Bang on the Door Remembers its Roots

It's almost unimaginable to a U.K. consumer of a certain age that there is somewhere on the other side of the Atlantic where Bang on the Door characters and products aren't well-known. Bang on the Door has more than 20 years of licensing behind it and a particularly strong heritage in the gift, greeting, stationery and apparel markets. Cumulative retail sales stood at £410 million ($619 million) by the end of 2008, and characters such as Groovy Chick and Football Crazy (just two of 750) have been some of the most familiar images in the U.K. gift and greetings market for years.

It's no wonder that Bang on the Door is excited to be exhibiting at Licensing International Expo this year and the brand's Karen Duncan says they will be going back to their roots. "We will be there introducing the brand to people, just like our earliest days on London's Camden Market when we would watch people passing and immediately know which characters were going to be popular. It's vital to gauge this feeling for the brand."

Duncan sees Bang on the Door reflecting the current trend for simplicity in design, a return to the bold colors and strong outlines of the 1980s, which are seen in other areas of fashion. So the company will offer its classic Bang on the Door designs, as well as a very contemporary range called Fabric Animals, which gives the characters a more textural, 3-D look.

In 25 years working with the brand, Duncan has seen its heartland shift from T-shirts to paper products. Now there are product categories opening up for art and design brands that wouldn't have been dreamed of back then. Bang on the Door has produced a Groovy Chic Fashion game for Nintendo, for example, as well as rewards packs for schools and activity books, with some of the most innovative and surprising licensed products being produced by Korean licensees for their home market.