What you need to know
2017 marked the slowest rate of sales growth for licensed merchandise since 2014, a year when the wild success from Frozen was still peaking. Since then, two of the largest toy retailers have filed for bankruptcy, and consumers have shifted their discretionary spending to experiences rather than tangible goods. Nonetheless, the entertainment industry continues to come to the rescue with blockbuster movies, TV shows, video games, and more that breathe life into the character-merchandising sector. 2018 brought some of the biggest movies in history, with Black Panther, Incredibles 2, and Avengers: Infinity Wars, the effects of which are still being realized but should lead to an uptick in sales at year-end. Even more big hits are expected in 2019 and beyond, including the highly anticipated Frozen 2.
While this is all well and good, the vitality of the character-merchandising sector can’t survive alone on the coattails of megahit movies, which is why merchandisers are exploring new angles, including new characters, revitalizing classic characters, and probing emerging marketing channels and distribution outlets. There remains an opportunity for the industry to appeal more to young women, perhaps by casting more female characters in positions of power in entertainment properties, and for more diversity among characters in general.
Definition
For the purpose of this Report, character merchandising is defined as the use of popular (typically fictional) characters from the world of entertainment to promote the sale of consumer goods, including those lines of merchandise that have been especially created to bear the name and image of the character. Characters typically derive from a number of different media, with the most popular being the following:
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Television series
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Cartoon feature films
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Live-action feature films
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Toys and games
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Comic books
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Fiction books
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Newspaper strip cartoons
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Computer/electronic games
Character merchandising seeks to promote the sale of consumer goods via the licensing of copyrighted intellectual properties and other means such as television networks, product brands (eg HGTV Home products), or sports organizations and teams (eg Chicago Bulls basketball or the National Football League).
This Report builds on Mintel’s Character Merchandising – US, October 2015.
