Jul 25, 2011
Angry Birds’ Back-to-School Push; New Street Fighter Movie
CNNMoney.com’s Parija Kavilanz wrote a story on Angry Birds back to school items, calling it the hot new trend. And: of course it is! The introduction of Angry Birds licensed merchandise dovetails perfectly with back to school. (Angry Birds back to school merchandise is available to preorder.) According to the story, sales of Angry Birds-related goods have risen 500 percent in the past five months.
As we’ve written before, while back-to-school spending will likely ebb this year, licensed products are the natural exception. Licensing is a stable industry because it has the tendency to break the curve when consumers are pinching their pennies. The entire children’s television industry is built upon this foundation, and its dominance is unquestioned as a supplier of licensed product. Angry Birds, which we covered extensively in our spring issue, has fought its way into a fairly prestigious club. It’s a brand for people of all ages, the Super Mario Bros. of its time.
Will it have the staying power of Super Mario Bros.? Only time will tell. It’s one thing to reach the mountaintop, but it’s another thing to stay there. Survival is tough, and no one survives by accident. Angry Birds netted $42 million in March on the strength of the game’s performance—do they have a Super Mario Bros. 2 up their sleeve? We’re not talking about Angry Birds Rio. We’re talking about a game that builds upon the gameplay and themes of the original to create something entirely new and exciting.
This back-to-school season figures to be Angry Birds’ moment, and the property is still exploding. Last week, TCC signed a deal to undertake worldwide retail loyalty promotions for the property in supermarkets, hypermarkets, drug stores, health and beauty chains, and more.
New Street Fighter Animated Film Set for September Release
A new Street Fighter animated film, Street Fighter: The New Challengers, will be released September 6, Pacific Entertainment Corp. announced.
The film will be released as a standalone DVD or offered in a special collector bundle package that includes Capcom’s Street Fighter IV PC Game.
—Bryan Joiner
