Sophia Jansson delivers keynote address on the success of the property.
Tove Jansson’s Moomins may be 70 years old, but thanks to careful management of the brand values, the Moomins are more popular than ever before.
Tove Jansson wrote and illustrated nine Moomin novels and four picture books. The Moomin stories have also been televised, dramatized, animated and made into operas and ballets; and not to forget the ever-popular Moomins daily comic strip that appeared every day in the London-based Evening News for over 20 years from 1954.
In the 1990s after the release of a 104-part animation series in Japan by Dennis Livson, the popularlity of the Moomins was at an all-time high, but the brand had become a watered down version of itself, with no reference to Tove’s original artwork, stories or values.
When Sophia Jansson came into the family business in 1997 she realised the need to re-align the brand to the original brand values.
“At that time the Moomins were perceived as characters for small children,” says Sophia. “The general interest in the Moomins was based on the TV series and very few licensees were using original artwork. Over the years we’ve worked hard to shift the brand back to its original roots; going back to Tove’s original artwork and stories. Over the past eight years we have taken Moomin to new heights while preserving the original brand values.”
That the brand continues to grow year on year is a testament to the small, but passionate team that work at Moomin Characters.
Roleff Krakstrom is the chief executive officer and says: “Most successful character properties rely on TV programmes or movies, but the Moomins doesn’t. Moomins is an art-based character brand. We have gone back to the original stories and artwork to give us control over the brand. We have got a new TV series and film planned for late 2017/early 2018, but we are not dependent on this.”
Bulls Licensing has represented the Moomins since the 1950s, with the very first Moomin products coming to the market in 1952. In 1957 Arabia Finland began the production of Moomin mugs and the first mugs were hand-painted by Tove. Today Arabia sells one million mugs every year.
“Moomin is an amazing brand in that it attracts kids and adults alike,” says Gustav Melin, global licensing director at Bulls Licensing. “We have a wide range of products across the board, from the mass market to the premium market. We added 160 licensees to our stable in 2014, bringing the number of licensees we work with to 600.”
With more licensees and partners coming on board with the Moomins and a great commitment from licensees, old and new, 2015 has been the biggest year yet for the Moomins. A clever licensing strategy that always keeps the brand values at its heart means the Moomins are certain to be around for a long time yet.
