The U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving is one of the few celebration days throughout the year with relatively little licensing activity tied to it. It is a holiday centered on gratitude, food, and family, and not on extensive gift giving, costumes, decorating, or other more commercial endeavors. That said, there are a few opportunities tied to […]
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All-In On Acquisition
For some time, the companies that have been best able to navigate a challenging licensing landscape have tended to be either large, resource-rich entities or small independents. The former can control their supply chain and take advantage of synergies across industries, while the latter are able to offer unique, niche-oriented products and are agile enough […]
Potty Time
By Karen Raugust on June 25, 2020 in Character/Entertainment, Demographic groups, Design and content themes, Licensing
Among the new Daniel Tiger products announced earlier this month by Fred Rogers Productions and 9 Story Brands was a 3-in-1 potty-training aid from Fisher-Price. The product is a potty chair featuring a removable seat that fits on a full-sized toilet and a fold-down lid that becomes a step stool, along with activated sound effects […]
Locked In
When we last covered the escape room phenomenon, in June of 2017, the industry was well established, but licensing was still relatively new to the sector. Things have changed since then, with a wide variety of entertainment/character licensing now in the mix and new examples still joining the fray on a regular basis. Some of […]
Between the Lines
At least a half-dozen current and former athletes have published children’s books since the beginning of the year. Their work includes fiction and nonfiction for readers as young as age 4 and as old as young teenagers: • Just this week, former NBA player Kobe Bryant published Legacy and the Queen, a tennis-themed young adult […]
Space Age
Saturday is the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. In the days and weeks leading up to the milestone, licensors, retailers, and licensees have been announcing space-themed content, promotions, and products, especially in the realms of entertainment, toys, and fashion. The initiatives, most of which incorporate […]
The Unicorns of the Sea
By Karen Raugust on December 13, 2018 in Character/Entertainment, Design and content themes, Licensing
At New York Toy Fair last February, one of the trends noted was the emergence of narwhals—members of the whale family with long, unicorn-like tusks—as a design and content trend. This was especially true in the plush category, as manufacturers looked to add new dimensions to the still hot but crowded world of unicorns. Since […]
Keeping the Faith
The perceived viability of faith-based (e.g., Christian-themed) properties for licensing tends to rise and fall cyclically. Recent announcements suggest that inspirational licensing programs may be on an upswing as we enter 2018: Last month, Sony Pictures Consumer Products debuted a range of holiday merchandise tied to its animated feature film The Star, representing the studio’s […]
Sponsorship, Storytelling, and Self-Expression
Two trends have emerged on the emoji-related licensing front. First, IP owners with sponsored emoji sets are starting to launch outbound licensing programs based on their unique designs. Second, emoji-based properties are extending into children’s publishing as they try to build story and characterization to supplement their inherent value as symbols of self-expression. Sponsored emojis […]
More Than Memoirs
Bookstore and book department shelves have long been filled with celebrity-penned memoirs, humor titles, cookbooks, picture books, and lifestyle tomes. A more recent development, however, is for celebrities to launch entire publishing imprints tied to their names or lifestyle brands. The imprints serve as a trade name or umbrella for not only the celebrity’s own […]