Discovery Communications has appointed George Sonoda to the position of regional licensing director, Latin America for Discovery Enterprises International.

Having held positions with Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Twentieth Century Fox Theatrical, Sonoda joins DEI from Hasbro where he successfully set up the licensing division in Brazil. 

In his new role Sonoda will direct the sales development, marketing and distribution of consumer product lines across all Discovery brands and properties in Latin America, including DEI’s real-world brand extensions–Discovery Expedition, Discovery Channel’s Explore Your World and Animal Planet. Sonoda will also direct the development of licensed merchandise and themed events for Doki, the spokescharacter of the Discovery Kids Channel in Latin America.

Sonoda–who will report into Nicolas Bonard, senior vice president, DEI–will be based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and will lead a newly bolstered team comprising of recently appointed Marco Guzmán, licensing manager for Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America, and Giannina Vergara, who was promoted to licensing manager for South America.

“George is a highly experienced brand strategist with a proven track record of developing licensed brands and creating commercial successes,” says Bonard. “We’re excited to welcome him to the fold and I'm confident that the new team, under George’s direction, will help us to achieve our ambition of allowing consumers to touch and feel the Discovery brands.”