Shaun the Sheep and the Scout Store have come together to create a range of apparel and accessories to be sold via the Scout Shop network. The range will be available to purchase this summer.
Aardman is also collaborating on a new arts and crafts magazine from Signature Publishing, which will launch in August, featuring pens, crafting activities, coloring pages, and most importantly, the modelling clay Aardman uses to create their animated worlds.
The deals were brokered by Start Licensing, which says it continues to work with new and existing licensees on design guides and assets targeted at specific market sectors.
“Taking a bespoke and focused approach to new business development has been rewarding in our work with Aardman,” says Ian Downes, director at Start Licensing. “We have prioritized developing new deals with licensees that can benefit from using Aardman’s characters in a way that maximizes their effectiveness in the market.”
Downes says that means the company looks for products and partners that help tell the story of its characters.
“Wallace & Gromit are closely linked with cheese and the product is an integral part of the characters’ storylines,” Downes explains. “With this in mind, working with a specialist like Pong Cheese makes perfect sense. Pong Cheese saw that Wallace and Gromit’s love for artisan cheese fitted well with their proposition of celebrating hand-made cheese and supporting artisan cheesemakers, allowing Pong Cheese to amplify its marketing message whilst delivering a great new product to their consumers.”
The same rationale was applied to Gromit and to Shawn the Sheep.
“Gromit is a natural fit for dog wear and accessories, as one of the U.K.’s most recognizable dogs,” Downes says. “Signature Publishing’s Aardman themed arts and craft magazine is a natural development. Aardman have a tremendous archive of arts and craft material and have a proven pedigree in the category. Working with the Scout Store and developing a co-branded range with Shaun the Sheep makes creative sense. The two are a good match thematically.”