From Jason Universe to Domo… Russell Binder and Mandy Bardisbanian talk us through recent additions to Striker’s portfolio

How’s 2025 been for Striker so far?
Russell Binder, Founder, Striker Entertainment: Striker has this uncanny optimism about our business that bucks up against many of the challenges industries are facing with tariffs, consumer confidence, disruption, and so on… All we can say is that we have a very strong portfolio and have found a way to thrive during certain and less certain economies…

With the addition of Jason Universe, Domo, Tubby Nugget and the continued strong global performance of Five Nights at Freddy’s, The Walking Dead and more, we should be positioned to do solid business this year – and be well positioned for when things hopefully settle down and equalise.

You’ve recently teamed up with NHK to bring back Domo. For anyone new to the brand, who’s Domo?
Mandy Bardisbanian, EVP of Licensing & Retail Development, Striker Entertainment: Domo is a curious, fuzzy creature with a distinctive grin that was hatched from an egg! Born in 1998, Domo is the mascot for NHK – Japan’s public broadcast network – and was originally created by Mr. Goda of Japan’s Dwarf Studios. Domo’s unique blend of humour and charm resonated with fans worldwide, making him a global phenomenon in the early 2000s.

“We gravitate towards burgeoning fandoms regardless of age, gender or socio-economic factors.”

Domo wants to make friends with everyone and experience everything – and he appeals to human curiosity and friendship. And based on the social listening we’ve been doing, the world appears ready for Domo’s return.

Can you talk us through your process of making Domo ‘licensing’ ready again?
Mandy: A Domo relaunch in the US market means that we need to bring Domo into 2025. With the growth and dominance of social media across our target demo, the attention landscape has changed by orders of magnitude since the last time he captured the pop-cultural zeitgeist. He was a darling on MySpace, but now he needs to be present and regularly active on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and so on…

With that in mind, we structured what we’re calling a ‘Content Licensee’. Our Content Licensee – Chimera – is responsible for creating, managing and curating all of Domo’s social media accounts, as well as his in-person appearances. The intent is that Domo will reengage with previous fans and resonate with new ones. Domo will indeed be everywhere and making a ton of new friends along the way!

Terrific. And what are some areas you feel Domo can thrive in?
Mandy: Akin to the early 2000’s, Domo is a lifestyle brand. Apparel, accessories, bags, fashion, plush, collectibles, and so much more will be available across multiple retail channels. We also see a large opportunity for co-branded collaborations with both fashion brands and other relevant character IPs.

Let’s also talk Tubby Nugget. Out of interest, how would you pitch the brand?
Mandy: Created by Jenine Pastores and Joshua Jackson, Tubby Nugget has cultivated a significant following across multiple social media platforms. This cross-platform presence underscores Tubby Nugget’s widespread appeal and engagement within the social media landscape. When comparing Tubby Nugget to other social media-native character IPs, it’s evident that it holds a prominent position.

By way of example, the TikTok account has amassed nearly seven million followers, with individual videos garnering millions of views. Notably, a video posted in July 2023 titled ‘Surely I’ll be functional after another nap… SURELY’ went viral – achieving over 43 million views. This level of engagement highlights Tubby Nugget’s ability to resonate with a broad audience.

Tubby Nugget’s follower count and engagement metrics suggest it’s among the more successful and influential characters in this domain. Its consistent content creation and positive messaging foster a dedicated and growing fanbase, setting a benchmark for similar social media-native character IPs.

What convinced you that Tubby Nugget has consumer product ‘clout’?
Mandy: Tubby Nugget has some core fundamentals that showcase its ‘clout’ as a potential CP darling, including a strong emotional connection with fans, a massive and loyal audience, a simple yet iconic design, and a universal, family friendly appeal… Not to mention that it’s already proven in digital goods formats.

Is this Tubby Nugget partnership indicative of what Striker looks for when representing brands today?
Mandy: Whereas the industry might view us – and we might often promote ourselves – as an agency that leans into ‘genre’, the truth is that we gravitate towards burgeoning fandoms regardless of age, gender or socio-economic factors. When we believe in something – and we too are fans – we get behind it.

Absolutely. Now, from a wholesome nugget to a killing machine! Let’s wrap up with Jason Universe… Many readers will be familiar with the horror movie icon that is Jason – so what does the Jason Universe ‘banner’ span?
Russell: The Jason Universe is the future of one of the iconic – we’re talking the Mt. Rushmore of horror! – characters in the history of the genre. The stakeholders have an aggressive-yet-thoughtful strategy to ensure with new content across film, TV and gaming that Jason appeals to the 45 years of fandom – while ensuring his relevance for another 45 years and more.

What makes this character and franchise exciting to strike partnerships for? And where do you see opportunities?
Russell: Horror has become a 24/7/365 genre. What used to be a seasonal business has become a full-time part of pop culture. From LeBron’s Jason tattoo to the countless references of Jason in hip hop by Eminem and others, Jason is primed to be part of anything collector, co-branded, lifestyle/fashion, Location Based, and digital. We’re looking forward to embracing the obvious to the most outrageous categories our team, industry and peers can think of.

How do you approach making a long-standing IP feel fresh and exciting? And will that be helped in this instance with the upcoming Crystal Lake TV show?
Russell: Striker recognises that we’re picking up the torch on a well-established and extremely successful franchise – and that would have been enough in all honesty. But knowing what the stakeholders have in-store, all we can say is that we’re incredibly well positioned to take advantage of new media, narratives and designs that will be revealed over time – like Camp Crystal Lake.