The Hello Kitty Shop at Universal Studios Florida marks Sanrio’s official retail debut and Hello Kitty’s first appearance at a theme park in North America. The supercute retail experience, located along Hollywood Boulevard in the theme park, offers specialty merchandise including stationery, home goods, apparel, accessories, collectibles and confectionery treats. The majority of product will be exclusive to the park. Additional Sanrio characters, including Chococat®, My Melody®, Badtz-Maru®, PompompurinTM and Keroppi®, will also be featured.
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The company behind the iconic Chupa Chups®, Airheads®, Mentos® and other brands continues to find new ways to extend its properties through licensing.
By Jim Harris
The Chupa Chups® lollipop brand has brought happiness and enjoyment to millions of customers around the world for nearly 60 years. The brand’s diverse profile of more than 100 flavors and colorful marketing – much of which is focused on its distinctive flower logo designed by Salvador Dali – have helped make it a leading candy brand.
Perfetti Van Melle, the worldwide confectionary company that has owned the brand since 2006, believes in spreading the joy of Chupa Chups® through more than just the lollipops themselves. “We try to have everything we do speak about the brand, and tell stories around the brand in different ways,” says Christine Cool, licensing area manager for the Barcelona-based company. “Our products truly give a sense of enjoyment to people.”
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Sony Pictures Consumer Products is pulling out all the stops as it works with licensees, retailers and filmmakers on Ghostbusters and other initiatives.
By Eric Slack
As it licenses programs around Sony Pictures Entertainment’s TV and theatrical properties, Sony Pictures Consumer Products (SPCP) has a lot of responsibility – and a lot to work with. Designing influential campaigns and product lines that make an impact with consumers, SPCP works closely with its colleagues and partners to ensure that marketing and product initiatives related to Sony Pictures’ film and TV properties connect with their target audiences.
“Early on in our projects, we meet with filmmakers and creative people on our properties to learn as much as we can,” says Mark Caplan, senior vice president of Global Consumer Products. “We read scripts and look at visuals, and then figure out where a property sits within a target market. We develop strategy documents to underline our direction and then go back to present our plan, where we set off on a path to develop a program. We talk with the right licensing partners, create artwork and engage with retailers to show we have a meaningful opportunity.”
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Lisa Frank’s iconic unicorns, puppies, kittens and tigers are enchanting a new generation of ‘tweens and twenty-somethings in a renewed upsurge of licensing interest.
By Russ Gager
Evolving a brand with the times is a tricky business, especially when you are Lisa Frank, whose eponymous company has been synonymous since the 1980s with rainbow-hued stickers, stationery and school supplies featuring rainbows and adorable unicorns, puppies, pandas, kittens and tigers. Frank’s intense colors – which are printed using a proprietary mix of four inks – appeal to youngsters at that impressionable age when the world still seems filled with possibilities for inspiration, happiness and joy.
Examples of Lisa Frank’s brightly colorful artwork can be found on the company’s Facebook page. Here the works of art are paired with humorous and motivational sayings. For example, in one piece of artwork, waterfowl waddle against a background of snowflakes above the inscription, “Why Walk When You Can Dance?” Bunny gardeners harvest chicks and tulips, yellow puppies salivate over dog bone sundaes and unicorns jump over the moon.
Adults of a certain age – usually in their 20s and 30s now – recall the ubiquity of Frank’s many licensed products in grammar school. One thirty-something recalls that everybody in his grammar school – and not just the girls – seemed to have a Lisa Frank folder. Cumulative retail sales of Lisa Frank products have exceeded $1 billion since the company was founded. With that deep of a market penetration, Lisa Frank’s brand is a valuable property
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Crayola partners with leading toy manufacturer Amloid Corp. on the innovative Crayola Building Blocks product line.
By Chris Petersen
Crayola has been helping children around the world unleash their creative spirit since 1903 with its portfolio of art tools, crafting activities and innovative toys and Amloid Corp. has been dedicated to manufacturing high-quality toys since 1916. With both companies’ deep history and experience in delighting kids with toy and crafts, a partnership was a natural fit. As Amloid marks its 100th anniversary this year, its collaboration with Crayola on the Crayola Building Blocks line of products is a testament to the strengths of both companies individually and combined.
The opportunity for a joint collaboration began in 2014 at New York’s International Toy Fair. With the construction category being one of the fastest-growing segments within the industry, Crayola was looking for a manufacturing partner that could deliver quality and innovative products in this area. “Right from the start, the chemistry between Crayola and Amloid was great and partnering together on the line of building blocks was an immediate fit,” said Joseph Albarelli, chief marketing officer at Amloid.
The Crayola Building Blocks line was launched in late 2015 giving the brand a presence in the construction toy segment during the critical holiday selling season. The blocks leverage Crayola’s distinct colors and come with crayons and decals allowing children to color and further customize their creations. With SKUs ranging from $4.99 to $49.99 and driven by an innovative packaging design that resembled giant Crayola crayons, the brand had great visibility in aisle and delivered strong results that exceeded expectations.
“Crayola has had a deep relationship with moms for five generations,” says Eric Karp, GM North America Licensing, Crayola. “They trust the brand for its safety, value and most of all for providing their children with quality creative tools that help them express themselves.”
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The Joester Loria Group elevates the Pepsi Emoji experience with a new collection of Pepsi Emoji licensed products launching this summer.
By Chris Petersen
From world music tours to backyard barbecues – it’s safe to say that where there’s a good time this summer, Pepsi will be there. And as social media makes it possible for the concertgoers and the cookout kings to stay in touch with each other, Pepsi will be there, too.
This summer, Pepsi is rolling out its innovative PepsiMoji campaign that encourages consumers to “Say It With Pepsi” as they share their summer fun across various social media platforms. The U.S. campaign features more than 200 custom-designed emojis that will appear on Pepsi bottles and marketing materials, encouraging consumers to collect and share them over social media. These unique and fun designs also will appear on a collection of licensed products over the course of the summer, and helping Pepsi build that side of the campaign has been The Joester Loria Group (JLG), one of the world’s leading licensing agencies.
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ScottsMiracle-Gro builds on its nearly 150-year brand legacy through licensing partnerships that allow the company to enter new product categories to serve consumer needs.
By Stephanie Crets
Maintaining a beautiful lawn and garden that you can truly be proud of and enjoy does not have to be a complicated and daunting task. ScottsMiracle-Gro offers consumers a wide range of products that help simplify that process, making gardening and lawn care more enjoyable and, overall, more successful. For nearly 150 years, the company has built trust and brand loyalty among consumers by continuously delivering on its promise of offering products that provide superior performance and exceed expectations. Now, ScottsMiracle-Gro is building on that trust in new categories through its licensing program.
“Consumers have relied upon ScottsMiracle-Gro for generations, and ScottsMiracle-Gro is committed to enabling gardeners to be successful through convenient and innovative products,” says Glenn Neilson, director of marketing for licensing programs at ScottsMiracle-Gro.
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Starlight Accessories produces trend-setting eyewear by teaming up with successful licensing programs like Yo-Kai Watch.
By Stephanie Crets
With nearly 20 years of experience in the eyewear market, Starlight Accessories is a leader in fashion-forward and core sunglasses, as well as swim goggles.
President David Smouha and his brother, Allen Smouha, founded the company in 1996 after recognizing a void in the fashion eyewear market. While working for A Classic Time Watch Co., Smouha saw the potential to expand sunglasses into a trendy product at a competitive price, which at the time was largely untapped. He launched Starlight Accessories, and the sunglass market was forever changed.
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