TOTAL LICENSING
ASIA
As for foreign properties, the old stan- cut back on licensed products and carries a variety of merchandise, from
dards - Disney, Snoopy, Miffy and Peter while they still showcase properties- confectionary to cosmetics, and is
Rabbit are still strong in the market, often in exhibition spaces set-up for seen as an important barometer of
as is French relative-newcomer Gas- two weeks, they are fast losing their what’s “hot” in the market.
pard et Lisa and German classic, Maus. cache as the destination of choice for Village Vanguard – This once-lo-
Among other Disney characters, Stich licensors and licensees. cal Nagoya-based “alternative” retail
of Lilo & Stich fame has become ex- The mass market chains or “general chain has quietly and methodically
tremely popular; a character like Stich merchandise stores” (GMS) in Japan, expanded to 220 in recent years. As
that finds itself dangling from a chain have made a comeback with most a major trend setter and follower
from young women’s bags or cellular turning a profit during the last year. of Japan’s youth culture, most of Vil-
telephones has, with certainly, be- GMS stores remain the major retail lage Vanguard’s stores are located in
come a “hot” property in Japan! channel for licensed infant and baby trendy urban youth-oriented neigh-
The king, er, that is, queen of the do- apparel and accessories and a num- borhoods. True to its original jazz
mestic licensees in Japan is still Hello ber of licensors have launched large roots (as the name implies), Village
Kitty, and “Kittychan” is holding programs through such chains as Ito Vanguard still carries a large selection
on to that position with cat-like Yokado, Aeon and Daiei. of jazz CD’s and books, but most of
tenacity. Manga and Anime prop- The emergence of the specialty has the store is devoted to quirky, kitschy
erties are growing, both in numbers filled the void left by the decline of items, including a healthy mix of im-
and in size. In addition to the now- department stores, and resulted in a ported products and licensed goods.
classic properties in these categories- windfall for many licensors. The pri- Actus Kids - Known as a sophisti-
Gundam, Pokemon, Dragon Ball and mary all-purpose specialty stores re- cated home furnishings and interior
Doraemon-Rila Kuma, Cinnamonroll main PlazaStyle (formerly Sony Plaza; products retailer, Actus opened its
and the hugely-popular infant prop- 75 stores) and Kiddy Land (83 stores). first dedicated children’s store last De-
erty Anpanman have all managed to In addition, Toys R Us and the book/ cember in a fashionable Tokyo neigh-
carve out a solid position in such a video chains provide a proven plat- borhood. Actus Kids, in keeping with
fluid market. Other than Anpanman form for offering licensed products. Actus’ general marketing approach,
and a small handful of others, howev- Other chains that have embraced carries only imported product-mostly
er, pre-school properties are not do- licensed product are: convenience from Europe and North America. The
ing well against such major designer stores (7-11, Family Mart, Lawson, kids’ line will feature bedroom furni-
baby labels as Polo/Lauren and Mickey AM/PM and Circle-K)-with their em- ture and design accessories
House. phasis on Manga and Anime character The challenge for licensors and licens-
product and major property promo- ees alike is to “ride the wave” of the
And Where is this product Selling? tions (Peanuts, Paddington Bear, Miffy creative revolution that has sparked
The Japanese retail sector has expe- and Peter Rabbit to name a few recent Japan, and develop innovative prod-
rienced mixed results during the past ones); and a chain called Ranking (a ucts and focus on specialty retailers
year. The large mid- and high-end play on the words “Rank” and “King”) with enough visibility to create a
department stores are still suffering which stocks the top few dozen prod- “home” for a property. Another key
through a prolonged slump and there ucts (of just about any kind that are to remaining viable is to develop un-
is no end in sight for this steady de- small enough to fit into a typical store conventional avenues for promotional
cline. Traditionally, department store bag) and is located primarily in train licensing and brand building. And Ja-
giants like Takashimaya, Isetan and stations. pan is exactly the place to find and
Mitsukoshi have been showcases for In addition to the largest and most successfully exploit such avenues. In
licensed properties and a measur- “licensing friendly” specialty retail- Japan’s more character-friendly en-
ing stick for a product line’s success. ers, Kiddy Land and PlazaStyle, vironment, it is possible to license
However, the department stores have it’s worth mentioning a few more up- in industries considered staid and
and-coming retail chains that devote a not considered viable promotional
large percentage of their shelf space targets. simply contrary to the ap-
to licensed product. pearance of characters. Real estate,
Its’ Demo - with 35 stores, Its’ Demo bakeries, auto financing programs and
is the one of the fastest- growing vari- rental car services are among the few
ety specialty stores targeted at young industries that have adapted licens-
women consumers. Usually located ing to promote their services. While
in major train stations, Its’ Demo can creativity and thinking beyond con-
be compared to the Boots chain in ventional limits is important in Japan,
London, with its many rail station lo- ultimately there is no substitute for
cations providing easy access to com- compelling characters/personalities,
muters and offering everyday items good storylines and the ability to se-
for the rushed commuter. Its’ Demo cure marquee retail real estate.
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