The Comic-Con happened in Bombay with great fanfare and people thronged in greater numbers than last year. The central takeout of this edition of Comis Con was the fascination for Japanese content and we fueled this interest by making Pokemon center stage.
The Celio Pokemon collection was also showcased at Comic-Con and Dream Theatre supported this line by bringing the crowd’s favorite character Pikachu to the show.
Pikachu made 3 appearances on both Saturday and Sunday and fans stood in long lines to take pictures with their favorite character.
The time has come for light to overcome the dark with the much-anticipated debut of Dedenne, the Antenna Pokémon. This Electric- and Fairy-type Pokémon, originally found in the Kalos region, will help illuminate your Pokédex as Electric-type Pokémon begin to appear more frequently in the wild. As Trainers may be familiar with, the Festival of Lights is a time to rediscover and strengthen bonds with all those around you.
The 3rd edition of India Licensing Expo (ILE) 2019 – India’s largest brand licensing exhibition began on a rainy note at the Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre, NESCO. However, this didn’t dampen the mood indoors, as the conference kicked off with Marty Brochstein from Licensing International lighting the traditional lamp.
The opening address was delivered by Ms. Ritu Marya, editor of Franchise India. Martin “Marty” Brochstein along with Jiggy George, Founder & CEO, Dream Theatre and Head, Licensing International, India delivered the opening keynote on The Future Trends In Brand Licensing & Building new Labels.
Marty took the stage first and spoke about some of the key global statistics and India’s place among its peers (#18 in 2018 – up 2 spots from #20 in 2017) with $1.59 billion sales in retail. He spoke about how these days many brands are digitally native, given the changing landscape fuelled by the technology disruption and all-pervasive nature of e-commerce. However, 76% of business is still done in brick & mortar stores. He then briefly touched upon the growing importance of “experiential licensing” riffing off Ms. Ritu Marya’s comment that “people have enough stuff they crave experiences” He also shared some examples of successful collaborations done by brands like Nike & Netflix (Stranger Things) and Vans and Warner Bros. (Harry Potter). He concluded his presentation by highlighting the importance of being more socially conscious especially if one wants to be relevant to the younger audience.
Marty was followed by Jiggy George Founder & CEO, Dream Theatre India Pvt Ltd., who shared his thoughts on licensing trends from an Indian & Asian context.
Influencer Bhuvan Bham
Fortnite collabs
Fortnite stats
Interesting collabs
He echoed Marty’s sentiment that the future of licensing lay in ‘experiences’ and that brand owners should pay heed if they are to survive in this new-brand-a-day market.
These days when everyone is “looking down” instead of “looking up” Jiggy shone the spotlight on a few key trends/opportunities for the licensing fraternity to take note off.
ChuChu TV stats
Influencer Lily Singh
Interesting Music collabs
Whats your take?
Whats your take?
Fortnite highlights
Whats your take?
Question…
Key question
You know them
Can we?
The rise of digital brands like Youtubers – Ryan from Ryan’s Toy Review who has 19.8 million subscribers, ChuChu TV which has over 10 channels and 39 million subscribers, and influencers like Lilly Singh & Bhuvan Bham who are raking in the moolah by being topical and completely in sync with their followers. So is digital content the new brand opportunity?Are digital influencers the new celebrity? Jiggy then delved deeper into the discussion around building franchises that last like a Superman, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and even homegrown IP like Singham which has managed to transform and re-invent itself its latest avatar being Little Singham!
With the ICC Cricket World Cup on, how could one not speak about the HUGE opportunity in sports. Not just cricket but even E-sports, which has spawned such franchises as Fortnite and PUBG. There are 250 million Fortnite users around the globe! The Marshmellow performance on Fortnite saw 10 million viewers, 300 million dollars were spent every month on Fortnite merchandise.
To round it off after sharing his thoughts on curated brand experiences like the Cartoon Network tie-up with Marriott and Cher’s collab with Sofitel, Jiggy flew around Asia to highlight some interesting examples of how some of their exports are influencing the youth in India like Pokémon (Japan), K-Pop & Hello Kitty (Korea) and more. He concluded by posing a challenge to Indian designers to create our own design aesthetic which will resonate with the world.
To cap off the day Jiggy won the Brand Licensing Leader Award (Agent) You can watch him get Jiggy with it
For more than 35 years, Licensing Expo has connected the world’s most influential entertainment, character, art, and corporate brand owners and agents with consumer goods manufacturers, licensees and retailers. Whether you are looking to spot trends, build partnerships, or secure brand rights for your products, Licensing Expo has your answer.
This year Sush, Jibi and myself travelled to the mecca of licensing. Licensing Expo 2019 had all the studios and brands in all their glory . It was wonderful to catch up with friends , clients and colleagues from this wonderful industry. It was a special one for Dream Theatre as we partnered on Chu Chu TV with premier agency Brandgenuity in the USA and Canada . Brandgenuity sported Chu Chu TV in their booth and garnered two dozen odd meetings . Lots of interest for the brand in these markets and look out for this space for more information . It was also wonderful to see the iconic brands we represent – Pokemon , Angry birds, Smiley, Hello kitty have a big presence at the show !
Brandgenuity booth
Jibi chilling for a change!
@the Smiley booth
Sush & Jiggy all smiles
Pokemon booth – gotta catch them all!
Finding your motto on a wall 13806 kms away from home – priceless!
The worldwide phenomenon Pokémon made a powerful come back in India last summer with its launch on Hungama TV. Launched on 19th May 2014 the show is been touted as the best kids show launched in 2014. Dream Theatre Pvt Ltd. which represents Pokémon, the children’s entertainment staple for content syndication and merchandising in India and South Asia, have stared ramping up for continued success by launching Pokémon merchandise.
Dream Theatre has done a formidable merger by collaborating with the stationery giant Camlin. Camlin has collaborated with Pokémon, with this launch there will be a range of Pokémon Sketch pens, Oil Pastels, Mechanical pencils and Fountain pens. The product range will carry the two leading characters from Pokémon Ash and Pikachu.
The products will be priced at Rs. 30, Rs. 20, and Rs. 45 respectively. These products will be launched in the modern retail outlets in India.To support this up-beat product launch Camlin have built a Digital campaign which involves online gaming, contest, fun activities and some fun facts about the brand.
It’s a fun activity! Jump into an exciting world of Camlin Pokémon Carnival! Participate in these fun activities with your favorite Pokémon characters, collect maximum points and win Camlin Pokémon goodies!! To participate, Click: http://www.kokuyocamlin.com/pokemon/
Pokémon on both Disney and Cartoon Network! It’s not often that you find two of the competitor kids networks: Disney Networks with Hungama and Turner Broadcasting with Cartoon Network backing the same show!
Pokémon is back, bigger and better than ever! Pokémon Season 1, 2 and 3 play out on Hungama and has been a super hit right from its launch. The average rating recorded for this show continues to be over 1 TVR. Reaching out to a 57.1-million-strong audience across India, of which 24.2 million are kids, the show has ranked consistently. With Season 3, Hungama has added another slot of 9.00 pm to Pokémon prime play slots.
Cartoon Network has countered this by pulling out some of the Pokémon content of Season 14 and placing the same on their network. Pokémon Black & White runs on Cartoon Network. Daily Monday to Friday at 12:30pm and 8pm!
It’s a battle over one show across two networks. Broadcasters are backing it. Consumers love it! To jump on the Pokémon journey.Do write into: info@dream-theatre.co.in
Hello Everyone!
It is our pleasure to get to your notice that Dream Theatre is on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and is hoping to get in touch with you all. We appreciate you choosing to “Like” us on Facebook or “Follow” us on LinkedIn and Twitter as you will know when we post announcements, recent launches, tie-ups, contest etc.
We hope to give everyone more insight as to what’s happening in the Licensing front, as well as sneak peak on upcoming products. Feel free to drop by if any queries, we would love to hear from you!
Thanks in advance!
Marty took the stage first and spoke about some of the key global statistics and India’s place among its peers (#18 in 2018 – up 2 spots from #20 in 2017) with $1.59 billion sales in retail. He spoke about how these days many brands are digitally native, given the changing landscape fuelled by the technology disruption and all-pervasive nature of e-commerce. However, 76% of business is still done in brick & mortar stores. He then briefly touched upon the growing importance of “experiential licensing” riffing off Ms. Ritu Marya’s comment that “people have enough stuff they crave experiences” He also shared some examples of successful collaborations done by brands like Nike & Netflix (Stranger Things) and Vans and Warner Bros. (Harry Potter). He concluded his presentation by highlighting the importance of being more socially conscious especially if one wants to be relevant to the younger audience.
