TOTAL LICENSING
Although Greece
Licensing in Greece is a relatively new Of course, certain of the Disney with Hakan Durdag, owner of Li-
has a relatively
phenomenon although, as perhaps one movies have had success such as cens SA in Turkey.
small population
would expect, Disney were active as Pirates of the Caribbean and Find- According to Themos Sgou-
of under 11 mil-
far back as the 1950s. At the time, ing Nemo, Disney’s most ras, Chairman of Hel-
most other studios viewed Greece as successful merchandis- las Press, the Greek
lion, the licensing
an ‘add-on’ to other European licenses ing program based market has seen some
marketplace is
and, as a result, licensed product that on a movie sur- dramatic changes
surprisingly
was sold in the country was generally rounded Cars. Ac- over the years.
active.
imported. cording to many “When we began
Today, whilst Disney set the scene for we spoke to, Cars licensing, the mar-
To find out more, what the industry has become, Greece worked across all ket was really
Total Licensing
is taken far more seriously by licen- sectors and, on very low-key”,
went to Athens
sors in Europe and the United States the print side he explained.
and met with a
and the country is also gradually de- in particular, “Disney, of
number of the
veloping licensing programs for home- a year’s print course, were op-
grown properties and brands. run of Cars erating in the re-
key licensing
Interestingly, despite the fact that Dis- books sold gion and the Dis-
agents and,
ney properties were in Greece very in only two ney properties were
importantly, li-
early on, some Disney brands arrived months! soon followed by Gar-
censees and
in the country surprisingly late. Pooh Disney Prin- field, Peanuts and Zorro.
retailers to
Bear, for example, only really arrived in cesses, too, Over the last ten years, the
discover more Greece 10 years ago when the books have proved market really has become very
about this
were published in Greece for the first tremendously sophisticated throughout and
European
time. successful over recent is now a mature marketplace.
market.
Disney enjoyed success with The Lion years and Disney have seen Whilst we have a small population,
year on year growth from the Greece is a very active market. For
property. Pre-school licensing, example, we are the biggest agent for
however, has its limitations with a Warner Bros within the EMEA region.
shrinking birth-rate and only 90,000 Greeks really do like to spend money
children born in Greece each year. on brand-oriented products”.
Beyond Disney, the majority of other Hellas Press also boast a higher turno-
major brands are handled through ver in action figures than Germany
two main licensing agencies – Black – a market several times bigger than
& White Licensing and Hellas Press, Greece.
whilst JT Licensing cover proper- The success of Warner Bros proper-
King and Pocahontas but Oscar-nomi-
ties including Strawberry Shortcake, ties has played a large part in
nated Hercules, which was released in
The Pink Panther, Asterix and The the growth and develop-
1997, was, according to all reports, an
Smurfs. ment of Hellas Press.
abject failure. Apparently, the Greeks
Hellas Press have been in opera- “ L o o n e y
generally hated the ‘Americanisation’
tion since 1954, starting with a Tu n e s
of their Greek hero!
press and advertising agency and
Whilst Greeks enjoy going to the
broadening into licensing in 1986.
movies, films, generally, have never
Today, in addition to their activities in
enjoyed the same level of success as,
Greece, Hellas Press also operate the
say, a popular kids television series.
European Licensing Company (ELC)
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