Bubble tea, or boba—a creamy, tea-based drink containing tapioca pearls—was invented in Taiwan and has been spreading around the world, including into the U.S., where boba drink outlets are becoming ubiquitous at malls and elsewhere. The U.S. bubble tea market was forecast to reach $464.29 million in 2023, up 6.9% from $434.11 million in 2022, […]
Archive | International
Mascot Mania
Sports and cultural festivals in China give birth to extensive licensing programs, often centered on a cute mascot, with the design of the mascots and the products often highlighting elements of traditional Chinese culture. These initiatives typically inspire hundreds and sometimes thousands of products sold through official shops near the venue and online through sites […]
The Value and Variety of VTubers
By Karen Raugust on June 22, 2023 in Celebrity, Character/Entertainment, Content, Digital, International, Licensing
Consumer interest in VTubers (“virtual YouTubers”)—which got their start in Japan in the mid-2010s—has expanded significantly since the start of the pandemic, both in these digital influencers’ country of origin and abroad. VTubers are anonymous creators who use motion-capture and other technologies to create an animated avatar, usually anime-like in style, that does everything a […]
Characters Clean House
By Karen Raugust on April 13, 2023 in Character/Entertainment, Consumer electronics, House and home, International, Licensing
“Robot vacuums,” the small, self-propelled appliances of which the Roomba is the best-known example in the U.S., are popular in Japan, which is a leader in the manufacture and design of robots for industrial and consumer use and where small house sizes make the devices practical. And, as is the case with other small appliance […]
Up a Creek Without a Padel
Pickleball has been one of the fastest-rising sports—in participation and licensing interest—in the last couple of years. But another up-and-coming racket sport, padel, is emerging in mainstream popularity and seems to have similar potential to pickleball. Padel, played with four people per team, is described as a cross between tennis and squash. It takes place […]
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 […]
Asian Designers Shine in New Year Collabs
Each year, more marketers—of various sizes, working across categories and geographic regions—have been celebrating the Lunar New Year with collaborations involving designers, artists, influencers, and other creatives based or born in China or other Asian countries. This year is no exception. Among the many examples for the 2023 Year of the Rabbit, which began yesterday, […]
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 […]
Tea Party
An estimated 450,000-plus tea and tea-drink shops were operating in China at the beginning of this year, according to the China Tea Marketing Association. These include both traditional tea shops and new-style shops focused on flavored milk, fruit, bubble, and even cheese teas, with new-style chains growing quickly over the past several years (despite a […]
South African Fashion Goes Global
Designers and labels from South Africa have gradually been expanding their presence on the world stage over the past several years, including through collaborations with global fashion companies and corporate brands. Four of the seven examples included here debuted this year: Just last week, Reebok announced it was launching a collection with athleisure brand Nao […]