Gone are the days when watching a superhero movie with the kids required the purchase of just tickets and maybe some popcorn and cold drinks.
Now there are toys, shirts, notebooks, bags, pencil cases, blankets, buttons, folders, fast-food tie-ins and other sundry items that carry the superhero’s image catching the eye of children, and even adults. Even the popcorn and soda probably come in tumblers with the movie’s logo. Welcome to the world of product merchandising and licensing.
Wallace Tay is one of three partners that run Pacific Licensing Studio (PLS), a Singapore-based licensor of many top consumer brands. PLS’ local arm hosted a licensing rights trade show recently.
The appeal of acquiring licenses for various items is basic, says Tay: “The pitfalls for the businessman are very minimal, because the licensed images are well-known characters, so they’re not difficult to sell.”
Full slate
For instance, the Warner Brothers DC comics franchise “has a very full slate for the next three years,” Tay points out. “For 2011, we have ‘Green Lantern’ and the ‘Wonder Woman’ TV series. Then for 2012, there’s Christopher Nolan’s new Batman installment, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and the Superman reboot, ‘Man of Steel.’ And for 2013 to 2014, there’s the ‘Flash’ movie and an all-star ‘Justice League.’”
Despite the differing tones—Nolan’s films, for instance, are unapologetically dark, while “Green Lantern” and “Man of Steel” are expected to be lighter—Tay says their partners always think a step ahead. “For movies, they target teens and adults. After the release of a movie, our studio partner always releases a new animated tie-in series,” he says. “It’s always launched at the back of each series, and it’s all CGI (computer-generated imagery). So we give both adults and kids something to look forward to.”
The product licensing business is so attractive, Tay says, that the challenge is how to say no to some potential partners. “We can’t, for instance, approve alcoholic tie-ins or sex products. I once had a guy come in to my office, very excited and saying, ‘I want to work with you on Superman … I’m producing condoms [and] Superman’s strong and liked by both men and women!’” Needless to say, the guy got turned down. That wouldn’t have worked with Batman, either.
Strict screening
Practically any product can be licensed to add value to its selling capability, but there are pointers to remember, adds Neal Rudge, one of Tay’s PLS partners: “Companies like to buy into brand awareness; the critical thing is knowing not just how to make a good product, but how to sell it.”
Rudge says they have strict screening methods for prospective partners. There’s also a stringent production process that requires three levels of approval before a piece of merchandise gets to the shelves.
Explains Tay: “When we present a new opportunity to possible manufacturers, they get so excited and want everything. We always have to remind them to slow down, do their homework, zoom in on products they know they can do.”
PLS is open to getting new licensors, including Filipino characters from TV, film and print. “There’s been a huge growth in Southeast Asia. Unlike the North American and European markets, the Asian market didn’t suffer much from the economic downturn,” notes Rudge. “This trade show is a big ‘Store Open’ sign in terms of how we network. We’re casting the net a bit wider.”