NEWS
TOTAL LICENSING
SUPER WINGS AT HAMLEY’S Alpha Animation and Toys’ preschool hit Super Wings, has been resonating with fans with a range of experiential marketing activity over recent months. On the back of strong broadcast support and the launch of series 3 on Cartoonito, there has been an extensive plan of activity to bring the much-loved Super Wings planes into children’s real-life environments. The star of the show, Jett, recently landed on Oxford Street, London to headline at a Super Wings event at the iconic Hamley’s store. The arrival of the much- loved plane character caused a big stir and attracted hundreds of fans to the event for facepainting, product demos and more. Alpha Animation and Toys have been keeping Jett busy with costume character visits at various Smyths store openings in the UK’s Lincoln and Romford as well as flying in to celebrate new store openings for The Entertainer in Kidderminster and Watford. On early May bank-holiday weekend, Jett made a visit to the iconic Paulton’s Park, where he delighted over 15,000 preschool visitors and their families. Jett made special appearances across two days, where kids were treated to Super Wings selfie opportunities and some fun ‘I met Jett’ stickers! Furthermore, retailers are backing the hit property with impressive window displays, social media activity and competitions, as appetite for the toy range and wider licensed merchandise continues to grow at a staggering rate. A recent collaboration with Flybe and Smyths also proved to be a huge success. The campaign included a competition to win a family flight and Super Wings goodies, which attracted over 9000 entries.
DISNEY AND MAKE-A-WISH
The Walt Disney Company and Make-A-Wish launched the #FriendLikeMe Challenge on World Wish Day, the first of a number of activities in the run up to celebrating the release of Walt Disney Studios’ new movie, Aladdin. The #FriendLikeMe Challenge is a cause marketing campaign between two of Make-A-Wish’s wish granters, Disney and Will Smith. This campaign is the first that Disney and Make-A-Wish are collaborating on across EMEA in celebration of wishes, Aladdin and helping children with critical illnesses.
4K MEDIA BECOMES KONAMI CROSS MEDIA
Konami, the Japanese entertainment and gaming conglomerate, has unveiled a new name for its New York City subsidiary. Konami Cross Media NY Inc. (formerly 4K Media Inc.) will shift its strategy to focus even more on franchise building, content creation and brand management. The entity will be overseen by Yuta Kose as president. This strategic move collectively harnesses the strength of existing Konami gaming IPs including fan favorites Contra, Bomberman and Frogger -- with a stronger focus on entertainment and content creation for global consumption and Omni-channel exposure. Konami Cross Media NY Inc. will continue to manage and grow the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise with a 360 degree approach for fan engagement across all franchise touchpoints. Konami Cross Media NY handles the Konami properties globally, outside Asia.
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Leading into Licensing Expo, Konami Cross Media NY has announced the first wave licensing deals for apparel and accessories for Contra, Bomberman and Frogger. New deals have been signed with Difuzed, Bioworld, Duncan Branding and Innex. As a result, Konami gaming fans will soon be able to wear gaming gear based on their favorite game characters. There is also an exclusive line of plush figures based on game characters. Konami Cross Media NY is working on expanding the global television distribution footprint of Yu-Gi-Oh! Following the successful theatrical release of Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Side of Dimensions, the Yu-Gi-Oh! TV franchise is returning to the Columbia airwaves with new agreements signed with Citytv in Columbia. Citytv Bogotá, the main local television in Columbia’s capital city, unveiled Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s in March 2019.