MAVKA, A 100% UKRAINIAN PROPERTY

BY TETIANA RUBAN, CEO OF NERD AGENCY, 2022 LICENSING INTERNATIONAL RISING STAR

Mavka — a Soul of the Forest and its Warden — faces an impossible choice between love and her duty as guardian to the Heart of the Forest, when she falls in love with a human — the talented young musician Lukas. It’s a fantasy, love story, and comedy.

The film is based on the classic Ukrainian poem THE FOREST SONG by Lesya Ukrainka and Ukrainian mythology about forest creatures and magical runes.

The property is 100% Ukrainian. Nerd agency (FILM.UA Group) represents the brand licensing rights globally. The core target audience of MAVKA. THE FOREST SONG is for kids 4-14 years old. Nevertheless, there is an additional audience of women as the brand has a unique lifestyle visual identity.

The brand has two strong missions. First, the ecological mission is to raise awareness of the problem of deforestation and the extinction of animals and plants registered in the Red List. Second, the cultural mission is to present the authenticity and beauty of Ukrainian culture to the world.

Since the plot and characters were well known in Ukraine, the brand started getting popular after the very first teaser of the movie, which generated 54M views on YouTube.

The first collaborations were with fashion designers that were engaged in the development of characters and props, a premium clothes designer Navro and a jewelry brand Oberig. Then the agency licensed books based on the original poem with initial artworks from the movie. Also, premium handmade toys and home textiles were launched. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Lesya Ukrainka, they launched a postal collection with the national post Ukrposhta

The brand was getting more and more popular. The artworks were really appealing. Among the several initiatives, they’ve got a request from Silpo, one of the biggest retailers in Ukraine, to decorate their new flagship store with Mavka Universe: a 6000 sq meters supermarket in Kyiv was fully branded with the artworks from the movie.

After a successful branding of the retail space, they continued the partnership with Silpo and launched a loyalty campaign. There were random collectible figurines of MAVKA characters and licensed goodies. The plush toys and the activity book with AR were sold during the first 2 weeks of the campaign (the book’s print run was 2.5 times as big as the average in Ukraine). The program itself was supposed to last for 2 months but has been extended to 3 months due to huge demand. They’ve reached over 25M contacts through ads during the loyalty campaign and achieved high engagement of the audience thanks to the collectible mechanics, AR and BTL.

Food producers became interested in the brand, and they made limited editions of licensed confectionery, cereals, and yogurts. As well the agency got a partner with paper tableware for parties. The movie has been so anticipated that one of their licensees produced MAVKA calendars for 2022 and 2023.

They partnered with Ranok, the biggest publishing house in Ukraine, and developed a wide range of products, such as a book based on the film’s script, the original book, coloring and activity books, sticker packs, etc.

Several companies will produce different kinds of toys. Kiddisvit launched soap bubbles with MAVKA right before the première. They’ve got a stationery partner Vivat (Kite), a DTR partner in back-to-school products.

MAVKA. THE FOREST SONG works excellently for a women’s audience. They’ve inked an outstanding partnership with SOVA golden jewelry producer and retailer, which used floral elements and runes from the MAVKA Universe.

Furthermore, they’ve signed new licensees in home textile, arts & crafts, fashion retail, and souvenirs.

The international releases will take place till the end of the year. Following the theatrical premières, there will be VOD and TV releases, so they expect the brand’s life cycle will last at least 2 years from its official launch.