughs often. As the title says, “Lilly is one of them”; every child with physical or mental disabilities has a very specific place first of all in their family and then in the world. For children between 5 and 7 years old.

Lilly Gehört Dazu! By Coppenrath

Publishing

guarantees the greatest possible clarity.

Such books will also work on making the text more understandable and trying to avoid ambiguities as much as possible. The Italian publishing house Biancoenero, for example, has a rich selection of highly readable books. The most recent is The Ghost Tower by Gillian Cross, with illustrations by Sarah Horne, recommended for ages 8 and up.

The Ghost Tower by Biancoenero Settenove is an Italian publisher that focuses on the prevention of genderbased violence. A new publication, The World Needs Girls (Me), by Alessandra Spada is a text that is a bit diary, a bit a collection of short stories and a bit an activity book. Each chapter has a theme that encourages girls to listen to emotions, understand their bodies, think creative and courageous thoughts, and work with other women and people in general. Recommended for ages 11 and up, they aim to encourage a self-aware girl to become a self-aware woman.

I Am Not a Label by Wide-Eyed Editions London-based Wide-Eyed Editions created Cerrie Burnell’s I Am Not a Label, with illustrations by Lauren Mark Baldo, for the age group 6-12. In this short book there are biographies of artists, activists and athletes with physical and mental disabilities, from the past and the present.

Just a few examples include Ludwig Van Beethoven, Eliza Suggs, Helen Keller and Frida Kahlo. Their lives are positive examples of inclusion; all of them have been leaders in their fields, overcoming enormous personal difficulties.

American publisher Paige Tate & Co has brought out How to Draw all the Things for Kids by illustrator Alli Koch. It is an inclusive book because it is designed for all children who can, by following simple instructions, quickly learn to draw anything they want, like spaceships, aeroplanes, unicorns, cupcakes, cats, fruit or ice cream cones! It’s recommended for 7-9-year-olds.

The World Needs Girls (Me) by Settenove How to Draw all the Things for Kids by Paige Tate & Co. Books can be inclusive not only in theme but also in how they are presented. Some are designed to be accessible to those with specific difficulties such as dyslexia, but they can in fact make reading an easier experience for everyone. At the typographical level, this means widely spaced paragraphs and a type face that

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CHILDREN’S PUBLISHING

LOVING THE EARTH THROUGH BOOKS FOR CHILDREN

By Rossella Arena Learning respect for the environment has become increasingly important and urgent for younger generations, which opens an opportunity for new children’s books with environmental themes.

Children love the environment and nature and, if well informed, they genuinely care about what is happening to the earth. In recent years there has been much more talk onthe environment because the general situation has worsened and the time has come for everyone to understand how to contribute to the well-being of the planet. Even the youngest among us, with age appropriate books, can learn more about climate change and the biodiversity of plants and animals, and receive useful tools to build a good relationship with the environment. Here are some interesting editorial suggestions for children books with an ecological theme.

accurate language, the book explains that the earth is our home and so we must protect it. The good news is that you don’t need superpowers, you just need careful and kind gestures: separate waste collection, remember to turn off the light, save water...

Slow down - 50 mindful moments in nature by the author Rachel Williams, illustrated by Freya Hartas and published

by Magic Cat, focuses instead on the

For very young readers (3+) Emme Edizioni recently published Kindness to protect the planet by Giuditta Campello. Through eight stories written in simple but very

Climate change for babies by Sourcebooks Explore aimed at children aged 3 to 6 (but not only) it is an invitation to go out, explore and see what can be found in the environment when you take the time to do it.

Designed for children ages 5+, Climate Change for Babies, by Chris Ferrie and Katherina Petrou, is published by Sourcebooks Explore. Climate Change for Children is part of the Baby University series, which contains about thirty books written by experts to teach the very young scientific concepts and information. It clarifies to children and adults in simple terms what climate change is and, most of all, what we can do about it.

In France the Felipé prize has existed since 2004, intended for books that talk about ecology, the environment or nature. After making a first selection the award team appoints a jury of children to choose the winner: between February and May, 90 young jurors read the selected works and then vote for them. This year they came from Parisian schools and from one in the

Kindness to protect the planet by Emme Edizioni

Slow down - 50 mindful moments in nature by Magic Cat miracles of nature that are all around us. Every day, hour after hour, magical transformations occur right before our eyes. It is not always easy to see them, so this beautiful collection was created 50 illustrations depicting different moments in nature to observe in detail. Primarily

Ensemble (Together) by Actes Sud - inside

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by Clarkson Potter, it contains a lot of textual and visual information on how our planet works and what we can do to save it; there are also many pages that the reader himself will write and draw, following some suggestions. Also for 10+, How to change everything: the Young Human’s Guide to Protecting the

publishing house has announced its release for February 2021. For boys aged 11 and up there is Greta - the girl who is changing the world, written by Viviana Mazza, illustrated by Elisa Macellari and published by Mondadori. It tells the story of Greta Thunberg, a Swedish girl who became world famous for her interest in the environmental situation, inspiring and engaging millions of her peers. Published in 2019, it was almost immediately translated into German and in 2020 the French version appeared – Greta la Voix d’une Génération.

Ensemble (Together) by Actes Sud Alpes de Haute Provence. There were two selections, one for beginner readers (Tout Petit Felipé - La Petite Salamandre), and one for more experienced readers, who reached the end of primary school (Petit Felipé - La Salamandre Junior). It was part of the selection Tout Petit Felipé 2020 Ensemble - Les Animaux Solidaires

by Joanna Rzezak. Published by Actes Sud Junior for readers 5+, it focuses specifically on group-dwelling animals, such as pink flamingo colonies and herds of wildebeest. It illustrates many species in the four corners of the world, carefully exploring their behaviors and revealing their secrets to protect themselves from predators, find a partner, take care of the little ones, etc.

Montena has published Meteo Curiositats by Tomàs Molina, who answers the many questions about the weather: for example, why thunder makes so much noise and how a rainbow is formed. For every meteorological phenomenon there is a scientific and funny explanation. The language is Catalan and is recommended for ages 7 and up. Boys and girls aged 10 will love I Love the Earth: A Journal for Celebrating and Protecting Our Planet, edited by Rachel Ignotofsky and based on another author’s book, The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth. Published

I love the Earth by Clarkson Potter Planet and Each Other. Written by Naomi Klein with the participation of Rebecca Stefoff, it is full of stories of young leaders in environmental sustainability. The Atheneum Books for young readers I love the Earth by Clarkson Potter - inside

Greta - the girl who is changing the world

by Mondadori

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STATIONERY

A PASSION FOR Paper

By Alessandra Maccaferri Paper lends itself to many popular and interesting products.

Here are just a few recent launches of paper and paper-related products from specialist companies.

Paper can have many different roles on any given day: a notebook where you can write and record thoughts or appointments, napkins to use at lunch, or as an inspiration for creativity and games.

Many companies use paper to bring to life to small but wondrous products. These companies are also increasingly attentive to sustainability, insisting that products have FSC certification, a guarantee that they have been made in a way that does not contribute to deforestation.

Kartika is an Italian company by origin but a cosmopolitan one by vocation. It makes handkerchiefs, tissue papers, kitchen paper, toilet paper and napkins.

It has two different lines. Kartika Kollection bases its designs on important licenses, such as Bing, Hello Kitty, Frozen II and L.O.L. Surprise! One of the hottest recent announcements from Kartika is about Pluto and Mickey and Friends – Stay True, a Disney brand that brings together Mickey and five of his friends (Minnie, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto). The Stay True license began as a way of celebrating friendship and being yourself.

Halloween collection by Kartika

Tiger collection by Kartika

16 month agenda Map by Legami Kartika Generation has an original design and a style that is reminiscent of the kawaii style. The newest offerings are the Dinos collections, cute dinosaurs, Tiger, a sweet little tiger surrounded by

jungle flowers and vegetation, and the Halloween collection, characterized by pumpkins, witches and ghosts, in shades of orange, purple and blue.

Legami is an Italian company specializing in stationery. It has a particularly strong reputation in diaries, available in many versions – 16-month daily and weekly diaries with notebooks, in various types of designs, related to maps or travel and featuring animals and motivational quotes.

Apart from the day-to-page offering, the others have a highly practical layout: the left page shows the whole week and the right one is a lined page for notes, ideas and things to remember. Among the latest output is a 13-month teacher’s planner in Metallic Rose Gold, which offers great attention to detail. The paper weight is 70 gr. and it has perforated corners. It has a hard cover, but is soft to the touch, and

Paper scotches tape by tape jungle by Legami

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notebooks and accessories and combining unostentatious paper with the delicacy of the artist’s creations.

Paper + design by Duni (a Swedish company) is a brand that will be appreciated by lovers of paper table accessories, where all sorts of atmospheres can be inspired by a wide choice of interesting designs. The company wants to tell stories inspired by the seasons and care for the environment, for ourselves and for others. Simi Gauba, Executive Director of Design, said: “We work hard to blend the designs we create with the values we uphold: a belief in freedom, diversity, compassion, sustainability and personal empowerment.”

Ritournelle collection by Clairefontaine

Autumn collection by Paper + Design

Ritournelle collection by Clairefontaine has an elastic closure.

The ivory paper pages are suitable for fountain pen ink. Along with the agenda there is an address book with a parents’ contacts section. Inside you’ll find sections for the class register (12 classes), temporary and final timetables, a yearly calendar, class councils laid out by trimester/quarter, refresher courses and adopted or recommended texts. Legami’s paper products also include many notebooks, and products like the Tape

By Tapeset: three colourful paper Scotch tapes, each 10 metres long.

Clairefontaine is a French company that produces notebooks, sheets, blocks, home decorations, recycled paper, fine art materials, paper for creative hobbies and

correspondence and stickers for students and professionals. It uses acid-free paper and often creates new collections.

One of the latest is Ritournelle, based on the work of Isabelle Bouteillet. A selftaught artist, she was the director of an art gallery for many years and developed her own technique of illustrative and abstract collages. The creations selected for this collection are mainly in colour: tender, witty characters reflected by the techniques used – gouache, pastel, acrylic and colour pencil.

Her source of inspiration was paper – the newspapers, gift boxes, magazines, letters and photos that are all part of our daily life. Clairefontaine wanted to give life to the artist’s characters, bringing them to

In addition to printed napkins, you can find handkerchiefs, tablecloths and table runners. The brand offers every type of design, from lettering to fantasy but at the moment the themes most requested are autumnal ones, including pumpkins, nuts, dry leaves and lots of orange!

There are also many designs for Christmas,

Autumn collection by Paper + Design

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such as reindeer represented through delicate water colours or, in a cartoon version, taking a nap.

Meri Meri is a US company known for making some of the best paper products in the world. The design team works tirelessly to develop an ever-growing array of stationery, party supplies and much more. It all started on a kitchen table, from the passion for creativity of Meredith (whose childhood nickname was Meri Meri). As a child she loved to create with scissors, pens, paper... and lots of glitter!

She and her colleagues now work in comfortable studios in a historic building

Paper Mario the Origami King

Peter Rabbit collection by Meri Meri in a small town a couple of hours from London. Meredith today heads a large team of designers and artisans, and Meri Meri products are sold all over the world.

Among the latest is the Rainbow stickers sketch book, a stylish drawing book. It is designed to house stickers (there are some already in it), sketches and notes. Another new product is multi-coloured napkins, the first product from the company’s new ecological range, which uses natural materials and vegetable dyes. The napkins come in a range of pastel colours and are

Rainbow stickers sketch book by Meri Meri

finished with elegant scalloped edges.

The brand has also acquired the Peter Rabbit license, with which it is making many delightful products – in particular paper plates.

Can paper inspire a video game? Yes, in the case of Nintendo with Paper Mario: the Origami King. In this new adventure Mario and Luigi are invited to Peach’s Castle, but upon arrival they find a princess transformed into an origami figure, and planning the same fate for our heroes. It’s all the doing of the evil King Paper Mario the Origami King

of Origami, Olly, who, after transforming the whole kingdom into folded paper, seals the castle, preventing anyone from entering it.

The idea of using origami came from the desire to create something innovative with paper. There’s also confetti, which is used as part of a rewards scheme. To continue the paper theme, the promotional campaign gave consumers the opportunity to have the game delivered directly to their home, along with some beautiful personalized notebooks.

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YOUTUBE

To YouTube and Beyond

By Neal Hoskins How a chance meeting brought together new German developer Wonderz with a top ten Canadian YouTube channel - Super Simple.

It’s always a pleasure on the final night out of the Bologna fair to meet with friends and colleagues and so it was at the last edition in 2019 that I caught up with the Berlin based Wonderz team, Sebastian Wehner (SW) and Daniel Matzke and first time visitors to the event from Toronto, Skyship entertainment, Brett Jubinville (BJ) and Morgan Fortier (MF).

They had just presented in the Digital café programme that I run in Bologna a new app project now called Wunderbox so I got to see first-hand the software that allows media companies to build their own bespoke streaming service and then edit, schedule and manage their own content libraries.

Cut to September 2020 and the chance to reminisce about Bolognese cuisine and see what progress they had made on the project that we all discussed in a Zoom call together recently.

So, let’s dial back to April 2018 and MIPTV - Could you just tell me a bit about the beginning? How did the idea to work together come up and how did this collaboration start?

MF - It was an industry breakfast invite for Germans and Canadians to meet, I never usually go to those things, but I just happened to have time that morning. I remember standing at a table and this tall German man walked up to me and started speaking about apps. Sebastian started talking about this one app that they had been producing and had rolled out with another client. Everything that he was saying at the time fit with where we already were coming from - we were a YouTube content creator and had been so used to being able to upload our content and had a very large volume of library content. We really wanted to have something that was indicative of our brand overall because with YouTube content, you’re so directly connected to an audience and we know

our audience so well.

BJ - We also wanted to make sure that the app experience was something similar but not just like what we already had. A Netflix styled type video player wasn’t necessarily going to be kid friendly, and if you go through Netflix, there’s a lot of visuals, but it’s really based on the fact that you can read the title and you can read the description and see the ratings. It’s all those things you need to have to be able to experience Netflix or Amazon and our audience doesn’t have any of those skills yet. To have an interface where you don’t need to be able to read is a particularly interesting challenge for app development and to do things that are like this needs to be intuitive for someone who may have never used an app before.

What was special about working together?

BJ - One of the main things we have in common between Wunderboxand Skyship is we’re both pretty entrepreneurial and from major innovation cities - Berlin and Toronto, we both benefit from that in the sense that we live in cities where they make movies and large media projects.

And that’s a pretty cool thing. For us, when it’s like let’s do it, we just do, as when we decide what we like we’ll move forward as soon as we can.

SW - Our thinking for this product came out of our work new on new areas of children’s multimedia books in 20132015. It was that creative process and success that brought us to the point where we next reached a road-block in terms of tools and future investments. It was particularly hard to be in control of your own content as a publisher and developer and with nothing out there and with some gritty real-world experience we thought, well let’s make something and build it

Media&Digital

from the ground up. It was really great to meet Skyship and suddenly realise we may already have some of what they were looking for in the Wunderbox service that we were constructing in 2017/2018.

Part of the Wunderbox package for publishers is that it has a central control mechanism,throughits bespoke content management system. Was that one of the appealing parts of its set up?

BJ - Yeah, I think made us feel very comfortable as a starting point because that’s what we do on YouTube and that’s what we do to a certain degree, on Amazon and other platforms. We’re pretty used to saying, oh, we want to release this music video, we want to release this episode, and there’s zero in the way of us doing that. As we were building the app with Sebastian you know, we tried to stay as close to that as we possibly could. And I think it’s pretty safe to say, like, we have a lot of flexibility. If I wanted to change a bunch of stuff on the app right now in the next 10 minutes, I could probably do it.

We’re not a broadcaster or traditional content creator. We’re kind of this hybrid between the two, so what was nice about the app was the fact that it kind of bridged all that for us too.

like the big screen, that makes the app even more powerful there. Christopher Nolan, as you might know likes to bang on about how the ideal presentation of his movies are in a theatre. This is the same thing, except for us it’s like this on an iPhone or an iPad or a TV in the home, in the classroom too through the app. That’s just great for us.

YouTube is great in a lot of ways and we have grown there, but of course there’s ads, there’s other people’s content. In a mobile appit’s the quintessential place for us to be in terms of experience, if I could dictate to someone how they might see us.Soon we are going to release the Apple TV version of the app so for people that

Were there any noteworthy milestones in the project?

MF -I think it is always very rewarding when you could see the whole project coming to fruition after all the discussion and ideas stage or seeing the things that you actually achieved in the production process that you thought, wow– we really

didn’t know we were going to do that and then we just did it and that felt really great to complete.

SW - So when by the timeSkyship came along and we always knew we had this vision as basis for us. I think first time I talked with Daniel Matzke, the lead developer was in April 2016 in a trade fair and we sketched it out on a napkin (yeah it always starts on a napkin!) I wanted this calendar to be there so you could schedule your stuff just like that. It’s important can actually organize and set up some stuff, formatting and the idea of what we’re running e.g. a real business within this infrastructure. For subscriptions, scheduling and dealing with an audience that expect to see new stuff come out this is key, and we knew that it had to be at the heart of our work together.

How did you approach the development stage of the design and work on the first concepts?

SW - A lot came together in the Canadian workshop that we did. Daniel Matzke came over from Berlin and we spent the better part of a week in a boardroom with Post-it notes and a whiteboard hashing that stuff out. We were able to play with a lot of different ideas and look at what other people had done and what was intuitive or what we thought was intuitive for kids. The spin wheel, I think, came a little bit later, but we did have the idea of some sort of carousel of characters and

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brands, and we just figured what was super intuitive at the time.

So what were the challenges you faced during the build time of the project?

SW - There weren’t really any insurmountable challenges in that sense for us, and I think there was due to a couple of reasons. When we met, we already had a working prototype, so a lot of things were already in production as a framework. When we came to Toronto, we had a click through keynoted file with an interface that we actually didn’t use in the workshop. I think what was the biggest uncertainty and what actually took the longest time was to optimize the streaming solution (actually, this was our biggest milestone in reference to your last question). You know, Daniel Matzke realised if you’re a few millimetres above the display that the phone already knows where your finger is. We found we could can triangulate that and can predict where the finger will be in the next second. We found we can already call the server and tell it, you know, probably this client in the next second will actually want that file from you and bingo there it was some pretty basic but amazing cool stuff that took some doing really, we were so pleased with our “streamload” feature and still are to this day.

MF–And in reference to that we had said early on it’s not like all our fans are in Germany and the majority of them have high speed Internet access and they’re

not all in Canada too. It’s like they’re everywhere. They’re in Asia, they’re in Africa. They’re in places like the USA where the Internet can be terrible too.

SW - Yeah it was important that those people didn’t have a poor experience then someone in the high-speed region. And what I like about all the features that we just said is they’re all invisible to the end user. They’re not aware of those features being there.

BJ -But I think the fact for me, when we launched the app, it became very evident that we were entering into a new sort of section or division of the entertainment industry that we had not been privy to before. Even when we went to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair for the first time and I thought there is an entire section of the entertainment industry that we are not in yet, that really opened my eyes to the possibilities of other areas.

MF - I feel like for us with the launch of the app, we’re expanding our music distribution side as well. We’re no longer only a YouTube content creator or digital content creator, we’re evolving into new spaces. Now I legitimately see us as more of an entertainment company. There is far more opportunity for us to partner or collaborate with other parties in very niche categories that fit very intuitively with what we have always done.

So how do you see the future evolving

for your kind of content in education market?

MF - Everyone’s got good ideas in this area, on how learning can and should happen and there are some very good examples already. It’s not just about entertainment, it’s about education and learning. When you get education into the broadcast industry side of things, that’s a whole other influence. It’s not to say that there is educational content made for terrestrial broadcast, but this is a different shift within that sector of the industry that hasn’t necessarily always been there. I think you’re more likely to get entertainment from edgier entertainment into education than education into the entertainment side. In the end there seems to be new areas of development growing between educational content and how that blends in with what is taught in the traditional class and teacher school framework.

SW - All behaviours get disrupted and changed and everything gets accelerated during the pandemic. You see it in all these companies, you see it education, you see it in how people change their consumption patterns in entertainment, and then you see that an overlap is created - content creators become educators and educators are looking for content online where they haven’t looked before.

In Germany, we had a 5-billion-euro package last year from the government to digitize schools, and because of all these regulations around them, only 15 million have been so far used after a year of that. I expect stuff like that to change dramatically. And I think, to circle back to the app, if you’re in the content creation business and even if you’re even just bordering on educational content and you are the owner of your rights, there are a great, great opportunities for you to develop your business and go beyond where you are now.

Wunderbox and Super simple will be launching the new android version of the app later this month.

http//:www.wunderbox.tv http//:www.supersimple.com

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TOYS

Toy Licensing Trends 2020

By Steve Reece This has been anything but a typical year for the brand licensing industry. The massive global impact of the Covid 19 pandemic has severely affected every facet of human life and business. For the toy business things have been badly disrupted, but overall demand has stayed strong for toy products. The challenge for many businesses though is that demand has been high for different products versus usual which has caused many issues.

Steve Reece By far the biggest disruption after the closing of physical stores has been the impact on the movie release slate. The toy business and the movie business have been heavily intertwined ever since the first Star Wars movie created the first mass market movie merchandise phenomenon.

The closure of movie theaters which in turn resulted in cinematic releases having either less impact via straight to VOD release or being postponed until 2021 has severely affected the toy business.

The massive ‘event’ of a major global blockbuster movie release drives both footfall and sell through across all forms

of toy retail. So while many toy companies have seen growth in non-licensed products and in parentally approved categories like board games, arts & crafts, science kits and the like, categories like Plush toys, Action Figures and Fashion Dolls have been hit quite hard without the usual cinematic sales drivers being in place.

What makes the impact of 2020’s disrupted movie schedule worse for the toy business and for those in the business of licensing to toy brands is that two massive drivers of licensed toy sales – namely Star Wars & Marvel had already

Steve Reece runs www.KidsBrandInsight.com a Consultancy to the global toy business. He has extensive experience of working with major entertainment brands and in helping brand owners maximise toy licensing revenues as well as helping toy companies to maximise opportunity and revenues on licensed toy products.

reached a natural end of the most recent wave of movies. We were therefore probably already looking at a year or two with a lighter movie slate in terms of driving toy sales.

Looking forward though, while considerable challenges and uncertainty exist, the outlook looks more positive in a few ways. Firstly, the biggest issue in 2020 was the lack of time to plan for so disruptive an event as the pandemic.

Looking forward to 2021 companies (both licensors and licensees) have time to plan for what may be a different reality versus the usual way of doing things.

This should open up more opportunities and in the end lay the foundations for a more diversified operating model. There has been a clear trend towards drive in movies as humankind has sought socially distanced ways of watching movies and found a solution in this nostalgic outdoor viewing method. But beyond this adaptability is the likelihood that movie theaters will return to the fore, albeit with staggered cinema entry times and perhaps a space between movie goers.

Beyond the pandemic there is no reason to believe that cinemas will not return to being both a culturally important part of our lives but also a great springboard for showcasing content with huge brand licensing potential. Vaccines are on the not too distant horizon, and even without vaccines, modern healthcare is advanced enough to have already found ways to significantly reduce the severity of symptoms and fatality rate for this ghastly virus. So, the sun will come out again, and the normal model of launching movies will (eventually) return. Both licensees and licensors in the toy business will look forward to that.

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WORLD LIBRARIES

THE BEST LIBRARIES AROUND THE WORLD

By Alessandra Maccaferri Throughout the world there are many libraries which stand out not only for their literary heritage but also for their architecture.

Here are 13 listed by country.

For literary lovers and scholars, it doesn’t take much to make a library beautiful, books are enough! However, there are many structures around the world that combine a love for culture with a love for architecture. Whether historic or ultramodern, these libraries are places that inspire and help to dream big. Here are a few.

and patrons of the university. Also of note is the collection of geographic and astronomical globes in the center of the library. It currently contains a number of important and unique works, which have global significance; the historical books are available in a digital library thanks to the collaboration with Google Books. After the lockdown period, the Stadtbibliothek Stuttgart and reference point for anyone who wants to read, study or stay up to date on general information. The captivating design is partnered with a book heritage that fulfills the needs of different generations, and is especially rich in the

Klementinum Baroque Library In Europe, the Klementinum Baroque Library in Prague, Czech Republic, was built in 1722 as part of a Jesuit university complex. For this reason it houses over 20.000 volumes of mostly foreign theological literature, acquired from the beginning of the 17th century until recent times. Its decorated interior has changed little over the centuries: the ceilings are adorned withfrescoes by the painter Jan Hiebl depicting allegorical motifs of education and portraits of Jesuit saints, prominent representatives of the order,

complex enjoyed renewed popularity, as it was among the few libraries that could be visited from home with a convenient virtual tour.

The Sandro Penna Library (Perugia, Italy) is named for the city’s poet and was inaugurated in May 2004. Designed by the architect Italo Rota, it was conceived as a large disc entirely made of glass which lights up at night. Due to its architectural form and its location in the center of the San Sisto district, it has become the center

Sandro Penna Library

Publishing

Tama Art University Library With an area of ​​33.700 m2, the complex functions not only as an educational center, but as a social and cultural space as well.

field of fiction. Particular attention is also paid to children and adolescents, both in the books choices and in the creation of dedicated areas and spaces.

The Stadtbibliothek Stuttgart, the city library of Stuttgart, Germany, was opened to the public in 2011. It is a very modern structure designed by the South Korean architect Eun Young Yiin in the shape of a parallelepiped, with a square base, and where glass elements play an important role. The building consists of nine floors above ground and two underground. The building houses half a million texts, as well as an empty quiet room where people can reflect, with or without books. The library also overlooks the surrounding buildings, a choice made to highlight it as a place to enrich individual knowledge an increasingly important element for society.

In Asia, the MVRDV architecture firm and the Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute - TUPDI built the Tianjin Library in Tianjin, China. An oval opening perforated through the building is supported by the Eye, a luminous sphere with an auditorium, which occupies the main stage within the central atrium and

expands the perception of space inside.

Terraced bookcases that repeat the shape of the sphere create an internal landscape with contours that extend enveloping the facade. In this way, the stepped shelves on the inside are replicated on the outside with each level doubling as a louver.

Tianjin Library

The Tama Art University Library (Tokyo, Japan) is an architectural work that combines the plastic expressiveness of its forms with a skilful technological use of concrete. Designed by one of the largest architectural firms in the world, Toyo Ito & Associates Architects, it is made of castin-situ reinforced concrete. It is located

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providing direct access to the playground outside the building.

VAC Library in a position where the surrounding environment and green spaces have allowed for a unique architectural design that respects the environment with its many eco-friendly features. The building is spread over three floors, the ground and two floors above dedicated to its function as a library, for a total of 5600 m2. It emulates a contemporary interpretation of a cave and is an extraordinary example of creating free and fascinating spaces.

Concrete was also used for the interior design, characterizing the flooring, large seats, sofas, light points and many of the fixed furnishings.

aim of becoming the country’s hub for administrative information. The 21.077 m2 library, located at the far end of the long building of the city’s administrative

The VAC Library is located in Hanoi, Vietnam and is a project by Farming Architects. It parallels the local people’s custom of creating small natural spaces in their homes, including a place for fish, such as small aquariums or, for the more elite, ponds for Koi carp. Furthermore, the plight of contaminated vegetables in the city means that the need to plant fresh vegetables right in the homes of residents has become imperative. The main feature for the design of the VAC is Aquaponics, a system that combines conventional aquaculture (breeding of aquatic animals) with hydroponics (growing plants in water), in a symbiotic environment. Aquaponics uses the circulating water from a pond to provide nutrients to plants. VAC Library is based on the use of large wooden frames, which give it a certain technical shape and helps to create a flexible and adaptable structure. The spaces are well organized and it is easier to divide them into different functional areas. The VAC Library is also

The National Library of Sejong City, in South Korea, was created with the

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Beinecke rare book & Manuscript library

complex is designed to hold more than 3 million books and even more digital information. Designed by Samoo Architects & Engineers, it represents a page of a book that is turned upside down. The stunning lake view introduced inside the building creates an exceptional atmosphere for library users with dedicated reading areas.

Children’s reading rooms are located on the lower floors to minimize noise while

geared towards an open library space for children. The children of the area and of the other cities can use the spaces to play together, read books and explore the ecological model of the building, learning about the animals within, such as Koi carp and chickens.

In America, the Beinecke rare book & Manuscript library in Connecticut is part

Publishing

of Yale University and houses one of the world’s most important collections of rare manuscripts. Inaugurated in 1963, the library is renowned for its translucent marble facade and the famous glass book tower inside where there are around 180.000 tomes.

The Vancouver Public Library has been dedicated to meeting the lifelong learning, reading and information needs of its residents for over 100 years. Last year it had nearly 6.5 million hits, with users borrowing nearly 9.5 million physical and digital items including books, e-books, movies, music, and magazines. The heart of the library is a large spiraling urban hall that attracts the public both as a quiet place for study and contemplation, and as a meeting point. The stacks of books and services are organized within a ninestory straight central volume, enveloped by a multi-story colonnade containing reading and study areas. The Canadian Library is topped by a public park and a large reading room. The project, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary, was designed by Safdie Architects.

State Library of Victoria

Barr Smith Library In Africa, the most famous library is the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt, a modern tribute to the famous

ancient building. It offers enough space for over 8 million books and houses the largest collection of French-language volumes on the continent, and the sixth largest in the world. During this period of distancing the staff is very active in organizing seminars and cultural initiatives online. Kenyatta University Library (Nairobi, Kenya), has a strikingly modern building. It is six floors high and each level has its own specific function (the first floor has a student lounge, the second houses social science books, etc).

In Australia, the Barr Smith Library at the University of Adelaide is characterized by its red brick facade. The building was designed to hold only half a million volumes but, as the collection expanded fairly quickly, more spaces had to be continually added. The library now contains over 2 million volumes and covers nearly 21.000 m2. The State Library of Victoria is immense, also containing over 2 million books. It houses a chess room, with materials on the history and study of the sport, and a series of game tables.

After a few years of redevelopment by the Architectus Studio and the Danish architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen, the Library has been reopened all areas to the public; parts of the building that had been closed for decades have been refurbished, including an entire new neighborhood just for children.

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PUBLIC AND TERRITORIAL BRANDS

The strength of public access and regional brands

By Andrea De Amicis In every part of the world, there are many public and regional brands. They are important because they can promote local resources, raise awareness, and create value for otherwise unused assets.

There are many ways to promote a public institution or region: creating and extending a dedicated brand is one of the most effective. Creating a brand helps highlight appealing characteristics and establish a more interactive relationship with the people who visit these institutions or regions. These sort of brands certainly have limitations, because the interest they generate is limited to the place or public resource they represent. To a certain extent however, this is the same for all brands, which by target or interest necessarily exclude some demographics: but this selection can also be a strength.

Using the example of some high profile companies, we can see how a public or regional brand can be developed.

Ipanema Licensing is an agency that deals with managing the brands of cities, places and monuments in France. It is one of the top two agencies specializing in licensing

Monaco Parfums for Man

Monte Carlo for Skoda

Principality of Monaco, the Centre des Monuments Nationaux, St Barts and the city of Lyon.�

Monte Carlo for Gucci and branding of French public institutions.

Ipanema’s director of licensing, Bruno Guillen, has very clear ideas about this sector and how to enhance these brands: “Even if Entertainment continues to reign in the licensing market, there are now a plurality of different brands who wish to develop under license, and who are at their level capable of providing original content and leading many forms of collaboration. Ipanema specialized almost 10 years ago in the institutional brand licensing segment, a niche market that has experienced a significant growth in recent years. The desire of cities and institutions to better control their image, as well as to find new sources of income in the face of the growing need for self-financing, has fully validated our positioning. These brands are managed with care and require a specific approach that we implement every day to promote realities such as the

Ipanema has managed to create profitable deals for its brands, giving life to successful products like Monaco Parfums, available for men and women. Created by great perfumiers and sold under license for several years in Europe, it has been particularly successful in Eastern Europe.

Or the collaboration of Monte Carlo with Skoda, an great success in several countries. After the licensed launch of the Skoda Fabia Monte Carlo in 201, the brand decided to extend the partnership to its entire range. This year Monte Carlo has also partnered with Gucci for a mini collection of accessories. For the famous Arc de Triomphe Paris, some products have been developed under the brand Le Fabuleux Shaman, intended for the public that most visits the Arch, the under 40s.

For the Abbey of Mont Saint Michel a Arc de Triomphe, collaboration with Le Fabuleux Shaman

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Unifeel clothing and merchandising

Milanesi skincare is a brand that takes inspiration from the Italian city of Milan.

It was designed with the desire to create a collection of effective, natural and safe products which correspond to the current need of a skin increasingly exposed to climate change, external aggressors, urban pollution and stress. Milanesi skincare designed its products around the cultural identity of the city, its historic districts, inhabitants and continuous evolution and innovation. Milanesi created three different product lines (Navigli, Brera and

campaigns for research. The line includes items of clothing and widely used objects: from brooches, shopping bags, and mugs to USB stick and t-shirts.

Milanesi skincare

Mont Saint Michel for Saint James licensing agreement was signed with the Saint James brand, well known in France and Europe for its high quality marine themed Made in France products.

Some brands linked to local universities represent an excellent opportunity to reach students, families and supporters.

In Italy, the University of Ferrara has developed its Unifeel brand, a line of clothing and merchandising dedicated to Unife and each of its departments. The project also includes a physical store in the city center, the hub of all activities, and crowdfunding to promote Ferrara’s academic excellence. The #unifenomenale line, which supports university research, is particularly dedicated to the latter. By purchasing one of the #unifenomenale products, 15% up to 40% of the proceeds are donated to Unife’s crowdfunding

Clothing #unifenomenale

Montenapoleone) that reflects the full array of Milan’s spirit and the different types of skin it encompasses. Each product line contains a main ingredient that characterizes it and connects it to the Milanese soil. For example, the purifying and decongestant coffee, used in the Navigli line and roasted right in the heart of the district itself. Or saffron, rich in antioxidants and minerals, for the Brera line, grown in a small field just outside Milan.

Milanesi skincare

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V&A Manicure Set William Morris

V&A collaboration with People Tree

based on textile models of the 1930s.

Other products available include a new kind of welcome pack with items essential for this period, a shopping bag, mask and sanitizer, to the manicure set with Double Bough motif by the artist William Morris.

There is also a new collection of Moda Fabrics, based on the work of Mary Morris (daughter of William), an embroidery designer and pioneer. Twhich includes the jelly roll, an assorted roll of high quality printed cotton fabric, whose 40 pre-cut pieces are perfect for patchwork and other craft projects.

The London V&AMuseum is renowned for its award-winning licensing program which creates beautiful products inspired by its rich archive, drawing inspiration from over two million objects. It has a team dedicated to product licensing, consults a trend agency to identify macro and micro consumption patterns, and generates nearly 1400 products a year. An example of this work is the collaboration with the pioneering fair trade fashion brand People Tree to create two capsule collections

States and Europe), and appeals to every market and culture. By supporting selected partners with its extensive knowledge of Van Gogh’s life and work, the museum constantly finds new and unique approaches to make the artist’s work accessible to a large audience. It also offers support at every stage of the process, from product design to launch, with strict requirements that ensure that every collaboration with Van Gogh results in high quality products.

For example, there have been very successful collaborations with the fashion brand Daily Paper, Vans and Monopoly.

Van Gogh Museum - Monopoly The latest with Samsonite features a collection inspired by Van Gogh’s iconic sunflower paintings. Another beautiful sunflower-themed collaboration is with Bedding house, which makes luxurious duvet covers. There are also many objects produced directly by the museum such as chocolates, Christmas decorations, masks and toys.

Van Gogh Museum - Daily Paper

V&A Welcome Pack

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam strongly believes in licensing and is always looking for partners to collaborate with.

Thanks to the artist’s global popularity, licensing partners are active all over the world (China, Korea, Japan, the United

Van Gogh Museum - Beddinghouse

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Media&Digital

SOCIAL MEDIA

The new life of brands on social networks

By Andrea De Amicis In the last year, due to the Coronavirus situation, the presence of brands on social networks has increased and there are more tools for the digital life of companies.

Facebook had already thought about Business Manager last year, which allowed companies to create personalized advertising campaigns and develop a loyal

In this particular moment in time, consumers most beloved and sought afterbrands are those with the best digital reputation. Companies have always been present on social media: from year to year, and especially in the last period marked by the social distancing of Covid19, their presence has increased. Social media is committed to acknowledging the needs of brands, developing new tools and initiatives.

audience for the ads. Last month Business Suite was launched, a new dashboard that enables companies to manage their business on Facebook and Instagram, from any digital device. It has several tools, such as those dedicated to publishing, messaging, insights and advertising features. Facebook (on Instagram) has also recently launched Reel, a short-form video feature that allows users to create 15-second clips similar to TikTok’s, to share within the app. The short videos are simple and of great appeal to the public, so they can be very useful for companies.

In Italy Facebook has just announced the second phase of the #piccolegrandimprese program (tailor-made services for companies), which launched in July

2020 to support the resumption of small businesses that had been hit hard in the last period. It will help SMEs to initiate an effective digital transformation and

to understand the new buying habits of Italians. In fact, from 24 September to the end of December 2020, #piccolegrandimprese will be offering Facebook Business Open Days, free monthly webinars, with support and livechat with Facebook experts and partners such as Shopify, Talent Garden and Free formers. Interested SMEs will be able to register directly from the online hub facebook.com/piccolegrandimprese.

A FAQ feature is being developed on Instagram. The platform is working on all the frequently asked questions related to Business accounts, in order to provide more immediate answers to users.

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Twitter released Holiday Hub, a mini-site aimed at helping marketers prepare for the winter holiday season, with tips and tools for mapping campaigns.

The element that is most urgent and valuable for companies present on social networks is the possibility of building a solid community. On the social networks listed above, there is a lack of services such as personalization of the online space and access to user data for brands.

Self community, an Italian company headed by Mariano Pireddu, was created to address these needs. The platform aims to build a genuine social network, implementing a whole series of marketing automation tools that give companies full control of their message, with a 100%reach. In addition, the company is

allowed access to the available data of the community’s users, while generally the sensitive data of the users remain exclusive with the various social networks.

Self-community is suitable not only for brands but also for trade associations, non-profit organizations and communities

of enthusiasts. Within the platformthere is a traditional discussion forum, which is combined with the technology of stringent social updates, which calls the user to the discussion, alerting him if there are any news. There are also many other tools such as gamification and loyalty, which increase the sense of belonging to the community. The ultimate goal of Self Community is to engage a consistent group of people interested in

the central topic and / or the brand itself with the brand. Micro-influencers can be used as support, which become a point of reference for the user group. There is

also the option to be indexed on Google.

Surely for communities exposing their content to the outside is an advantage, but those who use the tool for informational or organizational purposes may prefer not to be reachable. In addition, we must consider that the content on Self Community can be shared on other social networks, potentially reducing any user acquisition costs.

Media&Digital

campaign management, creative development and the use of virtual effects, customized for the brands.

Other platforms that help plan, create, optimize and measure marketing campaigns are Sprinklr, the world’s leading Customer Experience Management (CXM) platform, and Win Clap, a marketing company that provides advanced analysis of IA, experience and creative production to increase campaign performance.

TikTok is going through a very difficult legal situation in America, but the company is positive, strong and convinced it will find a solution. It has also been increasingly in the spotlight for the numbers of its views (100 million users per month in Europe alone) and for being able to reach anaudience of teenagers and young people up to 22-24 years. Since it believes so much in the abilities of its users to create original content based on dance, singing and acting, it has allocated a three-year investment of around 250 million euros to help them turn their creativity into a career path. For brands it is now essential to collaborate effectively with creators and influencers, and for this reason TikTok Creator Marketplace, which offers many services, is now available. It allows brands to search for the most suitable creator, based on its content.

At that point the brand can contact the influencer chosen for a particular campaign; if he accepts the engagement, he will become operational by sharing all the details of the case with the company.

Brands can then access exclusive data and

Other companies are helping marketers generate inspiring and effective creative content, like Shuttlerock, which transforms existing brand assets into stunning video ads, and VidMob, a leading creative post-production and analytics platform, which uses data to focus on the brand’s creative potential, improving ads and boosting marketing performance. Other partners provide virtual and augmented reality services to brands, from concept to production of TikTok effects. For example, Bare Tree Media, a creative agency that offers a complete service and empowers brands to reach, engage and entertain consumers through the creation and digital publication of augmented reality, emojis, stickers and GIFs within popular messaging platforms.

receive insights on public demos, growth trends, top performing videos and more.

Prominent space is given to creators of global significance.

Recently TikTok For Business was launched providing set of services for companies, in collaboration with approximately 20 certified partners in various areas of expertise, including

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ASIA

Asian content for kids

By Andrea De Amicis Across Asia, many companies work tirelessly to produce successful content for children. Here are some established Asian brands and their news.

In 2020 Asia is still the fastest growing market for children’s content and products, offering animated series, books, toys, streaming services and apps. We caught up some key companies throughout the continent, and found out about their news.

Young Toys is a 40-year-old South Korean company currently worth $127 million. It has created established children’s toys and brands such as Tobot, Secret Jouju and Kungsuni. Having successfully established itself in the Korean market as the first real Korean toy company, the business has supported its toys with the development of animated series, independently and in collaboration with large Asian animation studios.

One of Young Toys’ biggest hits is Tobot, an animated series born from a collaboration with Retrobot in 2010. Building on the popular properties for older children, such as Transformers and Power Rangers, Tobot Monster by Young Toys

Tobot Speed by Young Toys

Secret Jouju animated series Young Toys created similar heroes suitable for a younger audience. After eight years, the English version of the series was born, thanks to Canadian Ocean Production and Blue Water: In September 2020 new episodes from the second season launched on Amazon Prime Video. There has been a great response to both the animation and the toy range, which has recently seen the addition of the Tobot Shuttle, the Tobot speed and the Tobot Monster.

Secret Jouju is the story of a fairy princess and her adventures. Jouju and her fairy friends are different to traditional princesses and express an independent and ambitious spirit. As they strongly pursue their own dreams and hopes, they create a positive role model for girls. After the first launch of the 3D animated series in 2012, Secret Jouju has so far amassed 14 seasons: through the combined production of animation and games, a solid and beloved character has been established. Among the brand’s new toys are the Secret Card Constellation Album and the Dancing Secret Party Palace.

Kongsuni was born in 1999 as a doll, and today, it is the most popular doll in Korea.

At an educational level, it was designed to promote creativity, communication, emotional and motor development, taking into account the seven phases of the relationship with children’s play (motor sense play, symbolic play, etc.). In 2014, the 3D animated series Kongsuni & Friends aired for the first time. Kongsuni is a five year-old girl who faces life with determination, creativity and curiosity.

Both on TV and YouTube, it has become a huge hit with both preschoolers and their

Secret card constellation album by Young Toys

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Kongsuni & friends animated series

Rainbow Ruby doll

parents. Musicals and live entertainment have also been produced, which has further boosted its popularity. The new toys include the Sing & Learn piano and the Popcorn Shop.

Dimsum Entertainment is a Malaysian streaming service which brings together Asian entertainment programmes from China, Thailand, Japan, Korea. It continuously updates its proposals with anime, variety shows and TV series and offers an interesting choice of entertaining and educational content for children.

Healthy Doing Yoga is a Taiwanese programme which teaches yoga to two and three year-olds and their families.

In addition to transmitting the basic principles of this exercise, it encourages children to explore their emotions and to better understand how their bodies work.

Silly Wolf and his Little Buddies is an animated series which conveys important educational principles about relating

to yourself and others. In a distant and beautiful city in the forest, all animals live in harmony. However Silly Wolf is quite accident-prone and gets into trouble despite his good intentions, sometimes even causing harm to others. Fortunately, with the help of his friends, Silly Wolf manages to learn and grow, becoming a positive role model for all around him.

Egg Car is an animation based on the values of friendship and collaboration.

Dash, an imperfect egg-shaped car, has three friends: the mysterious Aera, a hedgehog called Click and a giraffe named Girara. Together they must save their village and their families from a powerful villain known as Dragon Bozo.

South Korean animated series Rainbow Ruby tells the adventures of Ruby, a brave little girl who is teleported to a whimsical land inhabited by her toys. In this magical world, she performs different jobs and roles to save the day. Rainbow Ruby is also a successful toy brand.

Polite Kids is a Taiwanese show that aims to teach children good manners, kindness and respect for the rules. Thanks to its fun approach, it helps children to develop empathy and to value the best aspects of their character.

Healthy Doing Yoga

Fire is used in many household items such as kitchen stoves, candles, fireworks,

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firecrackers and barbecues. In many areas of Asia, oil lamps and paper lanterns are also very common. For this reason, it’s important for children to learn fire safety, and in the animated series Fire Safety with Roy, firefighter Roy, also with his Robocar Poli Rescue Team, helps children understand how to be safe in an emergency or during a fire.

Soreike! Anpanman: Fuwa Fuwa Fuwarii to Kumo no Kuni

Illustrated book A Cat in a Fish by Froebel-Kan Japanese publishing house Froebel – Kan takes its name from the German educator Friedrich Wilhelm A. Froebel (1782-1852), famous for having founded the first nursery in the world. Frobel-Kan began selling books in 1961 and has published books of illustrated short stories and fairy tales which have received great acclaim and awards both in Japan and internationally.

The Anpanman series launched in 1976 and was transformed into an animated TV program in 1988 and a film in 1989, and has remained popular over the years with over 80 million books sold to date. The 32nd film is ready for release this year -

Soreike! Anpanman: Fuwa Fuwa Fuwarii to Kumo no Kuni. The story is set in the Land of Clouds, an enchanting place where soft clouds create rainbows and rain to help the flowers and vegetables grow large and healthy. A cloud child named Fuwarii meets the evil Baikingman, who creates a huge black cloud in an attempt to conquer the Cloud Country.

Anpanman and Fuwarii will have to join forces to thwart his evil intentions.

Big Umi and Little Marvey - inside

Harmonica of Koguma and Star by Froebel-Kan

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Animation. The animation follows the life of the well-known policeman Singham as a child, as he fights criminals, monsters and dangerous mutants to save his city.

The third animated film inspired by the saga, Little Singham: Kaal Ka Badla, was recently released on Netflix India, where the Indian policeman once again faces his worst enemy, the demon Kaal.

Among the latest news from Froebel – Kan is the book Harmonica of Koguma and Star, by Junko Akahane, with illustrations by Amigo Koike. It’s about the sweet friendship between a child and a mysterious little bear that only he can see. Another wonderful new book is Big Umi and Little Marvey, the story of a whale called Marvey, who daydreams about everything she can become when she grows up. The character was created to describe the infinite opportunities for children, supported by detailed illustrations.

In India and South Asia, a key agency for the management of brands and licences for children is Dream Theater Pvt. Ltd. Among the Indian licenses there is Little Singham, an animated series produced

by Rohit Shetty Picturez, in collaboration with Discovery Kids and Reliance

e-books, 150 audio stories and 5000 quizzes. The app has already partnered with iconic brands including Oxford University Press whereby it has acquired the licenses of 175 children’s fiction and non-fiction titles.

ChuChu TV continues to be the most popular children’s channel in the world on YouTube, with billions of views and over 10 million subscribers. It showcases nursery rhymes, stories and educational videos for babies and toddlers, made in its signature style with an entire family of characters.

Dream Theater holds the global rights and represents the property in all licensing and merchandising categories.

Another very interesting app is Kiddopia.

Launched in 2017 by spouses Anupam and Anshu Dhanuka, Kiddopia has been downloaded by over five million parents around the world and currently has over 300,000 active subscribers. It offers interactive edutainment games and activities, which promote cognitive development, self-expression and socioemotional learning in children aged two to seven. Whether it’s language or emotional skills, maths problems, or general knowledge, children can find ways

Remaining in the field of children’s digital content a range of apps have also been created over recent years in India. For example, VOOT Kids, an exclusive OTT edutainment platform for children,

by Viacom18. The platform offers an engaging and fun learning experience with a large library of content, roughly spread over 13,000 hours of video, 500

to practice every topic on this extensive app. Its developer, Paper Boat Apps, was recently acquired 51 per cent by Nazara Technologies. Anupam Dhanuka, Co-Founder and CEO of Kiddopia, said Nazara’s investment has already allowed them to focus on product improvement and marketing, leading to subscriber rates tripling.

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CARTOON FORUM

The future of European animation at Cartoon Forum 2020

By Rossella Arena Cartoon Forum 2020, from 14 to 17 September, took place entirely online for the very first time, but there was no shortage of innovative and interesting projects. Here are just some of the shows, pilots and concepts that had the most positive reactions at this major animation showcase.

Cartoon Forum is one of the most anticipated events in the world of animation every year, with new and interesting projects coming from all over Europe. This year, due to the necessary restrictions brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, the event took place entirely online.

Tiny Island At the 2020 forum, 80 projects from 22 European countries were shown, representing a budget of about 327.2 million euros, and 445 hours of animation.

Although it is now over, the various pitches can be accessed on the web until 15 October, using a personal login.

The pre-school projects in particular were notable for their bright colours, energy and themes of adventure, tenderness and fun.

Tiny Island, for example, is a 3D French project about a charming and delightful island. Creator Greg Grabianski and

director Guillermo Garcia Carsi explained that the show’s heroine Tiny is always ready for adventure in this big world, especially when her new friends need her help! Tiny Island immediately established itself among the top 10 projects gaining the strongest response during the event.

Relè is an Italian project in 3D and 2D, whose hero is a mouse, who appears in stories that reflect the fantasy and wonder of children’s imaginations. The author Alessandro D’Osualdo stated: “The series was built on a character who had already obtained wide feedback in various fields (including educational, advertising, art publishing and social promotions) and who was developed and tested with the help of professionals in such areas as teaching, marketing and communication.”

Hanna & Nana is an Irish project whose producer John Rice said that within a few days of the presentations they were inundated with shows of interest.

In each episode of this show the two Flip’s Fantastic Journal

Hanna & Nana main characters, a grandmother and her granddaughter, take care of an animal in difficulty or look after the environment.

The creator of Flip’s Fantastic Journal, Angelo DeCesare, has explained that the show is based on a series of books that address part of the school curriculum and have been used in the United States for many years. DeCesare drew the characters with simple shapes, so that children could easily copy them. They are also adaptable for many types of license.

Calypso Cruise is a French 3D project from Redfrog studio about a cruise ship designed for exhausted soft toys who come on board to have a rest. The show is named after Calypso, the teddy bear cruise director (and daughter of Captain Teddy Daddy). The series aims to convey values ​​such as taking care of others and respecting them, in between a lot of fun and adventure. It is a project that can be adapted to numerous contexts, such as social media (including music, viral videos

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and tutorials), an app with games or live, through workshops and partnerships in the travel sector. It can also be relevant to publishing through sewing kits and interactive books, and of course to merchandising via plush, toys and beach gear.

Turu’s Musical Farm is a Spanish 3D project. One of the producers, Diego López Álvarez, said: “Our goal is to create a high-quality 3D series, which uses a playful approach to bring music culture and values ​​to a preschool audience,

Turu’s Musical Farm

Calypso Cruise

through the fun and exciting adventures of a group of animals who decide to form a musical group. A different musical genre is highlighted in each episode”.

Another project with a lot of potential is Hey Fuzzy Yellow, a project that come into being via a partnership involving Germany, Italy and the United States.

It is an unconventional series, with a

hybrid format and a narrative story that combines different sections on various topics including art, poetry, songs, dance and STEM content.

The 3D animated series Bim was created in Belgium. It has comic overtones and magical/realistic elements. It is inspired by a European Easter tradition, according to which church bells fly to Rome just before Easter to collect Easter eggs. The Little Bird is another Belgian – and also Swiss – project, this time in 2D, which evocatively displays the different elements of nature.

A little black bird lives in a tree in the forest. He is curious and makes friends with other animals – but he must beware of the red-nosed fox.

Flo the Seal is a Polish project in which a little seal named Flo encounters problems

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for children to be creative and innovative and not afraid to do something ‘strange’ or ‘wrong’. This, Laier suggests, is how new inventions and ideas are born that could save the world. In the series some friends have fun creating new and useful things from tools they find in a port. The stories have also extended into picture

books, a puzzle building game, and a Labo cardboard toy extension for Nintendo Switch.

Pop Paper City is a British project that focuses on a group of paper friends living in Pop Paper City, the capital of the extraordinary world of paper. Author Georgina Hurcombe said: “The show aims

Little Fox much bigger than her, but always finds ways to handle them. Also worth keeping an eye on is the French The Coco Boos, whose author Yolande Damart said: “We want episodes to be small journeys into the imagination. If the series, thanks to its colourful characters, gives children the desire to dance, make music, draw, eat good things or just dream, we will have succeeded.”

Mouse & Crane is a 2D and 3D project co-produced between Denmark and Canada. Director and author Trine Laier is keen to emphasize that it is important Pop Paper City

Mouse Ketti

to stimulate children’s creativity through adventure plots, and moments of manual work. This year Aardman will represent Pop Paper City at Brand Licensing Europe.

We are looking for other licensing partners and will be happy to hear from anyone interested”.

Mouse Ketti is a delightful co-produced project between Luxembourg and Canada, in which a six-year-old little mouse from the countryside moves to a big city, to live with his elegant cousin. Fred Neuen, author and producer, said: “Mouse Ketti is a character already known in Luxembourg, where it has strong potential in the children’s market, notably in books, toys, school supplies and food licensing (such as local organic brands). It also has potential in the gift and adult collectors market; Mouse Ketti has been around since 1936, everyone here grew up with it and there’s nostalgia attached to it.” He added: “It has enormous licensing potential for the international market as it is based on the world famous fairytale The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse and is presented in a classic and timeless visual style.”

Little Fox, a German 3D project, is about a fox living in a small forest, where she is always busy! For example, she builds a device that uses rain to make tea and

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play music. For her, no challenge is too complicated. The Very Hairy Alphabet coproduced between Germany and Poland, stars Nitso, a large yellow monster, who wants to learn the alphabet. He tries to ask for help from the Great Teacher Tebahpla, who lives on the highest mountain and is the wisest of all people.

The projects aimed at children from 6 to 11 years old are of various kinds and deal with important issues, from illness to our relationship with nature.

The Upside Down River, by the French studio Dandelooo in collaboration with Canal + Family, is based on the children’s novel La rivière à l’envers. The story is about Hannah, who needs the drops of water from the Qjar River to cure her sacred bird. The delivery date for the

Goat Girl series is early 2022.

In the French2D series PriZOOners, Zack and Jack are apes who think they are human. They find themselves locked up in a zoo by mistake (or so they think) and come up with the most unlikely and extraordinary escape plans!

A more serious topic is addressed by Baldies, a co-production between the Czech Republic and Canada. This is a hybrid animated series that aims to give as much information as possible on childhood cancer. Author and artist Eliška Podzimková suffered from cancer herself at the age of 16 and has since collaborated on several projects on this topic. The series will present important information regarding therapies for new patients

through animations and live footage.

The content will be complemented by interviews with former patients who have gone through the entire process, something that can give courage and hope to those who still have all the therapy ahead of them. The main character is a nine-year-old boy, a patient who will be our guide through history and will explore the facts from a child’s point of view.

Goat Girl is an original Irish 2D series: it’s about a 13-year-old being raised by goats, who will have to go to school for the first time. Lindsey Adams, one of the producers, proudly points out that this is a gender-neutral comedy series, created and led by women.

Agus & Monsters is a Spanish 2D series.

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Agus & Monsters Agus Pianola’s life would be very normal if it weren’t for the ten monsters who live in her bedroom. Agus shares this secret with Lidia, her good friend, while making her parents believe that the monsters are soft toys. Each monster has a speciality (books, ideas, cooking, recycling and holes, to name only a few) and together they work as a team. The series is based on the graphic novel of the same name, a 2014 bestseller popular in many different parts of the world.

Alex Player, a French 3D project, is an Esports series full of non-stop thrills, fun, passion and laughter on and off the game screen. Wonder Wai, by contrast, is from the French production company Ellipsanime, whose mantras include ‘Curiosity is Power’ and ‘Fun and Facts’.

Aya, Lea and Karim are two girls and a ten-year-old boy with lots of questions.

Careful observers of the world around them, these young scientists are always looking for new discoveries and ways to unravel the mysteries the uncover in the city.

Super Lucha will be the first Mexican manga using stop motion animation, according to its creators. Producer Mathieu

Super-Lucha Courto is commented: “We are delighted to be developing this new project which will introduce a new universe through its four heroes. We would like to distribute the Super Lucha IP in series form first, but also in minifigures where every child can paint their own Super Luchador in any colour they want.”

The Olive Bunch is a 2D coming-of-age comedy-adventure show from Cyprus.

In a Mediterranean setting and in a community situated somewhere between tradition and progress, best friends Amira, Stephano and Yani seek their place in the world through their games – which are at

Lorenzo and the Mirror once carefree and creative. Author Maria Pavlou said: “Our main goal now is to attract co-producers, broadcasters and distributors. We are going global, but our theme is the Mediterranean, so we aim to get interest from Southern Europe. At the same time we do not want to exclude any country or opportunity, as we have also had requests from Germany and the United States.”

Lorenzo and the Mirror is an ItalianCanadian project starring a seven-yearold boy, who observes reality through his personal filter, like autistic children.

Alternating the imaginary world and reality, the project manages to show the autism spectrum from the points of view of those who live it from the inside and those who face it from the outside.

Fram the Polar Bear is a Romanian 3D project based on the novel by Cezar Petrescu. Fram loses his mother and begins an adventure that takes him from the North Pole to Strutki Circus on the Fram ship. Producer Stefan Buzea announced: “We are in pre-production with the short film Fram the Polar Bear for which we have also received funding from CNC Romania. This will then become the pilot episode of the first series.”

Get Making, a 2D project from Cyprus, shows 12-14-year-olds working together to solve problems and overcome challenges that impact their community.

Author and producer Michael Kalopaidis said: “Our goal is to create a show that inspires today’s young people to become the scientists, innovators, ethical

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Get Making entrepreneurs and leaders of tomorrow, through a diverse group of characters.” He added:“To break the gender stereotypes, we have assigned the roles that symbolize science, technology and engineering to strong female characters.”

Masked Cinderella is Mondo TV Iberoamerica’s new 2D production, coproduced with MB Producciones, which in addition to Cartoon Forum has been and will also be presented at other events in the sector, such as the Indian Cine Film Festival (where it won a major prize) and the Weird Market, one of the most important Spanish markets for animation and new media (1- 4 October). Cinderella studies at Brothers Grimm High School,

with unique classmates like the rebellious Little Red Riding Hood, the antisocial Beast, and the Little Mermaid, a famous princess influencer. Most people think that Cinderella is just an insignificant little girl, but in reality she is the masked heroine who defends the kingdom from monsters and injustice. The combination of ideas inspired by classic fairy tales and modern settings makes the project perfect for multiple formats and platforms, as well as for various merchandising and publishing initiatives.

Oops! is a sparkling French project about three children who appear out of nowhere and put things right whenever someone gets in trouble. A very different approach

to childhood comes from Ormhildur the Brave, an animated series for 8-12-yearolds produced in Poland, the Czech Republic and Iceland. Ormhildur is a girl who came into the world when all the glaciers melted, accompanied by a number of mythical creatures. Over the course of the series, Ormhildur embarks on a series of adventures in which her courage grows and she realizes that she has magical powers.

Medhi: Delivery Notice is a French animated series for teenagers, which is based on the adventures of a young postman and is inspired by real events that happened to author and director Oussama Bouacheria.

Rowbot5 is a 3D animated adventure series for the whole family. Alex Hudson is a 13-year-old robot pilot who finds himself in possession of Atlas, an advanced artificial intelligence technology. Alex is a BattleBots sports fanatic and puts Atlas in his robot to fight with him, hoping to become unbeatable. But things aren’t quite so simple… During the series you will have the opportunity to see all the robots take part in the BattleBots competitions.

The pre-production of the French project was scheduled for December 2020; the start of the actual production is scheduled for July 2021.

Finally in this short round-up, there’s a short 2D family film from France. The Possum that Didn’t is based on the book

by Frank Tashlin and about an always cheerful possum, who finds himself on an adventure in the big city.

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DANCE

ALL FOR THE LOVE OF DANCE

By Rossella Arena Dance is a much-loved sport and a constant source of inspiration for people of all ages. Let’s discover the latest products dedicated to dancers and dance fans.

Dance has always been one of the most loved and practiced sports activities. It is also an art form, capable of inspiring discipline, elegance, freedom and fun in those who practice it. Here are some companies and products dedicated to people who are inspired by or engaged with dancing.

Non posso, ho danza (I can’t, I have dance) is a clothing and accessories brand that caters to professional dancers and dance lovers. It was born from an idea by Carlotta Pia, dancer and ballet teacher, in collaboration with parents Roberto Pia, fashion designer for thirty years and Rossella Michelini, copywriter. Sales are mainly concentrated on e-commerce but the brand is distributed in Italy, Europe, Mexico and Japan. Their success is mainly due to the stylistic choice not to confine

Non posso, ho danza (I can’t, I have dance)

the products to the rehearsal room, the daily life of the studio or the work of the dancer. The main line is Dance Wear but also Street Chic, which makes it flexible for use by dancers at any time of the day (school, free time, evening, at the theater, etc).

The products are also chosen by dancers’ parents, former dancers, teachers and simple supporters of dance or e-brand. The age range is broad, from 7 years up to adults, with a focus on the 1022 target. In addition to the sportswear lines there is a Bags Collection, with bags dedicated to the sport and with a choice of products ranging from industrial to artisanal. The brand is currently expanding with the development of a Home Decor line, for which the creators are currently looking for licensees. For now it includes complete style guides with logos, images and phrases, which express and evoke a deep love of dance. For the new fall winter 2020/2021 dance wear collection, the brand has chosen soft and elegant colors such as white and pink, in combination with black.

Tutete is a brand for the very young, created in Spain in 2007, an extremely successful endeavor. The company initially started by selling personalized pacifiers: today it offers over 3500 customizable products of various types, for children from 0 to 6 years old. In recent years they have expanded to over a thousand physical stores in Spain, Italy and Portugal and have become exclusive distributors of other brands. Tutete give a lot of space to dance-themed products, both through a line based on their logo that portrays a little dancer, and through the products of

Non posso, ho danza (I can’t, I have dance)

Tutete some of the brands they collaborate with, such as Mimi & Lula and Micumacu.

Aisy Dance is another Spanish brand, focused on professional clothing for dancers. Its strengths are sustainability (it uses organic and certified fabrics) and stylistic research, attentive to the small details that embellish the classic dancers’ garments. In the new collection there are the Odette leggings, characterized by cute bows on the ankles, the Swanilda leggings, the classic Myrtha body with criss-cross

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gusset on the back, the Clara tulle trouser skirt, and the Kitri combined body.

Dance-related images are also very effective on stationery products. The Legami company is well versed in this field, and has chosen the refined photographs of Mark Olich, a Russian photographer whose work is focused on the worlds of theater and dance, for its 2021 Ballet calendar. His

Aisy Dance

shots show both stage performances and backstage emotions with great skill. Ballet and its fascinating stories are also well represented in children’s books. An interesting novelty is Boys dance! by John Robert Allman with illustrations by Luciano Lozano, published by Doubleday Books. The book was produced in collaboration with the American Ballet, with the direct contribution of the company’s dancers. They wanted to publish a book that expressed male pride in dedicating themselves to the passion of dance that would be supportive of young people in approaching this sport with confidence.

Another important novelty for young dancers is Bunheads, by dancer and author Misty Copeland, with illustrations

by Setor Fiadzigbey, published by GP Putnam’s Sons Books. This is the first in a series of illustrated books inspired by Copeland’s personal and professional journey. The journey begins by narrating the discovery of her love for dance through

the Coppélia ballet. It’s an encouraging story not only for dancers but also for anyone looking to try something new, as Misty auditioned for the role of the lead character Swanilda, having never danced beforethen. And finally, the bestseller I’m a Ballerina, written by Sue Fliess and illustrated by Joey Chou will be published in Spain by Little Golden Book, released under the title Soy Bailarina de Ballet in October 2020.

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KIDZ GLOBAL

What Are The World’s Most Popular Kids’ Entertainment Brands?

Which are the 2020 trends?

By Ivan Colecchia Despite the increasing agility of brands as they try to adapt with rapid socio-cultural changes and other transitions ushered in by our heavily digitised era, the top brands in the world represent largely familiar forces that include many historical brands that have been around for quite some time.

Of course, new franchises and digital media have had a massive influence on child interests creating somewhat of a duality between merchandise and toy-based brands who rely on physical products and media or entertainment brands who rely on digital products. The strongest brands, however, tend to spread their commercial strategy across both the digital and physical realms.

Interestingly, when we look at brand changes between 2018 and 2019 we can observe declines in favoritism when it comes to the top corporate brands, e.g. Disney declined from 10.4% to 8.7% despite remaining in the highest levels of mentions of all brands. This indicates a diversification in brand favoritism, the choice is broader than it was in 2018, the main brands do not hold quite the same monopolies over consumer desire, choice and popularity. #1 Marvel Marvel’s timeless movie series combined with its superb physical merchandising and gaming creates a brand with nearuniversal popularity between both boys and girls, particularly as ages ascend towards 14 years. Interestingly, Marvel is the only brand of the top 3 which increased in popularity, albeit a small amount from 8.2% to 8.4%.

Marvel has grown from a small and relatively niche comic book franchise into one of the world’s dominant brands and franchises. Like the other brands in the top 3, Marvel drives its success by its ability to ‘recruit’ characters and franchises, e.g. Spider-Man which was re- added to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in 2019 after a brief break-up.

Disney is the world’s most successful entertainment brand and has been setting the fractions for others to aim for consistently since before the 1940s.

Disney as a whole or content and characters taken from Disney franchises, e.g. Frozen, make the top 5 in every region worldwide. Its popularity, as mentioned, has declined slightly since 2018 but this may be due to the brand’s tendency to franchise new brands in order to reach more consumers, the most prolific and recent example of this being the Star Wars franchise.

Star Wars and Frozen have been Disney’s two most successful endeavors and combined, these give the brand immense leverage on children’s consumer desires across gender and age. Disney+ was recently pitted into a crowded market of streaming services vying for competition with the likes of Netflix, Amazon and YouTube but Disney have pulled the rabbit

Ivan Colecchia out of the hat once more with the release of the Star Wars’ series The Mandalorian which has been the source of immense social media interest.

Disney has made a somewhat seamless transition into the modern

Spider-Man as an individual entity actually beats Marvel as a whole in the boys 0-14 category and also grew rapidly in popularity from 5% to 7%. As the last Avengers’ lm Endgame slowly fades into the background after huge success, it could be Spider-Man which picks up the gauntlet and thus, Spider-Man maybe a brand with high demand surplus going forward.

Overall, though, Marvel’s top offering is still undoubtedly the Avengers franchise which makes the top 25 across every age group in most regions and also, despite superheroes being commonly stereotyped as a male interest, Avengers shows strength in popularity across both genders. It is unclear how Avengers will continue past Endgame, whether a new series will take its place or whether Marvel will do a U-turn on this being the last lm

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ever of the series but it’s hard to envisage Marvel just letting Avengers go after its monumental influence on children’s entertainment and global media culture. #2 Lego Lego shows near-universally strong popularity amongst boys and girls across the studied age range of 0 - 14 but just like in 2018, it is strongest amongst boys where it appears in the top 3 across 5/6 of the regions studied. Lego is formidable in Europe where it lies just over 4% more popular than the next-best Barbie.

Lego by many accounts is the genius brand of the pack. Retaining such strong levels of popularity via primarily physical merchandising strategies in a digitised brand landscape is an immense achievement. Lego did begin to diversify quite some time ago with digital media, e.g. the Lego movies and Lego game series, but they still mainly rely on their primary block-build toy products. Lego is a genius brand because it works so closely with other existing and emerging franchises.

For example, Star Wars Lego has always been one of its most successful core franchise offerings and Lego has renewed focus on the Star Wars franchise in light of Disney’s success.

Lego’s brand strength is perhaps also partdictated by the fact it is a parent-friendly brand - Lego has long been associated

with being a healthy brand that plays an important role in child development.

Building Lego models is stimulating for children and the brand offers an important means of breaking up digital media and gaming which tend to absorb an increasing amount ofchildren’s attention these days. #3 Spider-Man Spider-Man makes the top 3 brands for boys aged 0-14 in 5/6 continents worldwide. It has grown by a fantastic 2% from the previous year which is a pretty

phenomenal level of growth.

The Spider-Man franchise has been on rocky territory since its 2017 blockbuster Spider-Man: Homecoming where it seemed that relationships between the two major studios involved in Marvel, Sony and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), had broken down over the future path of Spider-Man. Sony and Marvel have a complex relationship but for now, Spider- Man still resides in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and with new lms forthcoming in 2020, Spider-Man’s resurgence is set to continually build off the back of this stability. Spider-Man has been spurred on by spin-offs like Venom, which was hugely successful in 2019 and another, Morbius, will come in 2020, at least. It is almost certain that there will be more releases, though, and hype is already swelling the PlayStation 5 and leaked footage of Spider-Man 2.

With Spider-Man’s popularity amongst boys aged 0-14 and with a 2% increase year on year, the brand is experiencing an impressive rate of growth. Of course, this growth is tied closely to Marvel who will look to press on despite being in the twilight of Avengers: Endgame. It’s huge shoes toll; can Spider-Man really take the crown of the MCU and surge to become the world’s most prolific superhero once more? From the stats, it’s looking increasingly likely and going forward, it seems like Spider-Man’s formidable rise will spread further.

Girls 0-14 Years Old

A macro assessment of brands by continent for the girls aged 0-14 demographic reveals some homogeneity in that either Disney or its franchise Frozen consistently rank in the top 3 worldwide. Barbie is placed either 1st or second in every continent other than Asia where it ranks 4th. Doraemon comfortably ranks 1st in Asia, though, and is a standout amongst a fairly universal top 3 brands worldwide together with So a the First in South Africa which ranks 2nd, also an animated Disney TV franchise. Whilst Doraemon ranks high outside of the top 5 in other continents, it still has some growth to do to get on terms with the principles. In Europe and Oceania, Lego sneaks into the top 5 also which is perhaps no surprise given that it is Europe’s favorite brand across genders.

Masha and the Bear, a Russian animated

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the world. It is a complex and nuanced picture characterised by both stable longterm brands e.g. Barbie and Disney, new brands e.g. Fortnite, declining brands, e.g.

Pokémon and Harry Potter and resurgent brands e.g. Spider-Man and Doraemon.

An Asian Representative: Doraemon

TV series, sneaks into the top 5 in Europe but surprisingly, in Latin America also. With greater appeal to 0-7-yearolds, Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol are also represented in the top 5 in Oceania, Latin America, South Africa and also North America where Spongebob Squarepants, another animated TV series, comes in 5th. Whilst there are a few brands in the mix here, it is striking that Disney or the Disney-owned franchises of Frozen and so they are heavily represented across every continent.

Boys 0-14 Years Old

Unsurprisingly, the Marvel universe and its constituent franchises are heavily represented across all continents for the boys aged 0-14 demographic. Marvel comfortably ranks in the top 3 for every continent other than South Africa. In South Africa, though, Spider-Man, which has been newly re-added to the Marvel universe is the favorite brand. SpiderMan, a rapidly rising brand, makes the top 3 in 5/6 continents. Interestingly, though, Lego is very strong in Europe where it sits over 3% higher than next- best SpiderMan, it is highest also in Oceania but only sneaks into the top 5 in two other continents.

Oceania and Europe also show a link through Minecraft which makes the top 5 in both without representation in any other continent. As we saw for the girls aged 0-14 demographic, Doraemon takes

the top spot in Asia by a whopping 5.5%, also showing how the brand is extremely popular for both boys and girls in Asia.

Tom and Jerry also makes the top 5 in Asia the same as it did for girls aged 0- 14.

Fortnite, a relatively new brand, makes the top 5 in North America and Oceania which is quite the accomplishment seeing as it’s only been hitting the headlines for a couple of years. Younger boys between 0-7 are perhaps best represented here by Paw Patrol which makes the top 5 in 5/6 of the continents. This is another brand that shows cross-gender popularity.

The Fastest-Growing Brand’s Popularity

The potential choice for marketers and merchandisers looking to leverage licences to popular brands is greater now than it was in 2018. The main shareholders of popularity have shrunk slightly and many smaller brands have crept up the list.

Some honourable mentions here include Masha and The Bear, a Russian animated TV series which grew in popularity by 0.7%, from 3% to 3.7%, to make the top 25 of brands worldwide and Spongebob Squarepants which climbed a remarkable 2.7% from 2.9% to 5.6%, making the top 10 most popular brands worldwide.

Western or American brands no longer totally dominate the rankings, which might have been the case in the past, and there are strong representation from brands originating from other regions of

It would be impossible not to mention Doraemon which is double the popularity of next-best Tom and Jerry in Asia at 15.9% vs just 8%. This means Doraemon reaches the top 25 worldwide and it’s on the increase across Europe with strong awareness and popularity between boys and girls throughout the whole age range studied.

This Japanese brand has been around for almost a century but in 2008, it was appointed Japan’s anime ambassador, which has subsequently boosted its worldwide popularity.

Doraemon’s rising status certainly places it well as a brand with high demand surplus, meaning that the interest is there but the available products aren’t meeting demand. There is great potential for merchandisers to leverage the demand surplus of Doraemon across Europe and other Western regions.

How Do These Brands Successfully Connect With Their Consumers?

1. The Digital Influence You could say that every brand requires some level of digital presence to survive brand popularity contests in 2019, but there are some who defy this rule, such as

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Barbie who still strongly rely on physical merchandising and toys - this has not tempered their popularity and relevance.

Lego is similar, although the brand’s excursions into digital via its game series and movies have been successful also.

Disney, on the other hand, shows some of the most agile adaptations to new platforms in the form of Disney+ which snowballed in popularity due to The Mandalorian series. The Mandalorian is also a superb example of how just one character can surge to be a viral sensation in incredibly short periods of time, we are of course referring to Baby Yoda who has quickly become a hallmark of meme culture, reaching the screens of millions worldwide.

2. The Rising Star: Fortnite Fortnite has risen rapidly to become a huge brand entity amongst children aged 0-14, especially amongst boys where it repeatedly tends to rank in the top 25. Worldwide, Fortnite has almost doubled in popularity from 1.6% to 3%, the social media buzz created when Fortnite ‘destroyed’ their season 10 world with a meteor strike and black hole was pretty incredible and after this period, an astounding 125 million new accounts were created. Whilst Fortnite is incredibly popular right now, time will tell as to whether this relatively narrow brand can continue to entertain child audiences or whether its limitations will eventually be exposed. For now, however, Fortnite has an immense presence for a one-product brand.

The viral nature of Fortnite and its role in social media culture has aided

its snowballing success. Indeed, the ways in which brands can utilise social media engagement not just for driving engagement but for feedback purposes also has become increasingly important.

Brands which properly use the power of social media to test and mobilise new ideas have retained popularity.

3. Technological Themes There is undoubtedly a trend towards high-tech futuristic themes across both brands and their primary flagship characters. Superhero franchises have often focused on futurism but Avengers took this to the next level. This has spread to other brands, e.g. Doraemon is a cat with high-tech augmentations and Fortnite has a largely futurist theme.

Across the gaming industry in particular, we can see a trend towards high-tech sci

-esque characterization, tech and gadgets.

Children are demanding greater brand attention to cutting-edge technology, as well as, the imagined characters and landscapes that come with it.

4. Mobile-rst Experiences Mobile-rst experiences are becoming essential for many brands including children’s merchandise and entertainment brands. Smartphone usage continues to rise to the point that smartphone ownership amongst young people has become near-ubiquitous across every region on Earth, stats indicate 65% of internet engagement is represented by mobile phones, 25% of those aged under 6 own a smartphone and over 70% of those aged 7-14 own smartphones.

ABOUT BRANDTRENDS BrandTrends tracks the relative awareness, attitudes, popularity and merchandise appeal of the most important Entertainment brands among people up to 25-year-olds. The data was collected via their survey tracker, BrandTrends, which reports on hundreds of thousands of respondents about over 1,000 different brands simultaneously in 43 countries around the world. Their database of brands contains over 50,000 different brands.

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Many brands now offer mobile games which offer in-game purchasable content, content services or interactive apps which work in tandem with physical products.

5. Parental Trust Parental trust is essential for brand popularity when it comes to those aged between 0-6. As children approach 14, it becomes increasingly likely that children will utilise their own choice when it comes to buying into brands and content, perhaps even using their own payment methods to purchase merchandise, toys and content, but at 0-6, parental trust and willingness to pay is critical.

Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig and Disney make the top 3 brands for those aged 0-6 and each has their own distinguished level of trust which helps enable parents to pay for them. Paw Patrol and Peppa Pig share a similar focus on an animated TV series which combine wholesome storylines with humour and engaging fun characters whereas Disney’s uplifting, positive and morally educational themes have always helped secure the brand’s family-friendly status.

6. Baby Shark: A Musical Phenomenon Baby Shark is an extremely simple video and song which made a remarkably large splash in recent years. It started life as a German song in the early 2000s but after Pinkfong, a K-Pop band, popularized it in 2015, the song gathered momentum to enter the charts worldwide and rack up some 5 billion views on YouTube by January 2020.

The song then found itself spreading through school playgrounds, social media and across families to become a true viral

hit. It has now appeared in advertising and marketing campaigns for big businesses such as Kelloggs. This is a superb example of how a brand out of the ordinary can move into the cultural spotlight extremely quickly.

7. Gender Interests Whilst it might be fair to say that Lego’s top 3 placement is driven by extremely strong male interest and Disney’s top 3 placement is driven by extremely strong female interest whilst Marvel occupies more of a middle ground, between girls aged 0-14, Barbie is the strongest brand overall scoring in the top 5 across every region and is number one in 4 regions.

Barbie sits 1% clear of the next-best Disney for girls 0-14 across the world, though it is slightly beaten 2% by Peppa Pig for girls aged 0-6.

Barbie is another historical brand which has stayed at the top of its game for decades. Barbie’s core offering has remained largely the same and though the brand has had to diversify its products to be more inclusive, its stability is quite remarkable.

6. Content Driven Experiences and Escapism If we take a very general view on what makes the top brands tick in 2019 then the story remains much the same as in 2018.

Children want to be absorbed into their favorite brands, they’re willing to engross themselves for hours into gaming and ondemand streamed content, they’re looking for a means to escape from daily life and engage with colorful imagined worlds jam-packed with strong visualisations and larger-than-life characters, futurist

themes and high-tempo action. Digital technology has been employed across many brands who are looking to leverage new possibilities, e.g. creating more cutting-edge content-rich experiences than ever before - we may be on the edge of a VR and AR breakthrough but this is still unclear and brands are still investing in producing cutting-edge content and products which are the ‘coolest’ by way of their high-tech functionality.

More Diverse Brands

The top brands of 2019 do differ to 2018, they are more diverse, international and represent a continued shift towards digitisation and mobile- rst experiences.

However, it remains surprising how historical brands like Barbie, Lego and Disney continue to share the greatest child popularity and despite some small decreases, this popularity remains largely stable for now. Of the top brands, Disney seems the most secure and perhaps also the most likely to prosper off the back of Star Wars and The Mandalorian which has been an international hit and viral social media sensation.

Marvel and the Avengers are interesting brands in 2019, still buoyed by the success of Endgame, it’s unclear how they’ll adapt to one of the world’s most successful superhero franchises coming to an end. This may somewhat account for Spider-Man’s rapidly rising success and he may indeed become the dominant star of the superhero scene going forward.