Knowing what will happen next year is an exercise for Mrs. Trelawney rather than a Marketing truth. However, sometimes the market does give marketers solid ground to build on, and such is the case of the Licensing prospects for 2016. Here in Grifoll we have jumped to the pool and made our own Top 3 Licenses that will succeed on 2016.
UEFA EURO 2016
Next june will take place in France the 25th edition of THE European championship. Football is expanding. Soon it will be a major sport even in the USA, and it is followed by hundreds of millions of people all around the globe. Whithin this growing passion, Europe is still the reference. Marketers are very concious about the fact that the competition will be followed by potential customers all over the world, and they have started preparing their Marketing strategies already. Are you ready to play in the big leagues?
Batman VS Superman
Announced more than 2 years ago, the clash between the two most famous superheroes of DC Comics is expected to be one of the greatest hits of the year. This concept of joining two very successful licenses offers a whole new world of possibilities for promotional campaigns, merchandise and licensees. It seems that Batman VS Superman will be targeted to a wide audience, more connected with the audience of The Man of Steel than to the one of The Dark Night of Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan. With the premiere scheduled for March the 25th, it is expected that many big players will include this license in their spring/summer campaigns.
Secret Life of Pets
Produced by the same studio that brought us the Minions (in case you have been in Mars lately, they are yellow, funny and very successful. A bit annoying since they seem to be everywhere these days), the Secret life of Pets aims to be the family hit of the summer of 2016. The wide variety of characters makes it possible for the license to engage a large and heterogeous audience. Also, since it is an animation movie it can be used in many more products and formats than real life licenses. You can watch the trailer here.
These three licenses are those we considered more likely to succeed in 2016 due to their potentiality to engage larger audiences. However, there are many other licenses to be considered, such as those that stay strong year after year (SpongeBob SquarePants, Star Wars, Frozen, Marvel…) and those new releases that will surely have a great impact (Angry Birds: the Movie, Finding Dory, Pirates of the Caribbean 5…).
At the end, it is the responsibility of the team coordinating the promotional strategy to decide which licenses engage their target and which can represent the brand vualues better. Once a license has been chosen it is time to plan the channel through which the audience will be engaged, and Grifoll offers a wide range of inpack and onpack integral solutions.
# Special: Copa America Centenario
Also in 2016, America will celebrate the 100 years of this footbal competition with a special edition of Copa America. The championship will take place in the United States next June, mixing for the first time ever national teams from North and South America. Soccer is expanding in the USA, and it has been always a passion in the latin american countries, so we are sure it will become a great success.
# Special: Olympic Games of Rio de Janeiro
Historically the Olympic Games are a territory for advertisers rather than licensees. However, these Games aim to be as followed as those in Beijing. Some athletes are media stars, like Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps, who announced retirement on 2012 but is probably coming back for Rio. There will also be two new disciplines: golf and rugby 7, expanding the interest in these Games.
