Spanning content creation, audience engagement, licensing and innovative LBE experiences, WildBrain’s 360° strategy is helping to drive its franchises to even greater global success, explains president and ceo Josh Scherba.
16 months since his appointment as president and ceo of WildBrain, Josh Scherba is seeing the company’s targeted approach to brand-building – focused on the three key areas of content creation, audience engagement and global licensing – paying dividends, with fandom for its franchises Teletubbies, Strawberry Shortcake, Peanuts and more soaring across demographics and territories around the world.
“Franchises are driven by a combination of three things,” Josh explains. “First, you have to produce amazing content with stories and characters that people love. Second, you have to deliver that content to fans wherever they’re watching or playing. Third, you have to bring those characters and their worlds to life off-screen with exciting consumer products and experiences so people can celebrate their fandom in the real world.
“This is the 360° cycle of a franchise, and this is what we do at WildBrain. We’re the only independent in the kids and family entertainment space that offers a full suite of in-house capabilities across content creation, audience engagement and global licensing. We have deep knowledge across the spectrum of brand building and engagement, which is key in today’s market as kids go from platform to platform to consume the content and brands they love in myriad different ways. We’re also able to maximise WildBrain CPLG’s global reach and local expertise in licensing, with 23 offices serving over 100 territories worldwide including China and APAC.”
With a raft of well known brands in its stable, WildBrain is well placed to capitalise on the ongoing nostalgia trend.
“In the content space, the biggest players are now looking to produce fewer projects at higher quality. There’s an appetite for premium shows that appeal to large audiences and especially families. Known brands are very important, which is something of a sweet spot for us, with owned brands like Peanuts, Strawberry Shortcake and Teletubbies, and partner brands like Mojang’s Minecraft, Supercell’s World of Clash and SEGA’s Sonic,” says Josh.
“Another trend is that kids are curating their own content experiences. They move seamlessly between platforms, looking to engage with the brands they love. To reach them, it’s vital for brands to have omni-platform content strategies across YouTube, Roblox, FAST channels, SVOD platforms and linear TV.”
The retail sector has also seen considerable change, Josh explains, with expanding DTC options for brands and consumers. “Experiential engagement is becoming more important to connect with fans in the real world, and our dedicated LBE business within WildBrain CPLG enables us to be at the forefront of this growth area.
“Our 360° strategy is at the core of what we do,” Josh concludes. “Through these capabilities, we create exceptional entertainment and licensing experiences for our own and partner brands to delight fans around the world.”
This feature originally appeared in the autumn 2024 edition of Licensing Source Book. To read the full publication, click on this link.