Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ Shannon Spisak on how consumers have a renewed connection with nostalgia and how the brand is benefiting.
From Belgium to the US, LicensingSource chats to a selection of licensors and agents based outside of the UK to find out their takeaways from 2021, what they see as the biggest opportunities and challenges for licensing moving through 2022, their aims and what word they would use to describe business in both the year just gone and the current one.
Today – US: Shannon Spisak, vp of marketing, Dr. Seuss Enterprises.
“Throughout 2020 and 2021, Dr. Seuss Enterprises continued to see enthusiasm for the iconic properties within our portfolio despite the challenging environment of the pandemic. There seemed to be a renewed connection with nostalgia, and we were there to help.
Our business has seen steady and sustained growth as a result. From Oh, The Places You’ll Go, which continues to be an inspirational title especially around graduation time to How The Grinch Stole Christmas, which had a banner year in 2021, both domestically and internationally with many fans embracing the character and high demand for licensing.
We also celebrated the 50th anniversary of The Lorax with a licensing programme that focused on sustainability and also partnered with The Old Vic in London for a streamed performance of The Lorax Musical in April.
As we continue to see the universal appeal of Dr. Seuss expand and how excited fans are, we are looking to create partnerships with companies that meet fans where they are. In addition to aligning with best-in-class apparel, giftware, and other merchandising partners, we’re also exploring cutting edge platforms. For example, we are partnering with Dapper Labs to bring the first Dr. Seuss NFT experience to fans throughout 2022.
Also, seeing the surge in popularity of audio during the pandemic, including podcasts and audiobooks, we recently signed a deal with Tonies to bring Dr. Seuss titles to the platform. We are also hard at work developing several film projects with Warner Bros. Animation, as well as expanding programmes with our key stage and theme park production partners.”
This feature originally appeared in the spring 2022 edition of Licensing Source Book. To read the full publication, click on this link.
Want to read more news like this? Simply sign up to our daily digest by clicking here. You can also follow @LicensingSource on Twitter and @licensing_source on Instagram.
