LEVEL-5 abby Inc. is licensing successful Japanese video games around the globe on all platforms and devices. By Chris Kelsch
Simon Waldron, senior vice president of marketing and licensing, has only been with LEVEL-5 abby Inc. a few months, but already he has picked up on a key component that drives the company. “Here, creativity comes first,” Waldron says. “The whole culture is driven around the creativity, with the various business pieces that go around it.”
As head of LEVEL-5 abby’s marketing and licensing efforts, Waldron heads up one of those pieces that goes around the creativity. The global arm of LEVEL-5, LEVEL-5 abby was formed in October 2015 to bring the best of Japanese children’s entertainment to the global market, and just as important, across all platforms and devices.
Akihiro Hino, who founded LEVEL-5 in Japan in 1998, leads both companies. He has also produced all of the company’s major video game, television series and movie releases. Hino and LEVEL-5 chose Santa Monica, Calif., located in the heart of the entertainment industry, as the base for its U.S. operations.
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Billboard is growing its legacy with its licensing program. By Alan Dorich
When the top executives in the music industry want to know the latest charts or the recent moves by artists like Ed Sheeran and Chance the Rapper, Billboard is the one they turn to. From its start in 1894, the brand has emerged as the major source of music news, via print and online.
“It’s always been the industry leader and the one source to go to for the music charts and music knowledge in general,” Director of Licensing and Marketing Amy Steinfeldt Ulmann declares. “I don’t think there’s any other brand out there that can compete with a long history like that.”
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Capcom plans to remain authentic even as it expands its licensing and consumer products reach. By Bianca Herron
In an effort to keep its brands relevant and evergreen, Capcom USA transitioned John Diamonon from its marketing to licensing team as the Director of Licensing and Consumer Products two years ago. Diamonon had spent the prior seven years working on the Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom (MvC), Resident Evil and Mega Man franchises.
“One of my favorite projects was working with Marvel on MvC and learning the intricacies of third-party brand integrations,” Diamonon says. “This turned me on to licensing and the transition was a natural progression in my career. Licensing and marketing need to work in tandem to execute the long-term vision of a brand.”
Diamonon notes that licensing allows Capcom – a subsidiary of Capcom Co. Ltd., which markets, develops and distributes interactive entertainment software for all gaming platforms and consumer products in North and South America - to extend the reach of its brands to a wider audience and a more diverse demographic through a variety of product categories and channels.
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WWE’s toy licensing partnerships with Mattel, Playmates and others play a big role in the sports entertainment giant’s consumer product dominance. By Jim Harris
Somewhere in the world right now, John Cena and the Ultimate Warrior are having an epic match for the WWE Championship. Elsewhere, “Macho Man” Randy Savage and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin could be forming a partnership to take on the Wyatt Family.
These time-bending matchups will not happen on WWE’s flagship shows Monday Night Raw or SmackDown Live. However, thanks to WWE’s relationships with toymakers such as Mattel, anything is possible in the hands and imaginations of its millions of fans.
Action figures bearing the likenesses of WWE Superstars have been a major part of the sports entertainment leader’s toy licensing strategy for more than 30 years. Mattel – the world’s largest toy maker in terms of revenue – has been the company’s action figure licensee since 2010.
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Mars Retail Group works closely with licensing partners to bring new M&M’S® offerings to consumers and retail customers everywhere. By Stephanie Crets
Mars Retail Group is taking the candy world by storm and bringing incredible offerings to its customers every day. From its delicious chocolate candy to fun, well-known characters, M&M’S® has something for everyone. For more than 75 years, the brand has brought colorful chocolate fun to M&M’S® fans around the world and Mars Retail Group is helping to further that ambition.
“Our goal within Retail Brand Activation has always been to bring some of the unique experiences of M&M’S® World and MY M&M’S® to life with our everyday retail partners,” says Director, Retail Brand Activation, John Capizzi. “It’s really about fine-tuning our overall offering to our customers.”
Mars Retail Group operates on the basis of three executions: licensing, Colorworks and mass customization. Licensing brings unique branded merchandise across all channels, including mass drug, grocery retail and digital. “It gives people a small sample of the wonderful products they can find in our M&M’S® World stores,” Capizzi notes.
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Welch’s continues to expand its licensing program to extend its brand portfolio into categories that promote fruit, health and taste. By Janice Hoppe-Spiers
Family farmers have been at the heart of Welch’s for more than a century. Vineyards have been cultivated for generations to expertly grow Concord and Niagara grapes, which are used to provide families with the 100 percent grape juice and jelly for which Welch’s is known and trusted.
“The interesting thing about Welch’s is that it can play in the health, flavor and fun categories,” Head of Global Licensing Glenn Hendricks says. “Baby boomers and millennial moms love our juice for both the taste and heart health benefits. They grew up with it and raised their children on it; there’s an affinity there. We are a trusted brand and consumers know the quality will be great.”
In 1869, Thomas Bramwell Welch was the first to pasteurize bottled fruit juice using Concord grapes, founding the company and the modern, unfermented juice version we drink today. After debuting at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, Welch’s Grape Juice went on to become the national family favorite it remains today.
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With a new executive team leading licensing and retail, Sony Pictures aims to expand and capitalize on licensing opportunities from existing and new intellectual property. By Bianca Herron
At Sony Pictures, Consumer Products has become an area of renewed focus in the motion picture group. Last year, the Culver City, Calif.-based company tapped veteran marketing and licensing executive Jamie Stevens as executive vice president of worldwide consumer products and licensing. Today, Stevens oversees the motion picture group’s product and licensing opportunities for the studio’s IP, including such film franchises as Jumanji, Hotel Transylvania, The Smurfs and Ghostbusters.
According to Stevens, she believes that Sony Pictures’ focus on developing merchandisable films, especially in animation, will lead to long-term revenue potential for the studio.
“I now have a seat at the table when a decision is made about the types of film we make,” she says. “It’s an important step that addresses our growth in the global marketplace and sets us apart from other studios. I joined the company almost a year ago and I looked at this as an opportunity to refocus the Consumer Products group and bring in top talent that could help take our licensing business and our properties to the next level.”
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The Victoria and Albert Museum is sharing its archive through licensed products. By Alan Dorich
The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London, was originally established in 1852; its founding principle to make works of art available to all, to educate and to inspire. Today, it is one of the world’s greatest resources of art and design, with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity. The world-renowned institution not only provides visitors with a wealth of sights to see, but a vast archive to draw from for its licensing program.
“It’s really limitless as to what patterns can be applied,” Head of Licensing and Business Development Lauren Sizeland declares. Based in London, the V&A is the world’s leading museum of art and design, with objects that reflect more than 5,000 years of human creativity.
Inspired by the success of the Great Exhibition of 1851, the Museum was founded as part of Prince Albert and Sir Henry Cole’s plan to transform South Kensington into a cultural center. “It was the world’s first trade expo,” Licensing Research and Development Manager Amelia Calver says, explaining that the event was wholly unprecedented in its format, scale, international scope, visitor numbers and profit.
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