Bulldog Licensing has revealed its plans for next month’s Licensing Expo, where it will be promoting its strong line-up of brands.
The agency will be discussing Care Bears, Magic Mixies, Odo, Miraculous, Me to You and Sesame Street among others during its time in Las Vegas.
Care Bears celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022 and brand owner, Cloudco Entertainment has been able to reveal that, from a good base in 2019, retail sales of Care Bears in the UK have grown 894% to the end of 2022, with further strong growth expected in 2023.
Bulldog Licensing has recently welcomed a wide range of partners that include Gibsons Games for jigsaw puzzles, Flamingo Candles for candles, Pawprint Trading for pin badges and embroidered badges, plus Famous Forever for apparel including t-shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts.
Meanwhile, Bulldog and brand owner Moose Toys are building on Magic Mixies’ strength at retail, most recently in categories that include nightwear, health and beauty and lunchware. They are now in advanced discussion with a number of partners across secondary toy, arts and crafts, publishing, home and soft lines, with new announcements expected shortly.
Preschool brand Odo has now been sold to 145 countries and many major broadcasters. Season one airs weekdays on Milkshake in the UK, while season two has been commissioned and is currently in development.
The first two English language Odo book titles from master publisher Macmillan were published in March 2023 and one – Super Owl – was included in the Milkshake Mornings live readings of books for kids at Parkdean Resorts, the UK’s largest holiday park operator.
Partners signed by Bulldog for the Odo UK licensing programme include master toy partner Wow Stuff, Poetic Brands, RJ Bags, Roy Lowe and Rainbow Productions.
Meanwhile, with over $1 billion+ in retail sales, Miraculous – Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir has already notched up more than 29 million subscribers across social media and over 35 billion views on YouTube. Playmates Toys is the brand’s master toy partner together with ZAG, with distribution by Bandai in the UK. Miraculous-inspired toys continue to see strong sales and growth year on year. This is supported by a cross-category licensing programme including apparel, accessories, health and beauty, games and homewares.
Bulldog is also aiming to take the, already impressive, reach of the Me to You brand to the next level. Achieving around $200m in retail sales value each year, Tatty Teddy is already one of the most popular character brands on the market and has a full, cross-category licensing programme reaching ladies, children and infant markets.
New deals in the wellness and homeware categories, as well as Just Play’s toy range, have been further boosted by Sesame Street‘s successful and growing presence on Tiny Pop in the UK. There are now six Sesame Street programmes on the channel, all of which regularly top the viewing charts.
In addition, Sesame Street Mecha Builders, airing on Milkshake, and a successful YouTube channel, make Sesame Street one of the UK’s must-have brands.
“It’s been another busy year for Bulldog Licensing as we build on established hits and continue to grow new favourites,” commented Rob Corney, group md at Bulldog Licensing. “From adventure and magic to comedy and classics, we think we have a lot to offer would-be partners across a wide range of kids’ and family brands.”
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