Workbooks with Character
Karen Raugust -- 2/28/00
Licensed titles premiering in 2000 face stiff competition from generics
The educational workbook category is currently experiencing a burst of licensing activity. Publishers plan tointroduce at least seven workbook lines in 2000 featuring licensed characters or brands; these follow 1999 debuts that included Arthur, Barbie, Blue's Clues and Power Rangers.
Licensing is not new to the category. Random House released Richard Scarry workbooks more than 15 years ago; Dr. Seuss, Muppets and Fisher-Price workbooks were introduced within the last five to eight years by Random House, American Education Publishing and Modern Publishing, respectively; and McGraw-Hill started publishing Looney Tunes, Baby Looney Tunes and Animaniacs workbooks three years ago.
This year's crop includes Pooh (AEP); Pokémon (Golden Books); Power Rangers (Modern); Little Critter, Bear in the Big Blue House and Kermit & Friends (all McGraw-Hill); Sesame Seeds (Random House); and JumpStart (Scholastic).
AEP publishes 180 workbook titles, 28 of which are licensed. Arthur and Blue's Clues are its top-selling lines, with three million copies in print for the two together. "We select [licenses] that we feel the consumer--parents and children--already identifies with learning," said John Molish, v-p of sales and marketing. AEP's Pooh workbooks, scheduled for May, are the first of several forthcoming titles under a wide-ranging deal with Disney Publishing.
"Not all licenses fit a workbook or educational strategy," said Rich Maryyanek, senior v-p of marketing, Golden Books, who noted that Pokémon's fans use math, memory and spelling skills to keep track of 150 monsters. Golden began shipping six Pokémon Math Challenge titles, with initial press runs of 200,000 each, in January and publishes 30 to 40 generic workbooks under the Step Ahead imprint.
"[A workbook license] d sn't have to be inherently educational," said Vincent Douglas, senior v-p of McGraw-Hill's consumer products division. "But there are many, many licenses we couldn't include," he added, explaining that some properties would not mesh well with the company's brand image. McGraw-Hill will bring out Jim Henson's Bear in the Big Blue House and Kermit & Friends, as well as Mercer Mayer's Little Critter, for back-to-school 2000; in all, about 50% of its workbook titles are licensed.
Some publishers focus exclusively on educational properties. "As far as I'm concerned, it d sn't pay to do a non-educational license unless it'll enable you to possibly reach a market you couldn't otherwise reach with that format," said Kate Klimo, v-p and publishing director, Random House Children's Publishing. "We felt that the unreachable young male might be reachable with Star Wars," she continued, adding, however, that the line, published a few years ago, sold fewer copies than expected. (Golden Books also released less-than-successful Star Wars workbooks at the time. "It was a property that was forced into a workbook," Maryyanek said.)
Some workbooks are tied to licensed brands instead of characters. Scholastic is entering the category this May with 16 titles tied to JumpStart, the educational software brand. "We had identified the workbook category as something that was right for us, but we didn't have the right approach," said Jean Feiwel, Scholastic Book Group publisher. "[JumpStart] was educationally sound, but it also had a brand attached to it and a recognition and excitement in the marketplace."
Modern had been publishing generic workbooks for three years when it released its first licensed titles in the mid 1990s. "When the Fisher-Price license came up, we jumped on it," said v-p Ed Lenk. "Fisher-Price is like the Good Housekeeping seal of approval, so it g s hand-in-hand with workbooks." Modern's Fisher-Price program currently has more than five million copies in print and includes 130 titles, 40 to 50 of which are workbooks.
Most publishers agree that a license must have long-term potential because of the high investment required for workbooks. "We will only publish [workbook] licenses we feel are evergreens," said Lenk, noting that while Modern sold tens of millions of coloring and activity titles under the Power Rangers license in 1994 and 1995, "workbooks were not on our plate. If someone had suggested we take workbooks in the heyday, we would have just scoffed at the idea." Power Rangers is now in its fifth year and its toy line still sells well, which Lenk believes makes it viable for workbooks. Power Rangers Skill Builders and Learning Pads began shipping last December.
According to publishers, workbook content is tailored specifically to a given license. "It's not preconceived where we just have a template and we apply a brand to the template," said Lenk. Barbie workbooks, for example, show the character in various careers. "We, along with Mattel, were trying to take Barbie out of play and into an educational or edutainment platform."
Similarly, since Arthur is associated with reading, each AEP math and reading workbook for grades one through three contains an original story. "It's unique from anything else we do and it's true to the character," Molish said.
"[A character is] not just decorative and illustrative," said Douglas, noting that drawings show Bugs Bunny or other characters involved in an activity, teaching lessons or giving hints, each in its own distinctive manner.
Despite the recent activity, some publishers reject licensing altogether. "School Zone has long believed that content is king, and that people who can't write good content must license. That d sn't mean we don't use endearing characters throughout our pages, but they're ours," said Jim Hoffman, School Zone CEO. "[A license] is fine as far as I'm concerned for a coloring and activity book, but a workbook is a stretch." School Zone had licenses with Fisher-Price and a short-lived television series at one time, but both fell short of expectations.
Sales and Distribution
Both mass market outlets and chain bookstores sell workbooks. Sometimes, a license can enhance sales efforts. "If it's licensed, you probably have a better chance initially of getting exposure [in the stories]," Lenk said. "Branding d s give you an edge going in, but then it's up to the consumer. If it d sn't work, it's pulled immediately."
"A channel that d sn't carry much educational or book product is more apt to take a license," Molish said, citing craft stores as an example. They typically do not feature large educational sections, but will buy workbooks with recognizable licenses.
Maryyanek reported that Pokemon workbooks are getting a good response from all channels that carry its other Pokémon titles, including grocery, drug, discount, book and toy chains. He believes that the license will spur some retailers to create off-the-shelf displays outside the traditional two-week windows in May/June and August/September.
A license in the workbook segment offers opportunities for cross-promotions. McGraw-Hill is discussing possible tie-ins with Warner Bros. divisions, including music, video and television, and has had workbooks in Warner Bros. Studio Stores (not a typical outlet for generic titles). Random House's Sesame Seeds line will be advertised in Sesame Street Parents magazine, reaching two million consumers; the Sesame Street Club will mail sample booklets to members; and cross-promotions with other Children's Television Workshop licensees are in the works. This spring, Scholastic is offering $5 off on a JumpStart software title with the purchase of a licensed workbook and is tying in with JumpStart's Web site. The two companies are talking about bringing books into retail outlets where JumpStart is sold.
Retail buyers do not always see the benefit of licensing in this category. "In the mass market, the fact that we have a license helps us," said Douglas at McGraw-Hill. "But we've heard some comments by our trade booksellers that licensed [workbook] titles don't sell as well."
Both Borders and Barnes & Noble confirm this suspicion. Spokesperson Debra Williams said that at Barnes & Noble, non-licensed titles from School Zone, AEP and McGraw-Hill perform better than licensed workbooks. Kendra Smith, spokesperson for the Borders Group, said Borders stores carry a wide selection of licensed workbooks (Arthur is the current bestseller), but noted, "Just because it's a licensed workbook d sn't mean it's going to do better. The line has to be really strong." Borders's Waldenbooks chain carries a smaller selection of licensed workbook titles, including Blue's Clues, Arthur and Dr. Seuss, according to Smith. "They do better with the non-licensed workbooks unless it's the hottest license at the time."
Hoffman reported that about half of School Zone's retail customers lean toward licenses for workbooks, while the other half stay away. Surprisingly, the latter group includes Wal-Mart, normally a heavy buyer of licensed products but a sparse purchaser of licensed workbooks. "They [buy licenses] for coloring and activity, but not for workbooks," Hoffman said.
Some bookstore buyers view licensed workbooks as less educational than generics. Douglas believes that perception can be overcome if the publisher's brand is given adequate billing. "Book buyers have told us to make the McGraw-Hill bigger [on the cover]. They don't want the name lost," he said. "There is a credibility lent by the publisher."
"We've really seen the lines blur between traditional coloring and activity books and workbooks," said Maryyanek, citing non-curriculum-based titles positioned as educational. "They carry quite a bit of educational value, but they aren't workbooks. They're glorified coloring and activity books." With a licensed workbook in particular, Maryyanek added, "We have to be clear about what we're offering that's educational."
Parental Concerns
Whether a parent is more (or less) likely to purchase a licensed workbook over a generic depends on the property and the child's age, among other factors. In the case of Pokemon, parents in focus groups asked for something educational since their children were spending so much time with the property anyway, according to Maryyanek.
"It's sugaring the medicine, so to speak," said Klimo. But she noted that in many cases a license can be counterproductive. "The parent [of a school-age child] who g s to buy a workbook is either overly ambitious or desperately worried. They want something solid and not too frivolous."
Parents of younger children are a different story, Klimo explained. Rather than wanting the child either to get ahead or catch up, they are trying to stimulate and prepare the child for learning in a fun way, in which case a license might attract them.
Douglas agreed that licenses work better for younger children. Once a child is engaged in education (starting in grade three or four), he said, they (and their parents) look for something more serious. Therefore, McGraw-Hill acquires licenses only for workbooks targeting grade two and younger.
Overall, generics continue to rule the category. Lenk estimated that 85% of Modern's workbook titles are licensed, but its best-performing line is its Giant Basic Skills Books, a series of eight 320-page generic titles that have sold "hundreds of thousands" of copies each in three years.
Still, licensing has its place. It adds variety to the workbook section and appeals to customers looking for some way to make curriculum-based content more palatable to their children."It's not that [licensing] replaces our entire educational line," said Molish, "but there's a need for it in the market."
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