Angry Birds to adorn foot

Rovio Entertainment, the owner of this property, has been working together with more than 200 licensing partners on developing new products and services within the Angry Birds franchise. Dream Theatre which represents the IP in India, ties up with Bata to launch Angry Birds merchandise.  Jiggy George, CEO and Founder, Dream Theatre in a candid conversation with Gunjan Piplani unveils the plans of carving the Angry Birds’ licensing journey in India.

The Angry Birds game has made a huge impact in the consumer products segment with licensing and merchandising, genarating about 30 per cent of total revenue in 2011.

Retailer: Which all categories are you working towards for the Indian market presently? What are the categories that untapped yet?

Jiggy George (JG): We have launched 140 Angry Birds original products across categories of for kids and adults, footwear, toys, stationery, back to school supplies, rainwear, furniture, home ware, fashion bags and furniture. Another 350 products will roll out in the festive season, ie, during November-December. For the existing categories we have tied up with brands including Plush Toys, Mattel Toys, Swadh Essfil, Bata, Excel toys, Joyo Plastics, Rex, Status Quo and Woodstock Merchandising.

In terms of untapped categories, Angry Birds is an IP which offers a lot of scope to grow in the categories like bicycles, ride-ons, ceramics, melamine, watches, eyewear, innerwear, art products and luggage.

Retailer: How do you plan to retail the Angry Birds merchandise across country?

JG: The huge number of Angry Birds licensed products will be available in 600+ stores and at all prominent department and multi-brand outlet stores across the country. Among the major players looking forward to push ahead these unique products are the footwear giant Bata, specialty stores like Hamleys, multiband majors like Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Pantaloons, specialty retailers like Crosswords and hypermarkets like Hypercity.

Retailer: Specific to the tie up with Bata, what is your role in terms of promotional and marketing campaign?

JG: Bata is the market leader and expert in the footwear retail business. Our role would be to support their strategy and provide our inputs on basis of our understanding of both kids and youth domains and our brands. You will see a lot of brands and retail activation in 2013.

Retailer: What has been the duration of product development with Bata? What has been your role in the same?

JG: It took almost three months for us to do the product development and create the whole range of products including footwear rubber thongs, slippers, eva (Injection) range along with school shoes, bags, pencil pouches and socks. Bata, which is a technologically strong brand when it comes to footwear and other categories, has worked towards technology of products while we have together worked with their merchandising team in order to develop designs.

Retailer: What are your business plans in the future?

JG: On a brand level, there are many initiatives planned by Rovio and we are confident that it will keep the interest and excitement of Angry Birds fans alive as we roll out new products and product categories across various age brackets.

Retailer: Being popular, Angry Birds, as an IP has to pay a price of being counterfeited. How do you deal with this?

JG: Counterfeit of an IP always shows how popular the product is and also tells the dearth of availability of original product. So initially, we are consistently working with the “best in class” licensees to ensure high quality products get delivered to fans across India at competitive prices. Piracy is a function of lack of reach and high prices. We are working on what we can control. 500 products across 15 categories will be our first step.

The Bata Story

Rajeev Gopalakrishnan, Group Managing Director, Bata India Limited shares the Angry Birds story and promotional plans in India.

Retailer: Bata has tied up with brands like Hush Puppies and Scholl, how did Angry Birds happen?

Rajeev Gopalakrishnan (RG): Angry Birds is a popular gaming character worldwide, and in the country as well. It not just goes well among kids but also teenagers. With increasing popularity of Angry Birds amongst the youth, it was the perfect choice for the association. With this tie-up, we look forward to further strengthen our relations with the younger audience. The attractive styles and designs are surely to entice the young customers.

Retailer: What is the collaboration procedure with the licensors for product development? How has the response been so far?

RG: Bata India will be designing and manufacturing the products following the guidelines of the character –“Angry Birds”. Dream Theatre and Rovio are involved in every stage giving us guidance and support in product design and development. The range developed offers a colour splash in casual canvas shoes for kids of six year old onwards until teenagers. One can also look out for a fun-filled collection range of bags, both casual and for school, in this new range. The product response on Angry Birds collection so far has been positive and it has worked to our advantage by persuading the younger audience.

Retailer: What will be your marketing and promotional strategies?

RG: We have planned a lot of in-store promotions and campaigns as part of our marketing and promotional strategies and you will be seeing a whole lot in the near future. We have dedicated an area in the store for Angry Birds promotion and POP. We are looking at mass media advertisements, mall events and other customer engagement activities.

Retailer: How will you cope with the situation of counterfeit?

RG: Bata India has a strong retail team of capable professionals who keep a stringent check in the market. They regularly survey markets and high streets. Our network of stores and store staff also supports us in the same. In this case Bata will also be supported by licensee partners – Dream Theatre.