TOTAL LICENSING
business up based on both TV and require pan-Nordic brand and charac- After a decline in the 90s due to lack
merchandise rights. That really helped ter awareness and pan-Nordic pres- of publishing, superheroes are now
us build our portfolio because the ence on the media and toy markets. back in a big way. The future looks
TV side gave us a platform to launch Meanwhile, Scandinavia’s reputation very promising, particularly as super-
the merchandise. Our chairman and as “early adapters” in terms of new heroes without any high local aware-
founder Morten Geschwendtner has technological gadgetry has seen new ness, such as Iron Man, have been
a strong background in TV, entertain- product fields and categories open up able to capture new audiences, while
ment and toy licensing. for licensing activities, and also given parents are able to enjoy and share
Times have changed, however. The Scandinavian computer game develop- the experience of the classic heroes
money you could make in entertain- ers a strong position on the interna- with their children. The expansion
ment five years ago is not the money tional market. of Marvel’s hero franchises through
you could make now. It used to be The Nordic region has since long movies and television programming
50-50 entertainment been a stronghold for classic proper- should be able to ensure the longev-
/merchandise. Now ties, with a focus on the “funny animal” ity that is vital in the Nordic market.
merchandise is stron- genre. A true publishing evergreen in At present, Spider-Man is the leading
ger; there are more Sweden and Denmark is H.A. and Mar- superhero property for boys. While
opportunities. We gret Rey’s Curious George, first ap- the movies have fueled the interest,
don’t see any major pearing here already in the 1950s and Spider-Man had been able to keep an
differences for most during recent years in the center of an ongoing trend that began ahead of the
of our properties in extensive licensing and promotional release of the first film, through toys
any given country program. Disney has long publishing and television. Today, the Spider-Man
compared to any traditions in the Nordic countries and licensing program sells steadily and en-
other. Most of them also launched their own TV channels, joys good shelf space at retail; in par-
are big in all territo- and the region’s own most influential ticular, the toys from Hasbro continue
ries. Bratz is the only contribution to the funny animal genre, to perform well.
exception: it’s a very Tove Jansson’s Moomin, has of course DC superheroes like Batman and Su-
trend-based prop- become an international success. perman lack regular publishing but are
erty. thus one year The Nordic market was also very visible through television and movies.
it will be really big quick to take on comic strips Pea- In the fantasy and science fiction genre,
in Denmark and the nuts and Garfield. The Peanuts strip Star Wars: The Clone Wars has success-
next in Sweden”. first launched in 1954 and the Gar- fully been launched theatrically and is on
field strip in 1980, in each case only its way to Nordic television channels.
Finally to Plus Li- a few years after their beginnings in British pre-school properties are also
cens, the longest the US. The extensive ongoing Pea- traditionally strong in the Nordic mar-
running of the ‘big three’ agents in the nuts licensing program has been run- kets.
territory and still one of the biggest in ning for about a decade and is still Following the enormous success
the region. strong, while the Garfield publishing of Bob the Builder, a number of re-
Peder Tamm, Chairman of program in Scandinavia is report- lated pre-school programs were
Plus Licens, gave us his opin- edly the most powerful in the world. launched - some successful and some
ion on the Nordic marketplace. Hello Kitty was launched into the not. Teletubbies, with its exception-
“In product merchandising in general, Nordic market in 2006, with H&M’s ally low target age group, is still
apparel still is the most important successful apparel program as a show- very popular in the Nordic region.
category in the Nordic region. For piece. Kitty’s face is also seen on sta- From the US, Nickelodeon has been
design properties in this category, the tionery, plasters, babyware, confec- the most successful provider of pre-
general rule that licensing requires tionery, clocks. A Hello Kitty comic school properties. Dora the Explorer,
intense media presence and/or well- magazine was launched in Sweden, with its combination of educational
established toy programs can some- Norway and Finland in August and values and entertaining girl adventures,
times be overruled, as fashion prop- the new TV series featuring Kitty has is very popular. Pre-school properties
erties often have cross-generational been sold to TV channels through- are generally TV-driven and a show
appeal and are able to work without out the Nordic area. must be placed in at least three of
a story-telling origin. Hello Kitty is Superheroes have a long the four larger Nordic countries
an example where TV series and publishing tradition in to create the possibility
publishing are a consequence rather the Nordic countries,
than a cause of a strong merchandis- Superman was intro-
ing program. But however impressive duced in 1939 and The
as such, these are still exceptions and Phantom has been
the general rule remains that suc- published locally for a
cessful pan-Nordic licensing activities number of decades.
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