As testified by Museums & Galleries’ recent signing of BBC Earth and its sister company Mint for a Harry Potter range, under licence from graphic design company MinaLima, licensing is a growing part of the greeting card industry in all its various forms, from the top children’s TV shows to cutting edge artworks.
As revealed on Tuesday (May 22) the public spent an astonishing $271.6 billion globally on licensed products (and related activities) in the last year, up 3.3% on the previous year. This huge sum was revealed in the Annual Global Licensing Industry Survey commissioned by LIMA (Licensing Industry Merchandising Association).
Entertainment/Character licensing remains the largest industry category, accounting for $121.5 billion, or 44.7% of the total global licensing market.
Licensing plays an increasingly important role in the greeting card world with key names such as Danilo, Studio by Gemma, UK Greetings, Hallmark and Star Editions expanding their portfolios. Art, heritage and literary-focused licensing is also proliferating as the evidenced by the likes of Museums & Galleries, Woodmansterne, ArtPress, The Art Group and Flame Tree Publishing.
There will be a string outing of licensed publishing at the imminent PG Live. It will mark the launch of Mint Publishing’s new licensed range with MinaLima, the graphic designers for the Harry Potter films. The beautiful collection of foiled and lenticular images will be available to see for the first time at PG Live.
Colcards will be showing its latest range of cards and stationery products celebrating 150 years of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, under licence from Glasgow Museums.
Plus, the exhibition will see the official debut of Studio by Gemma, a new standalone brand from Gemma International, with a product portfolio that has been curated specifically for independents, premium gift shops and upmarket non-specialists.
Meanwhile Danilo will be showcasing a strong selection of ranges, including Subbuteo, Action Man, Jurassic World, Universal Vault, JoJo Siwa, LOL Surprise and Hana Zuki, as well as May The Thoughts Be With You, plus many more across greeting cards, giftwrap and gift bags.
