Centenary celebrations mean 2016 is biggest year ever for Roald Dahl brand.
The Roald Dahl Literary Estate has confirmed that 2016 was a soar away success for the brand.
The Roald Dahl 100 centenary activity helped boost book sales by 86% and merchandise sales by 61% during the year.
More than one million Roald Dahl books have been sold in the UK this year, while 295 new licensed products have been launched.
Other highlights from the year in numbers include:
- An exclusive 40 SKU clothing range with Mini Boden in the US
- £1bn of worldwide media value from more than 55k press articles and 25 TV and radio documentaries
- #1 Twitter trend worldwide across Roald Dahl Day (September 13) – trended #1 in the US for the first time
- Digital audience increase of 1.1 million across all Roald Dahl channels
- ½ million visitors to UK events, including City of the Unexpected which was Cardiff’s best attended arts event of all time
- ¾ million children took part in the UK Summer Reading Challenge – Roald Dahl schools packs to 4.5 million UK and US children
- A #1 blockbuster movie in Steven Spielberg’s The BFG
Stephanie Griggs, licensing and design manager at the Roald Dahl Literary Estate, said: “The momentum and noise around the brand this year has been just incredible; we couldn’t have asked for better partners to work with and looking at the terrific numbers, the hard work has all paid off.
“The year isn’t quite over yet – the centenary celebrations will culminate with Magic Light Pictures’ beautiful two-part animated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes, airing in primetime Christmas family slots – certainly a television event not to be missed.”
Alicia Davenport, licensing director at DRi Licensing, added: “It has been a truly fantastic year, and consumer products-wise, we are in a really strong position heading into 2017 and beyond.
“The programme is only gathering speed as we continue to release lines across a whole host of existing and new product categories and grow retail presence for the Roald Dahl brand, and his much loved stories and characters.”
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