Start Licensing’s Ian Downes and his whippet, Tess, get ready to hit the trails as part of Aardman and Forestry England’s new partnership this week.
Every so often the Licensing Planets align.
I have a whippet. I like to go on country walks. I represent Aardman. This week Aardman announced a partnership with Forestry England whereby Gromit from Wallace & Gromit is leading a campaign to encourage dogs and their owners to visit forests for a walk. Routes have been created which are plotted on Ordnance Survey maps making it easy for owners to explore new walking routes with their dog. There are challenges to take and activities to complete along the way. Participants can purchase a specially created activity pack with includes a dog bandana.
This is a great example of a long-term relationship being nurtured with a new activation and working in a focused way matching the character brand to the activity well. It is also a partnership that has a lot of positives associated with it not least the fact that it encourages people to visit and explore forest sites. I can’t take any credit for it – it is a partnership brokered by marketing agency Snowball Effect and Aardman. From a product licensing point of view it is another proactive partnership that helps the wider programme and creates fresh impetus. Licensing PLC seems to be getting better at nurturing partnerships and creating partnerships with purpose.
LicensingSource.net recently highlighted the partnership between national homelessness charity Crisis and the Mr. Men & Little Miss. Two new characters have been launched – Mr and Little Miss Invisible. The characters have been created to help shine a light on the experiences of people facing homelessness. This is a very bold move by the owners of the Mr Men & Little Miss. Homelessness is a very real issue but is of course one that is often overlooked and ignored – hence the creation of the ‘invisible’ characters. Sometimes it is easy for IP owners to ignore tough issues and look for partnerships in ‘softer settings’. In this case the brand owners are allowing the characters strength and popularity to be used to raise awareness of the subject and to provoke a conversation.
One aspect of the partnership is the launch of a limited edition range of t-shirts with the fashion retailer UNIQLO initially at its Westfield White City store. The t-shirts were launched in store on 10 October – World Homelessness Day. £3 from every sale goes to Crisis.
Licensing Source’s editor Samantha Loveday did her own Looking Out this week and spotted this partnership in market – she saw the partnership promoted very prominently in Uniqlo’s windows. It is really encouraging to see a promotion like this being launched so prominently in store. It really feels like all parties have embraced the opportunity well and followed through with their plans effectively. As I’m sure we all know it is easy to have a big idea in a boardroom but often the idea gets diluted by the time it arrives in store. Seemingly in this case the bold thinking behind the partnership has been maintained right through the process. Let’s hope the bold idea and thinking behind it is rewarded with a successful campaign.
It has also been interesting to see how brands have responded to the opportunity to partner with the new film Wicked. In recent years movie promotions have been a bit hit and miss, but it looks like the partnerships lined up for Wicked by Universal will be hits. Rather like the Crisis promotion there seems to be a boldness around them. Really embracing the opportunity that a film like Wicked delivers.
Britvic brand Robinsons has developed two limited edition flavours, Amazafying Citrus Twist and Outstanding Berry – these flavours celebrate two of the witches in the film, Elphaba and Glinda. This is linked to a campaign theme ‘Witch flavour are you?’ There are other elements to the partnership such as a competition to win a trip to New York and also some Wicked merchandise. It is a big and bold move for a brand like Robinsons to launch two new flavours and create genuinely new products as part of a movie promotion. It would have been easy to run a traditional on pack promotion or a promotion limited to a specific retailer. It is encouraging to see a brand like Robinsons embracing this opportunity in this way. I’m sure a key motivator is to achieve market standout, create social media momentum and to encourage product trial.
FMCG brands are often fighting the fit against price offers and promotions. A promotional campaign like this one allows a brand to celebrate its core product strengths not least flavour. While at Westfield Sam also saw how retailer Marks & Spencer has partnered with Wicked and activated things in store. It is a great example of how a retailer can make the most of an event movie like Wicked. In a more competitive retail market marketing moments like this can really create a point of difference and create new reasons for consumers to visit a specific retailer.
Another good example of a brand seizing on the creative impetus a movie can provide is doughnut brand Krispy Kreme. It has linked with Ghostbusters to create three Ghostbusters themed doughnuts with the launch being timed to coincide with Halloween. I spotted the range in a Tesco store – Krispy Kreme has branded fixtures in Tesco. I suspect that in this category a challenge is around product pick up and trial. A themed range like this one will draw people in. It is available for a limited time only which creates a push for consumers to try and buy. I guess there are some consumers who might buy the doughnuts as their Trick or Treat gifts. It is a further example of how well established FMCG brands are becoming increasingly prepared to engage with licensed brands to create stand out moments and accelerate the NPD process. As noted earlier these sort of collaborations also generate significant user generated content helping the brand build further consumer engagement.
I would also like to give a virtual round of applause to The Giftware Association. I attended the Autumn Social this week in Birmingham. I thought it was a great example of a trade association supporting its membership proactively and building a sense of community within an industry. The day blended ample opportunity for networking with presentations and panel discussions. There was some really good information shared around topics like social media, content development and platforms like TikTok. This strand recognised that gift companies and suppliers can also be content creators building their own campaigns to help boost sales. In my mind this ties in well with one of the key strengths of licensing which is its ability to help create a marketing story. There was also some discussion around the retail market and representatives from the independent gift trade conveyed how tough trading conditions were in their sector at the moment. It is important that we don’t shy away from the fact that retailers are facing tough times presently, but it is a time to remember that well developed licensing campaigns can help retailers create sales opportunities.
Finally, and returning to Aardman’s partnership with the Forestry Commission, I am looking forward to trying one of the forest walks with my whippet Tess. She will be dressed for the moment – as she will be donning her Wallace jumper courtesy of licensee Urban Pup.
The licensing planets have really aligned for me and Tess this week. Can it get any better?
Ian Downes runs Start Licensing, an independent brand licensing agency. His X handle is @startlicensing and on Instagram he is @iandownesphotos – he would welcome your suggestions for what to look out for.
