20-21-23-25 Licensee Feedback.qxp_NEW LSB 2008 GRID 23/09/2020 18:28 Page 3
LICENSEE FEEDBACK
Simon Foulkes, md, Rainbow Productions
Emma Weber, marketing and licensing director, Vivid “The biggest challenge for Vivid was forecasting, learning to navigate new consumer behaviours and be agile enough to adjust marketing campaigns that captivated families at the right time to influence purchase decisions for Christmas. The positive to take from the past few months is that toys and games remain very much at the forefront of parents’ minds, and sales as we move into the final few weeks of the year have shown that great products, strong licences and enduring brands like Crayola can continue to perform well, even in these continued uncertain times. We are looking forward to launching Pocketwatch’s Love Diana range to fans of her YouTube channel in S/S21, as well as new innovations in Crayola and building on the successful launch of Vet Squad this A/W.” Above: Emma says Vivid is looking forward to the launch of the Love Diana range in SS21.
“Having now cleared the backlog of costume manufactures, the workshops are now up and running and the whirr of the sewing machines and buzz of the lathes is a Above: Rainbow has adapted its ACE programme for Q4, very welcome return to a says Simon. sort of familiarity. During lockdown we invested in staff training and redesigned our workshop spaces with two goals - the first being to create COVID protected pods and secondly to increase our productive capacity. Complementing the new space we have also acquired new technology with a view to giving us a long-term global competitive edges. Now the challenge is to capitalise on these investments and create the need in the costume character creation market. The programme of Adapted Character Engagements (ACE) we introduced in the summer was transformative and put children and their families at the heart of the experiences. Historically Q4 has always been a very busy time for character appearances, but this year with reduced capacities at venues we have had to devise new styles of experiences which maintain integrity and have a quicker customer flow. For this winter we have evolved the ACEs and will be launching a series of character events featuring 4m and 5m inflatable snow globes with the costume characters inside, augmented by the Rainbow Magic Makers who will enhance the activations even further.”
Gilbert Kalani, ceo, Difuzed “The biggest challenge we have faced this year is, of course, to adapt to the constantly changing market which tries to reinvent itself. Market dynamics have been changing rapidly and we have to accommodate that. Retail environment and the interaction with the consumers had started changing already. Online shopping had started to pick up and the consumers had started demanding more direct interaction with the suppliers. Digitalisation had already been an inevitable fact – COVID-19 has accelerated the process. It has also forced companies to be more effective, creative and adaptive. It also restarted the spark of being an entrepreneur as we have to keep our creative and innovative mind-set.” Left: The pandemic has restarted the spark of being an entrepreneur, says Gilbert.