Kellogg’s Goes For the Gold with Olympic Campaign

The 2012 Summer Olympics kicked off on Friday night in London. Here at The Joester Loria Group, we were very excited to see one of our clients, Kellogg’s, get in on the action with their “From Great Starts Come Great Things” campaign, which features current and past Olympic athletes. It will be promoted across several different platforms including social media, digital media, television advertisements and promotion on cereal boxes.

Part of the campaign is a television commercial featuring superstar swimmer and Olympic medalist Rebecca Soni that premiered during the opening ceremony. The spot features Soni competing in a race and emphasizes that beginnings are just as important as endings. This marks the first time a Kellogg’s ad has aired during the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

The campaign has already received a great deal of media coverage from outlets including USA Today and Brand Channel among others.

Check out the new ad on Kellogg’s YouTube page.

Poppy Cat Announces First App

The Joester Loria Group is excited to share that Coolabi and Studio Lidell have partnered to create a Poppy Cat digital app, set to launch this August. Like the book series and television series of the same name, the app will target the developmental needs of pre-school aged children and encourage learning through the interactions and adventures of its lovable characters.

Poppy Cat is a top rated pre-school series based on Lara Jones’ bestselling books series. The show airs on Sproutand NBC’s Saturday Morning Kids Block in the US and Nick Jr. in the UK with its first wave of licensed consumer products including toys, books, and apparel rolling out in the UK.

Kidscreen covered Poppy Cat’s latest licensing deal and we look forward to sharing more news about this growing property soon.

NRF Predicts Increased Back-to-School Spending

Advertising Age recently published an insightful article about expected retail sales during the upcoming back-to-school period. The article sites a recent study by the National Retail Federation and BIGInsight that estimates an anticipated 14% increase in spending on clothing and supplies among people who have children in kindergarten through 12th grade.

The article also discusses the effect of the weak economy on consumer confidence, which will impact where consumers will choose to shop. As a result, many consumers plan to do their back-to-school shopping at discount stores.  Consumers will also turn to online shopping as a way to comparison shop and find the best deals. According to the article approximately 40% of consumers will do their back-to-school shopping online. Another insight is that consumers will start their shopping earlier in an attempt to spread out their spending over a longer timeframe.

All of these factors mean retailers most likely will be even more aggressive with their promotions in order to gain their share of the back-to-school market.

The back-to-school selling period is particularly important in the licensing industry for children’s properties. Several of our clients including Pinkalicious, The World of Eric Carle, and Annoying Orange have licensed product lines that include backpacks, lunch bags, stationery, apparel and other school supplies available for this upcoming Back-To-School season.

Annoying Orange at Comic-Con

Everyone was seeing orange at Comic-Con this year, as YouTube turned television sensation, The Annoying Orange made its first appearance at the event, creating a lot of buzz and attention with exclusive product and a panel hosted by Cartoon Network.

Annoying Orange posters by Scorpio Posters and t-shirts from Hybrid Apparel were given away at the panel session featuring the creator of the Annoying Orange, Dane Boedigheimer, Toby Turner, who stars as Nerville on the television series, as well as producers Tom Sheppard and Gary Binkow. A 2.5” limited edition Comic-Con Annoying Orange Talking Collectible from The Bridge was also available for purchase. The talking collectible has 9 phrases specific to fanboys at Comic-Con, poking fun at hit series like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Avengers, and Star Wars.

There was an outpouring of support for both the brand and television series as Dane and Toby held signings at the Cartoon Network and Gentle Giant booths with a line of fans wrapped around the corner waiting for an autograph and a chance to meet The Annoying Orange himself.

Check out additional press coverage below.

The New York Times highlighted the exclusive Annoying Orange Talking Figure in a Comic Con collectibles story that ran in the popular Arts Beat blog.

In addition, the Examiner and Action Figure Insider also featured the limited-edition figure in their Comic-Con coverage.

For more information about Annoying Orange at Comic-Con visit Cartoon Network’s blog and read the Fan Q&A.

New episodes return this week on Cartoon Network.

Licensing Buzz: Annoying Orange’s Next Chapter

Annoying Orange started as a YouTube web series and recently made the jump to television this June with a top-rated series on the Cartoon Network. So what’s next for this growing brand? We’re excited to announce that that under an agreement brokered by JLG, leading graphic novel publisher, Papercutz, will produce a series of Annoying Orange graphic novels featuring new original adventures for Orange and the Kitchen Crew.

Papercutz will release three full-color 64-page graphic novels each year, available in both hardcover and paperback. The first adventure, Secret Agent Orange, will launch this December 2012.

Jim Salicrup, Editor-In-Chief of Papercutz and Guinness Book of World Records holder for Editor of the Best-Selling Comic Book of All Time, will oversee the Annoying Orange graphic novel collection. Salicrup is best known for his work with Marvel and Topps Comics.

Several media outlets including Licensing.Biz, Kidscreen and License! Global Magazine wrote about this exciting new brand licensing partnership.

2012 Licensing Trends

The June issue of Royaltie$ Magazine featured an article about the latest trends in the licensing business. Debra Joester, our president and CEO, is quoted in the article.

Some of the key trends highlighted in the article are:
*A focus on South America, Asia and “New Europe” as key territories for growth opportunities. China and Brazil in particular show great growth potential.
*A shift away from brick and mortar as a key distribution channel and a growing focus on online retail opportunities.
*The growing importance of retail exclusives to incentivize shoppers to purchase.
*New categories as brand licensing inspiration including apps, YouTube and young adult novels.
*The growing importance of “niche” licensing properties that are targeted at a very specific demographic that can turn into long-term sustainable brand licensing programs.

At The Joester Loria Group we have observed some of these trends firsthand. In particular, our client Annoying Orange, has proven that a YouTube series can be the basis for a successful brand licensing program.

Read the full “Trends in Licensing 2012” article on the Royaltie$ website.

Animal Planet Debuts New Goliath Rod Series and River Monsters Junior Fishing Line

Fans of Animal Planet’s River Monsters capture the adventure of the networks’ top-rated series with a new collection of River Monsters rods, lures and tools. The new River Monsters fishing adventure gear will be revealed at the ICAST show in Orlando, Florida later this week, and is an expansion to the branded fishing gear that launched last year.

The show follows globe-trotting host Jeremy Wade as he investigates freshwater mysteries and underwater myths, while catching and releasing some of the most bizarre and dangerous underwater creatures on earth. The newly designed products include heavy duty multi-functional tools as well as hand selected lure kits made for extreme fishing.

The line features the special River Monsters GOLIATH rod series, with technology that allows for ultra-flexibilitymaking it possible to handle those monster fish.

River Monsters Junior, a line designed for the youngest fishing anglers, will also debut at ICAST. This line features a spincast rod, a custom camouflage mini-gear bag and a junior net to catch bugs and minnows. This line is geared toward kids ages four to eight.

We look forward to sharing more news about this property soon.

Annoying Orange Brand Expansion: Electronic Devices and Accessories

Digital property Annoying Orange continues to grow, most recently with its line of electronic devices and accessories. The Joester Loria Group brokered the licensing agreement on behalf of The Collective’s Annoying Orange with consumer electronics manufacturer Sakar International.

Annoying Orange’s electronic line will include earbuds, headphones, talking camera cases, clock radios, and cases for iPads, iPhones and iPod Touch. The line is scheduled to reach Toys ‘R’ Us locations and additional retailers in the United States for this year’s holiday season.

Since its 2009 YouTube debut, the web series has had more than one billion total views and 2.3 million YouTube channel subscribers. The release of the electronic devices and accessories comes on the heels of the recent television series premiere. We will have more exciting Annoying Orange news soon!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Ranked No. 2 Picture Book by School Library Journal

The School Library Journal recently named The Very Hungry Caterpillar™ by Eric Carle No. 2 on their list of the Top 100 Picture Books. The School Library Journal (SLJ) serves librarians who work with students in schools and public libraries, reaching an audience of more than 100,000. It is the world’s largest and most authoritative reviewer of children’s and young adult content.

The School Library Journal shared some interesting facts about the iconic book including its original name, which was A Week With Willie Worm. Their post also highlighted the publisher’s original challenge of finding a printer who could cost-effectively print the book’s many die cut pages. Additionally, SLJ’s post includes some quotes from Eric Carle along with videos and pictures from the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

We’d like to congratulate our client The World of Eric Carle on this very exciting honor! We’re thrilled to help share Eric Carle’s iconic work with the world through our brand licensing partnership.

Check out SLJ’s full list of the Top 100 Picture Books.