Licensing on
Mars
FROM PUBLISHING
TRENDS (JULY 2001)
What
to say? Eloise gets larger and larger, and the blimp
in her likeness lofting about the foyer of the Javits
Center will probably be trundled out at the next Macy’s
Thanksgiving Day parade. As for the rest of the Licensing
2001 International show, except for the endless
licensing and marketing of dead movie stars, the industry
still seems dominated by books — and mostly kids at
that. Arthur, Curious George, Rainbow
Fish, Clifford, and Tolkien ruled
the day, not to mention his highness himself, Harry
Potter, who’s beginning to feel as if he’s been
around forever and reigned supreme. Not much new there
(but happy 100th, Peter Rabbit).
If one is compelled to browse the film- and TV-originated
brands, however, one must concede that the star of the
show was probably the Butt-Ugly Martians. These
winsome creatures are sort of extraterrestrial ninja-turtle
knock-offs coming to a TV screen near you this fall,
via massive syndication through WB Kids and Fox
in the US. Produced by the Just Group in the
UK, where they have recently been released and greeted
by pandemonium from local youth, the Martians have been
snapped up by (who else?) Scholastic for their
publishing incarnation. Actually, the Just Group’s recently
acquired UK packager/ publisher Marshall Editions
(where chairman Richard Harman has just resigned)
will produce the books. Action figures and further licensing
bounty are just around the corner. Incidentally, the
Martian crew gave a fittingly outlandish party at Mars
2112 in Rockefeller Center, featuring gyrating Martians
in their appropriate environment, accompanied by at
least two Rockettes on loan from Radio City Music Hall
across the street.
On the Harry Potter front, there was a curious booth
of first-timers (Muggles Magical Toys, Inc.)
staffed by Margaret Lynden and her family from
St. Paul, Minnesota. Margaret was nicknamed “Muggles”
as a child, and the family trademarked (in 1995) the
name and was offering an eponymous doll with magical
shoes along with ideas for licenses in the apparel and
paper products market. They gamely extended the franchise
to their own line of t-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, school
bags, and a book. Declaring themselves to be of honorable
intention, they say they have teamed up with Scholastic
to beat Nancy Stouffer (of the Larry Potter
titles available from Thurman House publishers
a/k/a Ottenheimer in Baltimore) at her own game.
Another author coveting a share of licensing manna is
Susan Branch, whose hand-lettered and illustrated
books are published by Little, Brown. Her licensing
is handled by Art Impressions, and Jennifer
Vincioni, their licensing manager, reported that
after they paid for her book tour (NB!) for Girlfriends
Forever — as they correctly surmised that the book’s
success would have a direct impact on the sale of their
licensed tie-in paper products — their sales catapulted
from $80,000 to $300,000 in a year.
First-timers included Arthur Andersen (no cuddly
investment-banker dolls are on the market yet; they
were just on hand as accountants); attorneys Nixon
Peabody (as “brand managers” representing Arthur
the irrepressible Aardvark); and Chorion Intellectual
Properties, who were there to license the next episodes
of Noddy, which they had withdrawn from the BBC,
licensors of the first series. And Dave Borgenicht’s
packaging operation, Quirk Productions, took
a modest booth for the Worst Case Scenario series
with Chronicle — watch for the Worst Case
Scenario board game coming this fall, among other
iterations of this best-case-scenario line.
Another major presence at the show was Consor,
which has represented the Vatican Library for
some time. This year they’ve gone for broke, with an
avalanche of refrigerator magnets, wallpapers, place
mats, coasters, and trivets — all extremely tasteful,
of course. (What the Vatican is selling is its art collection,
so these items were adorned with Ghirlandaio, Carraci,
and the like.) You can forget about books, though: there
was only an old Turner (sic) Publishing
on display.
©2001
Publishing Trends
