Asian food and culture, from anime to K-Pop, continues to gain strength internationally, and it follows that players in this sector are active in licensing, collaborations, and promotional deals. A case in point: Ramen restaurants, which have slowly been raising their profile as participants in tie-ins with licensed entertainment properties. A few examples of ramen […]
Archive | Character/Entertainment
Toddler IP Spurs TikTok Trends
By Karen Raugust on August 31, 2023 in Character/Entertainment, Demographic groups, Digital, Licensing
Until recently, owners of preschool properties have been a bit leery of having a presence on TikTok, even if their IP appeals to a nostalgic young adult audience as well as their core market of young children. And that continues to be the stance of many licensors even today. But now that the platform accounts […]
A Full Court Press on Entertainment-and-Sports Team-Ups
Collaborations that pair properties from the world of entertainment and sports have been on the rise in the past year, as animated IP, musicians, and preschool characters team with athletes, clubs, and leagues in innovative ways. This is not a new phenomenon; however, a higher-than-average amount of energy has been devoted to this type of […]
Strikes Raise Concerns for Consumer Products
On July 14, the leading U.S. actors’ union, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) went on strike, joining the Writers Guild of America (WGA), whose work stoppage began on May 2. Both are in contract disputes with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the organization that negotiates […]
What to Wear to The Barbie Movie
The licensing program for The Barbie Movie, set for a July 21, 2023, release, has more than 100 merchandise licensees on board, alongside a bounty of promotional partnerships, and it comes with high expectations for success. It is reminiscent of movie licensing programs of yore, which routinely had long licensee lists, although those would have […]
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 […]
Cakes, Cookies, and Competitions
In the unscripted TV world, competition shows and how-to shows about baking have been two vibrant sectors for some time now. Both genres intersect in a growing list of competitive baking shows, from The Great British Bake-Off (The Great British Baking Show in the U.S.) to Nailed It!. And companies involved in licensing have been […]
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, […]
Bloody Successful Promotions
By Karen Raugust on May 11, 2023 in Character/Entertainment, Experiential licensing, Licensing, Nonprofit
A Peanuts t-shirt offered in conjunction with the American Red Cross was recently in the news for successfully encouraging young-adult fans of the property to give blood. This is the latest in a fairly regular stream of promotions over the past five years or so in which character and entertainment properties are used to attract […]
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 […]