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STATE OF THE NATION: BRANDS
A trio in royal ascent
Bits and Pixels adds Bungie
Santoro Licensing, gifting company Wild & Wolf and luxury chocolate and confectionery brand Monty Bojangles have all been recognised with The Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2018. The awards recognise and celebrate business excellence across the UK, with the international trade accolade showing the companies have demonstrated international growth in overseas earnings and commercial success with their sectors. “We’ve experienced tremendous growth in our international trade, particularly in the last three years,” said Paul Taylor, ceo at Wild & Wolf. “Once a predominantly UK driven business, by the end of 2018 two thirds of our business will be outside of the UK, with the US being our single biggest market.”
Bungie has appointed Bits and Pixels as its licensing agency for EMEA. The video game specialist will represent the first person action game Destiny, published by Activision. Sandra Arcan, co-director of Bits and Pixels, said: “The combination of thrilling gameplay, an expansive and cinematic world featuring a compelling narrative and cast of characters, and some of the most stunning visual design you could wish to find, are just some of the elements we’ll be looking to showcase to prospective partners.” Bungie’s Katie Lennox added: “We’re looking forward to partnering with Bits and Pixels on new opportunities to expand the Destiny franchise.”
Elmer hits the big 3-0 Fashion UK opens German office As part of the licensee’s aim to have a larger presence in Europe, Fashion UK has opened an office in Germany. The aim is to increase the level of service and speed to its customers, with the new office being headed up by md Frank Sandloebes, formerly global sourcing manager and product manager for boys’ tops at C&A. Gurdev Mattu, md of Fashion UK, said: “Fashion UK is going from strength to strength. I have every faith in Frank and his wealth of knowledge and experience to lead Fashion UK Germany into the European spotlight. This is only the first step in a wider plan for Fashion UK and I am excited to see how we will grow.” Right: Fashion UK’s Frank Sandloebes.
Andersen Press has revealed the 30th anniversary plans for the Elmer brand. The brand marks the milestone in 2019, with Andersen Press working with Penguin Ventures (global licensing agent) and Metrostar (apparel and bedding) to ensure high visibility across categories. Key activity in 2019 will include special anniversary editions of books, clothing and consumer products, while the biggest ever Elmer Day will take place on May 25, 2019. A new book – Elmer’s Birthday – has been written and illustrated by David McKee, while the first major retrospective of David’s original art – Elmer and Friends: The Colourful World of David McKee – will be hosted. The family art trails in association with Wild in Art, Elmer’s Big Art Parade, will also take place in Tyne and Wear, Suffolk and Plymouth. Metrostar has signed Lifemarque for backpacks and harnesses, with further signings to be revealed, and Penguin Ventures is currently in discussions with toy and game partners, as well as working with existing licensees and looking at new opportunities. Above: Elmer marks three decades in 2019.
Born Licensing expands presence Busy Born Licensing is marking a big 12 months which saw it move into a new office in London’s Hammersmith, hire new staff and continue to build on the success of its campaigns with Moneysupermarket. Naomi Smith has joined the company as licensing coordinator and executive assistant to owner and director, David Born. She joins following a 12-month internship at Mattel UK. The successful Epic Skeletor campaign was followed up with Epic Lift – which saw He-Man and Skeletor recreate the iconic final dance from Dirty Dancing – before the introduction of Epic Action Man earlier this year. In addition to all of this, Born Licensing also celebrated its first campaign in India, placing SpongeBob Squarepants in an ad campaign for Facebook. David Born commented: “The advertising world is starting to embrace character licensing more and more. High profile campaigns like Moneysupermarket are being highly praised within the advertising community. The licensors that we work with are not only benefiting from the incremental revenue we are delivering directly from these deals through licensing fees, but they’re also benefiting from the huge brand awareness generated by the advertising campaigns which has a ripple effect throughout their other businesses.” Right: David Born says the ad world is starting to embrace licensing more and more.
LICENSING SOURCE BOOK EUROPE 2018
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