SONIC THE HEDGEHOG – STILL UNSTOPPABLE! - Kazachok

International
K.: What are your
strongest properties?
L.T.: The evergreen
properties such as
Dora the Explorer and
SpongeBob SquarePants have always done
well in the French market. Dora has sold over
12 million books in this market alone, that’s
more than one book per French child, and TF1
video recently released new Dora the Explorer
DVDs with beautifully embossed sleeves that
make them desirable for
collectors and keep the
title fresh.
56 Kazachok Licensing Mag’ Janvier - Mars 12
K.: What will be your next hit?
L.T.: Along with our partners we’re very excited
about the upcoming return of Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles which will be a core focus for us in
2012/2013. Also on our slate in our ‘Something
for Everyone’ portfolio will be hot new teen/
tween property Victorious which has already
turned into a smash hit for Nickelodeon after
a relatively recent launch. We’re excited about
bringing a new line of Victorious apparel and
electronics etc to the French market.
strategy
interviewed by V.G.
Nickelodeon
European executives’
points of view
K.: What are your
strongest properties?
A.N.: As with so many
other teams, Sponge-
Bob SquarePants
is one of our strongest titles topping
broadcast ratings in Germany. We’re
particularly excited about the relaunch
of Dora the Explorer consumer products
over the next year that will see a completely
re-vamped and diverse product
offering and a whole new consumer products
programme roll out. The MTV brand
also continues to perform well for us in
Germany as part of the VIMN ‘Something
for Everyone’ offering. Our live-action
series, such as iCarly, Victorious and
Laurent Taieb Vice President, NCP South, covering France, Italy, Greece
based in Paris
Big Time Rush are also becoming very
strong properties for us with huge success
across the teen/tween press.
K.: What will be your next hit?
A.N.: Product innovation is key for new
properties (as well as keeping more
established ones fresh) and we’re particularly
excited about some of the products
we’re developing in the consumer
electronics category such as the electric
toothbrushes that Lutter & Partner is
creating for example. In the toy sector we
also have a really exciting new product,
the SpongeBob SquarePants Carrera
Slot Cars from Stadlbauer – to name only
two products. In terms of titles, there is
no doubt that the return of the Teenage
K.: What makes you different from the
other European offices?
L.T.: While sharing the core objectives of NCP’s
international offices of course, we also find
that in this market particularly we’re currently
seeing high-end design filter down into mass
market products. As well as current projects,
in the past we’ve collaborated with a number
of high-profile designers such as ATELIERS
RUBY, CORINNE COBSON, and RTOWN to
create specific lines around properties such as
Dora the Explorer and
SpongeBob Square-
Pants.
Andreas Niedergesäss Vice President, NCP North, covering GAS,
Benelux, Nordics operating from Berlin and Dusseldorf
Mutant Ninja Turtles will create a lot of
excitement amongst new and die-hard
fans alike.
K.: What makes you different from the
other European offices?
A.N.: In Germany we have one of the most
diverse and varied Retail markets in the
world. There are less hypermarkets but
lots of NTOs/discounters positioned in
different ways to other European countries.
In terms of our consumers, they are more
conservative when it comes to licensing
than in France, Iberia and Benelux or the
Netherlands. It’s crucial that we invest
even more time to establish our properties
but once they work they tend to perform
incredibly well.