Twentieth Century Fox readies merchandise with new ally

While The Simpsons merchandise will target young adults, Ice Age and Rio will target kids

Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products (Fox) has appointed licensing and merchandising firm, Dream Theatre, as its agent in India. The agency will grow the licensing business for Fox's portfolio of TV and film brands such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, Sons of Anarchy, Ice Age and Rio. The partnership will allow Dream Theatre to sell apparel, toys, stationery, home furnishings, gifts and novelties under these brands.

The authentic licensed merchandise will be available offline and online, for prices ranging from Rs 99 to Rs 3,000. The deal does not yet extend to the Bollywood ventures of Fox. For its Bollywood projects, Fox is present through a joint-venture with Star India and produces movies under the banner of Fox Star Studios.

Properties like The Simpsons and Ice Age have fans across age groups. The avid fan following makes India a potential market for their merchandise.

"We are delighted to have Dream Theatre as our new licensing agency in India," says Pinky David, vice-president, Asia Pacific, 20th Century Fox Consumer Products. "Its brand-driven creative approach makes it the perfect partner to explore new consumer targets and expand our retail reach in the important territory."

Jiggy George, founder and CEO, Dream Theatre, says that he is in talks with potential partners and will be launching the first range of products soon.

The first of these lines will be a range of apparels and accessories under The Simpsons. Dream Theatre has tied up with Bio World, a Delhi-based manufacturer and distributor, specialising in licensed merchandise. It had earlier partnered with The Simpsons' franchise outside of India.

"The Simpsons has a huge fan following and with direct-to-retail now an option, thanks to e-commerce, we plan to launch the apparel range in the coming months. The fact that our audience is also an avid user of the e-commerce platform makes it better for business," says George. He adds that with a franchise that has been around for 26 years, it makes sense to have as many merchandising options as possible.

"We want to go as horizontal as possible with The Simpsons. Apparel and accessories are the most obvious routes, but there is a lot of scope in the novelty, gifts, collectibles and figurines segments. In fact, within accessories, we have products like mobile cases which are popular with young adults. So, you see, the scope to scale up is huge with The Simpsons," he says.

Apart from The Simpsons, the agency will also be developing product lines for TV shows like 24, The Family Guy and Modern Family.

For the movies, the plan is to aid recall through merchandising. In case of the latest Ice Age sequel, the fifth, which is expected in 2016, Dream Theatre will launch a spate of products before the release.

"The franchise movies have the advantage of having popular characters. Other movie franchises that are included in the deal are Rio and Alvin and the Chipmunks. We also have access to some of the Marilyn Monroe movies, and plan to develop a line based on those films," says George.

While movie franchises like Ice Age and Rio will be used to target kids, The Simpsons and Family Guy will target young adults.

Given the popularity of the franchises under the deal, both Fox and Dream Theatre are bullish on the business, with the former hoping to build its presence in the market, and the latter hoping to fortify its position.

Competitors include Viacom18 Consumer Products, with franchises like Spongebob Squarepants, the MTV Roadies range and FC Barcelona, and Disney, with its in-house characters like Mickey and Minnie, Disney Princesses and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Ironman, Captain America).