Licensing Link Europe secures three-year Pan European master toy renewal.

UK brand extension and strategy agency, Licensing Link Europe - which manages licensing for the Molang brand in the UK on behalf of worldwide licensor Millimages - has announced the renewal of Tomy’s master toy deal for the brand. The three-year extension covers EMEA and Australia.

The renewal follows the successful launch of Molang on Tiny Pop, the free-to-air UK television channel for children. Ratings for the 15-minute show have been well above the channel average positioning the show within the top 10 on Tiny Pop. (Source: BARB / Tiny Pop / Kids 4-15 / All Platforms / Average audience 000s / 29th Sep-30 Nov’18 / 06:00-23:59.)

This month sees Tomy, along with Blueprint Collections (the Molang stationery and gift licensee), participating in Christmas on-air and online campaigns on the Tiny Pop channel and website.

“Molang is a delightful series, so we’re really pleased with how it’s performed on the channel since its launch on September 29th,” said Sarah Muller, Vice President, Children’s and Youth Entertainment Programming, Sony Pictures Television. “Our recent Halloween campaign worked well and now we’re looking forward to our prestige Christmas schedule which features Molang and Piu Piu at its heart.”

Molang first came to the world’s attention on the personal blog of Korean illustrator Hye-Ji Yoon, quickly becoming popular through instant messaging apps. French animation and production studio Millimages then gave Molang his own TV show, which is strongly based on visual humour (Molang and his friends speak a language entirely of their own).

Although the core market for Molang’s shows and licensed output is children aged 3-9 years and teen, this delightful character and the values he embodies — happiness, friendship, loyalty and mutual respect — have a universal appeal. His TV and online adventures are witty and entertaining, and the characters cute, funny and enormously likeable — just some of the reasons why TV exposure today extends to more than 200 countries worldwide, with high ratings in a number of countries — most notably France, Italy, the US and the UK — enormous success on YouTube and apps, as well as a massive social media presence.

And of course, licensed products are following: everything from apps to apparel is in development or under discussion as the cheerful and friendly rabbit, rabbit pals and best friend Piu Piu enjoy growing success in numerous markets around the world.

Ian Wickham, director of Licensing Link Europe, commented: “We are delighted that Tomy has come back for a further three years as our master toy partner. This, just as we see Molang taking off on free to air TV here in the UK with strong audience numbers.”