LICENSING EXPO & NATPE BUDAPEST

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Licensing TrendsAG Properties’Jeffrey Conrad

THE MAGAZINE OF CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING JUNE/JULY 2012

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3TV KIDS

Dinofroz, Gormiti and Beast Keeper have already estab-lished themselves as hits for Mondo TV S.p.A., accordingto sales manager Alessandro Venturi. Each also has amajor licensing campaign surrounding it, supported bythe Giochi Preziosi Group. “Gormiti is already a veryfamous boys’ brand, well known and spread across allEuropean countries,” says Venturi. “It had a fantasticlicensing development. Thanks to the new 3D CGI sea-son, our target is to increase the development of this bigbrand.”Venturi says that the toy line for Dinofroz also hasa wide reach in a number of countries, and believes thatthe property’s TV presence is going to continue to pushthe brand in the licensing arena. “Beast Keeper is a newbrand, with new characters and an original concept,”notes Venturi of the potential for the show.

“We have got so many properties for all target age groupswith high animation quality,”Venturi adds.

• Dinofroz• Gormiti• Beast Keeper

Mondo TV S.p.A.www.mondotv.it

Airing in Japan on TV Tokyo, the boy-skewed GONis a lead property for Daewon Media to expand in thelicensing arena. “We have recieved many positiveresponses for GON’s high animation quality and theaction-based super-fun stories and characters,” saysBul-Kyung Kim, the director of the content division atDaewon. “As the series will start in August on EBS inKorea, we are currently building up a full toy and mer-chandise lineup for GON, including sound-recognitiontalking toys.... Rainbow S.r.l., our European partner, iscurrently looking for key partners, and we have final-ized partners for some of the key territories in Asia.” Headds that at the Licensing Expo, sales in North andSouth America are a top priority.

Paboo & Mojies is Daewon’s latest project with SegaToys of Japan. “As this 2D animation series is currentlyon BS Fuji in Japan and KBS in Korea, a complete setof transforming alphabet toys, A to Z, is fully devel-oped and ready to be launched for children,” says Kimof the show’s merchandise extensions.

• GON• Paboo & Mojies

Daewon Media

“We have received manypositive responses for GON’shigh animation quality andthe action-based super-funstories and characters.”

—Bul-Kyung Kim

www.daewonmedia.com/en

Ricardo Seguin GuisePublisher

Anna CarugatiEditor

Mansha DaswaniExecutive Editor

Kristin BrzoznowskiManaging Editor

Simon WeaverOnline DirectorMeredith Miller

Production & DesignDirector

Phyllis Q. BusellArt DirectorCesar Suero

Sales & Marketing Director

Terry AcunzoBusiness Affairs Manager

Vanessa BrandSales & Marketing

Assistant

Ricardo Seguin GuisePresident

Anna CarugatiExecutive VP &

Group Editorial DirectorMansha Daswani

Associate Publisher & VPof Strategic Development

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Website: www.tvkids.wsBeast Keeper

IN THIS ISSUELicense to ThrillKids’content owners share their licensing and merchandising priorities for theLicensing Expo 6

InterviewAG Properties’ Jeffrey Conrad 14

Gormiti

GON

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4 TV KIDS

Nerd Corps Entertainment’s action-comedy adventureSlugterra is debuting this fall on Disney XD. The firstphase of the toy line, developed by Nerd Corps’ partnerJakks Pacific, will hit shelves in spring 2013. “We see alot of potential in the merchandising and licensing arenabecause Nerd Corps developed Slugterra from the groundup to ensure [that] the core play fantasy is integrated inthe show in a compelling and organic way,” says KenFaier, the president of Nerd Corps.

“We’re focusing our efforts on additional toy, pub-lishing, interactive and other long-lead categorieswith Slugterra, and future new properties on theway,” says Faier.

• Slugterra

Nerd Corps Entertainment

The Jungle Bunch TV movie is airing on major net-works in more than 100 territories. “Both the TVmovie and the short-form series are performingvery well in terms of ratings wherever broadcast,”says Philippe Soutter, a co-founder and the presi-dent of PGS Entertainment.

Also from the PGS catalogue comes Wize &Ope. “This property has become a total phenome-non in the international watch market, selling over100,000 units in a year without any prior brandawareness whatsoever,” says Soutter. Key categoriesfor PGS include apparel and stationery.

• The Jungle Bunch• Wize & Ope

PGS Entertainmentwww.pgsentertainment.com

There’s no “beeting around the bush” when its comes tothe likability of The Beet Party, says Thom Chapman, theVP of business development and sales at ToonBoxEntertainment. Other highlights for the company areBolts & Blip: Quest of the Battle-Bolts and the animatedfilm The Nut Job.

“As a studio we are passionate about the longevity andexcellence of our projects and will continue to ensureour characters, designs and story lines are captivating andthat our animation, special effects, compositing and 3Dstereoscopic renders are stimulating,” he adds.

• The Beet Party• The Nut Job• Bolts & Blip

“We’re very excited to announce Jakks Pacific as our toy partner onSlugterra at the Licensing Expo, and we’re looking to build relationshipswith potential licensing partners across all key categories this year.”

—Ken Faier

www.nerdcorps.com

ToonBox Entertainmentwww.toonboxent.com

Slugterra

The Jungle Bunch

“We are looking for licensees with the capacity to develop high-endproducts and who can provide a long-term marketing and retailstrategy.” —Philippe Soutter

The Nut Job

Bolts & Blip

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With economic woes continuing to plague most marketsaround the world, it’s no surprise that the toy sector, like

the retail business in general, has shown minimal growth in thepost-holiday season this year. For brand owners, however, there isgood news: licensed toys—those based on existing TV shows,books, films or games—have increased their share of overall toy-industry revenues in the U.S., according to The NPD Group.

“Licensing is an important part of the toy industry,” assertedAnita Frazier, an industry analyst at The NPD Group, inresearch published last month. “The average retail sellingprice of a licensed toy was nearly 50 percent larger thanthat of unlicensed toys in the first quarter, showing thepremium a toy can generate by being associated with achild’s favorite character or property.”

BRAND AWAREMany kids’ content executives heading off to theLicensing Expo in Las Vegas are standing by themantra that tried-and-true properties work best, sothey’re focusing on brands that have already builtconsumer awareness in some shape or form.

Saban Brands, for example, will be continuingconversations with licensees about Power Rangers.“As an evergreen brand, Power Rangers has been atthe forefront of entertainment for nearly 20 years,”

6 TV KIDS

Nerd Corps’Slugterra.

Licenseto ThrillBy Mansha Daswani

Preschool andboys’ action remain

the most lucrativesectors for kids’content ownerslooking to build

profitable licensingand merchandising

campaigns fortheir shows.

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says Kirk Bloomgarden, the company’s senior VP of interna-tional licensing. “Consumers who were fans of the Power Rangersin the ’90s continue to be fans today, and share the experiencewith their children, adding to the cross-generational appeal.”Bloomgarden and his team will be in conversations about

product categories for both kids and adult fans of the show.“As we approach our 20th anniversary of the brand, we havean opportunity to leverage that history and develop somevery unique programs for our core fans,” he says.Also on the Saban roster for the Licensing Expo is Paul

Frank, a fashion lifestyle brand, with Bloomgarden lookingfor new apparel and accessories licensees, as well as seekingout partners for electronics, cosmetics, home décor and more. PGS Entertainment is also touting two properties that have

already proven themselves on other platforms: the TV movieand short-form series The Jungle Bunch and the watch brandWize & Ope.

The Jungle Bunch has been licensed into 100-plus territories,according to Philippe Soutter, the president and co-founder ofPGS, scoring slots on networks such as France 3, SUPER RTL,RAI and ABC Australia. “Both the TV movie and the short-form series are performing very well in terms of ratings wher-

ever broadcast,” Soutter says. “This is essential to thestrengthening and growth of the franchise.”PGS’s home-entertainment partner for The Jungle

Bunch, Universal, has signed a deal that will bringDVDs of the TV movie to Walmart in the U.S. PGSis now working on a broader consumer-productsplan, targeting licensees for publishing, toys, appareland back-to-school merchandise.Wize & Ope, meanwhile, will be extended to apparel,

stationery and more. Soutter believes the property is“visually exciting and targets a niche where no iconicbrand currently exists—those teens and adults whoaspire to the street-wear vibe.”

TOYS TO TVMondo TV S.p.A. has spent the last few years fine-tuning its brand-building strategy, working with twotoy manufacturers, Giochi Preziosi and MEG, todevelop series based on known properties. The fruitsof that strategy already include Puppy in My Pocket, a

girl-skewing series based on a MEG brand that Mondo TVhas licensed around the world. At the Licensing Expo, Mondo TV’s consumer-products arm

will be firmly focused on new boy-targeted brands, notably Gor-miti and Dinofroz, both produced with Giochi Preziosi.

Gormiti is based on a line of pocket-sized collectibles fromGiochi Preziosi; it has been the top boys’ property in Europefor the last three years, according to Roberta Puppo, theinternational licensing manager at Mondo TV ConsumerProducts. Giochi Preziosi’s Dinofroz toys, the basis of a new26-part animated series from Mondo TV, have sold 7 millionunits in Italy, Puppo notes. “Dinosaurs are always very popu-lar among children,” she says.With Giochi Preziosi handling toys and back-to-school items

for both brands, Mondo will be focused on “apparel, underwear,food, publishing, accessories, promotions and more,” Puppo says.“Mondo TV Consumer Products has already secured most ofthem, but some opportunities are still available.”Puppo will also be using her time at the Licensing Expo

to introduce potential partners to the new series Partidei,which is based on an original concept by Mondo TV’spresident, Orlando Corradi. The show is slated for delivery

8 TV KIDS

It’s a jungle outthere: Following a successful DVD rolloutfor The Jungle Bunch,PGS is now exploringa broader consumer-products campaignfor the show.

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to broadcasters in the fall of 2013. Mondo TV Con-sumer Products is managing the licensing rights fora number of territories, including Italy, Portugal,Spain, Greece, Eastern Europe and Russia.Another new brand being showcased at the expo

is Nerd Corps’ Slugterra, an action-adventure seriesfor boys aged 6 to 11 that is premiering on DisneyXD this fall. Jakks Pacific is already on board as atoy partner, with products due to hit shelves in thespring of 2013. “Nerd Corps developed this property from the

ground up to ensure [that] the core play fantasy is inte-grated throughout, so we see a lot of strengths in thebrand for licensing and marketing,” says Juli Boylan, thehead of global licensing and promotions at NerdCorps. “It’s a unique play pattern...that’s very appealingfor this audience. The show also features a variety ofcharacters that can be leveraged to drive deep invest-ment and collectability through licensed consumerproducts, so that offers a lot of potential. It’s a uniqueblend of battling, shooting and collecting that we’vejust never seen in the entertainment aisle before.”Classic Media is also targeting the boys’ toys aisle,

with Masters of the Universe and Voltron. Nicole Blake,the executive VP of global marketing and consumerproducts at Classic Media, acknowledges the challengesof this space. “You have properties that were devel-oped via feature films,” Blake notes. “That makes itmore competitive.”Nevertheless, she expects both Masters of the Uni-

verse and Voltron to fare well with licensing and retailpartners given their deep brand heritage. Masters of theUniverse turns 30 this year and Classic Media has linedup several new partners to complement the Matteltoy line, including apparel, DVDs and bobbleheads.The updated Voltron series, Voltron Force, meanwhile,premiered on Nicktoons in 2011, giving the networkits highest-ever launch ratings.Blake notes that the preschool space is just as

fiercely competitive, with TV-based brands oftencompeting with literary-inspired properties forshelf space. She believes that the brands Classic

Media is taking to the Licensing Expo will be ableto cut through the clutter.

REINVENTING CLASSICSLeading off the slate is Postman Pat, a property thatis gearing up for a slew of activity in 2013. PostmanPat SDS heads into a second season on CBeebiesearly next year, while next summer will see the the-atrical rollout of Postman Pat: The Movie, producedin 3D. Toys, books and DVDs will receive newpackaging, Blake says. There will also be a new toyrange and movie tie-ins. At the Licensing Expo, Blake will also be

speaking to partners about two new additionsto the Classic Media stable: Noddy and Olivia.“We just purchased those and our mission is toshow existing and prospective partners, fromagents to retailers to licensees, that they are partof the family and that Classic Media is up andrunning on these properties.”Zodiak Rights is also making a play for the lucra-

tive preschool toys business in the U.S. with its newshow Tickety Toc, which has been licensed globallyto Nickelodeon. Securing licensing partners for theshow in the key markets of the U.S., the U.K.,Canada and France is the top priority for theLicensing Expo, notes Jennifer Lawlor, the seniorVP of strategy and planning for consumer prod-ucts at Zodiak Rights.“With so many markets and different times for

broadcast launch, it all ends up being quite a bigplanning session,” Lawlor says about the consumer-products timetable for Tickety Toc. “For the U.K.we’re looking at autumn/winter 2013” for toys tobe on the shelves. “We really want to build theshow, build the awareness first.”Lawlor says that licensees—like audiences—

will be attracted to the look and feel of TicketyToc, as well as its “amazing scripts and great sto-ries—those really help in engaging mums andkids to tune in and stay with the show. We’regetting some lovely feedback in terms of the

The boys’ club: Mondo TV Consumer Products has been signing up licensees in a number of categories forDinofroz, its co-production with Giochi Preziosi.

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characters. It’s a very humorous show. It’s quite fast paced. There’s alot going on in the episodes and kids are enjoying that madcap action.So there’s a lot to embrace.”

Key categories like toys and publishing are at the top of Lawlor’smerchandising plan for Tickety Toc. “We’ve always been focused ondeveloping the core range first, so the kids engage with the brand andcome to know and love it, and then from there you can expand intosome of the peripheral areas,” she says.

With Tickety Toc, Zodiak is looking to replicate the kind of success ithas already had in the U.K. with another preschool series, Waybuloo.The CBeebies commission has spawned a merchandising campaignthat includes plush, publishing, games, health and beauty, apparel andother categories.

RETAIL THERAPYTickety Toc marks Zodiak’s first attempt to build a licensed kids’ brandin the U.S., and Lawlor is well aware of the challenges of securingvaluable shelf space. “There’s a reticence from retail. They are so risk-averse at the moment, they’re being offered so much preschool. Every-body’s got a good platform, a great plan, a great property, aspirations tohave a huge licensing program…[plus] it’s trying economic times.”

Saban’s Bloomgarden notes that “the role of the retailer has becomeincreasingly important to the licensed-consumer-products business model.Now, more than ever, we consult and collaborate with retailers at themarketing, merchant and management levels simultaneously. It isn’t sim-ply about our brands. We need to think about the retailers’ business andhow we can help to drive success at the cash register. Working closelytogether with retailers enables us to sustain and ensure the brand’s ongo-ing, evergreen success.”

“Competition is definitely one of the big challenges for bringing abrand to retail today,” notes Nerd Corps’ Boylan. “There are a lot ofgreat properties on the market, and kids will either really go for it ornot at all. I think one of the keys to success is to start with a propertythat’s creative, appealing and unique, then work with licensing partnersand manufacturers who excel at creating unique and novel consumerproducts to support it.”

Classic Media’s Blake concedes that “retailers are taking less.” However,“once you get on the shelf, [stores are] staying with a property for longer.”

APP-ORTUNITYBlake adds that the last few years have seen the emergence of a new faceon the retail block—the app store. “There are different ways to go toretail,” Blake notes. “For us, the retail shelf also includes the app store. We’vehad great success there. Some properties are toy led, some are book led—there are lots of ways to go to retail. It’s about being more inventive.”

Boylan echoes that sentiment, adding, “We’re starting to see aninteresting new trend that’s come as a result of the rapidly shiftingmedia landscape, and it’s shaking up the source points where proper-ties emerge. Online, video games and mobile apps are all trending up,so we’re seeing new breakthrough licenses—Angry Birds for exam-ple—coming from the iOS world. This is creating more competitionbetween television, film, online and video, but it’s also creating a lotof new opportunities.”

Zodiak’s Lawlor, too, cites emerging opportunities in the digital-media world. “Everything from apps to e-books are being consideredat the moment. From a brand perspective, you want to ensure [that]the digital experience is as enhanced for kids as possible…. Mums areprepared to pay for the top brands. It’s not going to change the worldat the moment in terms of revenues, but it’s an important part of themarketing mix, it’s an important part of the product mix. It’s importantto get that mix right.”

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14 TV KIDS

For more than 100 years American Greetings Corporation has beenproducing greeting cards for the global market. In that process, ithas created some indelible characters, including Strawberry Short-cake and Care Bears, among numerous others. AG Properties (AGP),under the leadership of president and chief creative officer, JeffreyConrad, has been charged with taking these brands into the television,new-media and consumer-products arenas. Conrad, who got his startat American Greetings as an illustrator, tells TV Kids about his strat-egy for refreshing classic brands and creating new ones.

TV KIDS: What kinds of content do you want AGP to beknown for?CONRAD: We stick within the kids’ entertainment realm. [Wehave been] pretty much in the soft and cuddly side of things withCare Bears and Strawberry Shortcake. Obviously those are very bigand strong properties for us, they’re great brands. Going forward,we’re trying to diversify the library we have. We have some coolaction stuff for boys and we have some things for the whole fam-ily. There’s a lot of comedy that we’re working on. We want tocreate an awesome storytelling group of characters that have rel-evance and leave a legacy. That’s a big job.

TV KIDS: Are you developing concepts in-house or reachingout for pitches from the broader kids’ creative community?CONRAD: Almost all of our content originates organically herethrough our creative developers. We have something here called

the Living Wall. We started it around 2007 and the idea was thatany idea that was pitched—for consumer products, toys or ani-mated shows—never died. The wall has over 500 concepts. We areworking on a deal with a broadcaster now [for a show conceptthat] hung on the wall for almost four years. We’re constantlymining [the Living Wall] and constantly adding new concepts toit as well.

TV KIDS: How do you draw from the intellectual property ofthe broader American Greetings Corporation?CONRAD: There are other creatives in the studio that are con-stantly putting out amazing content that I can harvest. I [over-see] some of the creative studios [for greeting cards]. I have onethat makes alternative or funny cards. That output is somewherein the range of 2,500 to 3,000 cards a year. Every card is a littlestory. Every day I get to look at these amazing one-off funnyjokes. We’ve already looked at some of them as potential for anapp or as a show concept.

TV KIDS: So you’re developing content for all platforms?CONRAD:We are. We are just getting into an exciting new ven-ture which we’ll be announcing soon. We hired a new-mediaperson that moved from Los Angeles to Cleveland and is workingdirectly with our creative team to produce apps and digital books.

TV KIDS: You have some strong classic brands alongside thenew ones you’re developing. How have you kept Care Bears andStrawberry Shortcake fresh for kids today?CONRAD: Those brands are just so durable. My job basically isnot to screw them up! [Laughs] They’re just awesome brands thatresonate with almost everyone. They’ve been working for 30years. We have a third season of Strawberry Shortcake. We have abrand-new, CG-animated Care Bears season coming out; it looksbeautiful. We’re doing lots of things to keep the bears fresh andrelevant for all of the demos we have. We try new things giventheir broad appeal. We have something coming out called theDon’t Care Bears. Lots of people poke fun of the Care Bears, whynot have fun with them ourselves?

TV KIDS: Does your background as an illustrator inform yourwork today running AGP?CONRAD: Maybe I’m not afraid to break things, and I jump[over] a lot of fences. [Laughs] That creative background mayprovide a culture that supports a little more risk-taking.An envi-ronment where people can take chances and be free to explore.I am guided by a P&L like everyone else running a business is, butI try to focus on the best creative and storytelling output.

TV KIDS: What are some of your big-picture goals for the com-pany in the months ahead?CONRAD: It’s getting some new-media pieces developed andlaunched, whether it’s an app or a digital book. We’re also veryexcited that we have three or four shows now in developmentand shows that are in production. Packages from Planet X is comingout on Disney XD [worldwide] next spring. Our company isbecoming more diversified. We’ve been more “shots on goal” inthe past—which means kick hard and aim straight and hopefullyit gets past the goalie. If it does, you win. Maybe now we’re a bitmore Moneyball, which is get guys on base—we’re trying todevelop a lot of different things and launch them in a lot of dif-ferent ways.

AG Properties’

Jeffrey ConradBy Mansha Daswani

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