Co-creator Joanna Ferrone is scouting for more takers in India for her cornball character. | |
| Indians are likely to see more of the gawky, cornball, cartoon character Fido Dido "" outside of Pepsi's 7up bottle. Its co-creator Joanna Ferrone, recently in India, mentioned that she is actively seeking to strike licence agreements with parties interested in putting him to good use. |
| |
| With this in mind, she has already struck an alliance with Jump Games, which is into game design development. |
| |
| Jump Games has developed a 2D and a 3D game based on Fido. "We have launched the game on the Reliance and Airtel services and have also sold it to certain markets in Europe and Asia-Pacific. The mobile operators in these regions include players like Vodafone, O2 and Telstra," says Salil Bhargava, CEO, Jump Games. |
| |
| The company has been experimenting with various modes of connecting gaming to real-life characters by roping in Indian celebrities such as Sameera Reddy, Bappi Lahiri and Baichung Bhutia. |
| |
| This is necessary, Bhargava claims, as the market is nascent and companies have to evolve ways of connecting with the masses. |
| |
| Currently, the gaming market is pegged at Rs 100 crore in India compared to $2 billion worldwide. It is likely to grow to $150 million in India in the next four years. As for Fido, he feels it may be a big hit as the character has the ability to cut across age, segments and geographies. |
| |
| Meanwhile, Ferrone is busy and she has already got Digikore Studio as an agent here which is pushing Fido further into the retail environment. A licence agreement has been struck with Perfect Apparel for casual wear and is "eager to get into more arrangements". |
| |
| According to her, Fido in other markets is already seen on varied brands "" pretty much like Disney characters. For instance, the character has a fairly good fan following in many markets and is very popular in China and Brazil. |
| |
| "This is significant as the character has lasted a long time, since he was born in 1985 and then became popular with Pepsico adopting him. He has managed to grow on his own strength and philosophy," she says. |
| |
| And with the character has grown Fido Credo, which is based on an inclusive philosophy. |
| |
| Needless to say that if a character is born without a story and happens to be a success, then story and philosophy "" and even takers "" are only too easy to find. |
| |
|
| |
