India - new world and new beginnings

By Rutika Malaviya Founder & Editor-In-Chief, Rooh Entertainment | Licensing Corner Mumbai, India

rutika@roohentertainment. com www.roohentertainment.com www.licensingcorner.com India, the golden bird of the world has never been so alluring for both global and domestic brands. As I had covered in my previous article, there has been a dramatic shift in the consumer’s buying patterns and businesses have struggled to keep up with the trends. The Post-Pandemic India has given birth to New World... New Beginning... New India.

Even though the market has been lucid, with the implementation of GST and FDI been approved for single brand outlets, the fresh crop of B School grads opting for start-ups and a new breed of incubators as well as investors showing interest in boosting businesses across the board and geographies, the business world is buzzing with fresh ideas and resources.

Today, every industry has adopted brand licensing, collaborations and extensions to earn an extra source of revenue and explore more ways to attract consumers. This trend is especially apparent in the digital space. Brand Licensing is rapidly becoming a most important and vital step in brands marketing & extentions strategy. The digital media growth at an exponential rate has provided opportunities to content creators and influencers to launch their very own merch collections. A testimony to the growing popularity of influencers in google searches, in the last three years there has seen a 1500% increase in the number of google searches for influencer marketing.

Some of the recent examples of influencers using brand licensing for monetization are comedians selling their own merchandise. Comedian turned chess streamer Samay Raina launched his official merch in the first half of 2021 and it was an instant success.

Another Indian comic Anubhav Singh Bassi (pictured) who has a following of over 2 million YouTube subscribers launched his own merch in the midst of the pandemic. All products had a one-liner joke performed by Bassi. Needless to say, they sold like hotcakes. Another creator, Prajakta Koli also known as MostlySane hopped on the bandwagon and announced the launch of her merchandise on her Instagram. Music licensing programs are flourishing in the nation with the introduction of big players entering the local market continues while also independent music is gaining its momentum. India has become a battleground for these streaming services that have spoiled the customer with too many choices. There has been series of new ventures since the Tiktok ban eg. Rizzle, Chingari etc. alluring audiences to their platforms that has led music streaming services to license their catalogs to these social media platforms or video platforms.

The exciting front and the buzz word

that shook the nation was the rise of NFT’s. Celebrities from Sunny Leone to Salman Khan to Amitabh Bachan and brands like Viacom has entered into strategic partnerships to create NFT world & digital assets for the fans. The NFT is here to stay, with Facebook takeover of the metaverse and it will only be more exciting to look forward to how the brand creates a space for itself in the Virtual world. The world has always been a fan of NASA merchandise, however The launch of India’s ISRO space collection took-off the Indian licensing industry in the space of global recognition where we have notably seen celebrities like Priyanka Chopra sporting the ISRO t-shirt. The government consciousness towards the power of merchandising surely ensures the growth of the industry and stronger IP laws within the country.

The 15th edition of TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 began on March 26 at the Wankhede Stadium. It is set to become one of the most anticipated events as it marks the comeback of IPL fans to the stadiums after two years. Fans can choose from a wide array of official merchandise right from match jerseys, t-shirts, polo t-shirts, joggers, caps, to accessories like bags, cups, coasters, keychains, wristbands, and much more, to enhance their IPL experience and cheer for their favorite team. Forbes reported in 2019 that the counterfeit product industry generates $500 billion each year, out of which $5.2 billion is from India alone. The quality of the merchandise sold of poor quality, ill fitting, one-time use and throw which often lets the fan down.

For IPL franchises to crack the market, a crackdown on the fakes is imperative. But, that’s easier said than done, which resulted in the Egeez, a global marketplace for licensed merchandise is set to launch this year 2022 - starting from India eventually to other countries by the end of the year. Egeez is a platform by the licensees for the licensees and licensors of the industry to tackle everything related to counterfeit products to overstocking concerns. Finally, a place where fans can buy the official merchandise blindly as Egeez verifies every licensee before onboarding on the platform with certification.

To put that into perspective, merchandise sales contributed to 15-20% of the revenue generated by football clubs like Man United, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona whereas in the case of IPL it is less than 5%.

The whole concept of official merchandise is still at a very nascent stage and awareness is still not as strong. It’s still, let me go on Amazon or Google and see what products are there and if the price is cheap, if it’s got a decent rating, let me just go for it. Egeez aims to change that preview to not only educate and bring awareness but also make it accessible at one place to trust the fans merchandising needs, building strong emotional connect and nostalgia.

While the sales numbers aren’t known, Forbes reported that the response to Puma’s athleisure collection emboldened the franchise to further its foray into becoming a lifestyle brand. At the Unboxing event, RCB Vice President Rajesh Menon announced that aside from the RCB Bar and Puma tie up, the franchise will also be launching its own fitness app and also venturing into the NFT space.

RCB’s transition into becoming a lifestyle brand seems like the logical next step for IPL franchises looking to generate revenue all year round. The role of merchandise will only grow as teams enter the next phase of their evolution. Fan culture too, will evolve with them.

WildBrain CPLG, one of the world’s leading entertainment, sport and brand licensing agencies, further strengthen its global footprint with the launch of a dedicated office in India & extending Peanuts licensing for India market is putting India on global map for licensing & merchandising.

The team has already signed its first wave of deals in the Indian market, including Trucarekidz for a Yale University apparel line; Reliance for an Archie Comics apparel, back to school and stationery line; Clovia.com and Myntra as fashion partners for emoji; Alpha Digital Corp for Aeropostale accessories; and Suditi for a Juventus Football club apparel range.

The licensing and consumer products industries are rapidly accelerating in India, as both local and international IP owners increasingly tune in to the significant growth and revenue potential this burgeoning market presents.

Even though the growth of the industry is placid, under ‘Aatmanirbhar’ initiative of PM Narendra Modi, there is a high probability that more homegrown brands will engage & partner adopting licensing as a vital strategy to make the start-ups self-reliant.

Industry Roundtable

OUR PANELISTS

Andrew Carley

BBC Studios

Rhys Fleming

Dependable Solutions

Francesca Gianesin

Moonbug Entertainment

Roz Nowicki

Mattel Inc

Carla Silva

King Features Syndicate

Justin Watson

Asembl Brands Pty Ltd

Julian Zag

Zag America LLC Each year in Total Licensing we run an Industry Roundtable, asking a selected group of expert licensors, agents and others how they see the industry and asking them for their take on some of the key issues of the day.

This year, understandably, we are focusing on navigating a post-Covid world – how companies have fared over the last two years, how they are emerging from the pandemic and what they have learned along the way.

Their answers and thoughts can be seen on the following pages.

Firstly, how have you and your company fared during the pandemic?

Andrew Carley: On a personal basis the pandemic has meant very different things to different people and we have to respect that as we move on. Personally speaking I think I got off lightly. From a company perspective it’s been about learning to work differently and taking the opportunity to approach things in a new way. The natural point of conversation is the growth of online meetings and whilst I don’t want it to be the only way we work there are certainly efficiencies to be gained in certain circumstances – particularly when it comes to building international relationships. By necessity we’ve had to strip out some of the layers of decision making that were considered essential and at times take a far more pragmatic approach which has to be good. From a big picture point of view, the business hasn’t suffered unduly and certainly not in the long term. In many cases covid has been a catalyst for necessary change

Rhys Fleming: The pandemic hasn’t been easy for anyone. Our hearts and our thoughts are with those that have lost loved ones and had their lives impacted in a myriad of different ways. We have been very fortunate. Adapting to remote work was relatively straightforward for us, as many of our employees were already working within a flexible work paradigm.

Francesca Gianesin: When the pandemic hit, parents around the world found themselves in a situation where they were home and they needed to entertain their children and many parents needed to work. What we saw was a significant increase in viewership. Parents used content, amongst other tools, to entertain their children and to help their children learn and grow. A lot of parents discovered the value of our content and got to know our world and have stayed with us since. Audience behaviour has changed, and technology has evolved. We are evolving with the changing dynamics in kids’ media, becoming the most influential contemporary kids’ entertainment company. By merging world class creativity with data insight, we create the most relevant and desired entertainment brands for kids. Our brands live everywhere, across distribution platforms and channels, geographies, formats and consumer products. We have a unique business model that allows us to build megabrands out of trending and evergreen shows. We developed a global portfolio of familyfriendly, focused brands with unprecedented reach. A lot has happened for us over the past couple of years. We have grown significantly. Since its launch in 2018 Moonbug Entertainment has become an award-winning global entertainment company behind some of the most popular kids’ titles in the world. Moonbug’s line-up includes global sensations CoComelon, Blippi, Little Baby Bum, Little Angel, My Magic Pet Morphle, Supa Strikas, Go Buster, Playtime with Twinkle, Gecko’s Garage, ARPO and many more. Moonbug’s shows are on more than 150 platforms globally, including YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Sky, Super RTL, BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, Tencent, Youku and Roku. In May 2020, Tubular Labs named Moonbug one of the leading digital kids’ entertainment companies in the world based on the total number of minutes watched worldwide. The company’s YouTube channels are viewed over 9 billion times on average every month globally and has more than 440m subscribers. Its portfolio currently stands at 29 IPs and 100+ brand partners and is available in 32 languages. In 2021 Moonbug was acquired by Candle Media, an independent, creator-friendly home for cutting-edge, high-quality, category-defining brands and franchises. By bringing together elite talent operating at the intersection of content, community, and commerce, it helps to position leading entertainment businesses for acceler-

ated, sustainable growth in the current market and beyond. Candle is run by its Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs, leading entertainment executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, and backed by investment capital from funds managed by Blackstone’s flagship private equity business. In February 2022 we acquired Little Angel, one of the fastest-growing kids channels on YouTube. The Little Angel Network, which houses Little Angel and Little World, boasts more than 88 million subscribers on YouTube globally. Since 2019, the brand has seen its global viewership double. Moonbug plans to grow Little Angel exponentially by investing in content, expanding distribution to its global network, and creating more ways for audiences to engage with the brand.

Roz Nowicki: 2021 was a pivotal year for Mattel. Our strategy has worked, our turnaround is now complete, and Mattel is firmly in growth mode. We are beginning to capture the full value of our IP in highly accretive business verticals, including content, consumer products, and digital experiences, which are directly adjacent to the toy industry. The global consumer products and franchise team delivered the strongest growth in nearly a decade. My team and I have performed well during the pandemic and continue to stay positive. We have maintained regular communication and checked-in with each other to ensure all are doing well personally.

Carla Silva: As difficult and challenging as the pandemic has been over the past two years, one positive impact is that we have seen an increase in the popularity of classic characters, which is great for our diverse portfolio of brands. 2021 was a very good year for KFS especially considering the ongoing uncertainty in the world. Resilience, focus and innovation were key to our progress. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of my amazing team, our network of International Agents, and licensees, we experienced substantial growth. Justin Watson: At Asembl, we are very fortunate to be entrusted to manage many great global brands which have a FMCG/CPG category focus which have weathered the pandemic well. On a personal level both for myself and the team we have all had various challenges and gotten through them by trusting and leaning on each other for support when and where it was needed. I like to think we have come out of it stronger and more resilient.

Julian Zag: Despite the pandemic, the past two years have been incredible for ZAG! In fact, as of last year, we’ve hit over US$1 billion in retail sales for Miraculous™ - Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir worldwide. We believe our success during this period is two-fold. Firstly, we have great content available at all touch points for our fans to engage (free-to-air, VOD, YouTube) -- we reach kids and families everywhere. And secondly, we executed a wellcoordinated and broad-ranging consumer products strategy that includes a diverse product offering across retail and e-commerce. The new ZAG Global E-Commerce division manages all our e-commerce efforts on a dayto-day basis alongside our major partners, licensees, and retailers

Now that the worst of the pandemic seems to be behind us, how would you say that the last two years have impacted – positively or negatively – on business?

Andrew Carley: From a negative perspective it’s been challenging driving new business. The focus has been on making what is working work harder with less risk taking. The difficult conversations that require a more nuanced approach are so much easier face to face. Maintaining momentum on projects that require ongoing dialogue with multiple facets of the business also has its challenges. Very hard on boarding new starters particularly those new to the industry and as we return to normality the more experienced individuals will have to make an extra effort to support those new starters. On a positive note, and as mentioned above, processes by necessity have been streamlined. There has been the opportunity to focus on what really makes a difference and drive that. It’s offered a clarity of purpose without getting caught up in peripheral issues. There are efficiencies from being able to arrange multiple meetings across the business in a single day – but it has its drawbacks – namely it becomes a very soulless and transactional conversation

Rhys Fleming: During the pandemic, we certainly saw a number of companies, change the structure of their teams and focus, understandably, more on survival than expansion and innovation. Coming out the other side of this, I know we’re not 100% there just yet; we are seeing many businesses now looking for ways to do more with less. They are turning to systems like ours to help them do that. It’s really exciting to see even very traditional businesses looking to technology for new ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their brand licensing programs.

Francesca Gianesin: Moonbug is growing rapidly: The number of views to all Moonbug content for the month of March 2022: 7.8bn (Youtube only). The average views to all Moonbug monthly content (March 2021-March 2022) averages 6,147,093,573 (6bn) Youtube only. The total subscribers to Moonbug channels is estimated at 340 million. Content is available in 32 languages.

Roz Nowicki: There’s been such a desire and need for fun over the last two years. People are looking for ways to lighten the heaviness and companies have responded to that. Consumers have taken comfort in brands that they know and trust. We’ve witnessed a trend toward nostalgia during the pandemic, and the comfort nostalgic brands offer. Fisher-Price is over 90 years old, producing some of the most iconic toys of the last century, Barbie is the #1 selling Doll in the world, now just over 60 years old, and Hot Wheels is over 50 years old and is the top sell-

Andrew Carley BBC Studios

Rhys Fleming Dependable Solutions

Francesca Gianesin Moonbug Entertainment

Roz Nowicki Mattel

ing toy in the world. We see the appeal of our brands that span generations and bring families together in play. While the pandemic did drive some demand for toys, it also introduced supply chain challenges. We are proud to have been able to navigate and succeed through those challenges.

Carla Silva: While the pandemic kept us physically apart, it also brought the world together unlike anything ever before. We bonded through the shared struggle to keep business moving forward, while simultaneously enduring forced separation from loved ones, fear around health and safety, and new challenges at home. We learned that working remotely could not only be done, but that it could make our workflow even more effective and efficient, and that Zoom and Teams could strengthen work relationships in ways we never thought possible.

Justin Watson: Our business was founded as a specialised licensed brand extension agency for Design, Lifestyle and FMCG/CPG brand owners in our region, so there was an existing and growing demand for our expertise way before the pandemic started and we have continued to execute our business plan accordingly. The competition at retail for our brand owners has become much fiercer, marketing budgets have been reduced so brand extensions are a very attractive tool for marketers to drive penetration and saliency.

Julian Zag: The last two years haven’t particularly impacted us. But during this time, ZAG has ramped up the consumer products team significantly in the past 12 months with new offices in Miami, Florida; and Mexico City to serve the Latin American marketplace; in Germany to serve Eastern Europe; in Tel Aviv, Israel, with the launch of the gaming division; and in Dubai to serve the Middle East and Africa. Plus, we already have offices in Paris, Los Angeles, Montreal. We are perfectly poised to handle the increasing demand around the world to engage with Miraculous, and to build our new franchises, including our newest series, Ghostforce.

Are you finding that retail has changed in any way as a result of the pandemic?

Andrew Carley: The pandemic has accelerated the shift from physical shopping but that’s nothing new. When the consumer engages in physical shopping they are far more demanding of the overall experience and rightly so. I think in many cases the high street shopper was taken for granted with minimal investment in the broader environment. That has to change and thankfully it is changing. The interest in activities that actively create a participation between the brand and the consumer has grown out of all recognition. The consumer is willing to spend fairly significant sums of money on interactive/immersive brand engagement. How that squares with inflationary pressures remains to be seen but overall brands are offering many more immersive experiences that extend beyond a theme park or a stage show.

Rhys Fleming: The pandemic created a number of micro-trends that appear to be largely short term in nature. There were a few product categories, for example, that performed very well as people were forced to change their way of life during the various lockdowns that were imposed.

Roz Nowicki: E-commerce was already a high growth area and it accelerated at a rapid rate due to the pandemic. Consumers have become more comfortable making purchases online, without the benefit of seeing the products in person. Another area of change is the continued growth of store brands globally, across most every category, in all tiers of distribution.

Carla Silva: Yes! Retail saw many challenges over the past couple of years and the success of ecommerce has opened up so many opportunities. Online shopping is here to stay and we see more growth ahead as direct to consumer (DTC) retail continues to thrive with consumers who crave instant access to products they can buy anytime and anywhere. DTC has emerged as a retail “must.” The ease of convenience (especially as a result of the pandemic) and immediacy of delivery are huge drivers for on-line shopping. This can be seen in many different areas, not just consumer products. As a parent, I’ve been increasingly focused on positive learning outcomes for my two boys. I’ve seen the development of new companies in this sector that present exciting opportunities for new brands, particularly ones with a strong gaming/digital fan base.

Justin Watson: Due to the pandemic shipping delays are refocusing consumer attention on provenance and where their goods are coming from. It’s also redirecting the attention of retailers and suppliers who are evaluating supply chains.

Julian Zag: As I mentioned, on-line shopping hastened during the pandemic, and here at ZAG we were able to act nimbly to create a well-executed a well-coordinated and broad-ranging consumer products strategy that delivers a diverse product offering across retail and e-commerce. However, I also believe there is strong demand now for more in-person shopping, in particular where brands can offer retail experiences for fans that go beyond product purchases. Brick and mortar retailers now have a chance to find ways to bring people back into stores and retail experiences will be a key component to bring buyers back in-store. We anticipate seeing more pop-up experiences and retail activations

Which elements of the pandemic really affected your business – eg retail closures, trade show cancellations, factory and supply chain issues etc?

Andrew Carley: The consolidation of retail hasn’t affected revenues in the short to medium term. However it is going to make it increasingly harder to launch new properties as choices will become limited – look at the US to see the direction of travel. That being said online does offer alternatives

Carla Silva King Features Syndicate

Justin Watson Asembl Brands

it’s just diluted. Aside from retail the greatest impact in 2021 which no one predicted was supply chain issues. I don’t recall hearing a single economist predicting that the wheels of industry would take a significant amount of time to return to pre pandemic levels. Supply chain issues unquestionably impacted our revenues particularly in the last quarter of 2021. I think the feeling in October was by mid 2022 we would have overcome those issues but I’m not seeing evidence of that. Then layer on the inflationary pressures driven by oil prices and the second half of 2022 is going to be challenging with discretionary spending inevitably taking a hit. The growth of SVOD/streaming, Disney+. Linear broadcasters are increasingly scratching their heads and trying to understand how to compete with global streamers and the pandemic has accelerated that. It’s difficult to see defined answers at this stage but I have no doubt opportunities will emerge as the broadcast environment adapts to the change.

Rhys Fleming: With regards to the macro-trends, I would suggest that the pandemic accelerated a number of pre-existing trends, rather than necessarily being responsible for creating new ones. We saw the adoption of digital commerce pushed forward a few years from where we were expecting it to be. When locations and stores re-opened, the focus on experiential retail seemed to be much greater than before. Discussions around the blockchain, NFTs, and the metaverse have become much more widespread. But all of these things were, to some extent, already happening. We continue to adapt and upgrade our software offering to best handle anything this ever-changing industry throws at our clients. That’s why we come to work. It’s what we do.

Francesca Gianesin: We, like everyone else, had to send our workforce home for long periods of time and we saw an interesting trend that animation continued at an increased pace because everyone was at home, whereas live action stopped because people couldn’t attend a shoot. However, our main focus is animation, so our productivity increased. Roz Nowicki: Like all companies, the pandemic disrupted our day-to-day business, but the key is how we innovated to ensure we continued to grow during this time. Our supply chain and commercial organizations were successful in working through global supply chain disruption and closely collaborated with our retail partners in trying to meet consumer demand. The strong performance of our supply chain this year is attributable to our scale, expertise, and flexible model. We anticipated short supply and longer lead times and factored that into our planning with mitigating actions.

Carla Silva: All of the above! The Pandemic brought uncertainty to all aspects of business including retail closures, factories closing due to workers being sick, power restrictions, product making it into the warehouses in time for launches, among other issues. However, we continued bringing great quality products to market and we are excited about how 2022 is rolling out so far. There are still new opportunities out there and we are expanding our e-commerce offerings – it is a target growth area for us. The online retail environment gives us more shelf space to explore new products.

Justin Watson: In Melbourne – Australia, where our team is headquartered, we were in lockdown for 262 days with retail except for grocery, closed for four months. Soft lines programs took the immediate impact which saw retailers move to a home deliveries model but that of course did impact buying. With grocery channels remaining open we saw food & beverage sales grow including specific categories like baking however we are finding the impact to this category is being affected right now mainly due to shipping and packaging delays not just from China, but specialised packaging and components coming from Italy and other parts of Europe.

Julian Zag: Yes, we did have problems getting inventory due to factory closings, especially in light of the surge in demand for products that we experienced. This was partly due to the availability of the new season four content around the globe, increased awareness across social media, and kids having more at home time during the pandemic.

The pandemic and the current world instability are creating supply chain issues around the world. How, if at all, are these affecting you? How will they impact on how you do business moving forwards?

Rhys Fleming: Most of these bigger trends have impacted us indirectly. It impacts our clients and therefore impacts us. The lack of trade events, however, was much more of a direct impact. We spend a lot of time meeting licensing professionals on the road. It’s often the most effective way for us to be able to see and speak to people. With this gone, we adapted. We held digital events and webinars. We collaborated with other organisations to expand our reach. There’s always a way to engage with people – we just had to get creative.

Francesca Gianesin: We were in the awkward situation where we had the most wanted toy for Christmas in 2020 and 2021 and we left a lot of customers unhappy because we couldn’t keep up with demand and fill the empty shelves. We saw a lucrative secondary market where people would buy our product when they hit the shelves, which created a bad customer experience for some parents. This has however normalised now.

Roz Nowicki: Mattel and our licensees are working tirelessly to ensure that we stay ahead of the supply chain challenges. Our supply chain is a competitive advantage, and we feel that we have the capabilities, the scale to continue to meet together, to work collaboratively with the retail partners to meet the strong consumer demand for our product. In mid-March, Mattel announced that we have consolidated North American manufacturing opera-

tions in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, in an effort to move our supply chain closer to home. This plant is now our largest manufacturing facility in the world.

Carla Silva: Supply chain issues have certainly impacted our business over the past year. We experienced several programs missing delivery because product was stuck on the water or in port. We also heard from several licensees that they were forced to cancel retail orders because the costs of containers and freight became so inflated, that it became impossible to meet the PO price agreed upon months before. We are working with our licensees to ensure that they bring in product earlier in the year. This will help us avoid many potential unforeseen pitfalls later in the year, especially around the holiday season. Rising costs of materials have also impacted our licensees (i.e. printing costs for our publishers). At KFS, we’ve felt the strain from reduced supply chains, retail closings and government shutdowns, but we’ve also discovered and leveraged expanded business opportunities in ecommerce as well as new product categories that emerged due to cultural shifts.

Justin Watson: Just like most countries, the island continent of Australia’s supply chain has been compromised and impacted. Just this week Shanghai was shut down to continue to pursue ‘CovidZero’ seeing factory workers, truck drivers and port workers stopped mid-shift which means no goods are being despatched. These supply issues are highlighting how reliant the Australian market is on China, especially on anything that has a lot of components and it’s now refocusing the consumer on where the goods they purchase come from. To adapt, we are reviewing partner supply chains in greater detail to ensure they have flexibility and options.

Julian Zag: Fortunately, we are not affected anymore, in part due to learning from our experiences and advance planning.

Are there any specific areas where you think the changes over the last two years have had a positive impact on your business or how you do business?

Francesca Gianesin: Thanks to the change in audience behaviour, the evolution of technology and wider penetration of connected devices, families have now become a lot more familiar with our content and the demand for products is getting higher and higher.

Roz Nowicki: Our team has worked exceptionally well remotely and recently as we have returned to office, we have implemented a successful hybrid approach to work.

Carla Silva: Absolutely! We’ve been able to connect with many more licensees, retailers and International Agents via video conferencing. Because we were unable to meet in person and everyone was meeting over Zoom and Teams, we had the opportunity to connect with people that we may not have otherwise been able to travel to and present to them face to face. We also focused on new product trends and leveraged those learnings by securing licensees in new product categories. In addition, it forced us to be more flexible and creative – two main ingredients for continuous growth in any industry!

Justin Watson: Overall our relationships with clients, suppliers, retailers and especially our team has had the biggest change. Working from home has opened a new window into everyone’s personal lives that we probably wouldn’t have seen – kids popping up on screen, home deliveries, shared tales of Wi-Fi issues and just general shared tales of life in a pandemic have strengthened relationships and made them more human and personal.

Julian Zag: Yes, in particular we established our e-commerce division so that products are more readily online than they had been, and this is a strategy that will continue to work well for us going forward.

How are you incorporating any trends that have emerged in the last two years into your business model moving forwards?

Francesca Gianesin: Unlike older viewers we know that younger audiences are looking to re-watch content. They replay and repeat. We deliberately focus on the age demographic of up to 8 years old because within this group all kids follow certain patterns and like to watch content repeatedly. Beyond that age group their interests fragment into different and individual areas. Our audience is less sensitive to trends and more reactive to which developmental stage they are at. Children are looking for something they have seen before, and therefore the more platforms we are on, the better. For us the trends are more family specific trends rather than child trends such as learning through song and music and relatable scenarios that every child and family can recognise. We believe that entertainment has a powerful impact in children’s lives, which is why we create shows to support children’s development of life skills and model positive behaviour promoting core values such as kindness, empathy and resilience. Our mission is to become a natural part of any child’s upbringing to make the world a better place in the future.

Roz Nowicki: As retailers are leaning into developing and growing their own brands, it is imperative that we, as licensors, offer opportunities for our brands to be a part of these private label programs.

Carla Silva: We’re deepening our brand presence in categories that we’ve seen gain traction during the pandemic including personal care, fitness, mental wellness, entertainment (such as gaming), healthy eating (spinach), eco-consciousness and comfort. The discussions regarding diversity and inclusion and those around sustainability are positively progressing across our industry and we are prioritizing the commitment to take steps to meet the expectations and needs of

Julian Zag Zag America

our consumers. We’ve also started exploring how to introduce our brands into the NFT space responsibly. Together, we can make a difference and create a better world for our children and future generation of fans. After everything everyone has been going through, we all need to have a little fun! This offers unique opportunities for gaming brands to further engage with their new audiences through new products, content and brand experiences. We’re super excited with the recent launch of The Cuphead Show on Netflix and we are launching some amazing products and titles for our Cuphead fans around the globe.

How do you view the future – short-term and long-term?

Andrew Carley: Streamlining decision making, reducing friction in processes and being willing to take risks. We look at what really adds value and focus on it. We are increasingly working with a global mindset with regional variations. Success on a scale that really makes a difference has to be global. The platforms that people use to watch to content – notably SVOD and AVOD and the digital short form content that supports that on social AVOD has necessitated an accelerated change in approach that at times creates difficult conversations for an established linear broadcaster. On a positive note consumers access to content has never been easier. On a negative driving the necessary momentum over the medium to long term when platforms allow binge watching has it’s challenges and we are working with that. Lots of creative thinking on social media to support brands. In terms of the future I’m an optimist. The next twelve months will unquestionably be challenging. However business is adaptable and opportunities will emerge. There is little point in predicting the future – the last twelve months has proved that. The key is focusing on what you are good at, recognise your strengths and delivering the very best product/experience. Rhys Fleming: What does the future look like for Dependable Solutions? A new and evolving opportunity for us to support licensing professionals. Whatever that means. Whether you’re a client of ours or a company that’s brand new to licensing. It’s our job, and our privilege, to work with you and make licensing that little bit easier.

Francesca Gianesin: Short term we plan to expand on our existing franchises, ensuring we engage kids and families wherever they are. Long term it is making sure we stay relevant on the other platforms where kids are consuming content i.e. gaming. We have a strong portfolio of licensees that we are working with and are looking forward to continuing growing these relationships. These include Jazwares, Just Play, Hasbro, Spinmaster, V-Tech, Character Options, Centric, Aykroyds and Character World

Roz Nowicki: Short term, our focus will be on maintaining the steady growth trajectory we have established in 2021 and celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Barbie Dreamhouse in 2022; a celebration we kicked off with a partnership with Habitat for Humanity in January. In the long term, we have major events that present incremental growth opportunities, including the new Mattel Adventure Park that will open in Arizona in 2023. We continue to expand our IP and leverage our iconic properties across content. The highly anticipated Barbie live-action film just started shooting in the UK, starring Margo Robbie and Ryan Gosling, cowritten and directed by Greta Gerwig. Expect to see more major film & tv news from Mattel.

Carla Silva: We are very optimistic about 2022 and beyond. Diversification remains a key initiative for KFS and our goal is to have a diverse portfolio of brands, a range of licensees in many different categories, and distribution at all retail levels around the globe. We will continue to focus on new markets and new categories such as experiential opportunities in both physical and digital experiences. Immersive experiences increase fans’ engagement with the brands. These branded experiences result in strong brand affinity which tends to grow our social media engagement and the desire for fans to purchase licensed products. NFTs, metaverse and live streaming shows are and will be a huge potential for brands to bring to life new experiences, and new licensing opportunities. So little time and so many opportunities ahead…. Let’s make the most of it!

Justin Watson: At Asembl our clients have a core product or core product range at the heart of what they do, and it is these products we see providing longevity and growth in the licensing sector. For us, it isn’t about rushing new licensed products to market, it is about taking a long-term view of where the product currently is and where it can grow sustainably. The short-term will continue to present challenges as we navigate supply chain issues however, we are now familiar with these issues compared to the start of the pandemic, so we have adjusted accordingly. In the long-term our goal continues to be to build sustainable revenue streams for our clients and we will do so through our strategic planning and product execution.

Julian Zag: I think that consumer habits are changing with almost everything going online. Fans are demanding engagement across all touch-points and we can no longer provide just products but also an experience behind the products. We continue to adapt and move quickly to try and stay ahead of the trends, and maximize opportunities and fan experiences as new trends and technologies arise. A good example here is how we moved quickly into the Roblox platform and brought the first game based on a TV series to the platform. Miraculous RP: Quests of Ladybug & Cat Noir, which debuted on May 1, 2021, has to date has exceeded 300 million plays!