CORRECTION: On Sept. 9, we reported a new “patent cross-licensing” deal between Scientific Games and Intl. Game Technology (IGT). The agreement only covers "game features" patents, and does not, as our earlier story might have suggested, cover other types of intellectual property such as brand licenses. Learfield and IMG make their union official, formally announcing a … [Read more...] about M&A & Promotions
Articles
Who’s News — 10/10/2017
Disney's new President Business Operations EMEA is Rebecca Campbell, based in London. She replaces Diego Lerner, who is moving to Argentina and takes up an unspecified international role at the company. In the U.S., Disney Channel hires Dina Hillier as VP Original Series. Universal Brand Development welcomes Ben Braun as CFO to manage the financial planning and analytics team, … [Read more...] about Who’s News — 10/10/2017
A(nother) Note on Disney
Updated: 10/13/2017 By Karina Masolova, karina@plainlanguagemedia.com If we were to define one trend of consumer products licensing in the last decade or so, it's Disney's unparalled dominance. TLL estimates that Disney accounts for roughly half of all entertainment/character brand-based licensed retail sales in the U.S./Canada, and a slightly larger share worldwide (less than … [Read more...] about A(nother) Note on Disney
China & India Propel Asia Licensed Sales Growth to 2.7%
By Karina Masolova, karina@plainlanguagemedia.com Move over China and Japan; India is now the hottest new market for licensed merchandise worldwide. Thanks to these a handful of countries, growth in licensed retail sales within the greater Asian territory nearly matched the worldwide average growth of 2.7% in 2016. If you're a current subscriber to the Licensing Data Bank, see … [Read more...] about China & India Propel Asia Licensed Sales Growth to 2.7%
Mainland China Up 7% to Reach $6.7 in Licensed Sales
By Karina Masolova, karina@plainlanguagemedia.com For those of you heading to China Licensing Expo in Shanghai—or who are just thinking of doing business in the fifth-ranking market for licensed goods worldwide, we've put together a quick cheat sheet breaking down the numbers behind mainland China. China is remarkable in terms of its relatively rapid slowdown. In 2013, … [Read more...] about Mainland China Up 7% to Reach $6.7 in Licensed Sales
Who’s News — 10/2/2017
Walt Disney Intl. appoints Rebecca Campbell to serve as President of its EMEA business. Alpha Group expands into Latin America with the new appointment of Jose Antonio Espinoza as Head of Latin America operations. Tracy Griffiths joins Golden Bear as a Licensing Consultant. Spin Master-owned Toca Boca's CEO, Bjorn Jeffery, steps down. The Stockholm-based children’s mobile … [Read more...] about Who’s News — 10/2/2017
M&A & Other Business
Ravensburger acquires ThinkFun, a U.S. developer of logic and STEM-based games. ThinkFun will continue to operate independently as a subsidiary of Ravensburger North America. Co-founder Bill Ritchie remains as CCO, as well as all directors and staff. Universal is in talks to sell its stake in Oriental DreamWorks, the China-based joint venture animation company, according to … [Read more...] about M&A & Other Business
European Licensed Sales Up 1.8%; Western Europe Shines
The European territory experienced retatively flat growth (1.8%) with $32.9 billion in licensed retail sales in 2016, according to TLL's 2017 Licensing Business Survey. But behind the average, several countries out-performed worldwide average growth of 2.7% in 2016. Visit the Licensing Data Bank for more charts and data here. And contact Jen at jen@plainlanguagemedia.com for … [Read more...] about European Licensed Sales Up 1.8%; Western Europe Shines
Retailer Alert: Holiday Sales, TRU & New Innovations
The economists have weighed in, and it looks like holiday sales will be strong this year. Deloitte projects that holiday sales between November and January will rise 4% to 4.5% from a year earlier to as much as $1.05 trillion. Online sales will rise at a much faster pace, gaining 18% to 21% to as much as $114 billion, or 11% of the total holiday retail sales. AlixPartners … [Read more...] about Retailer Alert: Holiday Sales, TRU & New Innovations
Roundup: Experiential Initiatives
Live arena production Fast & Furious Live is set to debut on a global tour in January 2018. Produced in partnership with Universal Brand Development, Fast Live Productions, and Live Nation, the show launches in London before racing through 23 other European cities. The two-hour show features cars, locations, and scenes from the film series through state-of-the-art 3D … [Read more...] about Roundup: Experiential Initiatives