Retail partnerships and family events to mark milestone for classic brand.
Penguin Ventures has outlined its plans for The Snowman’s 40th anniversary, with a mix of retail partnerships and family events set to celebrate the major milestone.
Susan Bolsover, director of licensing and consumer products at Penguin Ventures, said a key ambition for the property this year was to offer “unique and engaging experiences for families, enabling them to create new memories”.
She continued: “We are thrilled with the enthusiastic reaction to our plans from both retailers and partners and we’re excited to see how families will respond to this very special anniversary campaign.”
A series of celebratory events has been planned this year to allow families to enjoy immersive Snowman experiences.
The Royal Albert Hall will be a key London venue, where the soundtrack to The Snowman will be performed by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, while the animation is simultaneously screened.
The Snowman live show – a combination of dance, music and theatre – will open at The Peacock in London on November 22 and run until January 6, while Sadler’s Wells will also be celebrating a record breaking 21 year run of the show. The Snowman will then move to the Birmingham Repertory Theatre from January 16-26 2019.
Acclaimed children’s author, Michael Morpurgo will be writing a new novel, re-imagining the classic story by Raymond Briggs, which will be published in October.
Maximising the short seasonal window for the festive brand, Penguin Ventures has also been working hard to ensure that The Snowman will have a strong presence across all retail environments.
Retailers have been offered a diverse range of consumer products and price points to suit their customer base. Opportunities for high-end department stores will allow for bespoke anniversary product ranges, while high street retailers and mass accounts will also feature a strong product offering.
The anniversary year has afforded Penguin Ventures access to the widest retail distribution for the brand to date.
In addition, JoJo Maman Bébé has recently been confirmed as new destination for The Snowman infant apparel.
Newly signed licensee Boxine will launch a Snowman Tonie for its children’s audio system in Q4, while King & McGaw is on board to create bespoke and limited edition prints of artwork from the original Snowman picture book.
Also new for The Snowman, Demand Media will be launching bedtime gift boxes tapping into the trend for Christmas Eve boxes.
For the first time this year, The Snowman will have a dedicated presence at Christmas in July, with the consumer gifting festival allowing Penguin Ventures to get in front of over 1,000 journalists and bloggers over a two-day period.
Penguin Ventures has also secured a partnership with Immediate Media which will see The Snowman feature prominently across its portfolio of festive crafting magazines this Christmas.
The entire anniversary campaign will be backed by dedicated marketing, PR activity and social media to support licensees and partners across all digital and traditional platforms.
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