Gift Focus - Jan/Feb 2020 (Issue 117)

31 HOT PROPERTY LICENSING CHINA LAUNCHES ALONGSIDE TOY & EDU CHINA The highly-praised licensing product zone in Toy & Edu China, Licensing China, has upgraded to become an individual fair. It will be held concurrently with Toy & Edu China and Baby & Stroller China at the new venue, the Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Centre. The fairs will take place from the 6 th to 8 th of March 2020, an earlier date to capture the full potential of the main sourcing season in China, after the Chinese New Year. Licensing China will be the country’s only licensing fair during the first half of the year and will provide coverage across a comprehensive range of product groups: animation and character licensing, as well as Intellectual Property (IP) licensing for sports, brands, arts and culture. The trademarks are applicable to a wide range of industries, including toys and baby products and during the fair a mascot parade will be held to showcase exhibitors’ IPs and characters. Licensing International recently published its 2019 Annual Global Licensing Industry Survey , which reported a steady 3.2 per cent annual growth in global retail sales of licensed merchandise during 2018. Worth USD 280.3 billion, apparel and toys took the largest market shares, the highest growth and demand has come from Asia and South America. In China, the demand for character merchandising is promising, with more animation series available to consumers the audience has become familiar with more characters. The younger generations of Chinese consumers tend to have higher levels of disposable income and are also more likely to purchase character merchandise, particularly those that crossover with fashion and lifestyle products. Outside of the toy and baby product industry, Messe Frankfurt’s global resources attract more potential trade buyers for Licensing China from different industries, such as home textiles, apparel, lifestyle products and stationery. MY ICON STORY TEAMS UP WITH SANRIO My Icon Story has been developing an exciting range of personalised gifts with Sanrio for Mr Men and Little Miss. This will become My Icon Story’s first children’s licensed character brand joining other licensed ranges including Love Hearts, Natural History Museum and Transport for London. My Icon Story will be adding a collection of Mr Men and Little Miss classic character icons to its original design-your-own print platform on its website. Staying true to My Icon Story’s signature style, all classic characters have been recreated in outline format so customers will soon be able to feature a Mr Men or Little Miss character on a personalised My Icon Story print. Supporting the icon collection is a new product range including personalised personality canvases as well as decorative blocks featuring character love matches. The personality canvases, suitably named The Mr Men in Me and The Little Miss in Me, will give customers the opportunity to choose four characters that represent their personality – you’re never just one character. The character love matches offer something new and fun for loved-up couples and have been designed to appeal to Valentine’s Day gift buyers and those in the wedding market. They say opposites attract but which Mr Men or Little Miss character are partners? Customers can select two classic characters and a tagline of their choice from: #couplegoals, the perfect love match, or 100 per cent compatible. The company’s founder Laura Lane says, “Mr Men and Little Miss are so iconic and growing up I had the full collection of books. Everyone can associate with multiple characters and it’s this that inspired our new personality prints. The Little Miss in me is definitely Little Miss Busy, Little Miss Fun, Little Miss Curious and Little Miss Stubborn.” Wild & wolf partners with wild life charity Award-winning design-led gifting company Wild & Wolf is pleased to announce a new partnership with international wildlife charity Born Free that will see donated profits from its Yes Studio Animal Multi-Tools go to the charity to assist in the comapny’s mission to protect wild animals. The innovative Multi-Tools are part of Wild & Wolf’s popular lifestyle brand Yes Studio, which are shaped to model three endangered animals. They’re included in Yes Studio’s spring/ summer 2020 collection. There are three animal-shaped multi-tools in the range: the giant panda on-the-go multi-tool, black rhino urban multi-tool and sea turtle bike multi-tool, each featuring eight different functions such as a bottle opener, hex wrench, flat head screwdriver, comb, nail file and more. The practical gadgets are travel-friendly and can be attached to any bag or keyring via an included coloured carabiner. The global agreement began in November 2019 and will see 40p/40 cents for every unit sold donated to Born Free to support its worldwide effort protecting wild species and save animals from suffering. Matt Smithers, head of marketing and fundraising at Born Free says, “We’re delighted to be partnering with Wild & Wolf and their range of Yes Studio Animal Multi-Tools. Born Free has been working to protect wild animals since 1984, and Wild & Wolf shares our vision of a future where animals thrive in the wild, where animals are not exploited and where animals and people-co- exist. We’re confident that these new multi-tools will help spread our message to Keep Wildlife in the Wild.”