PLAYDIGM Entertainment Licensing & Branding

I intend to comment on Entertainment, Licensing, Branding and any other thoughts on these industries four times a week (Monday to Thursday). Excluding holidays of course.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday I allocate to other projects and my family.

Do what you love and love what you do – is the best motto I can advise to my readers. No sense in working a position you do not find rewarding or is not heading you in the direction of accomplishing your dreams.

Focus on your future and leave the past behind.

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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – ebook will be available in 2009. Preorder now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com and for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.

Creating a Logo for a company or a Trademark for a product or service is not easy. There are many things that you have to take into consideration before registering it or putting money up for letterhead and promotion.

Logos and Trademarks have the following needs in common:

1) Both have to be catchy and easy to remember.

2) They should also be easy to spell or at the least, once seen, easy to spell. A good example is Xerox (originates from the name of a Greek God) but is better known today as a company name. At first, no one knew how to spell it or what it meant, but after hearing it, they remembered it because it was so unique. Yet until most consumers saw the name, they may not have known how to spell it. After a certain period of advertising and branding their logo, people all over the world now know it.

3) The Font style should be in the flavor of the product and its market or the company’s industry. Keep it clean and easy to read. Don’t get caught up with the fancy fonts and ensure that everyone is able to make the title out without too much eyestrain. You can create your own original font but again, ensure it is easy to read and it enhances the theme of the project.

4) The Logo, Trademark or Company name will usually be protected as a domain name for a website address. Shorter is better. No one wants to have to type a paragraph each time they decide to visit your website.

5) Color adds impact, is important and varies to personal taste. Keep it easy to see, yet in the flavor of the product or company’s line of business. When you get into four color logos and Trademarks, the price to print letterhead, signs and promotional materials increases accordingly.

6) Pictures and Photos are good as it makes it easier for international audiences and consumers to recognize your brand (especially if they don’t read the language on the box). Apple Computers use an apple and Toys R Us uses a Giraffe, Coca-cola uses their wavy letters and the shape of their bottle, these are things that everyone knows. I recommend clients to incorporate something alive with international appeal.

7) Some say Trademarks can be controversial, and in some industries that could be an asset. You see hard names for metal rock bands and soft ones for children’s toys. You wouldn’t want to try and market a harsh word to kids. I’m sure you get my drift here.

When jotting down a bunch of Logo and Trademark names, run them by your close friends and family who will keep them confidential. This feedback will help in deciding their viability. Repeat the chosen ones out loud to hear them spoken. If they sound the same as another ‘non-related’ word, that could be a spelling problem for consumers. Playdigm has been mis-spelled as Playdime by people who have only heard the name, but once they see how it is spelled this is solved. I even added the phrase – PLAYDIGM ‘A Shift in Entertainment’ as a way to remind people that it is a play off the word ‘paradigm’.

9) Graphic Design companies can charge thousands of dollars for coming up with a good Trademarks and Logos, so the more developed your idea is prior to engaging an artist or graphic designer, the less the up front cost will be. I consult on these matters and enjoy this creative process.

Prior to approving any design, remember that the Logo or Trademark will be what the world will know you and your product by. So make sure you can live with it. It is less expensive to change it before the printing and advertising campaign commences. A good example is when the World Wrestling Federation had to change it’s title to World Wrestling Entertainment, due to the previous first use of the World Wildlife Fund.

Most importantly, your name should stand out from the millions of other logos and Trademarks bombarding us from around the world. So be unique, as it will help you achieve global awareness faster.

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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – e-book will be available in 2009. Preorder now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com and for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.

I’ve been there… Two in the morning, waking up from a dead sleep because a great idea popped into your head. You debate if you should go back to the dream or climb out of bed and write the idea down.

This has happened so many times to me that I have purchased a micro-recorder so I don’t have to get up at all. I just reach over while still laying there, flip the switch on and explain to the machine, the idea or product in as much detail as I can recall.

For example: In the summer of 1984 I had just completed a three hour karate class, got home and had a couple beers while watching The Tonight Show. Johnny Carson was interviewing two of the designers of Trivial Pursuit (Horn – Abbott). One of them said, :”There will never be another game as successful as ours because all subject matter has been covered in game form.”

I stood up and said to the television, “There are no martial art board games.” After the show ended, I went to sleep and dreamed that I was playing a martial arts board game with friends of mine. I awoke the next day and explained this dream and game to my immediate family and friends. Everyone liked the idea so I started working on a prototype.

Now everyone has played a board game or two in their lifetime, so they know the basic components that are part of one. I started to draw the board first, each playing space just as I recalled seeing them in my dream. Then the painstaking tasks of drawing the pictures for the Opponent Cards, the text layout for the Urgent and Ying Yang Cards, until I finally had a rough prototype to play test.

Boy did we (my friends and family) ever play test the hell out of that game. We played it hundreds of times, which allowed us to tweak it here and there, making it the product you see today on shelves around the world and available online. However, it was missing one very important thing…

The title of the game in my dream was – THE ORIGINAL BRUCE LEE MARTIAL ARTS GAME. I had no idea how to get permission to use Bruce Lee’s name and likeness, there was also the famous photo of him from ‘ENTER THE DRAGON’ (with his right hand outstretched and the other holding a Nunchuku). This was on the box in my dream and even though everyone (including me) thought there was almost no chance to license Bruce Lee, I at least would try.

So after a telephone call to Black Belt magazine and a call to the legal counsel of the Bruce Lee estate, I was asked to send them a prototype for review.

The one I had made was not worthy to show anyone other than those helping me test the game. Since this was before photoshop and good computers (the Coleco Adam ruled the world then), I was forced to paste up an image from the ‘Enter the Dragon’ poster as the box top, then scratch each letter from a stencil one at a time for the game’s title above.

Then I did this repeatedly for all four sides (in slightly smaller stencil font size) and the back of the box, which also had another photo of Bruce Lee. Then I paid for a professional photographer to photograph this flat artwork-collage. Once it was developed and blown up I cut the two pictures out so that I could fold both the top and bottom into a book style box shape. This looked better than expected and was full color. No color copiers back then.

After hand cutting out the three decks of cards, the Ying Yang cards were circular and more of a challenge, I inserted each deck inside the box. I added a bag of black bingo chips (each chip represents ten hours of training necessary to learn different types of martial arts to gain higher belt levels).

The board took the longest time because of the painstaking slow task to glue the typed (on an electric typewriter) words of each game space and the inner spaces where players move their tokens upon. I have real respect for the old typeset guys who had to do all-night paste-up sessions.

I bought some small army men, to be able to use the Japanese guy holding the sword. I needed six as the Bruce Lee board game can be played with that many players. With a hot Exacto-knife, I cut one foot away from it’s base and with heat, molded the leg into a kicking position. Lost a few soldiers with this pyrotechnique. Then painted all six tokens different colors. After adding a ten sided die, and hand typed rules sheet, my prototype was complete.

Take into consideration that I actually made three of these complete prototypes at the same time. One for submission to Mrs. Lee and the Bruce Lee estate (which they kept). One for play testing and kicking around (full color version) and the third one I used to take photographs of for brochures and promotional use – like showing potential investors and buyers of games.

Of course, these days I hire artists, graphic designers, mechanics, machinists and a host of other professionals to produce any new prototypes. Which is what I always recommend my clients to do as well. The more professional looking the prototype, the easier to gain interest from buyers and investors. You can’t do everything yourself and in this case, you shouldn’t. You only get one chance to make a first impression.

Of course, before you put your time and money into building prototypes, you should consider if the product you are thinking of creating can be produced at a profitable price. If your estimated sales price, minus costs to produce and market, deem your venture worthwhile, then go ahead to the next stage. Also before publishing or producing your product, do your best to ensure there is a market for it.

Printers and Engineers and other design companies can help you create a functioning prototype to ensure proof-of-concept and may even be able to provide cost breakdowns and production facilities for such products.

Just make sure you trust those that you tell or show your idea/product to before you actually reveal it. Confidentiality Agreements are recommended and should be signed to protect you and your great product.

Good luck with turning your dream into reality!

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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – e-book will be available in 2009. Preorder now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com and for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.

You’ve come up with a great idea/product but what to name it? How do you protect the name you want it to be known and sold as? What is a good name to use?

A TRADEMARK (TM) protects what you call your product, service or character(s) in a distinct territory. Like Spiderman, Ironman, Galactic Gladiators, Harry Potter, Coca-cola, Pepsi, the title of movies, novels, toys, etc…

First, it is important not to reveal the title of your movie, comic, story, character(s) until you have registered the Trademark(s). You can register Trademarks on your own by going to USPTO.gov or CIPO.gc.ca and clicking on Trademarks. First, search to see if the title/name has already been registered in Canada AND the United States prior to spending money on logo designs, product creation and advertising. If it is available in the USA then check other government Trademark websites to ensure it is available in the markets you are going to sell into. Check search engines like Google, Explorer or Yahoo for your potential name to see what kind of international competition already exists.

If it is not previously registered anywhere else then go ahead and pay to protect the Trademark and start with the largest market you are going to actually be able to sell to. There is a limited time period you have to achieve what is called ‘First Use’ in certain markets, so double check the date and time you have to be selling your manufactured product by and ensure you meet this deadline, because if you do not, you may have to pay extension fees or even lose the TM.

Take into consideration that someone some where else on the planet, in say England or Japan or (pick a nation), may have already registered the Trademark you want in their country. Each country has a separate registration system and fee structure. If you have registered a Trademark in X country and someone else registered the same Trademark in Y country prior to your registration, then you should consult a lawyer. First use of the Trademark will be all important and you will have to foot the bill for any challenge.

The Trademark, once applied for, is sent out to Trademark lawyers in that territory and if not challenged, is approved. If it is challenged seek legal counsel immediately. I advise my clients to hire an intellectual lawyer to submit and file Trademarks for two reasons, 1) they handle all the paperwork, domestically and internationally and if they make an error they may be liable for the mistake and sometimes, even the loss of Trademark; 2) retaining the intellectual lawyer to handle your Trademark affairs allows you to add them to your business plan, which adds credibility and shows potential investors that you are smart enough to not do everything yourself. I will touch on financing in a future post.

Then there is the fact that a Trademark will only protect a certain segment of products like print or clothing or digital. This means that you will have to pay to protect your Trademark in each category. Again, an agent would explain this, the costs associated to protect each category and help decide which categories to protect first.

For simplicity, lets say you are the only one who has registered the Trademark. This allows you to use the mark/name and profit from its use plus challenge anyone who attempts to use the same Trademark in the territories and categories you have registered it in. However, you are responsible for the cost of any Trademark lawsuits and all your Trademark registration does for you, is to have a government document that proves you registered the Trademark on a certain date. That is why it is important to be the first one to register AND to use it.

So, you registered your Trademark, it was not challenged by other Trademark owners or their agents who represent similar or competitive Trademarks in the marketplace. You have the Trademark document in your hand and need to use it, but you do not have a manufactured product to sell yet. What to do?

A friend of mine created a half dozen prototypes of his product (handmade) and took them to a retail store. He convinced the owner to purchase his unproduced-handmade products at an agreed upon price, with the understanding that he would repurchase them at double what the store owner bought them for. All the Trademark owner wanted was proof that he sold his Trademarked product in a documented (sales receipted) transaction. Proving he is actually using the Trademark.

Another person I know sold her prototyped product on ebay to obtain documented proof that the use of her Trademark was a fact. Even though she sold it to a friend online who returned it to her later.

However, take note that some government(s) may not accept this type of transaction due to the limited marketing and sales, which could be deemed not proper ‘First Use’, allowing someone else to challenge your registered Trademark with a product of their own. The point here is that different markets have different rules and that is another reason I recommend hiring a Trademark agent to file and secure your Trademarks. It will cost you more than doing it yourself, but better to know problems up front, then to have spent more money manufacturing a product that can not be marketed because the name of the product is already Trademarked and owned by someone else or that you did not use the mark within the time limit, allowing someone else to pick up an abandoned Trademark.

You can’t judge a book by its cover, well, that is wrong. Professionals know that the cover or packaging of a product has to attract the consumer enough to buy it. Nothing is better than a good Trademark logo design and a photo/picture. One key is to give the people what they want and be clear on what it is you are marketing.

The catchier the Trademark the better your chances for success.

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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – e-book will be available in 2009. Preorder now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com and for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.

J. K. Rowling created and wrote the first Harry Potter book less than 15 years ago. It is rumoured that the second richest woman on the planet earned only 10 percent of all the money made from her stories. This percentage is for an established author. Take into consideration that means 90 percent went to the book publishers, the film companies, taxes, accountants, lawyers, etc…

Still, wouldn’t you like to create a revenue stream that earns even 10 percent of what she received? Or what Stan Lee gets annually or (pick any successful entertainment product/franchise).

The key to standing out from the pack is to have an original idea and a diverse group of products based on that concept. Nothing beats originality, especially if it is a good story with great characters that is easy to promote to the target market.

For example: When I was designing the first prototype for my martial arts board game, I knew the chance of success was limited. The toy industry was about ten billion dollars a year in the USA and the funds I was raising ended up being just under $200,000 Canadian for this board game (back in the day when Canadian currency was 65 cents against the American dollar). The odds of success were against me, plus I had never done anything like this before.

This meant that it would be next to impossible to manufacture the first print run and have enough funds to advertise and penetrate the toy and martial arts markets. The key was to attach a BIG NAME CELEBRITY or LEGEND to the game. Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee. Well Bruce Lee had been dead since the seventies and this was 1984. I still believe today he was the best choice at the time.

My mother always said, “If you don’t ask, you won’t receive.” So I telephoned Black Belt magazine, which I was a reader of and they directed me to Adrian Marshall, the attorney to the Bruce Lee Estate at the time, who invited me to forward to Mrs. Linda Lee, Brandon, Shannon and the Bruce Lee Estate a copy of my game prototype.

After months of preparing and waiting for a response, it came back in the form of a one page letter that explained that upon their receipt of an advance payment I would have the legal right and endorsement to use the name and likeness of BRUCE LEE worldwide. I sent the payment and immediately retained artists to complete the layout of the game.

This would be the last time a licensing deal was so easy and not a thick contract. I will be discussing licensing contracts in future posts.

INSTANT RECOGNITION

By licensing Bruce Lee, I saved millions in advertising dollars because (at that time) everyone still knew who he was and he is still a legend today. His recognition factor helped launch the product faster than not having a famous name involved. If I would have called the game Grandmaster, Kung Fu or Black Belt, something generic, it would of required a huge amount of advertising money to gain mind share (consumer awareness) with no guarantee of success.

I managed to negotiate this licensing deal with no lawyers on my end because I could not afford one at the time. I didn’t know it at the time but years later lawyers would pay me to speak to them about how I did all this without legal counsel (but that is for another day.

Once production was completed and THE ORIGINAL BRUCE LEE MARTIAL ARTS GAME was produced, I marketed it into 75 countries around the world. You too could take your idea from the Mind to the Market.

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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – ebook will be available in 2009. Preorder now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.

You have come up with a great idea but now what?

This blog will help the new and professional make their dream come true. That is if your dream is to create something from nothing and go through the proper stages until it is launched and marketed internationally.

First, you need to develop the concept onto the page or record it like a video or song to establish copyright. Once you have taken your intangible idea and made it real/tangible, you can protect it with copyright.

Copyright registration is recommended by intellectual property lawyers and is the right move. Go to USPTO.gov for American requirement and costs or CIPO.gc.ca for the Canadian site. For a fee the government will document the date of registration that your intellectual property existed.

All this does is help you prove that your product existed at such-and-such a date. The government will not come to your assistance should someone else copy and make money off of your product. You will have to fund any lawsuit or action against the person/company using your copyright/product without your permission. So if you end up in court, you will have the advantage of proof that you registered the copyright.

Some people say that you can use affidavits and witnesses to say or claim that you invented the story or song or video on the date in question but take into consideration that anyone challenging you in court can do the same for them.

Even though Copyright is granted upon creation, you really should pay to register it to prove you are the originator of the item. You deserve the credit.

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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – e-book will be available in 2009. Preorder now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.