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the most popular superheroes in the 1940’s. Now he is coming back. We will aim for a social media campaign in connection with the release of the DC movie in April 2019,” Maria Fjordholt says. “Batman is the superhero we all love and adore. Over the course of 80 years his character has been through a lot of fascinating variations. All year round we will celebrate the 80th anniversary of Batman with the campaign ‘Long Live the Bat’ through extended retail presence and campaigns in close cooperation with our licensing partners,” she continued. In the Wizarding World, Fantastic Beast and Harry Potter are names to follow. “Throughout the year we will continue to celebrate the Wizarding World. We have three major wizarding touchpoints in 2019: The release of the Fantastic Beast: Crimes of Grindelwald on DVD in the first quarter of 2019; the release of a new and exciting real-world mobile game Harry Potter: Wizards Unite; and as a strong third the 20th anniversary of the first book edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in Norway and Sweden in the 2nd half of 2019,” Maria Fjordholt explains. She also mentions that the characters Ross, Phoebe, Chandler, Monica and Joey aired for the first time 25 years ago in the successful TV show Friends. The show has been revived by the new generations and is trending on Netflix. Nordic Fashion retailers already have
Friends. apparel in-store, and the 25th anniversary will be a great opportunity. In terms of other properties, Barbie will celebrate her 60th anniversary in 2019. “With 60 years of legacy, Barbie is the brand that has the power to inspire the next generation. In 2019, NLC will – together with Mattel and our partners – celebrate all that Barbie has inspired, and what is still to come. It will be themes like celebration, careers and ‘travel to’ experiences that highlight the campaigns,” said Maria. “NLC is also delighted to have been chosen as partners for Tour de France in the Nordic countries. “Tour de France is a strong brand here as we have had many Swedish, Norwegian and Danish heroes on the French roads over time,” says Director of Business Development at NLC, Martin Wingreen Bang. “As a means to stay fit and as a lifestyle bike racing has been boosted in the Nordics over the past years due to the Tour de France coverage on TV and in news media. Throughout the summer you will see kids racing bikes on the streets and adults adding fla-
vour to their daily workout with their favourite team jerseys and gear. They will be celebrating their heroes of the road,” he says adding that Tour de France fits NLC’s portfolio of sports brands nicely. Bulls Licensing report that ongoing brand developments for the Moomins include television, animation, theme parks, shops, cafes and a state of the art children’s hospital. Season 1 of Moomin Valley premiers in 2019 comprising 13 x 22 minute episodes and directed by Oscar winning Steve Box. The series will be created using a new combination of 2D and 3D CGI. The new series is a brand new adaptation of the original Moomin series with a production budget for the first two seasons of €21 million. In collaboration with Moomin Characters and key publishers, the Moomin publishing business is blossoming, growing up to 30% year on year since 2010. With carefully developed ”new publishing”, based on the storylines and artwork created by Tove Jansson, Penguin Random House, Pan Macmillan, Egmont and Bonnier Books Finland have developed a number of books and series of publications including board books, story, activity and coffee table books, sold and re-printed worldwide, from the UK to Korea, Russia to the US, Finland to Japan, to mention a few. For the first time in history, all original works by Tove Jansson as well as the new development is now represented
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