NEWS
TOTAL LICENSING
YOUTUBE: THE FUTURE OF MERCHANDISING With the fragmentation of content consumption,YouTube is becoming the absolute key driver for licensees and retailers in determining what brands get their investment. Now brand owners, with the aid of Aux Mode’s Reporting Tool, can drill down into their YouTube analytics to really understand how to shape their merchandising strategies. “We are a tech company, whose mission is to help content owners understand what exactly is sticky about their content,” said Adam Rumanek, CEO and Founder of Aux Mode Inc. “We found that IP owners wanted a deeper understanding of how viewers were engaging with their content. It isn’t enough to know how many people are watching your videos and from where, so I built a proprietary tool to let content owners know exactly what storylines, characters and even jokes have the highest engagement rates. Netflix and Amazon Prime have been using this type of research to inform their development slates and now independent producers can do the same. This type of market research can also inform future merchandise development by knowing what character to produce into a toy line or what catch phrase to put on a shirt.” Aux Mode’s Reporting Tool is timely, as YouTube has recently partnered with Teespring to make content creators’ “print-on-demand” type merch more accessible to their viewers through the creation of a merch shelf that appears beneath YouTube videos. This merch shelf can display up to twelve products and sales referred from the YouTube merch shelf will qualify for an additional YouTube bonus of $1 per item sold, paid at the end of each month. Currently, this new offering is only available for adult targeted content. “With our Reporting Tool, brand owners, will be able to determine what products to merchandise next to each
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BIG PICTURE LICENSING 2019 saw the launch of a new bespoke brand licensing agency called Big Picture Licensing. Founded by Dan Frugtniet, a seasoned licensing exec who for the last 8 years worked at Viacom Nickelodeon Consumer Products (VNCP) and left the business as Vice President, International Licensing & Business Development. Dan has now been joined by Tom Roe, another seasoned licensing exec who for the last 11 years worked across different positions at DHX Media / CPLG (Wildbrain). For the last five years Tom headed up worldwide licensing for DHX brands as Commercial Director, together they have a combined 35+ years experience working for large media owners,licensors, licensing agents with a remit across both the UK, emerging and international markets. Big Picture Licensing has identified a gap in the market for a pure commercial agency that works across multiple lines of business within brand licensing. The key focus of BPL is to act as an introducer agent - to broker all types of commercial deals for licensors and licensees across all territories and product categories. BPL will also act as a traditional licensing agent working with brands on a ‘skinny Agent’ model with a focus on identifying, securing and managing commercial partners. As well as traditional Licensing, BPL is also focused on the live-events/experiential space and see this as a key area for growth and brand extensions. In addition BPL acts as a broker for icensees and IP owners to expand their product and content distribution. Big Picture Licensing is working with a number of brand owners cutting across both kids/family entertainment as well as youth/adult brands. One of the key new brands BPL is working with is called Brave Bunnies. Owned by Glowberry, this is a new pre-school property that is currently in production for 52 episodes plus digital content that will deliver for broadcast in Q1 2021. Brave Bunnies is off to an excellent start with four new commercial partners being finalised and signed across core product/commercial categories. BPL is excited to be able to announce that they have been appointed as the UK licensing agent for Brave Bunnies and will also support Glowberry across multi-territory direct licensing and commercial opportunities.
video,” said Rumanek. “This will revolutionize the way products are purchased and will provide a seamless experience for both the consumer and manufacturer.” Aux Mode can be a key partner for any studio, entertainment company,
brand owner or individual that seeks to learn how to better monetize their presence on You Tube, whether it be via optimization of ad placement or showcasing best product design to merchandise alongside their YouTube videos.
