Entertainment Licensing & Branding Blog

The staff of Playthings, announced that the Los Angeles appeals court stayed a pending court-ordered recall of MGA Entertainment’s BRATZ dolls.  This allows the doll’s to continue to be sold.

Chief Judge Alex Kozinski and Circuit Judges Stephen S. Trott and Kim McLane Wardlaw of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit filed the stay Wednesday following an appellate hearing on the case earlier in the day.

“The Court’s stay is good news for all Bratz fans and for anyone who cares about fair competition,” said Isaac Larian, CEO of MGA Entertainment. “It keeps Bratz on the shelves, allows MGA Entertainment to continue meeting consumer demand for new Bratz products, and prevents Mattel from taking control of the billion-dollar international Bratz brand built by MGA Entertainment while the Court makes its final decision. We are gratified by the Court’s decision and look forward to receiving the Court’s decision on our appeal.”

The judges would see MGA and Mattel to attempt to settle the dispute over Bratz’s future through “expedited participation in this court’s mediation program.”

Last year, a court ruled that Bratz’ creator, Carter Bryant, had been under contract to Mattel when he designed the initial concept and hence granted Bratz rights to Mattel. MGA was subsequently ordered by U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson to stop selling Bratz dolls at the end of 2009 and transfer all related material to Mattel.

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I find it interesting that even though the rights to the BRATZ doll line are now the owned by Mattel, MGA still gets to sell their version of the brand throughout another Christmas season.  As we all know, ‘It’s all about the money and using the court system to make more money.’

For those in the know on this mixed up license scenario, the key is to ensure the license and ownership terms are clear and identified in the contract between the Licensor and the Licensee.  See my Clause-by-Clause breakdown of a complete Licensing Agreement to ensure your brand does not end up with a similar fate.  Scroll down…

Cheers!

Sandford Tuey

info@Playdigm.com

I thank Playthings Magazine for the educational use of the copyrighted article above my personal remarks.

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A recent report by Penny Schneck, who is the Internet sales manager for the Retail Division of Reed Business Information, parent company to Home Accents Today, was brought to my attention via Playthings magazine (the trusted publication for the Toy Industry).

Her report indicates that the best marketing tactic to give you the best return on investment (ROI) is e-mail. It is the most efficient direct response method you can employ. She states the following in the report:

E-mail’s ROI index is 70% higher than any other direct-response marketing vehicle” — Direct Marketing Association, 2006

55% of survey respondents expect ROI from e-mail to be higher than any other channel” — Datran Media, 2008

E-mail marketing is traditional direct mail on steroids — it is fast, effective and inexpensive. Unlike traditional direct mail, there are no printing and postage costs. E-mail costs are literally pennies per address.

You can develop an e-mail campaign and get it out the door in virtually the same day. This makes it ideal when you want to take advantage of market opportunities, move product quickly or even test a campaign before implementing it across print and broadcast channels. With e-mail, you know in a matter of a few days how effective your campaign is vs. waiting weeks to evaluate a print mail campaign.

So to summurize, the key is to gather e-mail addresses by offering incentives to prospects that make it worthwhile for them to provide you with their contact information. Consider giving free information like a report on something you know will interest people, hold contests, provide coupons, or other special offers.

Advertising online at other Web sites and via electronic newsletters will help drive traffic to your webiste’s registration page. Make it clear that your privacy policy will not allow customers’ contact information to be revealed to anyone outside your company or group.

Ensure you communicate with your contacts and customers with new e-mail, offers and phase out non-responders vs. responders. This will keep your list current and generate sales and interest.

By customizing messages you will optimize response and interactivity with your clients and followers. The more impressions the better but do not overdue it to the point where the receiver feels they are being spammed.

The key is communication. It should drive the recipient to take action, to click to your web site or desired page. Design each message to resolve any objections, request and repeat actions and create a sense of urgency to do the action desired.

Never Spam as the Can-Spam Act is designed to ensure the you do not use false or misleading information, be it in your header, subject line or message text. Always give the recipient a way to opt out of receiving future e-mail and honor their request within 10 business days. Your message must include a valid mailing address for your company and identify the e-mail as an advertisement (if it so).

E-mail, when done right, can grow your customer database, build repeat business and increase customer loyalty and satisfaction. Make sure it is part of your marketing strategy.