Software Spotlight: Mediabox-PA

With Mediabox-PA, the entire product approval process, from completion of the approval form through concept and pre-production stages and beyond, is all in one centralized, online location. The application allows individuals to review artwork online and attach online comments with each artwork file, and manage the workflow order of projects and submissions between users. Users also use the system to log in, review comments, and submit new or next stage product designs.

FEATURES: 

• Communication- Automatic email notifications of project updates and multi-thread messaging
• Reporting- Real-time reporting across properties, Licensees, stages, categories and stages
• Creative Tools- Online previewing, commenting, zoom and markup of artwork (including post-its and drop pins)
• Security- Control of user access rights by property, project, Licensee, category, role and date range
• Configuration- Customizable approval form templates and private label splash page branding

WWE Licensed Toothbrushes

MyMediabox partner WWE has signed on with Brush Buddies for a collection of WWE Superstar toothbrushes that will feature John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Randy Orton. The toothbrush line includes a sonic-powered toothbrush, a musical toothbrush that plays the WWE anthem, and a kids’ brushing kit.

Fashion Friday: New Playboy Apparel Line

For its 60th anniversary this year, Playboy has collaborated with Special Product Design to produce a range of apparel and accessories using the brand’s logos and icons.

Some items included in the range are t-shirts, a cashmere sweater, a gold rabbit head necklace, and tights.

The apparel will be available this month in pop-up stores around the world and some items are already available on PlayboyStore.com.

Giochi Preziosi is Disney's 'Licensee of the Year for Toys'

Disney has titled the Giochi Preziosi Group as their Licensee of the Year for Toys and Stationery. They were presented with the award during the Nuremberg Toy Fair in January.

We would like to congratulate our partner, Giochi Preziosi, for receiving this honor!

Click here for the full article. 

Fashion Friday: Jelly Belly Apparel

Jelly Belly has teamed up with Poeticgem to develop a new range of branded apparel, including fashion clothing and loungewear.

Poeticgem will incorporate Jelly Belly’s signature flavors such as Tutti-Frutti, Chocolate Pudding and Sizzling Cinnamon, as well as some of the jelly beans iconic fans into the new line of apparel.

The Licensing Company, Jelly Belly’s licensing agency, utilizes MyMediabox hosted applications (Mediabox-DAM, and Mediabox-PA) to streamline their licensing processes with licensees globally.

#TBT: Flash Gordon Returns

Dynamite is bringing back Flash Gordon in a new series! The comic book publisher set the series to debut April 2014 and will coincide with the character’s 80th anniversary.

There will also be a new range of gift merchandise developed by Portico which will feature the work of cartoon-strip artist, Alex Raymond. The new line will include greeting cards, stationery, mugs, wallets and more, and will be available for purchase May 2014.

King Features, owner of the Flash Gordon brand, is a MyMediabox partner and utilizes our hosted applications (Mediabox-DAM, and Mediabox-PA) to streamline their licensing processes with licensees globally.

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Telemundo Developing New Competition Show

Telemundo Media has partnered with Spain’s Reset TV to produce a musical competition series that will air on prime-time television. The working title is “El Artista” and it is scheduled to premiere in the 2014-15 season. They also plan to develop a two-hour weekend series with 13 episodes based on the new competitions series’ format.

Telemundo is a MyMediabox client and utilizes Mediabox-DAM to streamline their licensing processes with licensees globally. Interested in learning more about MyMediabox and how our clients benefit from their MyMediabox applications? 

Visit www.mymediabox.com or email marketing@mymediabox.com for more information.

Click here to schedule a demo.

Fashion Friday: NFL Tailgating Pants

The National Football league has teamed with Arctix, an outerwear manufacturer, to create tailgating pants for the Super Bowl XLVIII. The Arctix Tail-Gaiters will come in variety of team logos and colors and will be waterproof and windproof. Other features of the pants include a built-in bottle opener, two beverage holsters on the hip and ankle, a key-chain tether, and multiple vents. This is how you tailgate in style!

#TBT: Original Peanuts Art Prints

Art You Grew Up With, a fine arts publishing company, has teamed up with Selfridges and will be creating personalized art prints of the classic moments from the original Peanuts archive. There will be over 60 years of iconic images to choose from!

Fashion Friday: Cherokee Acquires the Tony Hawk Brand

Cherokee has purchased the Tony Hawk and Hawk apparel brands from Quicksilver, making it its third acquirement in a little over a year. This acquisition is part of Cherokee’s strategy for globalization of their brands, breaking into new markets and expanding their product offerings. Tony Hawk has been working with the Cherokee team and will continue being active in the development of the brand.

The Cherokee Group is a MyMediabox partner and utilizes our hosted applications (Mediabox-DAM, and Mediabox-PA) to streamline their licensing processes with licensees globally.

Metadata Tagging for your DAM System

Image courtesy of www.datamation.com

Whether you use Mediabox-DAM or a different asset management system, metadata tagging is crucial. By using metadata to tag your assets you can quickly search through your entire database to find the files you need. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Basic Elements to Include:
Who, What, When, Where, Why
NOTE: Mediabox-DAM will automatically tag your assets with file type, size, height and width (in pixels), pages and audio or video length. 

Avoid Duplicates, Synonyms and Misspellings:
Implement a controlled vocabulary

Starting a Controlled Vocabulary:
Include products, services, departments, events, etc.

MyMediabox offers hosted solutions for product approvals, digital asset management and deal memo management. For more information visit mymediabox.com. Click here to schedule a demo.

Licensed properties popular at CES 2014

The Consumer Electronics Show took place this past week on January 7-10 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  More than 3,200 exhibitors and 152,000 attendees were present at the show. Licensed properties were abundant on the show floor this year and there were many companies showcasing their new products and partnerships.

Here are the top licensed products from CES this year:

• Polaroid licensee C&A Licensing unveiled a modern version of the classic instant camera
• SMS Audio (50 Cent’s company) in partnership with Lucasfilm, reveals Star Wars Headphones
• Scholastic Media teams with Intel to design interactive gaming content
• Techno Source and KD Interactive showcased their new kid’s tablet
• Roku is teaming up with TCL and Hisense to create TVs
• Fitbit collaborates with Tory Burch to create accessories
• U.S. Army teams with Xentris Wireless for a line of branded mobile cases
• Belkin and Jarden Consumer Solutions introduce ‘Smart’ Crock-Pot
• Sakar International launched Celebrity Music Line
• Sony Computer Entertainment to Offer Streaming Game Service
• Audiofly and DJ Tiesto launched a new range of headphones

To read more, click here for the complete article from License! Global.

Discovery’s ‘Moonshiners’ will have legal brew

Image courtesy of licensemag.com

Tim Smith of the Discovery Channel reality series “Moonshiners” will now have a legal version of his notorious brew, Climax, for sale to the masses. Prost Beverage Co. has licensed the rights to the moonshine and will be working with the innovation firm Beardwood&Co. to help create a distinguishing line of flavors.

Beardwood&Co. has placed high importance on authenticity for the brand. They incorporated Tim’s real-life dog, Camo, as a mascot for Climax Moonshine and even put him on the label. The label was even applied slightly crooked to imitate the handcrafted process of moonshining.

Discovery is a MyMediabox client and utilizes Mediabox-PA to streamline their licensing processes with licensees globally. Interested in learning more about MyMediabox and how our clients benefit from their MyMediabox applications? 

Visit www.mymediabox.com or email marketing@mymediabox.com for more information.

Click here to schedule a demo.

License!Global’s Top Stories of 2013

Below are major stories that made headlines in the licensing community in 2013. To read the full list and details of the 13 biggest stories of 2013, click here.

Image courtesy of www.licensemag.com

• DreamWorks made a string of important acquisitions (Trolls, AwesomenessTV).
• Disney unveils Disney Infinity, its new interactive gaming platform.
• Doctor Who celebrated its 50^th anniversary.
• Netflix became a content creator and was chosen by Marvel for its next superhero TV series.
• Activision’s Skylanders property wins Program of the Year.
• Mattel forms its own production company, Playground Productions, to create multi-platform content for its brands including Barbie, Max Steel and Hot Wheels.
• WME buys IMG, creating the world’s largest talent management company.
• Beanstalk launches a division dedicated solely to digital properties. 
• Saban merged its domestic and international licensing divisions.
• ABG made a number of acquisitions in 2013 including two Celebrity Brands, Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali.
• Sanrio’s collaboration with DC Comics transforms Hello Kitty a Super Hero.

Popular Licensing Stories of 2013

2013 was an exciting year for the licensing business! There were many brand collaborations and many new brands introduced to the market.

Listed below are the top 10 stories from Licensing.biz from 2013.

1. Club Penguin unveils rare Rainbow Puffle character

2. GIRLS MONTH: My Little Pony remains on top for Hasbro

3. Golden Bear appointed master toy for Disney's Henry Hugglemonster

4. 'Subway Surfers one of the most played apps in the world'

5. Hello Kitty to take on DC Comics Super Heroes

6. Subway Surfers surpasses 200 million downloads

7. Temple Run 2 hits 50 million downloads

8. Disney launches first Club Penguin music EP

9. The Go! Go! Go! Show goes to Nick Jr

10. The Licensing Awards 2013: The winners

We are looking forward to what 2014 will bring to the licensing world!

Big Tent brokers deal between Packers and PixFusion

In time for the Holidays, PixFusion and the Green Bay Packers launched a new multi-media experience that will allow fans to create a personalized e-card by importing their faces into a video that virtually places them on the field at the Packers’ indoor practice facility decked out in fan gear. You can create this e-card at PackersHolidayCard.com or on the Packers website and Facebook page.

This deal was brokered by MyMediabox client, Big Tent Entertainment. Big tent utilizes Mediabox-PA, our hosted Product Approvals application, to streamline their licensing processes with licensees globally. Interested in learning more about MyMediabox and how our clients benefit from their MyMediabox applications? 

Visit www.mymediabox.com or email marketing@mymediabox.com for more information.

Click here to schedule a demo.

Leading Global Licensees

Licensees are very important to a brand’s success, and we blogged earlier this month about tips on choosing theright licensees for your company and brand. And now, License! Global has released its annual list of Leading Global Licensees featuring some of the most prevalent and respected licensees in the marketplace. This is a great resource that can help guide you in identifying which licensees are the best in the business.  Click here to read the full list.

MyMediabox works with leading Licencors and Agents offering hosted solutions for style guide delivery (Mediabox-DAM), product approvals (Mediabox-PA) and deal memo managment (Mediabox-DM). Interested in learning how our clients utilize MyMediabox applications to streamline the licensing process? Click here to schedule a demo.

Licensing Basics Webinar hosted by License! Global

Last month we shared some guidelines on ways to find the best licensees for your brand and company. If you are still new to the licensing world, Licensing Expo and License! Global, in association with the International Housewares Association, are hosting a free webinar tomorrow (Wednesday, December 4, 2013) from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. CST.
 
“Licensing 101: The Basics of Licensing Explained” will be presented by the vice president of Licensing Expo and the group publisher of License! Global. The webinar will give participants an overview of the licensing process and how to implement an effective business model. The International Housewares Association will provide case studies from the home and housewares market. Click here to register.

MyMediabox works with leading Licencors and Agents offering hosted solutions for style guide delivery (Mediabox-DAM), product approvals (Mediabox-PA) and deal memo managment (Mediabox-DM). Interested in learning how our clients utilize MyMediabox applications to streamline the licensing process? Click here to schedule a demo.

Licensed Toys at the Top of Wish Lists

Image courtesy of www.licensemag.com

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), traditional toys like Barbie and LEGO remain at the top of kids’ wish lists this year, but other non-traditional things are also making the list such as tablets. This is due to the younger generation being more technologically savvy than past generations.

A survey conducted by the NRF found the top toys kids are asking for this year:

2013 Top Toys for Boys	2013 Top Toys for Girls
1. LEGO	1. Barbie
2. Video games	2. Dolls (generic)
3. Cars & trucks (generic)	3. Monster High dolls
4. Hot Wheels	4. Disney Princesses, tablet/Apple iPad
5. Xbox One	5. American Girl, Lalaloopsy
6. PlayStation 4	6. Furby
7. Skylanders	7. LEGO/LEGO Friends
8. Remote-controlled vehicles	8. Elmo/Big Hugs Elmo
9. Action figures	9. Hello Kitty
10. Bicycle, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	10. My Little Pony, PlayStation 4