Encouraged by the success of its franchises like Fast & Furious, Despicable Me, and Minions at the box office in India, Universal studio is now wanting to increase its revenue share in the licensed merchandising market, a category led by rival Walt Disney.
The named studio has consolidated the licensing and merchandising rights of DreamWorks Animation which it acquired last year with Mumbai-based brand licensing startup Black White Orange Brands.
Universal had initially entered the Indian market last year when it signed Black White Orange as its licensing partner for India and South Asia.
Then, the deal included major franchises such as Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures’ Despicable Me, Universal and Amblin Entertainment’s Jurassic World and Universal’s Fast & Furious along with The Secret Life of Pets and classic films from the studio’s library, Back to the Future and Jaws.
“DreamWorks Animation is a very big addition to our portfolio,” averred BhavikVora, founder and CEO of Black White Orange Brands. He said his company is targeting Rs 40 crore in retail sales in India in the next one year from DreamWorks Animation’s merchandise, across various categories.
“We have already seen retail sales of Rs 120 crore in six months from Minions and Fast and Furious franchises’ products. Together with Universal and DreamWorks, we will now have a big range of products and will have more leverage in the market. Our aim is to launch many properties together and get significant shelf space in the retail stores,” Vora added.
The deal will allow the company to manage licensing and merchandising for DreamWorks’ portfolio, including global hit properties like Trolls, The Boss Baby, KungFu Panda, Madagascar, Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon, and DreamWorks Animation Television’s, Voltron Legendary Defender.
Incidentally, Universal has been working with Black White Orange since early 2016.
