Genius Brands International expands licensing program for tween girl’s brand ‘SpacePop’ with appointment of new North American licensees.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA -- Following the June 20th launch of SpacePOP on YouTube, Genius Brands International, Inc. has continued to expand the licensing, merchandising and retail program for its new tween girl’s brand, SpacePOP, with the appointment of a slate of new North American licensees.
Madame Alexander Doll Company will create a line of fashion dolls and figures based on SpacePOP’s main characters. GBI has also named new key licensees, including KIDdesigns (youth electronics, tech accessories and electronic toys), Mad Dog Concepts (loungewear, sleepwear), Franco Manufacturing (bedding & bath textiles, accessories, room décor), Berkshire Fashions (hosiery, head wear, and cold weather accessories), and FAB Starpoint (bags, backpacks, accessories).
These latest partners join existing SpacePOP licensees, including Taste Beauty (beauty and bath products), Bare Tree Media (emoticons), Canal Toys (craft and activity kits), Yowie Group, Ltd. (confections), Jaya Apparel (apparel), H.E.R. Accessories (accessories), Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (home entertainment), and Imprint (publishing), part of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, who are launching the book series. SpacePOP merchandise will begin rolling out at retail in the U.S. in fall 2016.
“The appeal of SpacePOP continues to fuel great demand from the licensing community across all categories, lining up best-in-class key partners for our launch,” commented GBI’s President of Global Consumer Products & Marketing, Stone Newman. “In addition to the captivating characters and engaging storylines, this property fuses the passionate interest of tween girls, fashion, music, fantasy, and offers licensing, merchandising and retail partners the unique opportunity to develop an indelible association with their product or brand at the onset of what promises to be a hugely successful, fresh new brand for girls.”
“We are thrilled to partner with GBI to expand the SpacePOP digital narrative into fashion dolls and figures,” added Jamie Cygielman, General Manager/EVP, Madame Alexander Doll Company. “SpacePOP is a fresh and exciting experience for the tween audience, and as a company with a rich heritage in quality and pop culture, Madame Alexander is the ideal partner to bring the colorful SpacePOP characters to life.”
GBI has forged new paths in the children’s media space by utilizing YouTube as its distribution path for SpacePOP, which launched exclusively on the YouTube SpacePOP Channel on June 20th and has already amassed over 3 million views. SpacePOP is comprised of over 100 serialized adventures featuring original music woven into a narrative that follows five teenage princesses who disguise themselves as musicians and form a band while they secretly plot to vanquish an evil Empress who is seeking to enslave the galaxy. SpacePop offers a colorful blend of music, fashion, beauty, friendship and intergalactic adventures resulting in an engaging lifestyle brand.
Following the premiere of the first six videos on YouTube, two new SpacePOP videos are being released each week on YouTube, as well as across other digital platforms, including Toon Goggles, PopJam, BatteryPOP and the Kid Genius channel on Comcast’s Xfinity on Demand platform. SpacePOP music is available from Sony Music Entertainment on iTunes and Spotify.
In conjunction with the launch of SpacePOP, GBI has launched a number of marketing initiatives, including a YouTube Influencer campaign; national promotional partnerships with Six Flags, Dippin’ Dots and Camplified; promotional campaigns with Musical.ly and PopJam; and a dedicated SpacePOP site.
SpacePOP was developed with best-in-class development and production team, including Emmy Award-nominated Steve Banks (head writer and story editor of Sponge Bob Square Pants) as content writer; Han Lee (Pink Fizz, Bobby Jack) for original character designs; multiple Grammy Award-winning producer and music veteran Ron Fair (Fergie, Mary J. Blige, Black Eyed Peas, Pussycat Dolls, Christina Aguilera and more) and singer songwriter spouse Stefanie Fair (founding member of RCA’s girl group Wild Orchid with Fergie) for the original SpacePOP theme music; and veteran music producer and composer John Loeffler (Kidz Bop, Pokemon) for original songs.
Source: Genius Brand International, Inc.
