Pink Key Licensing’s md, Richard Pink, on how the agency has been able to benefit from the Year of the Cow and the new Year of the Tiger, putting an end to ‘CNY’ panic.
It’s the three words that were always guaranteed to strike terror into anyone involved in anything in the licensing industry.
Why? Because it meant that all the timelines for anything that you wanted manufactured and brought into the European territory would be affected if you missed the window. Panic set in as soon as Christmas was over to ensure buyers were seen, orders were confirmed and placed, and approvals were done, all before the massive annual shutdown in the Far East.
It became shorthand for ensuring everybody was fired up and ready to go, being abbreviated on emails to just CNY. ‘I need it this afternoon – it’s CNY’; ‘if you can’t get it by tomorrow, we won’t make Christmas – it’s CNY’.
However, in the last couple of years we’ve been able to associate this wondrous time of year with something much more positive than looking at emails at midnight to ensure artwork ends up in the correct place.
The reason for this is that we happened to be the proud licensing agent of a rather well-known (a) cow and (b) tiger, which happily coincided with the enduring symbols associated with the last two Lunar New Years.
Our success for the Year of the Cow was driven principally by a fantastic range of products which was developed and retailed by H&M. The Laughing Cow range included a sweatshirt, a hoodie and socks in the iconic red and cream colouring and was distributed exclusively in H&M stores in the Far East with brilliant use of the available assets and graphics from the Laughing Cow style guide. They were bright and vibrant and the sell through was fantastic.
And this year is the Year of the Tiger and we have, arguably, the most famous and well-loved tiger of them all on our side who also just happens to be the grand old age of 70 this year. Going to store right now are a number of ranges that celebrate Tony the Tiger and his namesake year. It’s safe to say the product is gr-r-reat (don’t judge me – you know I can’t resist that…)
The largest range is in CPS Chaps in Thailand and Cambodia and online. It has a dedicated collection on its own website and is supporting it strongly through social media too. i.t apparels has a collection for CHOCOOLATE, the Hong Kong-based retailer with distribution in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and China. Hayman has a collection of 15 items across its stores in Hong Kong. Finally, following on from the success with the Laughing Cow, H&M has a sports style sweatshirt across the whole of Asia and online. Outside the region, Kellogg’s and US agent Joester Loria have also brokered deals with American Eagle and Moschino to celebrate the year.
And so, for possibly the first time ever, our ‘CNY panic’ has been tempered by knowing that on the plus side we’ve got some fabulous product out there supporting the new year.
Now then… let me check next year’s calendar … ooooh, has anyone got a rabbit they’d like to licence? I’m all ears – geddit? Oh never mind…
