We ask licensing director Mordy Benaiah for the licences he thinks will shine this year.
In a new series on The Source, we gather together some key licensees and quiz them on their top sellers and get their tips for the ‘next big thing’.
Today: Pyramid International
Mordy Benaiah, licensing director, Pyramid International
“2016 is another key year for massive box office hit movies that will translate well into licensed merchandise. When you look back at how massive Minions and Star Wars has been you think what could possibly top that? Well Pyramid have backed some big winners in 2016.
This will be the year for DC Comics and coming out of the hurdles fast is Batman v Superman. This is set to be a massive movie and will introduce several key characters that will build into future films. Batman, Superman and bringing in for the first time Wonder Woman are some of the most iconic characters in licensing. This will translate well into toys, stationery and apparel.
We will also see the spill over from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This one will run and run throughout 2016 and later in the year Rogue One will yet again hit fever pitch, and I would think the fans will be hunting trailers and early merch sales at Star Wars Live in the summer.”
“Marvel’s Captain America Civil War is also a blockbuster movie. With Marvel merchandise being at the top of charts in sales for the last three years, this trend simply continues and drives on. Personally, I am very excited about Dr Strange. With Benedict Cumberbatch playing the key role in this film it will simply be amazing and possibly target a more adult audience which works for Pyramid well.
Outside of these huge movies, Pyramid will be backing and working with other massive licensed properties in 2016. Such as Warcraft from Legendary; The Secret Life of Pets (Universal) which looks hilarious and has great characters; Disney-Pixar’s Finding Dory which will be surely one of the biggest films of the year and has to be the biggest family movie of 2016; Suicide Squad which we are aiming purely at the adult side of the market, but as a movie it will be a sure hit with DC Comic fans; and Trolls (Dreamworks) which is simply an amazing fun and colourful movie which is perfect for licensed merch in all areas.
So these are just a few themes Pyramid are backing into 2016 which is set to be another incredible year for licensed merchandise.
Brand wise we are getting a lot of interest on Sanrio’s Mr Men and Little Miss. There is a lot of new key art which is fresh and colourful and we are developing personalised ranges using these into wall art and mugs which gives it a different dimension in sales.”
This feature originally appeared in the Spring 2016 edition of The Licensing Source Book. Click here to read the full publication.
