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Interactive Licensing Done Right!
Here we go again … this week is the International Licensing Show in New York City, the preeminent annual gathering of folks looking to license and merchandise everything from coffee mugs to apparel. In that mix of 168 distinct licensing categories, “interactive” looms large as a potential revenue generator, and some sources believe it will even eclipse toys and games as the primary category in the long run.
From my point of view though, that simply isn't going to happen until licensors overcome some misconceptions about the interactive entertainment industry and learn how to properly engage and collaborate with that industry day-to-day instead of once or a few times a year.
For example, if you believe that hanging out your shingle at the Licensing Show and several other licensing and merchandising trade shows is going to allow you to meet all of your potential buyers/interactive licensees, you are sorely mistaken. Fewer than 10% of interactive publishers are represented at these shows, and fewer than 1% of game development studios are present.
Most of the majors (EA, Activision, THQ, etc.) will make it to the Big Apple, and while these good folks are important to meet and know, you also need to understand the acquisition parameters they are under. With very few exceptions, the licenses of interest to the top publishers must already have global penetration, be supported by strong non-interactive marketing budgets for cross-promotion, lend themselves to game design on multiple hardware platforms (EA does no single-platform acquisitions), and have reasonable expectations as to their value.
The latter point is critical. We all know that brand recognition is important at retail, but when interactive publishers run their models on a game, they evaluate it both ways -- as branded and unbranded -- if it can, in fact, be made unbranded. Unless the attachment of the license is perceived to increase potential sales by a margin substantially higher than the cost of the acquiring the license, they will make the game unbranded.
For example, in the early days of gaming, FOG did “Champions Forever,” bringing together the licensing rights of Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, Ken Norton and George Foreman, to create a great boxing game. This was when boxing was in its heyday and the key personalities were inseparable from the sport itself. Today, the top console boxing game from Electronic Arts is “Fight Night,” which is totally unbranded.
So if you aren't the NFL or Nickelodeon, who can expect to sit back and be courted by the interactive industry, what kind of interactive strategy should you pursue …
Click here to read the full article
»
Archive of previous columns.
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Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Focus: Service developer for flash and 3-D casual games.
Facts: Services include pre-rendered cinematics, 3-D modeling & 2-D/3-D animations, 2-D pixel art and animation, programming, game design and technical design documents, UI design, and game life-cycle for flash productions.
Huminah Huminah Interactive? Yes, that's the unlikely name of this Nova Scotia-based service developer, which shouldn't be too unfamiliar to fans of TV's "The Honeymooners" in which Jackie Gleason would resort to saying “huminah, huminah, huminah …” whenever he was flustered.
But Huminah Huminah Interactive -- a division of 3-year-old Huminah Huminah Animation -- is far from being flustered, having created over 50 flash and 3-D casual games in its short 1-year-plus history. A staff of 25-45 developers responds quickly to the needs of clients who may require anything and everything from game design documents to completed games, from soup-to-nuts.
Clients for their flash casual games division include hi-profile companies like Nickelodeon, Brandissimo (for which they created games for their Urbanics Web site), Hasbro, and MTV.
Meanwhile, their 3-D services division -- which does modeling and animation work for cinematics and in-game animation on all three next-gen consoles as well as PC -- is currently working with Activision, Wayforward, and Brandissimo on various projects.
Even though the Canadian dollar is quite strong now, there are two important advantages to outsourcing work to Huminah Huminah, says executive producer Adam Mimnagh: “First of all, Halifax, Nova Scotia, here in Canada, is one of the most cost-effective places in the world to produce creative services for games because the cost of living is so low, significantly lower than in such places as LA, Montreal, and Toronto.
“At the same time, in an attempt to increase service production for new media, the Nova Scotia government is offering a tax credit in this province which allows us to pass a savings of almost 17% of production costs back to our clients. That's why we can pretty much outprice anyone in our business,” he says. “And so we're inviting anyone who wants to outsource work to us to come and see what we can do.”
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DBG Launches Creative Licensing Program For Kindermusik.
San Francisco-based licensing agency Dimensional Branding Group (DBG) was selected to represent Kindermusik International®, the leading music and movement program for children from birth through age seven. Nearly 5,500 licensed educators in over 66 countries use Kindermusik's rigorously researched, developmentally appropriate curricula, CDs, books, instruments, games, posters, and activities to bring the joy of music to children. At the same time, Kindermusik-licensed products expose children to the cognitive, social, and emotional benefits of music and movement, preparing them for pre-school and kindergarten.
To view Kindermusik and all DBG's brands, visit booth #3573 at Licensing International Expo 2008 June 10-12 in New York City. To schedule a meeting,
e-mail Mary-Jane O'Connor, licensing coordinator, or call her at 415-459-6500.
Witchblade To Hit The Big Screen.
Platinum Studios in LA has partnered with Top Cow Productions and film sales company Arclight Films on the adaptation of Top Cow's fantasy thriller comic book franchise “Witchblade.” The producers expect to begin shooting in September in Australia.
Arclight CEO Gary Hamilton and head of production operations Nigel Odell will produce with Platinum Studios' CEO Scott Mitchell Rosenberg and Steve Squillante of Havenwood Media. Top Cow CEO Marc Silvestri and president Matt Hawkins will serve as executive producers with Platinum's Rich Marincic and Randy Greenberg of the Greenberg Group and Platinum's general counsel Helene Pretsky, both of whom negotiated the deal.
Platinum Studios's film slate includes “Atlantis Rising” and “Cowboys And Aliens” at DreamWorks, “Unique” at Walt Disney Pictures, and “Dead Of Night” with Hyde Park Entertainment.
Huru Humi To Be Demonstrated At Licensing Show.
Huru Humis are artificial digital friends targeted at girls 8-12. Pronounced “Who Are You? Who Am I?” each Huru Humi has a unique personality and story that promotes self-discovery and socialization through interactive play patterns. The Huru Humis enable tween girls to experience the high school culture that they aspire to.
To view Huru Humis, visit Dimensional Branding Group's booth #3573 at Licensing International Expo 2008 June 10-12 in New York City. To schedule a meeting,
e-mail Mary-Jane O'Connor, DBG licensing coordinator, or call 415-459-6500.
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Ping us by clicking on the
appropriate link. We are currently
looking for the following:
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Wanted: iPhone porting opportunities.
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Wanted: iPhone RFPs.
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Wanted: Experienced console developer ready to take their company to a new level.
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Wanted: Casual game developers looking for ongoing project flow.
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Wanted: 50-MB or less unpublished sports games for the PC online space.
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Wanted: Developers or publishers with open internship positions for college students in game development programs.
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Wanted: Industry veterans seeking to leave a legacy and share their experience with the next
generation.
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FOG Studios, the leading agency for
interactive rights since 1979,
helps:
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Independent developers find
publishing partners and other
avenues to market. |
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IP owners maximize their return
when licensing in the interactive
marketplace. |
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Publishers develop relationships
with world-class brands and top
developers. |
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A Friend Of FOG
Fredericton, Canada-based Radian6 provides the social media monitoring solution for PR and advertising professionals. The company's flexible “dashboard” tracks all forms of social media with results appearing in real-time as they are discovered.
Clients are able to determine immediately what's having an impact online and be first to alert others on evolving issues. Clients analyze the captured information using a variety of mini-apps called widgets whose results can be exported for inclusion in reports or e-mails to clients.
And for that reason -- for their ability to determine who or what is having the biggest impact on your brand -- they are now a Friend of FOG. |
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DCWL |
Art outsourcing project with Blitz Games. |
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DCWL |
Art outsourcing project; publisher TBA. |
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Matahari Studios |
Art outsourcing project with World Golf Tour. |
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Infinite Interactive |
Unannounced MMOG project; publisher TBA. |
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Nibris |
Unannounced Nintendo DS/Wii project; publisher TBA. |
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This is not a complete listing of the
opportunities available through FOG
Studios. To request more information on
any of the featured opportunities,
discuss other opportunities exclusively
represented by FOG Studios, or to
determine the availability of any of
our Developer or Service Provider
Clients for your upcoming projects,
please
click here.
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