License Magazine - August 2007 - (Page 33) casestudy FAO Schwarz, Claire’s, and Carlton Cards have lent their support to 25th Anniversary limited-edition products with promotions on tap for this fall/holiday. High on the list of any fan will likely be a commemorative white plush due on shelves Sept. 25, complete with genuine Swarovski crystal eyes, a sterling-silver plated nose, and a “hip” heart—and packaged with a lost DVD episode. Play Along will support the launch with a major public relations campaign with Care Bears invading New York City that day. The Care Bears will also take part in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and next year’s Macy’s Flower Show, as well as being featured in three new DVDs from Fox Home Entertainment in 2008. In addition to entertainment, the brand continues to also deliver strong sales in the juniors, toddlers and girls, and infant categories. In juniors, loungewear and apparel are hot sellers led by The Grumpy Bear Collection, a high-end junior collection featuring trendy designs based solely on Grumpy Bear. In toddler and girls’, categories such as toys, apparel, sleepwear, package goods, and publishing are posting significant sales while Care Bears Baby is a top-selling brand in all retail channels. “The Care Bears Baby infant program is a fast-growing segment of the brand with a top-selling nursery and infant collection,” says Polina Dektar, senior director at The Joester Loria Group, adding that recent Synovate Research “new moms” focus group results include 96 percent brand awareness and high intent to purchase with first-time moms, experienced expectant moms, and moms with girls ages zero to two. Futhermore, fall 2006 Q scores rank the property as a leading character brand with two- to five-year-old girls. In fact, Care Bears have a 100 percent familiarity rating among moms with children ages two to five, scoring higher than Disney Princesses, Dora the Explorer, Precious Moments, and even Barbie. © acarebearschronology Care Bears has a history born out of creativity as the property was conceptualized by Those Characters from Cleveland (a now-defunct subsidiary of American Greetings) in 1981, but kept under wraps with the code name of “Project II” until it was announced to the world by the Wall Street Journal in 1982. Inspiration for the brand was a combination of three key elements, explains Dave Polter, senior creative consultant at American Greetings, who has worked on the Care Bears brand since its inception.“Someone on the team over at TCFC had the foresight to combine iconic symbols such as hearts, stars, and rainbows that are important for greeting cards with cute and cuddly teddy bears, which everyone loves, in order to give people another reason to send cards for social and sentimental occasions.” The first consumer products program launched in early 1983, led by Kenner Toys, which turned the Care Bears into plush teddy bears capturing America’s hearts and selling 40 million units over the next four years. About 15 other partners also joined the program with a range of toys, kids’ apparel, domestics, and, of course, greeting cards. In its first five years, Care Bears merchandise accounted for $2 billion in retail sales. As the property rose in popularity, so did the demand among children who tuned into the television series that ran from 1985 to 1988 and visited the theatre to see three feature films: The Care Bears Movie (1985), Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (1986), and The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987). After Kenner was acquired by Hasbro in 1991, the property went into a brief hibernation as the toymaker initially chose not to support the property and American Greetings sold off the entertainment rights. Care Bears, though, didn’t go away entirely as the show still had a presence on cable and in the home video market. An attempt to bring the property back in the 1990s with an environmental sensibility was met with lukewarm reaction until Play Along took on the property in 2002 and American Greetings reacquired the entertainment rights. As part of this comeback, the Bears were featured in two direct-to-DVD movies: Journey to Joke-alot in 2004 and The Care Bears’ Big Wish Movie in 2005. “We were attracted to the property because it falls into what we do best, which is to identify a retro property and bring it back and reinvent it for today’s kids.We also liked that Care Bears stood for caring and sharing,” says Tom Delaney, vice president of marketing at Play Along. The property was a hit right off the bat, and quickly was expanded with new bears, new features, and collectible beanie bears that are refreshed each quarter with new characters, themes, and materials. In fact, more than 70 million plush toys have been sold since holiday 2002 with 10 million plush and over 2.5 million collectible beanies sold in 2006. August 2007 www.licensemag.com 33 http://www.licensemag.com
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