Pixar's 'Inside Out' Inspires New Product Line

On June 19, 2015, Disney Pixar's latest film Inside Out will debut. Disney Consumer Products announced a new product line enkindled by the film. Details on the product line are found in Embrace the Emotions Inside Your Head with New Product Line Inspired by Disney∙Pixar’s Inside Out.  Licensed merchandise will include figures, plush, playsets, apparel and accessories, home  décor, novelties and tech, and books. Some of the licensees are: TOMY, Freeze, Mighty Fine, KIDdesigns Inc. UGG®, Jay Franco, Random House, and Chronicle Books.

Marvel De-emphasizes X-Men and Fantastic Four

The article Between the Panels: Marvel's Merchandising Problem speculates that Marvel is downplaying X-Men and Fantastic Four (FF) comics to place more emphasis on franchises where they own movie rights, namely The Avengers, Inhumans, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Spider-Man.There seems to be a lack of X-Men and FF merchandise in video games, toys, and clothing. Marvel's approach seems realistic. Marvel earns only about 5% of revenue from X-men and FF films, while they can earn 100% of revenue from franchises where they own the movie-rights.

Paul Stanley of KISS Launches New Brand

Paul Stanley is co-founder of the rock and roll band KISS. As reported in KISS Frontman PAUL STANLEY To Launch 'Royals & Rebels' Lifestyle Brand, he is teaming with Epic Rights, a branding and rights management company, to develop a new lifestyle brand. The new brand, named Paul Stanley: Royals & Rebels, will be introduced at Licensing Expo 2015 in Las Vegas in June. The brand will include men's fashion apparel and accessories, footwear, food, spirits, home decor, and cookware.

Licensing Expo 2015 Showcases Artists and Designers

Licensing Expo 2015 will be held June 9-11 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. Within the Licensing Expo there is a special Art & Design zone. Details regarding the Art & Design zone are contained in Licensing Expo 2015 readies Art & Design zone, resource center and on-site activities. Exhibitors in the Art & Design zone include ALMART Fine Art, Debra Valencia, Bentley Licensing Group, Giordano Studios, LLC, Jenny Foster, MGL Licensing, Suzanne Cruise Creative Services, Inc. Wild Apple Licensing, Wild Wings Licensing and Zolan Company, LLC.

Kenner Struke Pay Dirt with Star Wars Toys

Before Star Wars was released, George Lucas had a hard time finding anyone who wanted to become a licensee for Star Wars toys. After several other companies passed, Kenner decided to take the plunge. As revealed in The Groundbreaking History Of Star Wars Toys, the movie was such an instant success that Kenner could not make toys fast enough. Unable to meet the Christmas demand, Kenner sold an empty box with an "Early Bird Certificate" to redeem for four Star Wars figures. The Star Wars toy line made over $100 million in the first year.

Rachael Ray Cooks Up Success

Rachael Ray has become one of the wealthiest chefs in the world, since beginning as a cooking instructor at a local market. Her success is chronicled in What Is Rachael Ray's Net Worth?. Ray has licensed her name and brand to several home products including linens and kitchenware. After partnering with Nabisco, her recipes appear on the back of the box of several Nabisco products. She also has endorsement deals with Dunkin' Donuts and AT&T.

Four Mistakes Licensors Should Avoid

In the article Marvel at the movies: how not to license your IP, the authors advise licensors to avoid four mistakes Marvel made before turning the company around. The mistakes led to Marvel filing for bankruptcy protection in 1996. Nineteen years later Marvel has a huge success with Avengers: Age of Ultron. Marvel Cinematic Universe has become the highest grossing movie franchise of all-time. Fascinating reading on how Marvel got in trouble and what they did to right the ship.

Peppa Pig Conquers the World

Peppa Pig first appeared on British television in 2004. Peppa Pig now appears in 200 countries around the world. The show tells the tale of Peppa and her porcine family. Details of the soaring sales of Peppa Pig merchandise are found in Peppa Pig conquers the world by smashing billion dollar US sales barrier.  Peppa's adventures have been translated into 40 different languages and the character licensed by 600 companies world wide.

Star Trek's USS Enterprise Soars in China

Hard to believe, but someone built a building that looks just like the USS Enterprise from Star Trek. You can read all about it in Make it so: Chinese building looks just like Star Trek's USS Enterprise. The building is the headquarters for the Chinese company NetDragon Websoft. The Company Chairman Liu DeJian is an avid Star Trek fan. The rights to build the Enterprise replica were licensed from CBS. The building cost was reportedly $160 million.

Rolling Stones Release Retro Tour Merchandise

On May 24th the Rolling Stones begin their North American ZIP Code tour at San Diego's Petco Park. Four days later a new collection of Rolling Stones T-shirts will appear in Lucky Brand stores and their e-commerce site.  The details on this licensed merchandise are found in Lucky Brand, Rolling Stones partner on retro tour T-shirts circa 1975. The Lucky Brand X Rolling Stones collection consists of 24 men's and women's T-shirts with the type of Rolling Stones artwork you would expect.

Join the 501st Legion Imperial Stormtroopers

If you've ever wanted to be an Imperial Stormtrooper now you can be. A Star Wars Imperial Stormtrooper Kit is available from Anovos. Details regarding the kit are found in I dream of becoming a Stormtrooper. After you get the Stormtrooper kit assembled you can petition to become part of the Strormtrooper's 501st Legion. As of 5/18/15 there are 7,574 active members.

British Invade Las Vegas

British institutions will be exhibiting for the first time at the Licensing Expo 2015.  They will be exhibiting under the collective banner 'British Heritage'. The brands taking part are: The Royal Ballet; Imperial War Museum; National Museum of the Royal Navy; National History Museum, London; and, Shakespeare Inspired. A press release announcing the participation is found at British presence at Licensing Expo.

The Care Bears Are Back.

The Care Bears hit their stride nearly 30 years ago after being created for a line of American Greeting gift cards. The Care Bears were everywhere including TV shows, movies, toys, and numerous household products.  While never really going away, the Care Bears have lately experienced a resurgence as revealed in Care Bears 2.0: The Bears are back!. The Care Bears are now embracing new social media. You will find the Care Bears on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Entertainment and Character Brands Abound at Licensing Expo 2015

Last year, licensed products captured more than $259.9 billion in total retail sales worldwide. Entertainment and character brands accounted for $144 billion of that total. These brands will be well represented at Licensing Expo 2015 as reported in Entertainment Brands In The Spotlight At Licensing Expo. Among the prominent brands that will appearing at the Expo are: Angry Birds, Barbie, Dora the Explorer, Dr. Seuss, Garfield, Hot Wheels, My Little Pony, Peppa Pig, The Simpsons, Smurfs, SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Thomas & Friends, and Transformers.

Brady Gear Sales Soar

The NFL suspended New England Patriots' Tom Brady for four games on Monday for his role in the "Deflategate” scandal. A 243-page “Deflategate” report was released last week by attorney Ted Wells, who was hired by the NFL to investigate claims the Patriots used underinflated footballs during the AFC Championship game. As reported in Tom Brady Merchandise Sales Up 100% Since Suspension Announced, Brady has become the NFL’s top-selling NFL player, outside of the two top draft picks Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, according to Fanatics.com.

Forbes Reports on America's Most Reputable Companies

Amazon tops the list of  America's Most Reputable Companies, 2015 as compiled by Reputation Institute (RI). RI reports on the companies which consumers most trust, admire, and respect. The reputation of 600 large companies are contained in the results. Surprisingly, Apple comes in at 198th place in the list. Apple apparently suffers from the negative publicity they received regarding their manufacturing plants in China.

Would You Buy Insurance from a Conehead?

Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, and Larraine Newman will reappear as the Coneheads from Saturday Night Live (SNL) in new State Farm commercials. Details of the commercials are contained in  The Coneheads Are Latest ‘SNL’ Characters to Turn Up in Commercials. State Farm has previously used other SNL characters in commercials, notably the Chicago Super Fans (George Wendt and Robert Smigel) and Hans and Franz (Dana Carver and Kevin Nealon) .

Avengers Achieve Super Sales

Avengers merchandise sales were over $1 billion in 2014. A healthy increase from sales of $325 million in 2013. As reported in The Avengers' best superpower might be merchandising, significant licensed merchandise sales were made to adults. Products included everything from yogurt to cologne. A key to the sales is that the Avengers brand has struck a chord with targeted buyers.

Children Can Fly with Mickey and Minnie

Australian firm Buzz Products makes high-end amenity kits for several airlines. They have partnered with firms such as Escada, Kate Spade, Mandarina Duck, and TUMI to create airline kits that you would want to take home. Their success is detailed in Turning Airline Amenity Kits Into Brand-Building Weapons. Buzz Products is particularly successful in building children's kits. Their children's kits include a Sponge Bob Square Pants collection, and Micky, Minnie and Cars kits.

Digital Media Superstars Coming to Licensing Expo 2015

Licensing Expo 2015 will be held June 9-11 at the Mandalay Convention Center in Las Vegas. The show has approximately 5,000 brands represented with close to 500 booths. A show preview is contained in Branding Opportunities at the Licensing Expo. This year's show will contain new features including: a new sports area; two new keynotes, and; the launching of the Digital Media Licensing Summit. The summit will bring together digital media superstars and brand licensing experts.

Y.M.C.A....You'll Find It at the Y.M.C.A.

What do Pepsi, Taco Bell, Hasbro, Microsoft, Google, Hallmark and Toyota all have in common? All of these brands at some point in time have used the disco song Y.M.C.A  in their advertising. However, since 2013 the song was unavailable for licensing as the rights to the song were being litigated. As reported in Advertisers Can Finally Boogie Again With the Disco Hit Y.M.C.A., the legal dispute has been resolved. Thank goodness, now we can once again enjoy sights like grizzly bears dancing to the Y.M.C.A. tune.

150 New Exhibitors at Licensing Expo 2015

Licensing Expo 2015 is scheduled for June 9-11 in Las Vegas. This year, 150 new exhibitors will join the lineup. A full list of the new exhibitors is contained in  New and established brands join LICENSING EXPO for the first time. Among the new exhibitors are: A&E Networks, C3 Entertainment,  Major League Baseball Players Association, One Entertainment, The Royal Ballet, SkyMall, and YouTube with a pavilion of their brand partners.

May the 4th Be With You

The approach George Lucas took to merchandising Star Wars is presented in Darth Vader Ugg Boots To Launch On ‘Star Wars’ Day — A Merchandising Salvo?. Initially, he was reasonably restrained in licensing products. As time went on he changed, even licensing a Darth Tater Mr. Potato Head. Now that Disney owns all licensing rights to Star Wars, watch out. The first deluge of products is expected on May 4th -  Star Wars Day.

Top Racing Games for Your Smartphone

If you're bored waiting for your plane to board, take a look at the Top Thrilling 10 Car Racing Games For Your Smartphone. The first one in the list is Fast and Furious: Legacy based on the movie franchise of the same name. And it's free to download. The others in the list are: Speed Racing; Zombie highway 2; Drag Racing; CSR Racing; Death Rally; Real Racing 3; Asphalt 8:Airborne; GT Racing 2: The Real Car Experience; and, Offroad Legends Sahara. Don't miss your plane.

"Greetings from Fermata. The next chapter begins."

This post's title comes from a headline found on Fermata's Twitter page. It alludes to the acquisition of Fermata Partners by Creative Artists Agency (CAA) Sports as reported in CAA Sports Acquires Fermata Partners. CAA Sports represents more than 1,000 athletes in the world. Fermata Partners has licensing and branding deals with the University of Oregon, University of Georgia, Liverpool Football Club, and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. In acquiring Fermata Partners, CAA Sports strengthens its branding and licensing.

'Star Wars' Video Game Could Produce $600 Million in Revenue

The first Star Wars video game since 2013 will be released a month before Star Wars Eprisode VII: The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18. Details of the video game release are revealed in Electronic Arts will release the first 'Star Wars' video game since Disney shut down LucasArts in 2013. After halting development of video games at LucasArts, Disney signed a 10-year exclusive licensing deal with Electronic Arts to make Star War games.