55 LSB 2020 Richard Pink.qxp_NEW LSB 2008 GRID 04/07/2020 09:58 Page 55
NOSTALGIA TRENDS
Richard Pink, md of Pink Key Licensing, reveals why his answer has now changed when he’s asked if there are any new style guides being released for the Kellogg Vintage programme.
Vintage eras Y ou should have seen my face drop. For years I’ve been proudly representing the Kellogg Vintage programme and I’d got used to reeling out the same story ‘the archive only really goes up to about 1987…’ In reality, when we started it covered primarily the 1920s-50s. But here we were with some whippersnapper telling me that they were looking for vintage artwork from the 1990s… If the 1990’s are vintage now, what does that make me? We have always said that the reason we don’t use Kellogg artwork past about 1990 is that most of the characters haven’t really changed their appearance since then. It’s not wholly accurate, but by and large it’s true. The Tony and Coco you see then are not a million miles from the ones you see now. However there is a Inset: Coco the Monkey is bit of difference Kellogg’s most popular character. between the characters that we have been representing for the last eight years and their more up to date counterparts, and an awful lot of the personnel of our partners (and crucially retailers) have a much greater affinity with the more modern versions. For the first time we’ve been able to access the more up to date versions of the Kellogg characters, and because they haven’t changed a lot we are able to use the ones that are currently in the market. It means that we are very much open to requests to use these characters in designs where we would have otherwise had to substitute in older versions. One added bonus is that it allows us to focus a little for the very first time on Kellogg’s must popular character, Coco the Monkey, who until this point has
Right: The programme will continue to focus on adult product. Left: Richard Pink, md, Pink Key Licensing.
been off-limits to Pink Key as he is very much a 1990’s kind of guy (what’s more he has group of jungle friends, too). We’ve also been allowed access to the sensational art that started appearing on Kellogg packs at the back end of last year. Currently we are working our way through the additional art to see what is available to us. As a very minimum it looks like that we are going to be able to offer all the modern and up to date versions of both the packs and the characters for all the Kellogg brands. Going forward this will allow us to reflect the trend in apparel when it inevitably moves through the Nineties, Noughties and beyond. We also think that our licensees and potentially retailers will be very interested in the new set of pack designs that appeared on supermarket shelves last year - they are simple, clear and bold and a really strong design. Although the Kellogg programme has gone from strength to strength in the last couple of years, we are continually being asked ‘Do you have any new style guides coming out?’ We can now say ‘yes we do’ and although the programme will continue to be focused on adult product, we are looking forward to seeing what our existing licensees are able to do with this development and hopefully welcoming some new licensees on board. LICENSING SOURCE BOOK EUROPE 2020
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