Angry Birds is about to celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2024, being one of the most well-recognised consumer brands in the word.
Recent highlights include new TV series to be released on Prime Video, location-based entertainment experience, and fantastic products partnerships.
Angry Birds is a fan favourite with over 5 billion downloads, 25 million social media followers, and 96% brand awareness. Rovio Entertainment created the brand in 2009 as a popular mobile game that has developed into a global media empire over the yers. The franchise includes two features films, a long-form Netflix series and a second log-form series coming to Prime Video, as well as location-based entertainment experience.
Today, it is regarded as an evergreen brand, and it is about to celebrate its 15th anniversary in December 2024, with year-long events planned. Especially in light of this milestone, it is constantly on the lookout for new partners in a variety of industries that are a wonderful fit for Angry Birds.
The brand already has hardlines, softlines, F&B and LBE partners for different regions for the anniversary, but is open to all opportunities for fresh, fun, and intriguing partnerships.
This year for the first time the Angry Birds brand’s consumer products, location-based entertainment licensing and publishing rights were consolidated under one global agency, IMG. The agency has been managing the licensing program since August 2020 but in the beginning of this year, they also acquired publishing rights. With this new addition, they are looking to expand the franchise’s current publishing programme, which included regional deals with Penguin Children’s Puffin, and Nordic publishing house Storytel, with new global and regional deals for books, comic books, audiobooks and activity books featuring the brand’s beloved characters. However, the collaboration with IMG is spawning a multitude of new partnership across the board.
One of the most-watched kids’ brand
Angry Birds was one of the most-watched brands among kids 8-16 in the US and UK in 2022 (Kids Know Best Study). One upcoming release to watch in the audiovisual sphere is Angry Birds Mystery Island, an Animated Series from Rovio Entertainment and Titmouse, with the collaboration of the author Eric Rogers (Futurama), for Prime Video and Amazon Kids+.
In the upcoming series, the Hatchlings, Rovio’s cherished young birds, must cooperate with their new piglet buddy to survive on a desert island with mysterious supernatural elements.
The animated series features an ensemble cast that includes Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows), Kate Micucci (Scooby-Doo!), Dominic Monaghan (The Lord of the Rings), and Nasim Pedrad (Saturday Night Live). The show promises a lot of fun, mystery, and adventure over the course of 24 episodes in the first season, with irreverent humor and pop culture reference that everyone in the family will appreciate. Angry Birds Mystery Island introduces three new Hatchling characters, Mia, Rosle, and Buddy, as well as a foreign-exchange piglet named Hamylton, and follows their adventures when they are accidentally flung onto an unexplored island. Without any grownups to guide them through the foreign sights, scents, and unexplained phenomena of their new surroundings, the motley group quickly realises that in order to survive and return home, they must work together to solve the island’s mysteries.
The Angry Birds YouTube channel is also an important and growing platform for the brand, with new short-form animated series and fun content videos being released regularly. It currently has over 6 million subscribers, 7.8 billion lifetime views and 258 million hours watched. Watchtime continues to increase due to fun, engaging and versatile content offering – comparing H1 2023 to H1 2022, its growth was of 42%. Angry Birds movies are distributed in over 120 platforms globally, continuing to engage and gain attraction.
Stunning LBE experiences
In LBE, the brand is doing excellently. Anbry Birds versatile portfolio already includes an amusement park, activity parks, interactive experiences, games and events around the globe. The latest endeavors include a partnership with Immersive Gamebox who established a life-size Angry Birds gaming experience in more than 20 locations around the United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and Germany last year.
SCG America opened an Angry Birds-themed café in New York City. The over 300-square-meter cafe is called iSwill by Angry Birds and is the first Angry Birds retail cafe in the word.
The complete article is available in the new issue of Licensing Magazine, here.
