Asian licensing agent to turn Filipino brand’s stickers into merchandise.
Leading messaging app, Rakuten Viber has teamed with Medialink in a deal which will see the Hong Kong-based licensing agency build a merchandising programme across the Philippines around its popular sticker characters.
Violet, LegCat, Freddie, Lola and the rest of the Viber gang have been an integral part of the messaging app users’ daily conversations, encouraging them to communicate and express themselves in a more genuine and playful manner.
Over two billion stickers are sent globally on Viber each month, while a survey conducted by the company showed that over 90% of Filipino respondents were familiar with the app’s sticker characters.
On top of this, more than 85% said they were interested in owning Viber character branded products.
“Medialink brings solid expertise, knowledge and great passion to help us take our massively successful sticker characters into the real world in the Philippines – a market with an 85% interest in owning Viber-branded products,” commented Matan Kaufman, product marketing director at Viber. “Just knowing that Viber fans will soon get to extend their love for Violet, LegCat and other characters in more tangible quality ways is truly exciting and a great step into deepening our relationship with our audience of over one billion users globally.”
Noletta Chiu, executive director at Medialink, added: “We know that this venture will be a success because Viber’s sticker characters are already so ingrained in the everyday chats of Filipinos.
“It’s only natural that consumers will embrace them even more fully through official merchandise. It’s an exciting venture for Rakuten Viber and Medialink is incredibly honoured to be part of it.”
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