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Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Woodstock, Peppermint Patty, Schroeder, – you cannot think of a life without them. Since Charles M. Schulz invented the characters in 1950, Peanuts has accompanied us with their slapstick and laconic wisdom. In 2010, Peanuts will celebrate its 60th anniversary. This is enough reason to hold a lavish party. Therefore, Copyright Promotions Licensing Group Germany (CPLG), the licensing agent for Peanuts, conceived of something very special for this occasion. Together with BILD´s aid organisation “Ein Herz für Kinder” and United Media, licensor of Peanuts, the licensing professionals developed a special logo. Licensees, who support “Ein Herz für Kinder” with a donation, will be eligible to utilize this logo together with the anniversary style guide “Then and Now” or the regular style guide. At the annual “Ein Herz für Kinder” TV Charity Gala hosted on the 12th of December 2009, Gerold Kolenbrander, Managing Director of CPLG, will hand a cheque for € 100,000 to ‘Ein Herz für Kinder’, funded by the participating licensees, United Media and CPLG. “It was very important for us to highlight this anniversary with an extraordinary campaign”, explains Kolenbrander about the commitment of his licensing agency. “Bild hilft e.V. “Ein Herz für Kinder” is a charity that centres on children and Peanuts stands for an authentic childhood. With this cooperation we, together with United Media, licensor of the Peanuts, and the licensees want to say an honest “Thank you” for all the successes that have been accomplished with Peanuts and let children take part.” It did not take much effort for Kolenbrander and his team to convince the existing Peanuts licensing partners to take part in the charity project. “At the outset, I called Peter Boder, CEO of United Labels AG - a long term partner in the “Peanuts family” - and told him about the anniversary campaign,” Kolenbrander remembers. “He was enthusiastic right away and confirmed a contribution”. United Labels will launch a broad range of Peanuts products during the charity campaign. For instance, Snoopy & Friends will grace gift articles, apparel and household items. Also, other long term Peanuts licensing partners such as Tex-Ass, Santex and Saborn will take part in the charity campaign with cool and trendy apparel products: from T-shirts to nightwear and right up to sportswear, there will be something for everyone. United License Company will provide footwear (sandals, trendy canvas, wellies and slippers), Carlsen will publish an anniversary edition of “The Big Peanuts Book”, Heye Verlag, which has been a Peanuts licensing partner for decades, will produce a huge calendar range for 2011 as well as family date planners and a limited Peanuts art calendar based on designs by artist Tom Everhart. Graphic Solutions cleans up with “tidy-up-your-room”-systems and Kalfany will tempt the nibblers among the Snoopy fans with Peanuts sweets. The donation campaign also persuaded new enterprises to contribute to this charity campaign based on the Peanuts licence: the family buisiness S.Oliver, based in Rottendorf, will launch Peanuts products for the first time. The fashion and lifestyle enterprise is planning four ranges for women, men and children, all with different Peanuts prints, for the anniversary year. The stroller manufacturer Gesslein, famous for its premium combi-strollers, accessories and textiles and stroller equipment, is also on board. The Peanuts 60th anniversary charity campaign in favour of “Ein Herz für Kinder” prompted the Franconian family enterprise to include Peanuts products in their regular range and to contribute to the donation fund. Thus, there will be cuddly Charlie Brown sleeping bags and cool Snoopy strollers available soon. The exclusive 60th anniversary style guide traces the development and alteration of the characters from the beginning in the 1950s until today. This allows the licensees to design nostalgic yet contemporary products. “We are very happy to have so many enterprises involved in such a good cause and with our ideas and concepts”, states Kolenbrander, who is pleased by the recent success. “There are still many possibilities to contribute to this already very successful project. We have plenty more great ideas.” The involvement of CPLG reaches far beyond licensed products. Snoopy visits to institutions sponsored by “Ein Herz für Kinder”, e.g. children´s hospitals, hospices and nursery schools, are presently in the planning stage. “I am in advanced discussion with several artists who could visit institutions together with Snoopy. A further highlight could be a charity concert being hosted next year”, states Kolenbrander. |
