Creativity often comes from combining ideas in new ways. By linking concepts from different fields or contexts, we can generate innovative solutions or fresh perspectives on our diverse portfolio. Possibly the most inspiration for me comes from my design and product development team at Universal, who in my opinion are the perfect blend of creativity, commerciality and enthusiasm.

A triple threat! Now, can you tell us about a recent launch you were involved in that you feel is an especially creative use of a brand?
A recent one that springs to mind is our lifestyle range and café takeovers at Primark inspired by DreamWorks Animation’s beloved Shrek franchise. Both the team at Universal and at Primark across all functions have been working hard to pull this together. The range looks amazing, and the cafes look fantastic.

The range capitalises on the continuing popularity of the Shrek franchise. This collaboration brings a playful, nostalgic touch to the collection, appealing to both fans of the original movies and a younger generation discovering Shrek through memes and internet culture. It’s generated an amazing buzz on social media, where fans are sharing their favourite items and styling tips. This online engagement helps to spread awareness and drive traffic to Primark stores.

It’s a perfect blend of pop culture, nostalgia and fashion, offering something fun and unique for fans of the franchise.

Looks fun. And what about about a launch you’ve seen – but wasn’t involved in – that you feel is a creative brand extension?
I absolutely love the Jellycat Fish and Chips activation currently at Selfridges which combines British culture with Jellycat’s whimsical charm, offering a unique and engaging experience for kids and adults. The novelty of the concept – along with the exclusivity of the products – has created a buzz on socials. I would love to do something similar for one of Universal Vault properties, like JAWS or Universal Monsters.

Keep us posted should that become a reality! What do feel is key to successful creative collaborations between licensors and licensees?
Aligned vision and goals. It’s crucial that both the licensor and licensee share a common vision for the project or IP. This alignment ensures that both parties are working towards the same objectives, with a focus on designing innovative and engaging products, break-frame creative and deepening the brand’s connection to fans. We curate best-in-class partnerships based on the brand’s ethos and shared core values as well as a shared creative vision.

Consistency in how the brand is portrayed is essential to maintaining its integrity and appeal, while the licensor must allow for creativity and flexibility to create newness. Successful collaborations often result from a long-term perspective rather than focusing solely on short-term gains. Building a sustainable partnership and feeding it creatively can lead to ongoing opportunities and greater success over time.

Kim, this has been great. Before we wrap up, BLE is only a few weeks away. Is attending the show a good means of fuelling creativity for you?
BLE gives us exposure to diverse products and brands, ranging from global powerhouses to emerging properties. This variety can inspire new ideas by exposing you to different brand strategies, aesthetics and innovative product lines… Not to mention industry trends and insights via the many seminars, presentations and panel discussions available to check out.

It can definitely fuel creativity and spark new ideas by providing a rich environment full of inspiration, learning opportunities and catching up with old friends and colleagues from the last 20 years! Which is probably my favourite part!

Agreed. Thanks Kim; see you at BLE!

The post BLE Creative Corner with… Universal Products & Experiences’ Kim Saxelby appeared first on Brands Untapped.

With the LEGO Wicked Elphaba & Glinda Figures set, fans can scan a QR code to play along a brick build story to ‘Defying Gravity’ from the film. The set includes accessories for the two characters with Elphaba’s broom and Glinda’s purse and crown.

Elsewhere, the LEGO Wicked Welcome to Emerald City tower set includes five mini-dolls, based on Glinda, Elphaba, The Wizard, Madame Morrible and Fiyero.

The LEGO Wicked Glinda & Elphaba’s Dormitory set is housed within a detailed suitcase which opens up to become the two girls’ dorm room. Fans can scan the QR code hidden within the set to play the song ‘Popular’ from the film.

Finally, the LEGO Wicked Glinda, Elphaba & Nessarose at Shiz University set comes with a sailboat and the two-story university building, balconies, study spaces and other details.

“I’m truly excited that we can finally reveal our lineup of LEGO Wicked sets” said Raquel Ojeda Gregorio, LEGO Wicked Design Lead at the LEGO Group.

“I am a big fan of the Wicked story, so it was an honour for me to get to work as part of an amazing team to recreate some of the unique locations, characters and storylines from the magical world of Oz. We chose some heartwarming moments from the film, so fans can bring a part of the story home and defy gravity using LEGO bricks.”

The new LEGO Wicked sets will be available from October 1st.

The post LEGO details Wicked sets appeared first on Brands Untapped.

Have these brands been the focus of your licensing efforts in recent years?
Yes. We’ve always got lots of exciting things on for the Universal Monsters. M3GAN has been huge on TikTok and is doing phenomenally well for us. Chucky is doing well too; it has that nostalgia pull with audiences familiar with the original movies, but the show is bringing him to new audiences too.

On M3GAN, it felt from the very first trailer that it was destined to become a cult hit. Why do you think it has resonated in such a strong way? And was licensing always in its future?
Nothing’s ever a sure thing, but M3GAN is so original and feels very contemporary, so we were excited that it resonated with audiences – but you can never take these things for granted.

“M3GAN feels unlike any other character out there – she had a unique appeal from the get-go.”

If I was to put my finger on why it’s blown up, I think the TikTok dance trend has a lot to do with it. Also, M3GAN feels unlike any other character out there, so she had a unique appeal that was proprietary from the get-go. She’s a bit like Chucky in that regard. But when the film came out, it felt like a cultural moment. Then we saw lots of people were searching online for M3GAN products, and that’s when we started to expand the licensing programme!

Going back to the Universal Monsters. Why do these characters still resonate when it comes to consumer products?
With these classic characters, there’s a familiarity. They’re so recognisable and synonymous with Universal as a studio. Nostalgia also plays a big part, but we’re really stretching that here if you think about how far back these movies actually came out. It comes down to how we can make these characters work in certain categories, and while costumes and fashion was the first foray into consumer products for this brand, we’ve expanded into beauty, home, collectibles, publishing and much more.

We’re lucky because we have some really talented in-house creatives and designers that love these characters too. They apply their talents to both current and future trends and it’s been incredible to see it come to life.

They’re almost literally icons; they’ll be consumers that don’t know the films but will recognise the lightning bolt streak in the hair of Bride of Frankenstein, or Boris Karloff’s version of Frankenstein.
Absolutely. And they’re all representative of fundamental human conditions – the misfit, the outsider, the misunderstood. That plays into it and why they’re so easily accessible.

Fast-forwarding to the modern day, Universal has produced plenty of well-received horror movies, but not all of them get the licensing treatment. What dictates when and why one of your new horror films makes the leap to become ‘a brand’?
Oh gosh – that’s a really good question! Firstly, it has to have built an audience and a track record. Look at films from Blumhouse or Monkeypaw; they’ve built a remarkable reputation for quality, thought-provoking horror. That’s important. These movies also have a distinct look and feel. It means there’s an audience expectation – a positive one – and that’s useful when it comes to licensing and making sure we have the appropriate categories at the retail offerings.

Part of the challenge for us is how we respond to a hit. We, as a consumer products business, need to consider timelines around going from concept to market. Certain categories are faster than others, like fashion. There’s capacity in the UK to turn around apparel for surprise hits really quickly – and that’s with major retail partners.

Beyond fashion, categories like homewares have significantly longer lead-times. That’s when it becomes about working with properties that have a track-record and an audience excitement around them. It’s a bit of an inexact science!

With that in mind, is it the case that licensees can come to you with ideas around brands that perhaps aren’t one of the ‘pillars’, but have that following and fan-connection?
We’re always happy to have a conversation. It’s also where our approach to horror has really started to crystalise. We look at ‘Horror’ as a broad collection of different IPs, filmmakers and content. And within that, we have IP that come and go based on seasonality, market trends, fan interest, etc. It’s also great to have a variety of partners and retailers who have different interests and might want to create something bespoke or see potential in an IP.

“If someone comes to us with a brilliant idea, we’ll listen…”

At the end of the day, we love making cool product that gets fans excited. If someone comes to us with a brilliant idea, we’ll listen… And some of the crazier ideas that have come our way have gone on to be wildly successful.

On that, could you give us some examples of product that highlights how creative your licensees can be with your horror IPs?
A lot of it falls with the fashion category actually. We did a Universal Monsters programme with Prada a few years back. It was stunning and had a bit of a trickle-down effect for the brand in terms of licensing activity.

We’ve since had some fabulous design-driven collections with H&M and ASOS. It speaks to a broad audience that might be hardcore horror fans, or more casual fans that love the characters or the colourways they represent.

Away from product, let’s talk about licensed experiences. Your Halloween Horror Nights at the Universal theme parks have a great reputation.
They run from September to early November now because demand has gone through the roof. It’s a celebration of horror and it’s really experiential… Maybe I haven’t got the right disposition for it but I found it utterly terrifying at times! There’s merch, experiences, costumed characters… But the real draw is the houses. You walk around these things and have the living daylights scared out of you! They’re brilliantly done.

Do you think we’ll see more these sorts of things – be they horror-themed mazes or immersive retail experiences – popping up here in the UK?
Never say never. The first port of call for us here is definitely the retail experiences. We want to dial up horror as a key genre at retail. And horror isn’t just for Halloween – these movies get released all year round now. That’s part of the retail opportunity. We’ve just showcased some fun experience-led retail concepts at BLE and that went down really well.

It looked fantastic – and was usually swamped by people taking photos.
Well, it’s also one of the interesting creative challenges for us; that evolution from Instagram to TikTok. Insta is still perceived as a static photo opp, but for TikTok it has to work as a short video piece.

You mentioned earlier that horror isn’t just for Halloween. Is that reflected by your licensees? Are they excited about launching product for these brands throughout the year, as opposed to just in the build-up to Halloween?
Yes, and it’s down to us having conversations up front with them about what’s coming up on the release slate. We can also give them current data and insights about our brands. We need to give them enough information to feel confident about backing these brands at different points across the year.

Looking ahead, what new film launches will we see having a licensing push – or licensing potential?
There’s a lot to come for The Exorcist: Believer, and more around movies from Blumhouse and Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw. We also think there’s real board game potential with Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s, which hits cinemas and Peacock later this month.

There’s also lots more to do in tabletop gaming. And broadly speaking, there’s more to be done with horror brands and video games – we see huge potential with our horror brands in that space for sure.

Paul, this has been great. I have one final question! What’s your favourite scary movie?
It’s a tough one because it’s such a broad genre… One man’s thriller is another man’s horror! I’d have to say Creature from the Black Lagoon. It’s always resonated, and I love that you can visit the original lake on the studio tour.

Good pick! Let’s tie-in again soon Paul.

The post From Universal Monsters to M3GAN: Paul Bufton on the year-round appeal of Universal’s horror portfolio appeared first on Brands Untapped.