Networks partner with publishers to grow brands

DSN Retailing Today, April 11, 2005 by Doug Desjardins

In the days before the rise of cartoon networks like Nickelodeon, most popular toy lines were based on famous books like "Winnie the Pooh" and "Curious George." But now toy companies are reversing that trend by licensing their original characters to book publishers.

Characters like Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants are filtering down from movie and TV screens into a variety of publications that range from standard reading books to comic books and coloring books. One of the most active content providers has been Hasbro, which has licensed brands like My Little Pony and the Easy Bake Oven into the publishing world.

"We make a concerted effort to get our characters into publications that provide the best fit," said Tom Klusaritz, vp of licensing for Hasbro. "And that includes having characters like G.I. Joe and Transformers in comic books and Scrabble in workbooks."

Hasbro began ramping up its publishing efforts in 1999 and has built up an impressive resume working with partners like HarperCollins. Its most successful effort to date has been with a series of books based on My Little Pony.

"With My Little Pony alone, we've shipped in excess of 7 million books in the past two years," said Klusaritz. Other success stories have been an Easy Bake Oven cookbook that features recipes from famous chefs and Tonka books with stories for boys aged 4 to 7.

Other toy suppliers have also had success with their brands in kids' publishing. Mattel has leveraged Barbie into a number of kids' books and straight-to-DVD movies, a pattern it's now following with Hot Wheels. And cartoon networks like Nickelodeon have licensed brands such as Dora the Explorer and Blue's Clues to publishers.

Traditional publishers are doing the same thing. Scholastic Entertainment, which developed its "Clifford the Big Red Dog" books into a merchandising empire, is now working on a series of books based on the animated series "Maya & Miguel." Scholastic has a line of toys and merchandise based on the show due out in advance of the books.

Getting into publishing makes sense for toy suppliers and studios with popular brands. According to the American Association of Publishers, book sales totaled $23.7 billion in 2004 with juvenile hardcover and paperback sales registering $1.1 billion in revenue.

And those sales don't include new hybrid books like the "Story Reader" from Publications International. The book publisher launched its electronic storybook in 2003 and has since sold more than 7.5 million books using characters from brands like My Little Pony, Barbie and Finding Nemo.