As Licensing Expo 2024 kicks off, Toei Animation has reported on the success of its One Piece licensing efforts over the past 12 months since last year’s expo.
The One Piece franchise report provides top line licensing results, highlights notable collaborations and details a selection of new agreements.
2024 marks the global 25th anniversary of the One Piece franchise and, as part of the announcement, Toei Animation also revealed plans to celebrate One Piece in a stunning, larger than life display on the Exosphere – the exterior of Sphere in Las Vegas from 10-16 June, coinciding with launch of the franchise’s new official English channel on YouTube.
During the last 12 months, Toei Animation executed a total of 43 One Piece agreements, including 29 new licences and 14 licence renewals. These new deals will engage One Piece fans across an array of products from apparel, accessories, toys and board games to collectables, housewares, lighting and books, as well as new location-based entertainment – many of which have or will be launched in 2024.
“One Piece is now celebrating its 25th anniversary on the heels of last year’s truly explosive global brand awareness due to the overwhelming success of the franchise’s new productions and marketing efforts,” commented Masayuki Endo, president at Toei Animation. “We’re excited to commemorate the occasion and bring the world of One Piece to Las Vegas in June. We invite fans to not only join us next month for this very special live entertainment experience but also subscribe to the new One Piece English channel on YouTube.”
Over the past year, One Piece’s brand awareness and consumer demand intensified significantly due to the success of major franchise initiatives.
In addition, apparel and accessories continued to be top performing categories for the franchise in 2023, which resulted in three noteworthy product collaborations (images) that launched during the last 12 months.
Last October, DIM MAK X ONE PIECE debuted its second drop with an exclusive pre-release of new Gear Five apparel and skate decks as part of the aforementioned One Piece experience at New York Comic Con 2023. This was followed in December with the launch of Cloud9 x One Piece, the first-ever One Piece collection targeting esports fans, consisting of t-shirts, hoodies, joggers and shorts as well as totes, computer keyboard keys and mouse pad.
Finally, earlier this year, PUMA X ONE PIECE, a limited edition collection featuring a four-pack of PUMA Suede sneakers and essential apparel and accessories, including jackets, hoodies, pants, joggers, shorts and t-shirts, was released in March.
Other new licence agreements include Culturefly, Greatness LCC, IMLDESIGNS, KessCo, Kura Sushi USA, Otaku Lamps, Trends International, Scholastic and Super Impulse USA among others.
Toei Animation will be on booth C170 at Licensing Expo this week (21-23 May).
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