BRANDORA overview of latest developments on the German licensing market

Pro SiebenSat.1 Licensing: Of Giraffenaffen and backshows

ProSiebenSat.1 Licensing presents a new promising children’s brand: „Giraffenaffen“. This brand stands for 17 colourful, funny children’s songs. Artists like jazz musician Götz Alsmann, rapper Thomas D, pop singers Lena and Roger Cicero, or bands like The BossHoss and Culcha Candela contributed their favourite children’s songs for the „Giraffenaffen“ album. The CD features classic songs like “Der Mond ist aufgegangen”, “Meine Oma fährt im Hühnerstall Motorrad” or “Der, die, das” as well as the dedicated title song “Wir sind da (Giraffenaffensong)” sung by Roger Cicero. „Giraffenaffen“ combines the love of music and the love of children – that’s why the proceeds partly go to “Die ARCHE”, a children’s and youth’s charity fund. The CD was launched to the German market in November 2012 and entered the charts at number 11. The new brand was developed by Starwatch Entertainment, the music and entertainment division of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group, and ProSiebenSat.1 Licensing. To complement the successful CD project a whole world of licensed children’s products is already in the offing.

In addition to dedicated TV channel brands ProSiebenSat.1 Licensing expand their licensing services. Their newly acquired “Monskey” lifestyle brand is a license that is bound to make collectors’ hearts beat faster. “Monskey”, that’s little, colourful collectibles that may be customized according to individual preferences.

Lizenzwerft: Movies for everyone

In 2013, the prospects for Lizenzwerft GmbH are bright. With Sony blockbuster movies like After Earth (featuring Will and Jaden Smith), the successful animation sequel Cloudy 2, and the first movie to the book series Mortal Instruments “City of Bones” by Cassandra Clare, Lizenzwerft has secured the rights to real heavy-weight movies in 2013. Licensed products to the movies come from renowned partners like Arena Verlag, Mantiburi, KV&H, TipTap, and others. However, Lizenzwerft not only specializes in movie licensing. Their collaboration with the Jim Henson Group for “Dino-Zug” – airing on Disney Channel and Disney Junior – provides sufficient proof of their flexibility. Master toy licensee Tomy already has a well-designed licensed product portfolio. Also on board: the hot new series “The Green Squad” by Alphanim, airing prime time on KiKA. Another successful TV property is WotWots by Pukeko, produced by WETA Workshops. And 2013 is only the beginning. Another special movie highlight is Paddington Bear by StudioCanal, scheduled for release during the Christmas season 2014. A CGI live action film to the famous bear from London. Lizenzwerft also specializes in marketing browser games. Bigpoint games – Drakensang, Farmerama, Skyrama, Rising City and Dark Orbit – enjoy high popularity all over Europe and thus hold enormous potential of rising sales figures for manufacturers and retail partners. To extend brands to other platforms such as books, magazines, or promotion activities, in-game cooperation plays a central role in marketing. Lizenzwerft and their partner Empeak introduced the principle of “Second Line Brand Management” to provide retail partners with an attractive brand concept. First results will hit the market this year in cooperation with REWE.

Euro Lizenzen: An Indian boy on the rise

Yakari is a young Native American boy with unlimited curiosity and a great respect for nature and all animals. Together with his best friend Little Thunder, the Indian boy Little Bison, and down-to-earth Sioux girl Rainbow, Yakari embarks on exciting adventures while he explores forests, mountains, and the plains. With Yakari, KI.KA achieved their best ever ratings for a kid’s show: more than 1.5 million viewers and an average 78%! 26 brand new episodes, co-produced by KiKA, are scheduled for release end of 2013. Children love the Indian boy Yakari, a classic property of the Euro Lizenzen licensing portfolio. More than 30 successful licensees have already signed for Yakari and figures are constantly rising. Licensees come from different categories. In publishing, Friendz have launched a broad range of more than 50 titles to the market; Edition XXL and their licensed story books regularly hit the top ten children’s book charts, often topping the list for several months. Santex Moden, Jansen Textil, and Herding provide the textiles segment with strong, licensed products. Ravensburger Spieleverlag, Huch, Bullyland, John, ASS Altenburger Spielkarten and many others entertain the toy market. What is more, a licensed Yakari musical starts to tour Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Luxemburg on 1 April 2013. The musical is produced by the creative team of Dreamcatcher Live Entertainment. As children are the key element of the show’s success, they will be actively involved in the programme and thus provided with a unique brand experience. Songs are a perfect mixture of modern pop music and traditional Indian instruments and have been tailor-made for the musical. What is more, children may meet Yakari in a puppet theatre show touring Bavaria and Hessen.

M4E: Of mice and princesses

At the International Toy Fair in Nuremberg, BELUGA showcased their new toy range to “The Little Princess”. The collection of licensed products is comprised of app. 20 items (wooden toys and soft toys) and will be available in autumn 2013.
TIP THE MOUSE / LEO LAUSEMAUS: In cooperation with Giunti Editorie, Studio Campedelli, and Studio Bozzetto (amongst others), M4e produce a TV series based upon the successful and popular children’s books to the little mouse. To date, more than 7.8 million books in 28 languages have been sold worldwide. Helmut Lingen Publishing have been able to sell more than 1 million books under the German label LEO LAUSEMAUS in Germany alone. What is more, retail partner Aldi exclusively distributes several LEO LAUSEMAUS products.

SUPER RTL following the footsteps of knighthood

The legendary world of medieval times holds a special fascination for children. Exciting stories, extraordinary characters and heroic adventures – these are the ingredients of the new SUPER RTL preschool format Mike the Knight. Together with his friends, the little knight sets off on a great expedition through his father’s kingdom. The series is produced by HIT Entertainment, comprised of 52 episodes x 12 minutes and has been airing since November as part of the preschool slot TOGGOLINO on SUPER RTL. The high quality CGI animation series particularly targets boys aged between three and six. Mike is still a child himself and his knightly adventures in Glendragon inspire children’s role playing games. Mike shows what it means to be valiant and at the same time he serves as role model and object of projection. Young fans join Mike in his training to be a real knight. Together they experience intense stories and learn something new along the way. Key elements of the series are knighthood, friendship, loyalty, and responsibility. Children experience educational stories in a humorous manner. Positive values and the promotion of self-confidence gain general acceptance among parents. As early as January 2013 the first marketing campaign was launched to promote the new license and introduce children to the format and its main characters. During the first stage of the campaign little fans prove their knowledge in a Mike-Quiz, enter a raffle and win amazing prizes like an IPad 3 or fan packages containing first Mike products. The campaign moves to the second stage in February and March. Then SUPER RTL organize an arts competition and supply characters descriptions and colour-in pictures of Mike and his friends. Children may look forward to winning prizes like overnight stays in Aparthotel plus day ticket and meal vouchers for Thurn Castle. 12 licensees are already members of the Round Table: Amscan, BELLTEX S.A., Carlsen Verlag GmbH, Egmont Balloon, Mattel / Fisher-Price, Nelson Verlag, Panini, PIL (Germany) GmbH, Ravensburger Spiele, Sony / Europa Mini, TV Mania GmbH und United Labels.

Turner Broadcasting celebrates Gumball

The show is full of ironic, slapstick humour and tells the story of the 12-year-old cat Gumball Watterson, who lives in the little town of Elmore with his family. Besides his appreciation of drama he is full of mischief. His optimism always remains untroubled even if most of his well-intentioned activities end in utter chaos. His dad Richard, an oversized pink rabbit, is unable to cope with his responsibilities as stay-at-home dad and father. Mother and head of the household is Nicole, a blue cat, who earns their living in the rainbow factory. Their daughter Anais, a four-year-old pink rabbit, is the smartest member of the family and often able to avert the catastrophes her chaotic brother Gumball is about to cause. Ten-year-old goldfish Darwin is Gumball’s best friend. He used to be the family pet fish, but since he sprouted legs, he goes to school and is treated like a third child. Up to now, the series has been able to win almost 20 awards, including two Kidsscreen Awards. The show provides ample design opportunity – thanks to a comprehensive style guide with more than 500 assets & elements all around friendship, school, and family. Latest news of Gumball: The “International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences” has presented the show with the “International Emmy® Kids Awards” in the category “Kids: Animation”.