Including Victoria Whellans heading up the newly formed WildBrain CPLG Lifestyle division.
Source rounds up more news from the licensing industry across the globe from the week.
WildBrain CPLG is launching WildBrain CPLG Lifestyle, a newly formed division dedicated to overseeing and driving revenue for its lifestyle and corporate brands. It will be headed up out of London by Victoria Whellans, who has been promoted to group brands director and will be responsible for developing strategies for new and existing partners, directing consumer products roll outs and securing pan-regional partnerships in key lifestyle categories.
PUMA and SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog brand are once again joining forces ahead of the release of the movie. The world’s fastest hedgehog will be featured in a new collection which plays with the designs and graphis that appear in the game and the movie. The PUMA x Sonic collection includes the RS-X3 Sonic trainer in two new colourways (available in adult and kids sizes), plus a hoodie in bright blue or sleek black, plus tees with graphics on the front and back. Completing the PUMA x Sonic drop, the new collection also offers matching apparel, footwear and accessories for kids.
French animation studio Millimages has partnered with the Paris Aquarium on a special exhibition fronted by Molang that has been designed to educate children on how to preserve the oceans from plastic pollution. Running until March 9, Molang and his best friend Piu Piu are featured heavily throughout the venue, with the Aquarium having been re-branded with Molang wall graphics, ticket counters, boutique, screens, TV, flyers and a photobooth. A new live show will aim to show children the right actions to take to preserve the oceans. In addition, every weekend and through the school holidays, Molang himself will appear for meet and greets. Children can also take part in creative workshops and a treasure hunt, while a dedicated app is available featuring interactive games.
Endemol Shine Group is collaborating with Thornbridge Brewery for Peaky Blinders’ first official beer. Shelby, A 5% India Pale Ale, takes inspiration from the kind of beer styles which would have been around in 1919, with the official launch taking place at the new Thornbridge and Co pub, The Colmore, in Birmingham on February 20. It will also be available in bottles from next month.
eOne is continuing to fuel Ricky Zoom with the news that a second series of 52 x 11-minute episodes are heading into production and will be on screen as soon as November 2020. The first wave of consumer products in key territories will be led by toys from global master toy partner TOMY.
Egmont Publishing is launching a dedicated Milkshake magazine. Aimed at ages 3-5, readers can learn and play with favourite characters including Peppa Pig, PAW Patrol and Thomas & Friends, as well as Milkshake presenters. The first issue also comes with an extra eight-page Peppa Pig mini magazine.
The Laughing Cow is collaborating with Olympia Le-Tan on the ‘ultimate laughing bag’. It combines the iconic round shape and design of The Laughing Cow round cheese box with the designer’s original touch.
Following the successful launch of its official Hello Kitty jewellery collection last October, Licensed to Charm has added new pieces to the range. The new charms are retro-styled and based on the original 1970s Hello Kitty designs.
Cyber Group Studios has partnered with Beijing-based Pacific Media Group to manage and distribute preschool show Gigantosaurus and related consumer products and marketing in China.
Channel 5 has greenlit a third and fourth series of 2D animation Daisy & Ollie for Milkshake.
The RHS has endorsed the Prestige range of trellis, fencing and gates from The Garden Trellis Co, a designer and manufacturer of bespoke garden joinery.
Global prodco Rainbow has launched its preschool animation, 44 Cats, on CCTV 14 China. Guangzhou Art-land Holding is the CP agent for the brand in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
BrandTrends has included Masha and the Bear in its latest study of favourite kids brands globally. The Animaccord animation was listed as number five in the top five brands for 0-14s in Europe. It grew in popularity by 0.7% – from 3% to 3.7%. The data was collected via BrandTrends’ survey tracker in November 2019.
WildBrain has made a number of key management appointments as it looks to further drive brand building, creativity and business development. Michael Riley has been appointed as chief brands officer; Deirdre Brennan has been named evp content partnerships; Jiano Wei becomes md China; Daisy Wall has joined as vp, short form content; and Liz Thompson has been promoted to vp, marketing and communications.
Want to read more news like this? Simply sign up to our daily digest by clicking here. You can also follow @LicensingSource on Twitter and @licensing_source on Instagram.
