In a presentation at the annual Dairy Innovation Strategies conference in April, Patrik Hansson, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Arla Foods, a Danish dairy cooperative, called for the industry to refocus on bringing in new consumers and addressing the unhealthy eating habits of the global population. One of directions he recommended to […]
Tag Archives | Star Wars
Hitting the Slopes in Style
Skiwear collections have become regular occurrences for designers on the luxury end of the spectrum each fall. More drops of technical and fashion-forward ski apparel, including many collaborations, are introduced each year, and past partners tend to reprise their efforts with new designs annually. Examples for 2023 involve a variety of labels: Dior is offering […]
Entertainment Studios Strategize Over TCGs
Classic trading card games (TCGs), especially the “Big 3” of Magic: The Gathering (MTG), Pokémon, and Yu-Gi-Oh!—all introduced in the 1990s—are going strong. They continue to rank at the top of the TCG sales charts, are expanding into new media and licensed product categories, and are making cameos in productions not connected to their brands, […]
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 […]
Counting Down the Days to Christmas
Advent calendars are getting more sophisticated each year, featuring increasingly elaborate packaging, daily surprises of higher value, and a growing range of themes and categories, from jerky, healing crystals, and nail polish to cat food, instant noodles, and wine. Licensors across property types have gotten into the game, typically either through in-house-produced examples or with […]
FMX 2021: Insights on AR, VR, and LBE
By Karen Raugust on May 17, 2021 in Digital, Experiential licensing, Innovation, Interactive gaming, Licensing
FMX 2021, a conference focusing on animation, visual effects, games, and immersive media, was held May 4-6, 2021. The digital event featured three case studies of interest to the licensing community: the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge theme park land; Wallace & Gromit: The Big Fix-Up, an app-centric augmented-reality, multiuser, multimedia experience with a live community […]
April Fool’s Day: PR or Peril?
Many consumer products marketers and IP owners were back with April Fool’s Day pranks in 2021, after a break last year due to the pandemic still being in its early weeks. Some examples of the trickery on April 1 last week were tied to current events, as when Wildbrain’s Teletubbies announced their own NFT, the […]
Cooking Up Kitchen Collaborations
Most kitchen- and food-related housewares and appliance categories have experienced strong growth over the past year, thanks to consumers’ reenergized interest in cooking during the pandemic. Not surprisingly, a number of new and expanded licensed collections have come to light since the crisis began: This month, actress and talk show host Drew Barrymore and Walmart […]
Seeing Green
St. Patrick’s Day has become an increasingly important occasion for collaborations and promotions, as licensors and licensees consider holidays throughout the year as potential reasons to debut new products or highlight existing ones. While nowhere near as big as more high-profile milestones such as Halloween, Valentine’s Day, Earth Day, and the like, St. Patrick’s Day […]
Hooked on Knitting and Crochet
The knitting and crocheting space represents one of the niche opportunities whose rise can be attributed to the Maker and Urban Craft movements over the past 15 years. Interest in knitting and crocheting has grown among all age groups, particularly millennials and Gen Zs. As a result, a number of properties—from pop culture icons to […]