The merchandise story: From push to shove

Disney, Turner cash in on the growing interest in merchandise, increase licensing deals and expand the range of products

While Hollywood superhero films have done well at the box office and helped pick up slack where Bollywood has fallen behind, they are turning into money spinners on another front too. Over the past two years Disney Studios and Turner International (it manages the merchandise business for Warner Bros) have seen a steady increase in revenues from their licensing and merchandising (L&M) arms, growing almost 15 per cent year on year over 2015-17 say industry analysts. As a result, says Anand Singh, director, Cartoon Network Enterprises, South Asia, Turner India (L&M), the equation between movies and merchandise is changing. “We used to use the movie to push the merchandise and now, it’s possible to use the merchandise to market and promote the film,” he said.

Merchandise not only pushes the film’s visibility say both Disney and Turner, but also adds to its ancillary revenues. And as a result, in 2017, both have turned up the volume on L&M. For Thor: Ragnorak, for instance, Disney collaborated with brands across the board. It tied up Myntra, Oppo and other brands.
 

Myntra created an exclusive line of clothes. Additionally, for a week, till the release of the movie, there was special superhero branded packaging.
 

Manohar Kamath, head Myntra Fashion Brands said that their Thor collection was launched under a private label, Kook N Keech, that focuses on character-based licensed merchandise from a wide range of collections, including the extended Marvel Universe. Business has been good for the label as the studios have become more open to alliances and consumers, more willing.

Studios are also catering to a more diverse audience set. In the past, clothes and back-to-school accessories were the rage, as most superhero films attracted children, or so was the presumption. However, in the case of a few recent releases, the licensing deals appear to target the adult consumer too. For instance, Thor had tied up with Oppo. Will Yang, brand director, OPPO said, “Associating with big properties like Marvel and Disney brings our team immense pleasure and we hope that this collaboration helps us reach out to a greater sphere of young audience.”

The L&M market, especially film related merchandise, has seen a massive spike with authentic licensed products becoming both affordable and accessible. E-commerce has played a pivotal role in this development, and so has the understanding among the studios that the Indian market needs special pricing strategies. Emergence of niche online stores like The Souled Store and Superhero Toy Store for film merchandise has also helped.

“Over the past two years especially, we’ve seen the popularity of film merchandise soar. What’s more important is that all superhero films are seeing traction, and not only the popular ones. So while a Batman v Superman (2016) had its share of merchandise, so did Suicide Squad (2016) and Wonder Woman (2017), and they were equally successful,” says Singh. He and his team are currently preparing for a burst of promotions for Warner Bros’ November 17 release Justice League (a part of the DC extended universe).

Another studio that has maintained a sharp focus on film merchandising is Disney. Sanjeet Mehta, executive director, Consumer Products, Disney India says, “For us, merchandising and film marketing both are equally important legs and we look at it as separate tools. From merchandising point of view, we treat our stories and characters as a 365-day offering and not just a movie focused proposition. Having said that, release of a big franchise movie like Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok, gives us an opportunity to give that additional product push, helping us promote our merchandise offering.”

 Studios are also exploring licensing deals that are not tied to the release of a movie. For instance many tie up with quick service restaurants (QSR) like McDonald’s, Burger King and so on and these ties last beyond the release of a movie. “Depending on the calendar the QSR has, we collaborate on a regular basis, it’s a good way to engage the consumer and fits our target audience very well,” Singh adds.

Disney has a slightly different view on such tie-ups. “As a brand we are very conscious about the kind of collaborations we explore especially with food & beverage brands. With QSR chains, we restrict our associations to adult focused healthier meal options. For instance, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we had tied-up with Subway. The staff wore movie t-shirts and stickers were given out to consumers as keepsakes. They also released a TVC to promote the same,” Mehta adds.

The superhero line-up in 2017

Thor: Ragnarok
 

Release date: November 3

Studio: Walt Disney Studios

Box office collection (7 days): Rs 40.37 crore
 

Spiderman Homecoming
 

Release date: July 7

Studio: Walt Disney Studios

Box office collection: Rs 59.96 crore
 

Wonder Woman
 

Release date: June 2

Studio: Warner Bros

Box office collection: Rs  16.5 crore
 

Guardians of the Galaxy
 

Release date: May 5

Studio: Walt Disney Studios

Box office collection: Rs 13.8 crore

And coming up next: 

Justice League 

Source: Industry