The annual Licensing Expo has kicked off in Las Vegas. And you can’t say licensing without mentioning Disney. After all, Disney has 80% market share in the entertainment category generating $39.5 billion. They also have 6 franchises in the top ten with Disney Princess (#1), Star Wars (#2), Winnie the Pooh (#3), Cars (#4), Mickey & Friends (#6), and Toy Story (#8). They also have Disney fairies in the eleventh spot and Spider-Man at number sixteen.
For those wondering Hello Kitty comes in at number 5 and WWE is in 7th place.
As you can see, Disney is dominant. But where do they go from here? Disney is not a place where they like to tread water.
I believe the first place they are looking towards growth is Disney Junior. They did not launch the channel just to have something to replace the lagging SoapNet with. They wanted to grab that lucrative market of kids 2-5. Through shows like “Doc McStuffins”, “Jake and the Neverland Pirates”, and “Sofia the First”; they wanted to create franchises that extend beyond television and in to the worlds of consumer products.
There is no doubt that they have had some success. “Doc McStuffins” has inspired a cultural movement and “Sofia the First” just ranked as Friday’s #1 TV telecast across kids 2-5, girls 2-5, and boys 2-5, and was the #1 preschool cable TV telecast in total viewers and women 18-49. But now the time has come to capitalize on that success. Disney Channel is viewed as an important brand ambassador to the tween set that acts as a gateway to other Disney enterprises. View Disney Junior as the same thing, just for the younger set.
And while Disney Junior may be the franchise they are trying to start, Disney is always looking at reinvigorating their brands through new content. Disney Princess has “Frozen” coming out this Fall which just had its teaser trailer revealed on Weather.com. We all know the work being done to ensure there will be lots of Star Wars content through saga and spinoff films to ensure the franchise stays on top of mind. Disney has interstitial Winnie the Pooh content airing on Disney Channel. “Cars” seeks to keep in high gear with the Planes franchise that has already announced a sequel. Mickey Mouse will be appearing in new shorts to air on Disney Channel (You can view the first one here). Toy Story will be having a Halloween special airing on ABC.
Disney is hoping to extend the Disney Fairies and Tinker Bell brand by reaching older girls by focusing on Tinker Bell’s famous “spunk”. And if you think Disney is frustrated with Sony making all those Spider-Man films, you are wrong. They are thrilled that they have announced a third and fourth sequel to “Amazing Spider-Man” as the films keep the focus on the famed wall-crawler.
The key to all this is to ensure that they first are making good entertainment. If folks don’t like the show they don’t buy the shirt. Just look at all of that Superstar Limo merchandise that never moved as proof. Where will the next franchise be? Will Gravity Falls continue to build on its momentum and be the next “Phineas and Ferb”? Will “Maleficent” spawn an Alice in Wonderland-esque consumer products campaign? Will “The Good Dinosaur” overtake Jurassic Park and Land Before Time as the king of the dinosaurs? I guess we will have to wait to find out. Not all of Disney hopes end up working. Just look at W.I.T.C.H. and Tron as examples.
For more, please check out Marc Graser’s excellent reporting in Variety.