When it comes to adult-skewing lifestyle collaborations with entertainment properties, footwear is a frequent area of focus. Recently, a very small but high-profile handful of in-world footwear initiatives have taken this phenomenon to the next level, attracting significant attention among fans and the media: Red Wing Shoes paired with Nintendo for a real-life version of […]
Archive | Character/Entertainment
Painting a Picture
One of the products in the gift shop at this year’s sold-out Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is a licensed plush figure depicting Dick Bruna’s rabbit character Miffy as Vermeer’s The Milkmaid. This is the latest in a small but growing group of collaborations, mostly taking place in Europe or Asia, whose design inspiration […]
Horror Show
Horror films—which represent a perennial-favorite genre—have been doing particularly well at the box office in recent years, with the theatrical success of M3GAN being one of the most recent examples. Streaming of horror movies took off during the pandemic, adding fans not just for new releases and well-known franchise movies but also years-ago classics and […]
Hopping Into Lunar New Year
By Karen Raugust on January 19, 2023 in Character/Entertainment, Fashion, Holiday, International, Licensing
The Lunar New Year is always an opportunity for brands to forge collaborations with characters related to the appropriate sign of the Chinese zodiac, from 2022’s Year of the Tiger to 2021’s Year of the Ox and beyond. This year, starting on January 22, is the Year of the Rabbit, considered the luckiest of the […]
Health Food
Kids’ properties often lend their names to healthy snacks, although the practice tends to rise and fall cyclically. This year seems to be an active period for such pairings—some long-term, some short-term and promotional—with a number of properties and a number of different product types involved. Nearly all of these products are veggie- and fruit-forward, […]
Benefits of Bamboo
By Karen Raugust on December 1, 2022 in Character/Entertainment, Eco-Friendly, House and home, Licensing
In a deal announced just this week, Hasbro licensed British company Bamboo Bamboo to create limited-edition children’s bamboo dinnerware featuring Peppa Pig, sold online. Bamboo dinnerware has been available for a long time, and is billed as eco-friendly as well as safe, durable, lightweight, and easy to clean. With the increased attention on sustainability over […]
Controlling the Narrative
By Karen Raugust on November 21, 2022 in Character/Entertainment, Interactive gaming, Licensing, Toys/Games
For years now, toy companies have been launching or acquiring entertainment and gaming studios, in the hopes that bringing these businesses in-house will strengthen their ability to control their all-important forays into TV, film, and interactive gaming productions based on their proprietary brands. There has been some news on this front since the start of […]
Think Pink
By Karen Raugust on November 10, 2022 in Character/Entertainment, Design and content themes, Fashion, Licensing
The current Barbiecore trend is thought to have gotten its start in 2019, fueled by fans on Pinterest and then Tiktok and Etsy. It has only gained steam since then. The brand, launched in 1959, has a midcentury-modern sensibility that is attractive to many consumers, as well as the nostalgic appeal of a favorite childhood […]
Top Toys for Tots
With the holiday season quickly approaching, major retailers and key consumer publications have released their predictions for the top toy gifts of the year. Together, these lists offer a snapshot of licensing in the toy industry, which typically reflects trends in the broader character/entertainment licensing sector as well. Here are some takeaways from an analysis […]
Walks on the Wild Side
By Karen Raugust on September 15, 2022 in Character/Entertainment, Experiential licensing, Licensing, Publishing
Nature trails have become a popular form of experiential licensing for children’s book and entertainment properties, especially in the U.K. Here are some examples from the past few years: Among Penguin Ventures’ many experiential activities for Peter Rabbit are winter activity trails in 90 locations managed by the U.K.’s National Trust. The trails launched in […]