The main idea which defines character licensing is the way a character is interpreted in accordance with the prevalent market scenario. There revolves a story around every character and people eventually relate to it thereby giving headway to licensing. Licensing opportunities provide brand owners to leverage on the popularity of a character at the same time the property owner (in this case it is the character developer) to spin money from this secondary channel. “Unlike previous times, today there are ample of cartoon characters and the number increases day by day.

Thanks to the cartoon channels and animated movies that increase the passion for these characters within kids. Thus, the rise in the demand of character licensed clothes is directly proportional to the ever increasing craze for cartoon characters”, views Mr Sanjeev Narula, MD of Lilliput Kidswear.

Disney and merchandising go hand in hand and it’s never been more evident than before. The response has been overwhelming, ranging from MP3 players to beauty products, and undoubtedly Disney tops the charts. The characters offered on board by Disney are the favourites among kids and adults alike offering different merchandising categories like fashion and home, toys, food, health and beauty, publishing etc. Be it the classic characters like Mickey Mouse and his friends or the chic live actor-character Hannah Montana, the merchandise is a hit in the market! For instance, the movie ‘The Princess and the Frog’ is bagged with immense potential to sell merchandise like hot cakes.

Disney has about 100 licensees across various categories in India. For instance, Disney Nerolac paint was launched four years back in India. In the category of fine jewellery, Swarovski and Popley are the two prominent licensees. Last year Manish Arora had launched Lion King and the Jungle Book clothing line and the year before saw the launch of Mickey as the warrior. The very recent development being the ‘Mickey Rock’ collection available at all Reebok stores across India. In the last five years consumers have learnt a lot about different stories and characters also via the two Disney channels – Disney channel and Toon Disney. Mr Sesha Kanthamraju, Director, Marketing and Distribution, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pitcures, India, says, “Having given live act to characters like Hannah Montana, maximum focus is on the character. The idea is all about the kind of values any of these characters stand for and how these are perceived by the kids and the families.’