Zinkia Entertainment, specialists in the creation and management of distinct entertainment properties for today’s global marketplace, has named Evolution Management Group Inc. (EMG) as its licensing agent for the Company’s flagship multimedia property, POCOYO, in the U.S.A., effective immediately.
Press Release from Zinkia Entertainment
Madrid, Spain (October 11, 2011) – Zinkia Entertainment, specialists in the creation and management of distinct entertainment properties for today’s global marketplace, has named Evolution Management Group Inc. (EMG) as its licensing agent for the Company’s flagship multimedia property, POCOYO, in the U.S.A., effective immediately. The announcement was made today by Maria Doolan, Managing Director Brand & Business Development for Zinkia Entertainment.
EMG specializes in global brand and IP development, and will work with Doolan in securing new merchandising, licensing and promotional opportunities for Zinkia Entertainment’s POCOYO brand, based on the popular animatedtelevision series currently airing in over 150 countries across the globe. Travis J. Rutherford, C.E.O and Co-Founder of Evolution Management Group, will develop new strategic licensing partnerships and spearhead the retail development for POCOYO consumer products, while the firm’s President and Co-Founder, Adam Unger, will oversee product development and promotional opportunities for the brand.
“The EMG team brings a wealth of creativity and expertise to the partnership,” states Doolan. “We have great confidence in their combined talents and abilities to help us secure the type of product partnerships, merchandise development and retail support that will expand the POCOYO brand to the next level throughout the U.S.”
“We are very honored to be chosen by Zinkia to represent POCOYO in the U.S.,” said Rutherford. “The property is very special and we believe sets an extremely high bar in quality children’s programming. Working alongside Zinkia’s broadcast partners (Nick Jr., Univision and PBS) and assisting licensees including Bandai (Master Toy) and N-Circle (DVD), we will be expanding the retail footprint for the property, and facilitating new licensing and promotional alliances with best in class product partners to create truly innovative product assortments, that remain true to the brand essence.”
Rutherford has over 20 years of experience in connecting overall business strategy to marketing tactics and product plans, creating and implementing licensing, merchandising and retail programs that have proven to increase product awareness, market share, and profitability. Throughout hiscareer he has been involved with managing many IP portfolios including: MGM’s library (4,100 titles), including the James Bond franchise; Pink Panther and the Stargate franchises; Rocky and Robocop; as well as properties such as Disney's The Little Mermaid, Toy Story, 101 Dalmatians, Lion King, Pocahontas, Hunchback and Hercules; DreamWorks’ Small Soldiers and Shrek; Summertime Entertainment’s upcoming CGI 3D feature film Dorothy of Oz.
Unger has been delivering products and merchandise programs to retail for the past 20 years and maintains strong relationships with all key licensing and retail partners from specialty to mass. He was one of the original founders of theaward winning boy’s action toy company Art Asylum, which was later sold to Diamond Distributors in 2007. He then joined premier promotional agency Creata USA as the SVP, GM of Retail and continues today as a lead consultant on new business development. He has built robust licensing and merchandising programs for premier brands such as: Marvel; Star Wars; Star Trek; Paul Frank; Tony Hawk and Batman.
Airing in the U.S. on Nick Jr., Nickelodeon’s 24-hour commercial-free, educational preschool network,Univision, and select PBS Stations, the POCOYO preschool television series follows the adventures of an inquisitive and fun-loving boy as he discovers the world around him, bringing children into his bright and exuberant world packed with color, music and vibrant visual images. POCOYO represents a universe of core values that promotes a philosophy of curiosity, sincerity,tolerance, respect and love. With these guiding principles, POCOYO encourages kids to “Learn through Laughter,” utilizing a blend of humor and learning which mimics children’s development to inspire and inform children about the world around them. The ‘parent’ figure is voiced by writer/actor Stephen Fry (Alice inWonderland, Bones).
POCOYO has been awarded a host of accolades including Best Animation Series at BAFTA and Annecy. With more than 600 million hits on YouTube®, 535,000 Facebook fans, 33 million visitors to the official POCOYO website (www.pocoyo.com), 2,000 fans signing up daily to the official Facebook page and 11 million unique visitors to the virtual universe destination PocoyoWorld, POCOYO is a multi-platform global hit property.
About Zinkia Entertainment (Zinkia) specializes in the creation and management of entertainment properties for today’s global marketplace. Zinkia’s primary focus is the development and production of content for all media platforms to engage, entertain and educate children of all cultures. Zinkia is the exclusive worldwide licensor of global brand sensation POCOYO, one of Spain’s most successful animation productions, with a potential global audience reach of 3.5 billion. In April 2011, Zinkia acquired a 51% stake in London-based family entertainment company Cake. Founded in 2001, Zinkia is headquartered in Madrid, Spain and operates offices in China. www.zinkia.com.
About Evolution Management Group Inc.Evolution Management Group Inc. (EMG) provides a platform to build successful licensing and merchandising relationships at retail, monetizing IP in various market segments including film, TV, video games, character brands, virtual worlds, and new media. By leveraging a new paradigm of dynamic and converging licensing opportunities with proven expertise, they are positioned to grow emerging and established properties into premiere global brands.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
