Ace Fair - Korea’s Content Market

We’ve never had a brand failure; that reputation is absolutely paramount for us.” As for retail, “Retailers know that they’re on safe ground with us. We do that background research. We don’t just hope for the best.”

And that reputation is what has driven a number of Bulldog properties to top the sales charts – from Gogo’s, Shopkins, Care Bears and Sesame Street to, most recently, Odo and Magic Mixies. “Everything we’ve worked on has indexed above where it should have been in its relative market.”

But all were carefully researched: none were simply signed up on a gut reaction. Rob explains, “We could be taking something to market that could drive an entire industry for a period of time on a global scale. Why do it on a whim?” Bulldog hits the bullseye! For Sesame Street’s 50th anniversary, Bulldog Licensing brought the iconic brand to the catwalk during London Fashion Week. Designer JimmyPaul, and licensed lifestyle products company Difuzed, presented a memorable Sesame Street collection at the ON|OFF LFW Show. JimmyPaul’s collection was a celebration of show, creativity, and pop culture, while Difuzed launched a line of apparel and accessories for women based on the show. But the party didn’t end there. A recent highlight of Sesame Workshop’s partnership with Bulldog was the collaboration they put together for Sesame Street and Just Hype—vibrantly-animated adults’ and kids’ collections. The 55-piece capsule collection featured all-time favorite Sesame Street characters in a range of designs including hoodies, joggers, tees, backpacks, face coverings and reusable bottles in true Just Hype tradition. Rob Corney, MD, and his team have been expertly expanding Sesame Street’s softlines and range in untapped categories such as stationery, publishing and leisure. “Bulldog Licensing is part of our Sesame Street’s extended family, and we are humbled by their commitment to the brand,” said Stefan Kastenmüller, Vice President and General Manager, Europe, Sesame Workshop. “Under Rob’s leadership, Bulldog has grown the business both across the preschool and fan segments, and helped us keep multiple generations laughing and learning with Sesame Street. We can’t wait to see what they come up with next.” With Sesame Street programming airing on leading commercial preschool broadcaster Tiny Pop, Sesame Workshop is excited to continue delivering real substance, with lots of furry fun, with Bulldog extending those messages through new product offerings.

Rob had been struck by the number of decisions being made across the industry which were based on blind faith. In creating Bulldog he was determined to introduce some science to the art of brand selection so created a checklist of 37 questions with which the agency could objectively evaluate the potential for a property. These ranged from really simple questions – like: What is it? How does it reach an audience? – through to more complex questions like: What’s the social risk/reward we’re asking the consumer to take in buying a product with our brand on it?” The details of the assessment process are a closely guarded secret – they remain in use to this day and have guided the agency in selecting some of the industry’s biggest-ever success stories.

However, every agency needs an early success and Gogo’s Crazy Bones from Magic Box most certainly was that. But Gogo’s was an unusual property for a

“As well as taking an ethical approach to the industry and our staff, we take our commitments to doing wider good very seriously.

We make regular charity contributions and support the activities of charities which, over the years has seen us fund an incubator in a special care baby unit, swim round Malta, helping to raise over £50k for the Light Fund and captaining the Light Fund row from

Tower Bridge in London to the Eiffel Tower in Paris and raise over £54k on the way!”

Rob Corney

licensing agency to back at the time. This, after all, was not a TV show but a collectable – there was no media to drive the opportunity and licensing a blind-bagged plastic collectable had never been done before. But there was a market. Rob explains, “Gogo’s didn’t have the traditional driver of reach – but what it did have was a visible presence on the cash desk of every newsagent in the country. It was reaching far more children than the top TV shows. It ticked every single box on our checklist – but not necessarily in the most obvious way.”

And it was a hit. Rob estimates “hundreds of millions of packs of Gogo’s

The Bulldog team at Brand Licensing Europe 2021. From left, Sophie Yates, Rob Corney, Vicky Miller and Sole Slater

sold around the world. It was the biggest boys’ collectable brand in the world. We had global rights to it. We signed 57 licensees. We were even nominated for licensing programme of the year by LIMA.”

Fun at the 2019 Christmas party! This was revolutionary in its effect. “Some of the biggest retailers didn’t even have a collectable offering at the time and it was only through working with them that collectables aisles and the related merchandising became a thing… we ended up creating the concept of collectable licensing.” “From 2013 onwards, Tempting Brands had growing successes with the ROUTE 66 brand in Germany where it ultimately sold more than 8 million pair of socks annually and a range of other apparel ranging from underwear, T-shirts, jogging pants, to hats, sportswear and winter jackets. It is therefore not strange that Tempting Brands had been on the lookout for similar success in the UK which started with finding the right partner. Jerry Wooldridge introduced Tempting Brands to Bulldog Licensing and there was great chemistry from the start. With their knowledge from experience and market knowledge that extends beyond the licensee to retail, the Bulldog team instilled trust and patience. The Tempting Brands team decided to follow the advice from Bulldog. It took a while, but the patience and trust paid off. Today, ROUTE 66 apparel is widely available throughout the United Kingdom. Thanks to the advice from Rob Corney – MD of Bulldog Licensing – who recommended Brand Alliance as a licensee to Tempting Brands. Brand Alliance delivered on the promise. The design team of Brand Alliance continuously delivers incredibly creative and commercial designs. Their unique designs are now featured in retailers such as Tesco (F&F), George, Next, Matalan, Boohoo, PRETTYLITTLETHING, Asos and Peacocks. Moreover, there is a pipeline of new designs which are underway for each retailer later this year. Building on the market presence in apparel, Bulldog Licensing is now pursuing licensing arrangements for ROUTE 66 in apparel categories that are not covered yet such as socks, bags and footwear. But they are also actively searching for stationary and gifting licensees. We’re expecting new ROUTE 66 products on the British market also in categories such as home textiles, food and drinks and puzzles and games. Needless to say the the Tempting Brands team looks forward to continuing to build the ROUTE 66 brand in the UK with the team from Bulldog Licensing!”

It was a three-year campaign and, says Rob, “it put us on the map”.

The rights to represent DreamWorks followed – not one property but the entire portfolio. “DreamWorks had seen the huge success of a brand with no media and were excited to see what we could do with one of the world’s biggest film studios. The rights had sat with other agencies both large and small beforehand, but Bulldog’s tenure grew opportunities in the UK across the whole of the studio’s offering in a way that had never been achieved before and Bulldog continued to work with the DreamWorks properties until the studio’s new owners, Universal, took the rights in-house, some while after they had bought them.”

From unknown brands to huge household names like DreamWorks, Bulldog has proven its ability to deliver enormously successful licensing programmes. Today, Bulldog has a wideranging portfolio of brands, some represented on a global basis. “King Features would like to congratulate Bulldog Licensing on an incredible 15 years in the industry! We are very proud to have them as our agent and thrilled they will continue secure and activate partnerships that truly bring the King Features characters to life for fans in the UK,” said Carla Silva, VP/ GM, global head of licensing, King Features. Since partnering in 2020, Bulldog Licensing and King Features have worked together on many successful collaborations that have kept the iconic properties Popeye, Olive Oyl, Flash Gordon, Cuphead and The Cuphead Show! at the forefront of pop culture. In continuing King Features’ momentum across the UK and Ireland, Bulldog Licensing brought Popeye to life with a craft collection from Create and Craft and pet treats and accessories from Fred & Ginger. The agent also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the cult classic 1980s Flash Gordon film with new partnerships and product lines ranging from limited edition wall art and pin badges from Vice Press to stylish pop art prints from Art & Hue.

Rob explains, “We are now positioned in such a way that we have enough scale to be able to activate a property globally through our network if the property allows and the brand owner wants us to.” Pre-school hit Odo is the latest brand to undergo the Bulldog treatment – benefiting from placement on some of the world’s biggest broadcast platforms, Bulldog’s in-

ternational network is now rolling out the property in multiple territories, building a commercial programme which is widely tipped to make a huge impact at retail.

And collectables remain a major focus for the company. Having already delivered some of the biggest collectable programmes ever seen, including Shopkins from Moose Toys, Bulldog is incredibly excited to be working with the Moose team again on their latest huge hit, Magic Mixies.

“We do love collectables. It’s been a real privilege to have been central to this part of the industry as it evolved from a basic character toy offering to the incredibly sophisticated worlds we now see from Moose with brands driven by a mix of hero toys, playsets, collectable figures and compelling content. We love that adrenaline rush when a collectable goes big. And we’ve had so much success in that space that we know the metrics. We have data from years of working in the field, so we can look at something and know when it’s time to green-light the licensing programme.”

Portfolio management is at the very heart of Bulldog’s success and the ongoing successes of its brand owners. “Brand selection is a two-way process,” says Rob. “Whilst the brand owner needs to be assured that Bulldog is the right home for their brand with the ability to deliver excellent results, Bulldog also takes very seriously our commitment to working with the right Licensors.”

Of the hundreds of brand opportunities presented to the company each year, only a tiny number are ever selected. “As well as ensuring the brand itself is fit for purpose, we need to en-

sure clear blue water in terms of the competitive set within our portfolio so that brands aren’t competing against each other for the same space,” says Rob. “We need to ensure there’s a cultural fit between the brand owner and us as an extension of their operation; and crucially, they need to share our vision of ethical trading in which every transaction is intended to be ‘win/win’… we don’t feel this should be revolutionary, but it certainly rules out some property owners!”

And this approach is reflected in both the properties, such as Sesame Street, the global non-profit educator, and the company’s regular charity contributions. These have ranged from Bulldog helping to fund an incubator for premature babies through to the most recent Light Fund escapade in which Rob captained a crew of rowers from Tower Bridge in London to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, raising over £54,000 along the way. As for 2022, and with Vegas imminent, one obvious focus is Care Bears. “We’ve got the big 40th anniversary this year and it’s a huge property. Like Sesame Street, we’ve seen astonishing growth over the last few years and this is set to continue at real pace over the next two years and beyond.”

Agency life of course is a fairly demanding environment. Expectations of

Usborne’s That’s not my… is the UK’s bestselling baby and toddler book series with over 70 books and counting! Over 27 million copies have been sold worldwide and over 5.6 million books sold in the UK. One That’s not my… book is sold every minute in the UK! In 2021, That’s not my… books featured in the Preschool & Picture Book chart nine times and Usborne continues to reach new families every year with engaging print and digital advertising campaigns, plus partnerships with baby and parent classes. A range of licensed products are available through Bulldog Licensing, including wall stickers (Icon Stickers), a gift range (Widdop), plush toys and soft books (Rainbow Designs), clothing ranges for F&F, Nutmeg, George, Matalan and Tu (Dennicci). New for 2022 are bags, umbrellas, and lunch boxes (RJ Bags).

success come from all angles, but Bulldog can boast some team members coming up to their tenth anniversary.

“You work very hard for your licensors and because we take on the retail communication role as well, we need to always be mindful that it can be very high pressure. But we keep it fun. We have a very open plan office where all conversations are on the table and we have a good laugh together. Having our ethics at the heart of our business helps with this – we would never ask a member of staff to do something that we fundamentally disagree with. We build brands. We don’t frame an inaccurate narrative in order to make sales.”

He continues, “Our positioning has to be accurate. We don’t oversell a brand. It’s important to understand the potential scale behind a property; you can always scale up but you can’t scale back down again once you’ve oversold something and retail buyers recognise our honesty, leading to a greater likelihood of selection for our properties. It’s important to leave a positive legacy, both for the longer-term brand opportunity, but also for the opportunity that a Licensor will want to continue to build new opportunities within the industry.”

The London to Paris Row in 2019 was an epic adventure!

In all the troupe of 13 heroic rowers embarked on the challenge of a lifetime in rowing more than 800km over 180 hours, starting at London Bridge and completing the challenge 585,000 calories later, by the Eiffel Tower!

Bulldog has grown since its foundation in 2007 to become one of the leading agencies in Europe. But, says Rob, if another economic downturn hits, the company is ready. “We provide strength and stability in the market because we’ve been cautiously managed over the past 15 years. We’re proud of our reputation amongst every stakeholder group in the industry and believe those key pillars of fairness, hard work and high-level delivery will always be central to everything we do.” Rob adds, “Tesco only ever did one licensing awards. We were the Tesco team of the year. To walk past the tables of the world’s biggest brand owners with their huge teams of people and pick up that award because my team was better at managing retail as judged by the UK’s biggest retailer was a huge moment for us.

“I started this business to provide the industry’s best service for brand owners, licensees and retailers and, whilst we’re always striving to improve and will never rest on our past successes, it’s nice to pick up a few laurels along the way!”

ACE FAIR

Catch the Asia Content Market trends in Korea

“Digital transformation & Expansion of Content Value”

GWANGJU ACE FAIR

September 22nd - 25th

Gwangju, Republic of Korea

The 17th ACE FAIR is coming! The ACE Fair, which takes place in Gwangju, Korea is the most extensive cultural content exhibition in Korea, including Broadcast/OTT, Animation/Character, Digital Content (such as Metaverse, Game/VR/AR, AI), and all types of licensing content. ACE Fair is a government initiative and also worked with government groups and major companies in Korea. This year, ACE FAIR will be a hybrid and inperson event for all the participants. Currently, people who enter Korea are free from quarantine if fully vaccinated. Also, there will be two special networking events for the ACE Fair and the CDC (Content Developer Conference) participants. These networking events will be the great opportunity to meet Korean governments, public institutions, and major companies in the content area. Last year, LG, Monster Studio, Locus, studio button, Daekyo Kids TV and many other companies participated onsite, despite the pandemic. Under the subject of “Metaverse, Beyond Content”, our theme zone, the “METASHIP”, consisted of various Metaverse companies such as Facebook and Sidus. This year, as they are back to the in-person exhibition, they are excited to welcome international participants to showcase their content. What fantastic opportunities will there be this year? Here is a snapshot of some of the content that you can see at the exhibition. Locus is one of Korea’s largest content creators, providing CGI/VFX services for films, games, and advertisements, and producing its own animated feature films and TV series through its animation arm, Sidus Animation Studios. Locus’s first original animated feature film, Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs was released throughout the world including in North America in September 2020 through Lionsgate. Locus slate also includes animated feature films and TV series adaptations of some of Korea’s most popular intellectual properties, including the hit variety program Running Man, universally beloved Webtoon Yumi’s Cells, and best-selling fantasy novel series Toemarok. 5Bricks is a professional animated contents company based in Korea. Composed of professionals such as writers and animators, designers, and musicians who have passion and love for the field of animation, they pursue producing content with creativity and diversity from warm stories to visual interest. They are working on a few animated projects, such as ‘Hana and Molly’ and ‘Amazing 12’, with highquality and warm-hearted stories to connect with the world. Especially, a slapstick-adventure comedy TV series animation, ‘Tata & Kuma’, the TV/OTT/ AVOD animated show from 5Bricks, is ready to debut on the various platforms, with the collaboration of the named global partners. Studio W.Baba is a creative animation studio. Their service includes developing content / 3D animation production and consulting. With a variety of animation content since its first broadcast on KBS in 2013, it has expanded its business scope by producing works such as “Mask Masters”, “Hello Carbot”, “Magic Adventures”, and “Space Bug” and others. Recently, they have expanded their content to short-form animation with various businesses, “B Family”.

Studio Button is a company that brings together animation planners. They are focusing on content planning and planning and developing their own global and novel animation. More than 600 TV series animations have been planned and aired.

VISIT KOREA in SEPTEMBER!

You can meet and interact with all of these spectacular companies in GWANGJU ACE FAIR. Check out the advertisement on pages 4 and 5, and visit the website (www.acefair.or.kr) for detailed information!