Lots of novelties presented at Brand Licensing Europe in London.
Turner, WarnerMedia company, publisher in Italy of the kids channels Cartoon Network and Boomerang on Sky platform, and Boing and Cartoonito channels on DTT in joint-venture with RTI Mediaset, during London Brand Licensing Europe presented the licensing agreements developed in EMEA for the Cartoon Network iconic TV series, The Amazing World of Gumball.
The show created by Ben Bocquelet is made with a mixed technique that combines traditional, three-dimensional animation and live action wallpapers and narrates the adventures and misadventures of Gumball Watterson, a blue cat who lives with his family in the city of Elmore.
The Amazing World of Gumball, produced at the studios of Cartoon Network EMEA in London, has won numerous international prizes and awards – including 3 BAFTA – over the years and has found its rightful place in licensing in various EMEA markets. In addition to Italy, in fact, Spain, Portugal, the Middle East and Poland have recorded very positive developments in this field.
In Italy, after the great sales success on the occasion of the Cartoon Network Pop Up Town, the product launch is planned for 2019 in many categories as clothing, food, newsstands. Of great importance for the Food sector, the new agreement dedicated to Easter 2019 with Wal-Cor company, the leading Italian producer of chocolate eggs. Furthermore, important partnerships will be announced by Turner over the next few months. The appointment with the series is on Cartoon Network (Sky channel 607) every day, at 5.00 pm.
In Spain and Portugal, The Amazing World of Gumball is a leader in clothing and back-to-school categories with El Corte Ingles, Zippy and the Portuguese chain of hypermarkets Continenteche, and it is expanding the growth of large consumption with over 100 different food and beverage products launched in the last two years. This trend is set to continue in 2019 with new products, including soups, yogurt and desserts.
The licensing agreements in the Middle East are instead focused on events and promotional offers. This summer the first live show events were launched in the shopping centres of Dubai and Doha, as well as the first promotion in the fast food restaurants of the region which involved over 300 KUDU chain stores. Finally, the partnership for The Amazing World of Gumball continues with the IMG World of Adventure theme park in Dubai, which reconfirms itself as the favourite place for the fans of the property where it is possible to purchase the official series merchandise, available in souvenir shops on site.
In Poland, Edipresse will shortly launch a bi-monthly magazine, four special editions and, in 2019, new books dedicated to The Amazing World of Gumball. The company has decided to continue investing in this direction, after the incredible success achieved by a first publication which, in just four months, has exceeded annual sales forecasts. Furthermore, the BWP Group continues to organize Gumball-inspired children’s events in shopping centres, which are a great success.
