Including Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Bravado teaming up on a first of its kind deal for the two companies.
Source rounds up more news from the licensing industry across the globe from the week.
Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Bravado have sealed a collaborative licensing deal that will see the merchandise specialist take on some of the biggest titles in the studio’s 2021 and 2022 slate, plus a vault of over 100 movies and heritage brands. A first of its kind between the two companies, the agreement recognises Bravado as a key UK licensee covering adult apparel for brands including Space Jam, Mortal Kombat and The Matrix, as well as franchises within the DC universe such as Aquaman, Batman, Black Adam and Justice League. The first lines of merchandise will hit UK retail, online and in-store, beginning from summer 2021.
New animated children’s property, Moley has welcomed Bulldog Licensing as its global licensing agency. Moley follows the adventures of a fun-loving mole – voiced by Warwick Davis – who finds himself on a series of escapades as he explores the world around him with accompanying magic, comedy and adventure. Bulldog is planning to launch the brand to the licensing world at a star studded event – including talent from the series – at Chelsea’s Physic Garden in July.
Elsewhere, Bulldog Licensing has also signed up to represent Canadian children’s design brand, Marcus & Marcus. Initially created as a range of infant feeding products, the brand is now ready to expand into new areas through licensing. Bulldog is looking to translate the characters – including Marcus the lion cub, Lola the giraffe and Ollie the elephant – onto a wide range of products across Europe. It is looking to partner with licensees across toys and gift, nursery products, apparel, publishing, homewares and more.
Stuart Lawrence – author of Silence is Not An Option and the brother of murdered schoolboy Stephen Lawrence – will participate in a diversity and inclusion workshop led by Products of Change’s Helena Mansell-Stopher at the Brand & Licensing Innovation Summit this month. The workshop is one of the final sessions to be confirmed for the three-day online event, which runs from 9-11 June. emoji company ceo Marco Hüsges will also join Maarten Weck from WildBrain CPLG and Rachel Taylor from WildBrain Spark in a session called emojitown: The Power of Building Brands with Digital-First Strategies. In addition, Studiocanal, WarnerMedia and Moonbug execs will take part in the closing day panel session called New Streams of Consumerism: How Entertainment is Evolving, while Kornit Digital and EPIK will present sponsored workshops on DTR and NFT.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and nWay – a subsidiary of Animoca Brands – have confirmed the upcoming launch of a new Olympic-themed digital entertainment experience consisting of NFT (non-fungible token) Olympic pins and crossplay multiplayer video games. The pins are digital versions of collectable and tradeable Olympic Pins, which will first be distributed and sold on nWayPlay.com from 17 June. The pins will launch with an inaugural set that forms part of the Olympic Heritage Collection, celebrating the art and design of the past Games.
Ahead of the flagship Royal Ascot race meeting, Ascot Racecourse has launched a suite of new licensed product collections for 2021, in deals brokered by IMG. In a landmark moment for the racecourse, The Ascot Shop was launched in April and represents Ascot’s first ever ecommerce offering. In addition, new licensed products for 2021 include L.K. Bennett ladies ready-to-wear silk dresses, jumpsuits, skirts and tops, suits and silk scarves, plus Ascot’s first ever footwear collection featuring courts and wedges. Favourbrook has also launched its first Royal Ascot collection featuring a navy morning suit, in addition to the more traditional grey and black variants. The collection also includes pinstripe trousers, waistcoats, ties and pocket squares. Radley’s 2021 Royal Ascot collection, meanwhile, has 13 new styles including small leather goods for the first time in shades of Chalk, Salt Lake Pink and Butter Brown. Additionally, Charbonnel et Walker has created a bespoke top hat chocolate box featuring a new flavour duo combination of milk sea salt and strawberries and cream truffles. Longstanding partners Christy’s London and Oliver Brown are also launching new Ascot-inspired collections in time for the Royal Meeting.
WildBrain CPLG has signed a raft of new European deals for apparel, back to school accessories, FMCG and homeware for the Tetris brand. Zara has introduced a collection of men’s t-shirts worldwide; for Greece, Diakakis Imports SA is on board for a back to school range launching for autumn/winter 2021; Carbotex has been signed for a Tetris-themed home textiles collection across Central and Eastern Europe, with bedding, towels and pillows arriving from this October, followed by an apparel range in 2022; and Displate will launch a range of hand-crafted metal posters. In addition, the agency’s Germany, Austria and Switzerland team has inked deals with Natür Food Ventures for Tetris-themed fruit gummies and Spreadshirt for an upcoming print on demand t-shirt range. Tendam is also on board for t-shirts and pyjamas in multiple territories across Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East.
Pop culture specialist, Fanattik has renewed its gift and collectables licence with video games studio, Rare. The pan-European licence covers Sea of Thieves, the pirate-themed video game with 20 million players, as well as classic titles created by the studio including Banjo-Kazooie, Battletoads and Viva Piñata among others. The deal was brokered by Tinderbox, the digital media division of Beanstalk.
BBC Studios has agreed a multi-territory licensing deal with VTech to produce electronic role-play toys, further expanding the licensing portfolio for Bluey. VTech’s initial range will feature popular characters from the hit series, with lines including electronic books, role-play watches and a phone. Product is expected to launch at retail in Australia and the US for Q3 2022, followed by future roll outs in the UK, France, Canada and New Zealand.
Acamar Films‘ all-in-one freemium app, Bing: Watch, Play, Learn, is set to expand its successful footprint with upcoming launches in Spain and the Netherlands. The app has already been downloaded over one million times across three territories (UK, Italy and Poland).
Headspace and Sesame Workshop are teaming up for a new podcast project that uses meditation and mindfulness techniques to help little ones relax during their bedtime routines. The first episode of Goodnight, World! will launch on 13 June, with 11 subsequent episodes launching every Sunday through to 29 August.
Spin Master – in association with Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures – has confirmed that Maroon 5’s Adam Levine will perform an original song, called Good Mood, for the upcoming film, PAW Patrol: The Movie.
Genius Brands has welcomed Never Wrong Toys as global master toy partner for Rainbow Rangers. The two companies will collaborate on a wide range preschool products in the toy category including dolls/figures, play-sets, plush, vehicles, musical toys, role-play and more. Rainbow Rangers is due to begin streaming on Netflix in the UK from July.
Italian publisher, Mondadori – through its children’s books division – is to be the global publishing partner for new TV series, Nina & Olga. The first two books will arrive in the autumn to coincide with the launch in Italy by broadcaster Rai Yoyo of the new animation, co-produced by Enanimation and Mondo TV Iberoamerica, along with Rai Ragazzi. Four more titles are also planned, all based on episodes from the series.
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