Katie Rollings, chief licensing officer at Acamar Films, tells us what retailers and licensees can expect from Bing at BLE.

What’s been happening with Bing in the last 12 months?

The last 12 months have seen Bing continue its growth across Europe. We launched the series in France where it has regularly become a top-rated series on France 5, with consumer products set to roll out in the country from early 2024. In the Netherlands, the licence headed up a nationwide promotional campaign with pancake restaurants, and the live theatre show, Bing’s Birthday, became the most popular theatre production of any kind in the country for the year. Our promotional Bing cinema screenings in Poland with broadcast partner, Puls Kids, were extended twice due to popular demand and the live theatre show will begin touring the country next month. In Italy, one of our largest markets for Bing, the brand has been selected by the Italian Paediatric Society and nursery trade association Assonidi, to front a multi-year campaign to encourage healthy habits in children. We also launched our first Bing Kinder Easter Eggs in the country with Ferrero.

In the UK, we refreshed both the Bing app and the Bing website. The former now features more games, audio content and playlist options while the latter now has articles from developmental experts. We debuted a range of new Bing content including original songs and audio. We continued our partnership with the NSPCC, playing a crucial role in its national Childhood Day fundraising efforts. A Bing-lead trail debuted at Chester Zoo and, in partnership with British Land, we opened our first ever Bing pop-up shopping experience in Glasgow Fort shopping park, upping footfall to the complex.

Internationally, we now have 23 localised YouTube channels including a recent channel launch in Japanese featuring the first 26 episodes of the series. Excitingly, our Thai and Polish YouTube channels both achieved 1m subscribers this year. Engagement of our content by our audience continues to grow with the average watch time for Bing increasing to an unprecedented 16 minutes and more than a million hours of Bing watched in a typical day across our YouTube network alone.

What’s next for your consumer products strategy, and what do you expect to get out of exhibiting at BLE?

As we look to the tenth anniversary of Bing in 2024, we have a tremendous opportunity to celebrate the success of the property over the last decade as well as reassert why Bing connects with young children so profoundly. Following the pandemic and ever-increasing pressures placed on families and childcare professionals, Bing is arguably more relevant and necessary now than ever before, sharing nourishing stories that connect grown-ups and young children with relatable situations. Bing gives caregivers a window into life from a toddler’s point of view, while providing young children a framework by which to better understand their own feelings and the world. Our CP strategy is to amplify those aspects of Bing that differentiate it from other brands.

We are looking for partnerships that align with Bing’s purpose and offer a true child-centric experience; one that encourages curiosity, emotional connection and creativity. We want to ensure that all Bing experiences are as enriching and engaging as the series itself. We are looking at how we can be innovative with our offering across all touchpoints to not only support early years development but also provide more moments of connection between young children and caregivers.

Katie Rollings

What can retailers and licensees expect to see on your stand?

We will be sharing our content plans for the property which include a new series in the very early stages of development, our marketing plans featuring a brand campaign which will serve to reinforce the core values and positive benefits of Bing as well as sharing insights from a range of child developmental experts with whom we’re continuing to partner.

What else is in store for visitors at BLE?

We are really looking forward to meeting up with partners at BLE. Those who want to talk to us can visit stand (A201) or they can email us at licensing@acamarfilms.com to set up a meeting time. All are welcome to the Acamar Films stand drinks on Wednesday, 4th from 4-5pm. Bing and Flop will be at our stand on Wednesday and Thursday at various times and the two characters will be part of the costume character parade from 11:30am to noon on Wednesday and Thursday.