How One Hong Kong Toy Maker Turned to Licensing to Reinvent his Business

Traditionally, Hong Kong toy manufacturers have been primarily engaged in OEM business. Over recent years, though, competition has become increasingly fierce, with Renminbi appreciation and rising costs, together with many European and American companies looking to source directly from the mainland, making the sector a difficult one. In light of this, a number of toy manufacturers have allied themselves with brand licensing ventures. This has enabled them to enhance the value of their products and services, while also allowing them to upgrade and transform, as well as to expand the overall retail market.

One such manufacturer is the Yeung’s Group, a well-regarded Hong Kong-based supplier of gift and premium products. By identifying locally-created cartoon characters with particular potential and by partnering with their creators, the company has reinvented itself as a manufacturer and licensee of such characters. Now with considerable success in brand building and the commercialisation of the work of cartoonists, Stanley Yeung, the company’s Group President, has a number of insights as to how to run such licensing ventures….