ZAG and ON kids & family’s Globally-Renowned
Miraculous™ – Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir Expands Worldwide
with a Slate of New Consumer Products across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America
ZAG Announces Multiple New Global Consumer Products Deals
ZAG Lab and Playmates Toys to Roll-Out New Miraculous Toys in Europe Beginning in Fall 2020
New U.S. Deals Include Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and an Expanded Partnership with InSpirit Designs, and Long-Term Multi-Territory Alliances with Panini and Ferrero Lead to Significant Volumes of New Miraculous-Branded Products in the Marketplace
Following ZAG’s recent appointments of leading veteran consumer products executives, the Company continues to set new milestones for its globally-renowned flagship brand, Miraculous™ – Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, with multiple new key licensing partner deals and renewals across key categories, including publishing, apparel, food, and home décor, with major partners around the globe. Miraculous is created by ZAG and produced by ZAG and ON kids & family (Mediawan Group).
“Miraculous continues to be one of the most beloved brands around the globe and bringing aboard so many new best-in-class partners, as well as continuing our long-standing relationships, is a testament to the tremendous popularity of the brand,” commented Julian Zag, EVP Global Operations. “We are currently in production on seasons four and five of the series with two new TV movie specials set to debut on Disney Channel and Disney+ at the end of this year and early next ahead of our US$70m theatrical move release. We’ve sold over 150 million products at retail over the past three years, and Miraculous is the #1 direct-to-retail license for Spirit Halloween for kids and adults. Winning 15 prestigious awards, and with over 100 million downloads of the official app, the future continues to look absolutely Miraculous!”
- New North American licensing partners include Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (LBYR), a division of the Hachette Book Group; and InSpirit Designs, a division of lifestyle retailer Spencer Spirit Holdings that owns and operates Spencer’s and Spirit Halloween. The multi-year deal with LBYR includes picture books, leveled readers, storybooks, chapter books, middle grade novels, guide-books, and sticker books. And InSpirit Designs will create costumes and accessories for wholesale retailers. The agreement extends ZAG’s existing relationship with Spirit Halloween, where Miraculous became the company’s #1 direct-to-retail license for adults and kids at their owned and operated retail locations. Other new licensees for North American include Jay Franco (bedding and home décor); Handcraft Manufacturing (underwear); and Customized Personal Solutions, operator of e-commerce shop TV’s TOY BOX (print on demand merchandise for kids). Products will begin rolling out in fall 2020 through 2021.
- In Europe, multi-territory licensees Panini and Ferrero, Miraculous partners since the brand’s launch, continue their relationship with ZAG. Panini has renewed its multi-year, multi-product deal, that includes their signature sticker album program, monthly magazine program, plus traditional books in Germany; and Miraculous Kinder Surprise Eggs and other seasonal products from Ferrero have now been launched in more than 50 countries, ranking amongst the top properties for the chocolatier. In France, ZAG continues its relationship with McDonald’s—a May/June 2020 promotion featured Miraculous themed arts and crafts kits with collectible cards; a new license has been signed with La Plume Dorée for a range of back to school Miraculous products; Turbulences launched a new Miraculous Lifestyle magazine in June; and Prodhex will launch first aid kits for new adventurers. Elsewhere in Europe, new publishing agreements have been signed for a variety of products, including Eksik Parca Yayincilik Ticaret (Missing Piece Publishing) in Turkey, Ranok Publishing Limited in Ukraine, and Kennedy Publishing (UK).
- In Latin America, newly appointed The Novelty Book Company becomes ZAG’s pan-regional publishing partner, with book programs going into Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, and Peru. The company specializes in books with added value and include coloring, sticker and activity formats, and books that feature a toy or play element, along with other novelty elements.
- Also recently renewed is an agreement with Australia’s Five Mile Press who will continue to publish chapter books, novelizations, guide-books, and book gift sets, together with additional new categories.
The new consumer products’ deals for Miraculous coincide with the retail roll-out of the new toy line from ZAG Lab, ZAG’s toy division, and Playmates Toys. The first product line from the two companies–since announcing their long-term global alliance earlier this year–is set to debut this fall across key European territories, including U.K., France, Germany, Italy, and Benelux, as well as Mexico, and throughout the rest of the world in 2021. Additionally, season three of the series launches this summer and fall around the world. Seasons one and two currently air in key territories, consistently ranking #1 in the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Brazil and Mexico and top-ranked in the U.S. on Disney Channel. And, according to Parrot Analytics, Miraculous was the most in-demand children’s show on Netflix when it launched in the U.S. and Russia (2018 and 2019).
Empowering and inspirational, Miraculous embraces values for the entire family and has become a digital planetary craze with over 19 billion views on YouTube (authorized and user-generated content). Miraculous airs in over 120 countries across the globe and is thewinner of 15 awards, including the 2018 Teen Choice Award for “Choice Animated Series;” Best Preschool Licensing Project” for the Capsule Collection Chicco Miraculous at the Bologna Licensing Awards; and at the French Licensing Awards, Epopia won “Best Licensed Product of the Year” for a correspondence kit; and eyewear manufacturer L’Amy Group won “Best Licensee of the Year.
Miraculous™ follows the adventures of two seemingly typical teens with secret identities, Marinette and Adrien, who magically transform into superheroes, Ladybug and Cat Noir. As secret superheroes, Ladybug and Cat Noir are partners in the action. But in the daytime, Marinette is just a normal girl, living a normal life. Cat Noir will do anything to support and impress Ladybug but does not know this is Marinette from his class. Marinette, the regular girl, in turn dreams of Adrien and simply gets little response. When evil threatens, can they beat the unexpected villains?
