Licensing lesson
Publishing products (books, periodicals and calendars) represent the third strongest product category (after clothing and toys) in terms of licensed themes, accounting for 12 per cent of the overall licensing business – and growing. Conversely, films, TV shows, brands and celebrity publishers offer marketing possibilities for successful titles. It’s hard not to be impressed by the plethora of books, calendars and magazines from licensing success stories like Star Wars, Sesame Street, Hello Kitty or Jamie Oliver. Locally, the fine examples are Upin & Ipin as well as BoiBoi Boy.
I went on a Licensing & Merchandising Tour around the book fair to learn more about it. Meeting point was at StoryDrive Info Desk, Media & Entertainment Area, Hall 4.0.
So what is licensing and merchandising? Simply put, licensing is a permission to use, distribute or sell a brand that belonging to a brand owner for a defined period of time, in a defined territory. I had few of my illustrations licensed in this manner, i.e. Hush Puppies Malaysia Hari Raya poster and few others. For Hush Puppies Raya poster, I granted a permission to use and distribute the artwork in Malaysia and Singapore for a fee.
As for merchandising, brand owner extends its brand to be produced, distribute or sold in a form of merchandising items. The agreement can be made where brand owners gets to earn royalties on the sale of that product or service. For example, if the company that manages Hush Puppies Malaysia like to extend the permission to develop my characters in the poster and sell it, this is what we call merchandising.
Licensing and Merchandising is a great way for a brand to stand out amongst the competition. Licensing and Merchandising enhances brand image and allow consumer to exhibit their love of the brand. It also generates income for the brand owner while attracts new consumers to the brand.
One of the booths we visited was Nickelodeon, the number-one entertainment brand for kids. The company does television programming and production around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, and feature films. Nickelodeon Consumer Products manages brands like SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer as well as manages merchandising for Nick Jr, Nickelodeon among others.
Nickelodeon reprentative explaning to us about the licensing and merchandising businnes of the company.
We visited few other booths including Dummies and Oetinger.
Dummies booth.
Oetinger booth.
The basic line is; we must have an established core products like books or movies/tv series before planning to go into licensing and merchandising business.
So, the number one thing that I have to come out with is a permanent character. So…I am going to develop the girl character that I always love todraw; the one with braided hair and stripey pants. Her name will be Diya. So watch out for Diya! Or maybe Diya and Friends! I remember being approached by two companies about getting my characters into movie but I didn’t have a strong character back then.
Hehe, give me a year to develop her slowly 🙂
86 Comments
soulie
chop! chop!
soulie
yeay im first w00t!
soulie
wow character Diya is gonna be famous soon!
soulie
imagine Diya as a plush toy! sure cute
emila
Yay, first!
emila
I hope so!
emila
Kan?!
Mazny
Thanks for the informative write up, Kak Emi. So, Diya, eh? Whoaa, what do you know… I am writing a new character for my very first picture book… called Dhia! (Damn, this is supposed to be a secret,lol…)
Mazny
Sure will… all the best, kak!
emila
Ya ke! What a co-incidence! Ok tu, Dhia is a nice name. Hope to read your picture book soon!
emila
Thank you!
Mazny
Hello Kitty is my all time favourite. And yes, I love Jamie Oliver’s cooking style so much. Can’t wait to see Diya as a doll like your Heidi!
Mazny
Hehe, tengah pening, Kak Em. Guess what? I try to draw Dhia’s kitten. The kitten looks like a monkey though! 🙁
emila
Hello Kitty memang best! Jamie Oliver is a brand himself! Ramai orang nak licence his books!
emila
Hehe lamabt lagi kot. Kena tulis buku dulu.
emila
Ehehhhe…cuba lagi. Cari gambar kucing untuk buat reference.
soulie
hehe when Diya become a doll like Heidi, then Diya can accompany you anywhere too!
soulie
Yeah…Jamie Oliver dasat. Even serbuk pepper pon nak pakai his name.
emila
Yes, and be my travel icon and buddy!
emila
Kan?! Kayanya dia!
Saffa
Kak Emi. All the best! I really hope that your artwork / character get the recognition it deserves and one day the first thing that come across people’s mind when they see your drawing is “Kak Emi (Emila Yusof)”. (:
mazny
Yassin tak jealous ke? Atau pelik, ibu pun ada doll? Well actually, I pun ada 😉
mazny
Yes, sangat kaya! Dia pun dapat gelaran ‘Sir’, ya? If I’m not mistaken lah. So envy the wife. Sudahlah cantik, tak payah masak. Makan sedap. Makan banyak-banyak pun tak gemuk!
mazny
Yalah, Kak Emi. I am using Jelly Bean pic as a guide. Tapi sebab berabad lamanya tak melukis. Tangan dah keras! 🙁 Nak kena rendam dalam air suam baru lembut agaknya…
Yati
Wah.. can’t wait to see it. Best of luck, Kak Emila! ^_^
Bain
Salam kak Emi. Lama betul x singgah sini. Tetiba je nak datang jenguk sini 🙂
Mariuca
chop
Mariuca
Hi Bain! Selamat Hari Raya Haji! 🙂
Mariuca
Good morning Emila, just abt to start my day! 🙂
Mariuca
This was a very good tour for you, informative indeed! 🙂
Mariuca
Glad u got the chance to expand your knowledge on licensing and what not….
Mariuca
… and thanks for sharing info with us. 🙂
Mariuca
Your Hush Pups deal is so cool, congrats! 🙂
Mariuca
Wah Diya masuk movie nanti he he! 🙂
Mariuca
So cute la your fave gal character, braidey girl with stripey pants it seems LOL!
Mariuca
Yes take your time to develop the perfect character! 🙂
Mariuca
All the best and I’ll pop in later to see what’s new here hehehehehhehehe!
Shasha Mohamed
licencing & merchandising. Hmmm…
Good luck on you Diya 😉
emila
Thanks Shasha!
emila
Heheeehehehe ok!
emila
Yes, I need to write the story too.
emila
Cute kan? LOL
emila
LOL now dunno whether got people to approach anymore.
emila
Thanks!
emila
No problem dear. Glad to share.
emila
Indeed. It gave me clear vision of what I want to do.
emila
Good morning!
emila
It was. Glad I joined the tour!
emila
Salam Bain! Lamanya Bain tak jenguk Kak Emi!
emila
Thanks dear!
emila
Thank you dear! I hope so too 🙂
emila
Tak jealous. Dia pun excited dok kendong Heidi ke hulu ke hilir…
emila
Wah! Kalau akak, mesti dah gemuk!!!
soulie
warghh marzie so many your comments!
Mariuca
Sure got one LOL! Maybe even bigger peeps yahoo! 🙂
Mariuca
Cute giler LOL!
Mariuca
He he kena la talkative sikit hahahahhaha!
Mariuca
Bestnye, am sure it will turn out awesome! 🙂
mazny
Insya-Allah, kak. Sudah ada proposalnya tapi saya kena buat dalam bentuk yang diajar semasa bengkel.
mazny
Yes, me too! Satu kg satu hari!
mazny
Ehem, ehem… Yassin nak adik, tak?! 😉
mazny
Yes, make sure Diya has many lovely dresses to change, lol.
mazny
Diya should has many dresses so the girls could play to dress her up!
mazny
Entah kenapa, I teringat Kimora Lee. That fashion icon? Dia pun suka Hello Kitty! lol…
mazny
Tak sabar tunggu buku cerita Diya!
mazny
Thanks for sharing, kak.
mazny
Kak Emi, try doing animation LOL!
mazny
Macam Upin Ipin or Boboi Boy! 😛
mazny
Please share more of it. 😀
mazny
Kak Emi, ada beli banyak buku cerita kanak-kanak tak?
mazny
Buku cerita yang menang awards susah nak dapat di Malaysia.
mazny
Di Kino pun tak banyak sangat.
mazny
Cepatlah siapkan, Kak Em! 😀
mazny
I teringin nak tengok hiasan dalaman ‘the castle bookstore’ tu.
mazny
If you got the photos, could you please share with us, ya?
mazny
Thanks in advance <3
Bain
Hi Marzie!^_^
Bain
Betul tu kak Emi. Blog Bain pun dah lama x update. nak jumpa kak Emi pun x sempat2..bz ngan keje kt opis. eeee……^_^’
kawaiidysha
best kalo ada licen untuk artwork sendiri kan
bubbles182
Can’t wait to meet Diya soon! XD
bubbles182
Later when I have kids *ehems* I hope there’ll be Diya soft toys. so i can buy for my future kids, and tell them, the creator is the one who drew for mommy’s wedding card ;p
bubbles182
all the best kak! we’ll always be here behind ur back 😀
bubbles182
and then there’ll be Diya the Movie! hehehe.
emila
LOL hehhe hopefully one day 🙂
bubbles182
pastu kalau ada watak kakak2 or mak2, leh panggil julia jd suara latar eh hehehe
emila
Hahah boleh saja!