Beanstalk Highlights Importance of Asia for Licensing

Leading brand licensing agency and consultancy focuses on the importance ofAsia for the licensing industry in anticipation of the Hong Kong International Licensing Show 2012

January 9, 2012, Hong Kong Convention Centre, Booth 3G-C21 — Beanstalk, a leading brand licensing agency and consultancy, today spoke of another strong year for the agency in Asia and how the region has further cemented its importance for the licensing industry as a whole.

“The Asian office has contributed significantly to the success of Beanstalk’s overall global business in 2011,” said Ciarán Coyle, Managing Director, International, for Beanstalk. “Asia is a hugely important market both from a manufacturing and consumer point of view. The speed with which partners here can develop and deliver product has had a great impact on our ability to service our global digital and fashion clients this past year. We have successfully secured major licensing partners from the region to service both the local market as well as key international markets, and as a result, we are responding to consumer demand and delivering product to market faster than ever before.”

“Digital properties are certainly driving business for Beanstalk in the entertainment sector and we signed ten key licensee partnerships in 2011 for our newly acquired client Talking Friends, four of which were major agreements developed by our Hong Kong office. In addition, demand for product from our celebrity and fashion client roster remains high here.  We are in negotiations for a number of opportunities for British fashion brands, Aquascutum and Jaeger, and in 2012, Paris Hilton’s eyewear line will launch exclusively for the Asian market.” said Coyle.

“We are anticipating high demand for our digital entertainment, celebrity and fashion clients at the Hong Kong International Licensing Show,” Coyle concluded. “We are confident that Beanstalk and its clients will continue to experience significant growth in 2012, which will further cement Beanstalk as the agency of choice in Asia for world-class brands.”

Ciaran Coyle will be speaking at the Asian Licensing Conference on 10th January at 16:30 on the subject of “Branding of Characters and Fashion – Opportunities for Lifestyle Products.”

BRAND UPDATES

Paris Hilton

Beanstalk has announced an agreement for its client, global style leader and fashion icon Paris Hilton, with OEM & Design Company, the leading Asian eyewear manufacturer, to develop an exclusive line of optical frames, sunglasses and coloured contact lenses for the Asian market.

The range will be launched by Paris herself at the Shanghai Optical Fair in February 2012, and will be sold in department stores and specialty jewelry stores across the region, including China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Australasia.

Talking Friends

In July 2011 Beanstalk was appointed the exclusive, global licensing agency for Talking Friends, the digital app sensation which counts Talking Tom Cat amongst its cast of characters with 300 million downloads worldwide and counting.

Beanstalk is working to expand the Talking Friends franchise internationally and has announced agreements for the brand with Letao for footwear across Asia, Fine Makers Limited to produce giftware for the U.K. market, Smith & Brooks to develop apparel for the U.K., and a pan-European agreement with Belltex for bedding and home décor product.

MovieStarPlanet

Beanstalk announced new digital entertainment client MovieStarPlanet at the Brand Licensing Europe trade show in October 2011, where it received an exceptional response. One of the fastest growing social platforms in the world, MovieStarPlanet allows tweens to interact with their peers in a safe and creative environment, with over 20 million profiles created to date.

Since its launch in Denmark in 2009, MovieStarPlanet has undergone rapid expansion, with exceptional levels of market penetration across Europe, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, Poland, Germany, France, Norway, The Netherlands and Finland. In August 2011, MovieStarPlanet launched in the U.S. and significantly beat forecasts in terms of site visits and user profile creation in its first month.

The property plans to extend to additional territories and anticipates 80 million users by the end of 2012, having experienced a ten-fold growth rate in 2011 alone.

Stanley Black & Decker

With over 50 licensees worldwide, the Stanley Black & Decker licensing programme has become the most comprehensive, seamless and successful licensing programme in the hardware industry today.

A wide range of new licensees were appointed in 2011, including Rhino Professional for Stanley Industrial Wipes & Hand Gels, Work-in-Progress Ltd for Stanley Safety Footwear across the U.K. and Ireland, Smoby Toys for Black & Decker Role Play Toys across EMEA, and Louisville Ladders for ladders across the Stanley, Black & Decker and DeWalt brands..

An additional number of new licenses are currently under negotiation, and with the continuing strength of the brands at retail, 2012 is forecast to be another strong year for the Stanley Black & Decker licensing programme.

Jaeger

British fashion and lifestyle brand Jaeger joined Beanstalk’s portfolio in May 2011. Beanstalk’s specialists are working closely with the Jaeger team to develop a strategic licensing programme which complements and drives the growth and success of the brand in the U.K. and internationally, across categories including fragrance, sunglasses, footwear, childrenswear and homewares.

Beanstalk is currently prospecting for a best-in-class licensee to partner with Jaeger to manufacture and distribute core apparel in Asia.

Aquascutum

Beanstalk has recently extended its remit as licensing agency for the Aquascutum brand to include Asia, in an agreement brokered with Aquascutum Asia trademark-owner YGM. Beanstalk has been working with iconic luxury British heritage brand, Aquascutum, since May 2011 to help develop the brand’s international licensing programme through securing best-in-class licensing partners across a range of luxury lifestyle categories including fragrance, eyewear, watches, luggage and childrenswear.

Beanstalk announced its first agreement for Aquascutum in October 2011, partnering with the leading Italian umbrella manufacturer Aqueodesign to develop an exclusive line of umbrellas under the Aquascutum trademark for launch in Europe, North America and the Middle East in March 2012.

About Beanstalk

Beanstalk, a global brand licensing agency and consultancy, extends brands through the strategic and creative development of licensed products. The company works with blue-chip brands and other high-profile clients to leverage licensing as a strategic tool to enhance brand awareness, increase consumer touch-points, and generate revenue. Beanstalk also offers a breadth of additional licensing services including direct-to-retail program management, license acquisition for manufacturers, celebrity/expert talent management, and TransAct™ customized legal and financial services. The company is headquartered in New York, with offices in London, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, and Hong Kong, and affiliates throughout the world.  For more information, please visit www.beanstalk.com. Beanstalk is a part of Omnicom Group Inc. Diversified Agency Services (NYSE: OMC). Omnicom (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company.