Richard Hollis joins HTI Toys as Michelle Dalziel steps away for pastures new

HTI has appointed Richard Hollis to the toy company’s licensing division, taking up the mantle of licensing manager on a part time basis alongside Lucy Warren, licensing and marketing executive.

The appointment has been made following news that HTI Toys’ senior licensing and marketing manager, Michelle Dalziel is stepping away from the company this spring in order to pursue a career in her family business.

A well loved member of the team, Dalziel joined HTI in 2014 and was originally with the sales team before moving to take on the licensing and marketing categories. Over her years with HTI, she has helped structure the company’s licensed portfolio, playing a key role in shaping the strength and focus of the portfolio of brands and partners it boasts today.

“The team have nothing but positive things to say about Michelle and she will certainly be missed,” read a statement form the company.

Meanwhile, HTI has welcomed Richard Hollis to the team as he takes up a part-time position as licensing manager alongside Lucy Warren, licensing and marketing executive. Hollis brings with him a wealth of experience gained from working in the licensing industry over the past 31 years.

Dalziel will be working closely with Hollis over the next few months until her departure in May.

Richard Hollis joins HTI Toys as Michelle Dalziel steps away for pastures new

HTI has appointed Richard Hollis to the toy company’s licensing division, taking up the mantle of licensing manager on a part time basis alongside Lucy Warren, licensing and marketing executive.

The appointment has been made following news that HTI Toys’ senior licensing and marketing manager, Michelle Dalziel is stepping away from the company this spring in order to pursue a career in her family business.

A well loved member of the team, Dalziel joined HTI in 2014 and was originally with the sales team before moving to take on the licensing and marketing categories. Over her years with HTI, she has helped structure the company’s licensed portfolio, playing a key role in shaping the strength and focus of the portfolio of brands and partners it boasts today.

“The team have nothing but positive things to say about Michelle and she will certainly be missed,” read a statement form the company.

Meanwhile, HTI has welcomed Richard Hollis to the team as he takes up a part-time position as licensing manager alongside Lucy Warren, licensing and marketing executive. Hollis brings with him a wealth of experience gained from working in the licensing industry over the past 31 years.

Dalziel will be working closely with Hollis over the next few months until her departure in May.

KidsKnowBest bolsters performance marketing division with three new hires

KidsKnowBest is bolstering its performance marketing division with a suite of new hires that will work to expand the agency’s paid media offering to deliver wider performance marketing campaigns.

The creative agency – with its focus on the youth market – has welcomed a trio of new appointments in newly formed roles with Camila del Mazo Nales taking up the role of senior paid social executive, Michael Heming as eCommerce manager, and Daniel Foot as PPC manager.

The trio of new starters will be reporting to Ulrika Lundvall, head of paid media at KidsKnowBest.

Del Mazo Nales joins the agency from a paid social executive position with OMD. She will be helping to further elevate campaigns through continuous optimisations to ensure KidsKnowBest stays at the forefront of platform expansion and new targeting opportunities.

Meanwhile, Heming comes from a PPC role with Reprise Digital and as an Amazon marketing specialist he will ensure that KidsKnowBest campaigns convert at the selling point, while Foot has made a move from MediaCom where he was a digital marketing planner and will be working to reach potential customers and increasing brand awareness through search channels.

This latest move is a response to the growing client need for considered performance marketing support across search and eCommerce with a particular need for Amazon Marketing. Having search and PPC now available in-house means KidsKnowBest will be able to communicate keywords and exchange learnings across different channels.

Lundvall, head of paid media at KidsKnowBest, said: “We can now build on our 360o service. We saw a gap in our services and have quickly filled it to offer the best service to our clients.

“We’re always driven by research and data to inform our campaigns, and now we can do this through search and eCommerce to circle back and create a really solid and informed process.”

Manga and anime powerhouse Viz Media appoints new VP of consumer products

The anime and manga powerhouse, Viz Media, has appointed the former Netflix Consumer Products director, Laura Takaragawa to the role of vice president consumer products, a newly created position for the business as it looks to increase its presence in the licensing and merchandising space.

The new role will see Takaragawa manage licensed merchandise and collaborations, interactive and digital games, location-based engagement, and promotions across all of its properties. She will report into Viz Media’s senior vice president of animation, Brian Ige.

With almost ten years’ experience in licensing and consumer products positions, Takaragawa has previously held roles with Sanrio – where she was vice president of licensing – National Geographic, as vice president of consumer products, and most recently, head of licensing at Netflix Consumer Products.

“Her vast experience in cross-platform licensing and brand storytelling, combined with her content knowledge and passion, make her the ideal leader for this role,” said VIZ Media’s chief marketing officer Brad Woods.

ViacomCBS names Jennifer Pang vice president and head of licensing for Greater China

ViacomCBS Consumer Products has appointed Jennifer Pang to lead its business in Greater China. Pang will be based in Hong Kong, reporting to Mark Kingston, senior vice president, International Licensing, while Claire O’Connor, vice president, consumer products and retail marketing, Asia Pacific, will exit the business.

In her role, Pang will lead VCP’s overall licensing business across markets in Greater China for all ViacomCBS franchises. She is responsible for managing the team, VCP’s master licensee agent as well as global partnership activity locally, while sourcing and executing local licensing and promotional deals.

She will also oversee retail sales and marketing, driving revenue through key account management.

Kingston said: “Asia is an important area of focus for us as we continue to engage with our audiences and extend our most loved IPs and brands beyond linear. With Jennifer’s insight and familiarity of the region as well as her expertise, we are looking forward to aggressively pursuing new partnerships and capitalising on opportunities in this key market.”

Pang has over 11 years of experience in licensing, brand management and strategy across Asia. She was most recently with Hasbro Consumer Products where she served as head of category licensing for North Asia, managing the licensing programme for eOne and Hasbro brands.

Prior to that, Pang was with Entertainment One where she was senior director, Licensing – Asia, Family & Brands.

Sambro International appoints Paul Blackaby as new chief executive officer

The popular toy manufacturer and distributor, Sambro International Limited has appointed Paul Blackaby as its new chief executive officer, as he looks to “lead the team through its next stage of development.”

Blackaby joined the Sambro business in February 2020 as chief financial officer, bringing with him many years of experience in both the manufacturing and consumer goods sectors at a senior level.

“I am completely delighted to be given the opportunity to lead this fantastic business and terrific team through its next stage of development,” said Blackaby. “There has been some great work undertaken in recent years which we will harness and build from – we are all excited about Sambro’s future.”

The award-winning, Manchester based business recently announced that it was assessing growth opportunities after securing a £13 million funding package with its banking partner.

Sambro achieved strong sales in 2020 despite the challenges of the pandemic and employs more than 90 people in its offices in Bury, Amsterdam and Hong Kong.

BBC Studios names Andrew Carley director of global licensing to build Bluey momentum

BBC Studios has promoted licensing industry expert Andrew Carley to the newly created role of director of global licensing, as the firm looks to build on the momentum of the hit pre-school brand Bluey.

In his new role, Carley will lead a five-year strategic growth plan for BBC Studios’ global licensing business, partnering with regional licensing teams, while reporting into BBC Studios’ chief marketing officer, Nicki Sheard.

“I am delighted that Andrew is taking on this new role to help us fuel the growth of Bluey which is quickly gaining worldwide fame,” said Sheard. “His experience of taking pre-school brands global will be invaluable in unlocking the potential of Bluey, and his strategic approach to licensing will benefit BBC Studios’ wider portfolio of hero brands.”

The former Entertainment One executive boasts a wealth of experience in building global licensing programmes around popular pre-school IP, having led the charge for eOne’s Peppa Pig before the company was acquired by the entertainment powerhouse, Hasbro, in 2019.

Andrew Carley, said: “The BBC has long been synonymous with high quality children’s programming. To be given the opportunity to use my experience to help build a long-term global licensing prgoramme around such fantastic programming, including Bluey, is hugely exciting.

“Bluey has many of the rare attributes associated with evergreen global preschool success stories. With that potential comes the opportunity to build on its success and cement BBC Studios’ position as a global player in licensing and consumer products.”

Bluey has already proven itself a hit in international markets, including its launch market Australia. The series has won a slate of awards including the International Kids Emmy and a host of Kidscreen awards. In the US, Bluey has been listed as the number two top new growth property last year for the total toy industry.

Bluey has struck up a number of partnerships across consumer products and publishing already, with Penguin Random House leading its master publishing roll-out, and Moose Toys tapped as the property’s master toy licensee.

Products is due to launch in the UK this year.

The Point.1888 details structural changes amid its leadership team

A company that refuses to sit still, and only a few weeks after the appointment of five new members, The Point. 1888 has promoted three of its senior team members in preparation for the busy year ahead.

Sarah Crimes has been promoted to director of marketing, reflecting the growth of her role over the last 12 months, which now includes marketing for the agency, its clients and the agency’s growing creative division, Story.1888.

Meanwhile, Hannah Stevens has been promoted from head of retail to head of retail and sport, an acknowledgement of the agency’s rapidly growing sports division which includes Team GB and The British and Irish Lions. The agency expects to be busy with both clients this year with the upcoming Tokyo Olympics and the South African Rugby Tour.

Finally, Janine Richmond has been promoted from senior commercial manager to head of product and brand, marking an important new role for the agency that will see her take responsibility of the product development team, as well as opening up new category opportunities across the brand portfolio.

As with the new appointments announced in January, each promotion will be crucial for the company’s continued growth. It should also allow the agency to fulfil the many exciting plans it has for 2021 which include international licensing programmes, transatlantic sporting events, and a number of hotly anticipated product launches.

Will Stewart, managing director of The Point.1888, said: “I started The Point.1888 on my own five years ago and while I knew I’d need strong people around me to make the business a success, I never imagined I’d have such an incredible leadership team in place today. This has been a disastrous 12 months for businesses all over the world, but our team has demonstrated remarkable resilience and strength and the promotions are all undoubtedly well deserved.”

Established in 2014, The Point.1888 delivers retail focused brand extension programmes by creating new products based on the gaps it sees at retail, rather than what it thinks the brand’s target demographic might like. This supports a higher chance of retailer buy-in and a better sales performance.

ARTiSTORY appoints Georgina Heatley as new licensing and editorial assistant

The cultural IP licensing unit, ARTiSTORY has appointed Georgina Heatley as its new licensing and editorial assistant, joining co-founders Yizan He and Natasha Dyson on the mission to ‘transform artefacts to merchandise.’

As part of the business’ endeavour, ARTiSTORY sets out to reach global audiences with well designed merchandise that is inspired by art and culture, offering an immersive retailing experience and telling stories via digital content and pop-up exhibitions.

The team is focused on helping cultural organisations ‘go beyond the walls of their buildings and expand their reach to a much wider audience,’ while generating sustainable revenue that can be used to support their operations.

“We’re thrilled to have Georgina on board,” said Natasha Dyson on behalf of the team. “Georgina shares ARTiSTORY’s passion for storytelling, art, history and cultural heritage with experience gained in both the licensing and heritage sectors, having worked with a wealth of licensees at Historic Royal Palaces. 

“Georgina’s role will see her working closely with the creative team researching artefacts across a range of the world’s top cultural organisations to develop design themes and assets.”

Georgina Heatley, licensing and editorial assistant, added: “I am honoured and excited to be joining ARTiSTORY as the licensing and editorial assistant. With my background as an Archaeologist and Sociocultural Historian, and previous role in heritage licensing with Historic Royal Palaces, ARTiSTORY’s mission and values resonate closely with my own.

“Learning and sharing history, art and culture through stories is a skill and tradition shared globally. I am looking forward to bringing this into merchandise, experiences and creative themes and trends with a some of the world’s top art and culture organisations from museums and galleries to science centres and libraries.”

Golden Goose bolsters ranks with Val Fry, Tina-Louise Foster, and Helen Webster

Golden Goose has welcomed a trio of experienced licensing professionals to the team as Valerie Fry, Tina-Louise Foster, and Helen Webster take up roles to help the licensing agency develop programmes for its growing client list.

Both Fry and Foster will drive the licensing programmes surrounding Shepperton Design Studio’s Original Stormtrooper abnd Bauer’s Mother & Baby, while Webster will be helping to develop the Tusk Trust and English Heritage licensing programmes.

Each new team member boasts a wealth of licensing industry experience and expertise across the entertainment, lifestyle, home, and interiors sector. Nimbus Nine founder, Foster has worked across the likes of LOL Surprise, DreamWorks, and Warner Bros, while Fryday Brands founder, Fry has worked with Ryan’s World and Thomas the Tank Engine.

Strategic Brand Licensing founder, Webster has previously worked with Sanderson, Scion Living and The Original Morris & Co. Each joins the team to provide an excellent understanding and network of connections.

Adam Bass, director of Golden Goose, said: “With these three additions to the team we have massively increased our experience and professionalism. We know our client’s programmes will benefit from Tina-Louise, Valerie and Helen’s invaluable knowledge and licensing expertise.”

Valerie Fry, said: “The Original Stormtrooper has seen real market beating growth during lockdown.”

Webster added: “Home decoration and gardening are massively growing categories and we want to add the weight and influence of these fantastic brands.”

Finally, Foster concluded: “We look forward to taking Golden Goose client’s licensing programmes from strength to strength.”