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Home > Business/Finance > Diversified Services > Marketing/Advertising/PR
Character Merchandising - UK
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The previous Mintel Special Report on Character merchandising was published in 2002 and examined the use of character merchandising across a broad spectrum of markets; media-led products such as books, videos/DVD, and non-media items such as toys, games, clothing, homewares and food and drink products. The previous report analyzed the issue of kids getting older younger (KGOY) and assessed the impact of this in terms of market size, pester power, and population changes. More recently, Mintel examined the subject in Character merchandising in Food and Drink, Market Intelligence - UK Report, December 2005.
At first glance the character license market is full of appeal. There is a seemingly endless supply of new and exciting movies, many of which are based on characters, and there are a large number of television programmes generating yet more license opportunities. With so many characters and so much industry marketing ‘noise’ surely the market is buoyant. In reality the market is in trouble. According to market estimates generated by Mintel, the UK character license market is estimated at £3.3 billion in 2005 and market values have been falling consistently since 1999. This pattern is mirrored in the US. This is significant as the UK and US markets combined account for almost three-quarters of the world market. The prevalence of counterfeit goods in Australasia depresses market values in the region and mainland European countries trail significantly in their market sizes when compared to the UK.
Of course, the market estimates may be inaccurate. Certainly some industry data-houses are more optimistic, but a key problem for the character license industry is that there is no definitive market measure. No two sources agree on market size. Without this basic information, marketers and business planners are blind as to the actual state of the market; how can competitive threats be identified and quantified, how can the market evolve, how can the market be restructured to grow?
Mintel has attempted to answer each of these questions by addressing four key themes. The first examines the role of technology and mobile media in the character license industry. This area is full of jargon; many adults over the age of 35 may feel a degree of unease because they are not part of the early adopter generation, which defines how applications and media evolves. By understanding the impact of technology, companies can harness its power and bring growth into the character license market. Secondly, Mintel explores the issue of consumer target. The character license industry has come to rely too heavily on children aged below 8, and in particular the pre-school sector. By the age of 8-9 years, when children begin to morph into ‘tween’s’ they are leaving the character licence market. Mintel looks at the reasons and identifies how to entice older consumers, and different attitudes, into the market.
Thirdly, the competition is identified. A seemingly obvious necessity for a market, but Mintel has found that there is a general lack of awareness amongst licensees as to where the competition is coming from, particularly from the consumer point of view. By using research commissioned especially for this report, Mintel has found some key barriers to consumer purchase and identified other markets, which have more relevance to consumers as they age out of the character license market. Finally, Mintel draws together these related themes and examines the role of the extended marketing mix. Looking beyond the text book 4 P’s (product, packaging, price and place), Mintel reviews the role of PR, celebrity endorsement, product placement, mobile media channels, and experiential marketing events as part of the extended marketing mix.
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