Pritha Mitra
Media

Kids’ channels eye merchandising as the way to grow

With the increasing competition for kids’ space, channels are using associated merchandise for effective brand building

Kiddie channels seem to be on a roll – increasing channel share, swelling viewership and a fast-growing advertising market. And now, most of the channels plan to leverage these opportunities by delving into the merchandising business as well.

Jiggy George, director, Cartoon Network Enterprise, India and South Asia, says, “The Indian licensing and merchandising industry is in a nascent stage. Despite this, the size of retail sales in India is around US$ 180 billion (Rs 7,920 crore), with licensed merchandising accounting for about US$ 90 million (Rs 3,960 crore) of this. In terms of potential, India is the second biggest untapped retail market worldwide, after China.”

George adds, “On the international front, licensing sectors like entertainment, sports and corporate continue to be the main drivers, while sectors like art, music and developing technologies are growing at a rapid pace. However, in India, character-licensed merchandising rules the roost, with animation licensing reigning supreme.”

Cartoon Network Enterprises entered the merchandising business in the country earlier this year. The first phase witnessed the launch of seven categories related to Dexter’s Laboratory and the Powerpuff Girls: apparel, accessories, gifts and novelty items, stationery, rainwear, bags, toys and games. The products were launched across 1,500 retailers, with over 180 product variants.

Disney, too, has a long merchandising history in India. Now, with two channels in its kitty, the company plans to revise its merchandising business strategies here.

Rajat Jain, managing director, The Walt Disney Company (India), says, “DCP (Disney Consumer Products) and DPW (Disney Publishing Worldwide) have been operational in India for more than 10 years, and they have been adding new properties every quarter.”

Jain elaborates, “Now, with the launch of the two channels, we plan to become more aggressive and capture a sizeable part of the Indian market across categories with more initiatives like the Disney Princess dolls.”

The Disney Princess dolls and the role-play range that accompanies them were launched in on-ground events at lifestyle stores in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi (Gurgaon). The product line was supported by the Disney channel and all Disney divisions.

Jain continues, “The merchandising industry in India or any other part of the world would include everything that is available for sale in the market. Each product category would be further divided into niche segments. For example, toys would comprise infant/pre-school toys, soft toys, puzzles, games, dolls, role play/dress-ups, etc. The unorganised sector forms a big part of the market across any category.”

Even a channel like Hungama, which is just a year old is planning to try its luck in the merchandising segment.

Siddharth Roy Kapoor, senior vice-president, marketing and communications, UTV Group, says, “In just one year, Hungama TV has already developed characters that have found their way into kids’ hearts across the country. The logical next step is to progress these characters into the merchandising space. Licensing and merchandising is definitely an area that we are interested in both to further drive the relationship between our on-air properties and our viewers and to serve as an additional revenue stream for the business.”

Nick plans to venture into third-party licensing in a big way and emphasise the marketing and creative aspects of brand-building.

Sanjeev Hiremath, senior vice-president, licensing, merchandising and consumer products, MTV Networks India, says, “Nick offers great opportunities with not just the Nick brand, but also various Nickelodeon characters such as Spongebob and Jimmy Neutron. Having made a start in the merchandising business, we are looking to get aggressive in this segment in the 4-14 age groups.”

The channels’ aggressive marketing plans assume more significance in the light of the growing competition among them for visibility. More so when you consider that the merchandising industry has not been completely explored so far by any of them.

George says, “The specialised and merchandising divisions are co-related. While a programme’s popularity drives the merchandising business based on its characters, the characters help in entertaining the child while he watches the programme.”

Rajat Jain agrees with this viewpoint and says, “Merchandising definitely helps to reach children on a personal level. It also provides a chance to extend a brand into different mediums and reach out to the same consumer through different touch points. Today, with so many kiddie channels, consumers are getting exposed to a wider selection of characters and this offers more opportunities to expand the merchandising business.”

© 2005 agencyfaqs!

Have news to share? Write to us atnewsteam@afaqs.com