something good to children; there

was an element of skepticism about

our ability to be genuine storytellers.

On the contrary, we believe that it is

exactly this heritage that makes us

worthy competitors in this industry. If

we had been offered fantastic stories

from partners around the world,

then we would never have gone into

developing ourselves. Eventually we

did it because we felt that what was

being delivered to children in terms of

story could be done better. It seemed

as though a lot of what was being

produced for children had no other

purpose then just selling a toy – this

is what fundamentally inspired us to

move in this direction. We are driven

by magical stories and are extremely

conscious of the purpose of the story.

The irony is, we believe that this in turn

actually creates a higher likelihood

of commercial success and

longevity for a project.

What makes INK passionate about a property?An authentic story, derived from

devotion, with an inexplicable

magic that separates it from

anything else. A story that needs

to be told. For Ink, building a

brand, our own IP or third party,

is like standing in front of a white

canvas, and we thrive on filling that

canvas. We are driven by the same

fascination that makes an explorer

venture into the unknown – you

never know the ending of the

story unless you start the journey. To

30 www.ltwmag.com

Spotlight: Agency

You’ve heard of Ink. But do you know exactly what they do? This is not a company who are resting on their laurels. This is a company who understand brands, who understand properties and who are going places. Annalisa Woods, Commercial Director, Ink Group talks LTW through the company’s beginnings, their ethos and hopes for the future

June2016 31

How did INK first begin life? Ink was set up as a local Nordic licensing

agency (formally known as Kidz

Entertainment/EEMC) by Morten

Geschwendtner and Claus Tømming,

on the back of many years’ experience

being licensees – producing and

distributing children’s products – and

believing that there was a different,

and better, way to run an agency

both in terms of CP and media rights.

Since then, Ink’s traditional agency

business has gone through an organic

development, specifically in two

areas. The first of which has involved

continuously and

steadily

growing our

reach i.e. the

number of

markets

We believe stories can change the world.

”“

Our history and experience in terms of being first movers in emerging markets has strengthened our ability to adapt and understand the intricacies around building brands.

”

“

believe in being focused and dedicated

and that success comes from working with

a limited number of projects over a roster

of many. We only work with projects that

we truly believe in, and this goes for our

Inkubator projects as well as our third party

reps.

How would you describe the company’s ethos?At Ink Group, we believe stories can change

the world. We believe well-designed

products tell a story. We create those

stories, share those stories, and inspire

those product designs. When we first

began moving into own IP development,

the fact that our background came from

a very commercial focus - licensing and

CP – was seen as a huge disadvantage

by the media industry in general. There

was a strong belief that profit sharks from

such a commercial background would

not be able to compete in an industry

which is all about story, quality and giving

develop a story from seed to screen, to

share something valuable with the world,

to be a part of this beautiful cycle – to be

a part of all of this, is what makes

us passionate.

Talk to us about building brands on a multi-regional basis. What is your approach to that?One of the interesting things

about building a property these

days, especially one built on

content, is that you need to work

with two contradictory layers. You

need to zoom in on every single

market and ensure you deliver

a targeted and focused local

strategy to ensure the brand is

adopted and optimized in its own

right at individual market level.

At the same time, you absolutely

must have an overarching global strategy

Did you know…Ink started out with two properties; Nelvana’s Franklin and Egmont’s Jungleddyret Hugo (Hugo the Jungle Animal).

INK explainedThe umbrella company under which all Ink business units fall, is Ink Group. The Ink Group includes:

Inkubator: This is the greenhouse for IP and animation development where they take in projects and develop them into a format ready to share with the world. This process of course involves many stages including financing and investment, story development and script writing, studio sourcing and production.

Ink Global: This department acts as the licensor for the projects that come out of Inkubator, as well as housing the third party brands INK represents on a global scale. Ink Global has two divisions:

A media division/distributor which sells the Inkubator projects to broadcasters and media partners around the world.

A Consumer Products division which builds brand extension programs globally for the Inkubator projects and any third party brands they represent on a global basis, working with their own regional licensing agency Ink Alc, or network of sub agents around the world.

Ink Alc: This is the in-house regional licensing agency, covering Nordics, CEE, Russia/CIS, MENA & SEA and most closely linked to Ink’s original creation. Ink Alc represents the Inkubator brands but also has a large focus on building CP programs for third party licensors and brand owners.

with limited expectations and really just

to see if we could do anything with it. We

managed to build successes from both but

probably mostly because we were young,

foolish and without any experience and

so, like a bee, we flew because we didn’t

know we could not. In all seriousness, if

the quality of the property is there, and

with Franklin and Hugo it really was,

all you really need is focus, energy and

resource enough to go deep into detail

with a property. This is why we believe

that managing too big a portfolio, makes it

difficult to reach perfection in licensing.

How many properties does INK represent globally?As with any IP development company,

we have a number of projects, each at

various stages of developments. When

we look at the projects we have either

launched, fully developed or in production,

we are looking at a global portfolio of

six brands/IPs. This is not including our

third party representations. Based on

previous experience, we at Ink believe

wholeheartedly in managing a portfolio

built up of very select properties. We

we are active in. Our first big expansion was

entering the Eastern European and Russia/

CIS markets, where we saw a huge potential,

even though these markets were at their

infancy in terms of the licensing industry.

Our second big expansion happened last

year, when we also moved into the MENA

and SEA regions through a Joint Venture

with ALC, owned by GNAM.

Ink’s second development area has

involved, in addition to managing existing

brands from third party licensors, taking

an active role in the development of IPs

ourselves from scratch through animation

productions. Here we work with projects

from conception, through to financing, story

and character development, media sales and

distribution and brand extension through CP –

all on a global scale.

Can you recall the first property Ink ever represented? Tell us a little about how you developed that.Ink started out with two properties;

Nelvana’s Franklin and Egmont’s

Jungleddyret Hugo (Hugo the

Jungle Animal). We were granted the

representation rights on these properties

In Ink we trust

Annalisa Woods, Commerical Director, Ink Group

Masha and the Bear

Claus Tømming, Managing Partner, Ink Group

Ink have high hopes for Zafari

Ink represents BRIO

32

Spotlight: Agency

Fact!There are 24 full-time staff at INK. But that number swells when you take in freelancers and consultants hired for specific projects.

When people tell us something cannot be done, we love to prove them wrong. If something is magical we cannot live with the fact that this cannot succeed

“

”

What would you say INK’s greatest success has been? This really depends on when in our

history you are looking back to. In

terms of our early history, the story of

how Ink built Beyblade in the Nordics

comes to mind. Before Ink took on the

representation rights for Beyblade,

colleagues and competitors had

already tried to launch the brand in the

Nordics. However, contrary to what was

happening in the rest of the world, it

just was not working, finally resulting in

the brand being taken out of retail. The

market said it couldn’t work – Nordic

does not like manga style, we want

Vikings! Eventually, it was given to Ink,

for both media and CP. We were told

that if we can make it happen ‘great’,

but there were no big expectations. We

took this and put together a strategy and

managed to persuade some key partners

to go in again. Two months after launch,

it was the biggest and fastest selling

toy success that the market had seen in

a decade. This really helped form and

shape our company back in the day.

Looking at present day, what we have

done with Masha – taking a Russian

animation into a global success, again

on the back of the world saying “it

cannot be done” and “it will never work”.

This is a fundamental motivator for us.

When people tell us something cannot

be done, we love to prove them wrong.

If something is magical we cannot live

with the fact that this cannot succeed.

Nowadays, everybody has forgotten that

they didn’t believe but the fact is, that

when we first started building Masha,

there were very few believers. This is the

shining example of what we are building

the future of the company on – if the

story is magical and the quality is high,

nothing can stop you from succeeding.

Masha is a shining star in that respect.

Taking a glimpse into the future,

coming across ZAFARI and being able

to enter this project at its very infancy

with one of the most ingenious creators

and storytellers in the world; being a

part of the development of the story

and the journey is already something

we are incredibly proud of. Now being

able to announce global partners such

as NBC universal and seeing people light

up when they engage with the brand

is something incredibly special. This

confirms to us that we at Ink, have the

most valuable commodity in the industry

– the eye for the right projects. This is

all about seeing it early enough, seizing

the opportunity and taking action. We

believe one of the biggest success

factors at Ink is being able to see the

success, before it is a success.

layer in order to navigate ‘Big Picture’ seas

for example, digital development in terms

of Netflix and YouTube and creating a

consistent message that is true to the

heart of the brand. You need to juggle

both and make them live harmoniously

together. There is no doubt though, that

building a brand successfully is a market-

by-market exercise. There are no free

rides and a blanket strategy will inevitably

suffocate the very thing you are trying to

give life to.

How do you advise clients who tell you they want to strengthen brand awareness – what is the first thing you say to them?We tell them to take a detailed look at

their story – not products. What story are

they telling the consumers of today? This

is one of the most significant drivers of

a brand. We ask them “What is the story

you want to tell people?” and “What story

connects to your products?”. Everything

starts with a relevant story. Our first

advice would be to take a look at that

story and understand what you want to

tell. When that is clear, the rest is just an

exercise. The story tells you everything –

what partners to go to, what segments

to target.

And what about retail strategy – does that differ from territory to territory?Absolutely, retail strategy differs not only

from territory to territory, but also from

brand to brand. Is it an animation

brand, entertainment brand, lifestyle

brand? Each needs a tailored

and considered retail strategy.

Although, working on a global scale,

it is important to understand that

different regions have incredibly

different retail landscapes so as a

brand owner, it’s a good exercise

to think about how this will affect

the strategy. Some markets have

incredibly advanced retail setups,

with established channels across a

variety of categories – from niche

independents, to specialty stores,

through to hypermarkets, grocers

and toy stores. In other markets,

there is a much flatter landscape

– with limited channels covering a

huge variety of categories. Also, in

emerging licensing markets, there

may not be the clear separation between

high, mass and discount channels and

if you want to build the brand in these

markets, you’ll need to accept the local

market conditions.

A snapshot of some brands Ink represents

Masha and the Bear: Masha and the Bear brings old Russian folklore heroes bang

up to date and tells 52 humorous short stories about unique

relationship between 2 main characters. Masha, an exceedingly

active little girl who simply can’t sit still on one place and has

to make everything a business of her own, and the Bear – a

good-hearted fellow with passion for comfort and quietness.

The uniqueness of the relationship between these two rather

contrasting characters is a beautiful metaphoric reference to

child and adult relations, that speaks to everyone, regardless

age, culture or faith.

Rights: Media, Merchandise, Publishing and Promotions

Territories: Global (excl. N. & S. America)

ZAFARI:Some ideas come along only once

in a generation. They have the ability

to connect with people on a deeply

personal level, but a worldwide scale.

This strives to be one of those ideas.

ZAFARI is the story of a secret valley

at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro filled with

animals magically born with the skin

of other animals. We follow Zoomba, a

baby elephant with zebra stripes, and

his sidekick, Quincy, as they laugh, learn

and grow. In our current age of mixed

races, modern families, bullying and

more, we need to not only tolerate, but

embrace, that which makes us unique.

After all, sometimes being different…

makes all the difference.

Rights: Media, Merchandise, Publishing

and Promotions

Territories: Global (excl. N. & S.

America)

BRIO:BRIO is an award winning, Swedish toy

company with a long-standing heritage,

who have created products for families with

young children for more than a century.

BRIO is so much more than just a brand and

a visual mark. It is filled with associations

surrounding childhood, the joy of learning

and development through play, and the

sense of trust that is inherited throughout

generations all over the world. The BRIO

mission is to create happy childhood

memories and Ink will be continuing this

mission through a focused, targeted brand

extension program.

Rights: Merchandise, Publishing and

Promotions

Territories: Global

DreamWorks: DreamWorks Animation is recognized as one of the most

admired family entertainment brands in the world. The

upcoming release, Trolls is a fun-filled musical adventure, that

finally reveals what Trolls fans all over the world have been

waiting for… the real story behind the wacky, colorful nature of

the Trolls trademark gravity-defying hair!

Rights: Merchandise, Publishing and Promotions.

Territories: Nordics

Beyblade:

The Beyblade toys and TV show took the world by storm when first released in 1999. The hugely popular

animated series focused on a group of characters who form teams and do battle with one another

using highly powerful spinning tops called ‘Beyblades’, which are

enchanted with magical spirits. The property became a global

phenomenon, inspiring seven series, two movies, and three spin-off

series.

The latest incarnation – Beyblade Burst - offers a fresh take on

the original show, with brand new storylines and characters, and a

theme of real sports, competition and friendship that will increase

accessibility for the brand’s core demographic of boys aged six -11.

Rights: Media, Merchandising, Publishing and Promotion

Territories: Nordics, CEE, Russia/CIS

Mojicons:

The Mojicons animated TV series

tells of the behind-the-scenes

world of the internet, populated by

Mojicons. Ironically this zany bunch

of condensed emotions is clueless

as to how the web works. When a

mysterious digital villain steals the

“@” sign – thus halting electronic

correspondence – the Mojicons have

to embark on an awe-inducing and

dangerous quest to restore their

system.

Rights: Media, Merchandise,

Publishing, Promotions (excl. Russia)

Territories: Global

Meet the Ink team...Claus Tømming – Managing Partner, Ink Group

Annalisa Woods – Commercial Director, Ink Group

Bruno Zarka – Media Director, Ink Group

Dmitry Gordinsky – Head of Development, Ink Group

Jannie Karlsson – CFO, Ink Group

Anabella Stoica – Head of Legal, Ink Group

Didde Beyer Olrik – Creative Manager, Ink Group

Tina Zacho Alexanderson – Regional Business Manager, Ink Alc

Anas Erabi– Business Development (MENA), Ink Alc

Beyblade is one of the first brands Ink built in the Nordics