Brands Media organized a workshop at the occasion of last MipcomJr.
The invited speakers were Anna Hewitt, Licensing Director, Europe, Spin Master, Boris Hertzog, Chief Executive Officer, Technicolor Animation Productions and Philippe Soutter, CEO, PGS entertainment.
The main topics was about to adapt brands, and specifically toy brands, into tv series. Not always kids licensing hits begin as tv phenomenon. Now days there are more and more iconic brands, based on social trends or well-known toys which aim to access into the small screen to capture a wider audience still keen to follow popular tv trends.
On the other side, film and tv producers look for kids and iconic brands to develop into tv series and to create brand-new tv hits with high licensing potentialities and solid basis.
During the workshop, Anna Hewitt focused on the brand development of Spin Master’s toy brands, with a special mention to the success and development of Paw Patrol.
On the other side, Boris Hertzog and Philippe Soutter explained how they developed Sekiguchi’s Toy brand Monchicchi into a tv series, respecting the richness of the characters and creating new backgrounds. In this case they created all new original stories, enhancing the collectible aspect of the toy line.
An iconic brand gives a high additional value to a tv series at the condition that the development is appropriate and loyal to the brand ID and gives something new at the same time. At all effects, it is a way to develop a spin-off of a well known brand as something totally new and everything it implies in terms of licensing development.
