At Licensing '99 International -- the trade conference where licensed property owners pitch their entertainment, corporate and art brands to promotional partners and licensees -- most exhibitors emphasized their ongoing franchises and none of the few new properties on display generated much buzz. Many publishers do business, both as exhibitors and as attendees, at the annual show at New York City's Jacob Javits Convention Center, held June 8-10.
Within the entertainment sector, television series took precedence over films, led by the year's two most talked-about properties, Pokemon and Teletubbies. (Their licensing agents, Leisure Concepts and itsy bitsy Enter-tainment, respectively, had signed a full quota of licensees well before the show.) The highest-visibility film property was Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, which has more than 50 North American licensees, including Berkley and Warner Books.
While some film properties were on hand, most were based on existing franchises, such as Warner Bros.' The Iron Giant, based on the novel by Ted Hughes and due out this summer. From a licensing standpoint, a film helps freshen the ongoing merchandise effort rather than spurring a separate campaign. "If you label it 'the movie,' you're off the shelf in a few weeks," cautioned Joanne Loria, senior v-p at Hamilton Projects, the agent for South Park. The South Park movie, released at the end of this month, serves instead to increase consumer awareness for existing products (including Pocket Books titles) and spur new product development.
Nickelodeon's Rugrats (published by Simon & Schuster and Landoll) will star in a direct-to-video film this fall as well as a theatrical sequel in the autumn of 2000. Promotions and products reflect film themes-this fall, the "Rugrats Go Reptar" in honor of the video-but the main goal is to extend the brand. "This is not just about a movie merchandising program," said Leigh Anne Brodsky, Nickelodeon's senior v-p, consumer products.
Another film property at the show was Universal Studios' The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, scheduled for summer 2000. Simon & Schuster (one of 48 licensees on board) is signed for 30 titles over three years; the first four were published last fall. According to Nancy Cushing-Jones, president of publishing rights for Universal Studios, the next wave of titles will coincide with and tie into the film, followed by more books based on the classic cartoon.
Corporate Brands Are Booming
Nearly 30% of the properties exhibited at the show originated in the corporate trademark sector, with licensors and agents displaying brands ranging from Good Humor to Green Giant. The growth in corporate licensing, which has been one of the fastest-rising segments of the business over the last three years, g s hand-in-hand with licensees' desire for long-term, stable properties. In many cases, it is difficult for publishers to tie into this trend, however.
"That's a difficult journey," reflected Carole Francesca, president of Broad Street Licensing Group, which represents the Snuggle brand and its teddy bear mascot, among other corporate icons. She noted that most corporate marks and characters are perceived as too commercial for children's books, even if they lend themselves to a storyline.
Loria of Hamilton Projects, which represents Jeep and Chrysler, among other brands, added that there were also content issues. "It's kind of difficult with some of the branded programs," she said. "A car's a car. You can go into any bookstore and see books about cars. There's nothing unique and proprietary enough to create a book."
There are exceptions, however. M&Ms and Cheerios are both featured in counting books, while several toy brands, including Playskool, are the basis of juvenile imprints. Hamilton Projects represents Jumpstart, the top-selling children's educational CD-ROM brand, and has granted two licenses so far, including Scholastic for workbooks and early readers. "These are two brands that have so much in common," says Hamilton Projects president Debra J ster.
A number of publishers are also licensing their own brands to outside manufacturers. Scholastic Entertainment, for example, recently launched its first brand-licensing effort. "We felt it was a good time for Scholastic to look at the possibility of extending our name," said Leslye Schaefer, senior v-p of marketing and consumer products, noting that the current pro-education bent among consumers and the rising importance of corporate brands among licensees led to the decision. Probable merchandise includes school supplies, arts and crafts, and early learning toys; Scholastic-branded school uniforms will be introduced this summer.
Marc Mikulich, v-p licensing and international development at IDG Books, was seeking opportunities for IDG's Dummies and Cliff's Notes brands, citing a Wine for Dummies tasting kit or a Barbeque for Dummies grilling kit as possibilities, along with business productivity items. "People trust us," said Mikulich. "At this show I'm hoping we can identify the right licensing partnerships to extend that relationship."
Berlitz was searching for properties to license in (such as entertainment characters to incorporate into children's language-learning titles) as well as potential licensees for the Berlitz brand, especially in travel- or language-related categories. "We're such a niche publisher," said Nadine Billard, director of international sales and new marketing development. "We're perfect for this type of thing. We have the experience and we have the name."
Nickelodeon plans to use brand marketing to drive sales of licensed books this summer. It will ship Nickelodeon-branded four-sided point-of-sale displays that will bring together all Simon & Schuster and Pocket Books titles based on Nickelodeon's animated and live-action series. "It's a brand-blocking strategy," said Brodsky. One side will be devoted to Pocket titles and the other three to S&S; the display will also feature quarterly Nickelodeon marketing materials.
Authors Amenable to Licensing
One notable trend at the show was a proliferation of non-juvenile books and authors available for licensing. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen's Chicken Soup for the Soul was introduced by SloaneVision Licensing at last year's convention and now boasts 20 licensees for products for adults, teens and children, as well as a weekly series on PAX TV starting this fall.
IMG Licensing launched an effort focusing on Dr. Benjamin Spock, whose Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care was published in 1946. The agency plans to authorize merchandise including car seats, strollers, apparel, diapers and diaper bags, organic baby foods, cribs and playpens, health supplements and toys.
B. Smith, the restaurateur whose first book from Workman, B. Smith's Entertaining and Cooking for Friends, is in its third printing, was highlighted by Hearst Entertainment, which syndicates her third-season television series, B. Smith with Style. More book titles are being released this year by Random House. Licensing focuses on products for the home; textiles, tabletop items and wallcoverings are signed so far.
Deepak Chopra, represented by the Beanstalk Group, will be licensed for herbal supplements, aromatherapy, calendars, journal books, home-related items and music. Beanstalk co-chairman Michael Stone describes Chopra's teachings as "a combination of Western science and Eastern philosophy that appeals to baby boomers and twentysomethings looking for balance in their lives."
(Stone America Marketing, a licensing agency that did not exhibit, recently announced a licensing campaign for Dr. Atkins, author of The Diet Revolution and The Atkins Diet. The program will include foods, CD-ROMs, audio and video.)
More Books Move into Entertainment
Reinforcing one of the most notable trends in licensing over the last two years, several children's and adult book properties are being developed for television series and/or films. U.K.-based Alltime Entertainment has created an animated television series based on Watership Down, acquiring rights from both the producer/writer/director of the 1978 movie and from Richard Adams, the author of the 25-year-old, 50-million-copy-selling book. Random House is launching an original publishing program in the U.K. and has Australian rights; Alltime was looking for a U.S. publisher at the show. "That's what we're here for, really, to set up the publishing deal," said Simon Vaughan, managing director. COP Corp. handles U.S. merchandising.
Another U.K. book/TV property introduced for U.S. licensing was The Worst Witch, represented by Global Icons. The live-action series is the number-one children's show in the U.K. and will air on HBO and HBO Family starting in July. Viking Children's Books has held rights to the books but has not exploited them in this country for six years, according to author Jill Murphy. Viking will import the first two of the four 20-year-old classics from its U.K. sister company, with tie-in covers, this summer.
Nelvana Entertainment was exhibiting the preschool series George & Martha, based on eight books by James Marshall, which launched on HBO Kids in spring 1999. Products to be introduced in 2000 will include plush, videos and toys, as well as books from Houghton Mifflin. "We don't want to get ahead of ourselves on merchandising and spoil the property," said Sid Kaufman, Nelvana's executive v-p, worldwide merchandising.
Among the other book-based television shows exhibited at Licensing '99 were Simsala Grimm, an animated retelling of the Grimm fairy tales marketed by German producer Greenlight Media AG; and Microscopic Milton, based on the British book by Tony Garth about the smallest man in the world, which is broadcast on the Disney Channel in the U.S. and licensed by U.K. company Splash!.
Forthcoming films based on children's books include Sony's Jumanji II and Universal's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, starring Jim Carrey, both for the 2000 holiday season, and Eloise, for which Simon & Schuster granted film development rights to itsy bitsy Entertainment just after the show.
For adults, Viacom has signed a number of licensees for collectible products based on Tim Burton's film The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, set for a fall '99 release. Sony is licensing Steven Spielberg's film Memoirs of a Geisha, planned for release at the end of 2000, for Asian-themed beauty, fashion and home furnishings products.
Other publishing-related exhibitors included Harcourt Brace, which was looking for film deals for storybooks and merchandise agreements for picture books; Golden Books' entertainment division; C&T Publishing, which licenses photos from its quilting books; Copyrights America, which represents British literary properties including Maisy, Paddington Bear and Beatrix Potter; Chronicle Books through its agent Portofino; Marc Brown Studios; The Beginner's Bible; Pearson Education with its English-as-a-second-language character GoGo; and Jamsa Press, with a series of book/CD-ROM titles called Happy & Max.
