4Sight Licensing Solutions, part of 4Kids Entertainment International Limited, has signed a new deal to represent the Kennel Club and Crufts across the world.

The Kennel Club holds the broadest remit to protect and promote the general wellbeing of dogs. At its heart are programmes and investments in education and health initiatives to help dog owners across the UK to have healthy, happy dogs living long lives. Crufts – the world’s most famous dog show – is organised and hosted by the Kennel Club. The four day show is attended by over 150,000 dog lovers from the UK and overseas who come together to experience the competitions and events that celebrate the diverse role that dogs play in society and to learn how to select, train and care for their dogs.

4Sight will develop separate brand licensing programmes for both brands. – Key components of the branding strategy for the Kennel Club brand will be to secure partners and product categories consistent with the organisation’s prestige and to position products at the mid-tier end of the market and targeted at an older demographic. The Crufts branding strategy, on the other hand, will include positioning the brand as fun and entertaining – reflecting the values of the show itself – and targeting product to a younger, mass market audience. Given the brand’s global recognition, there is also the potential to promote Crufts in overseas territories.

Categories for both Crufts and the Kennel Club are expected to include event merchandise, dog accessories, publishing, paper goods, toys, interactive, clothing, gifts, collectables, and grooming products. The potential of both brands has been illustrated in America, where 4Sight’s US office has represented the American Kennel Club (“AKC”) for a number of years and has built a successful licensing programme with over 25 licensees on board. High quality AKC branded merchandise is now available at over 5,000 retailers.

“Both Crufts and the Kennel Club brands have strong potential – they both have outstanding reputations and with more than 23% of UK consumers owning one or more dogs, the pet market is a very important and fast growing one,” said Sandra Vauthier-Cellier, Managing Director of 4Sight Licensing Solutions. “We are looking forward to promoting both brands and signing licensees across a range of sectors.”