Aardman Names New Partners

Animation studio Aardman has announced licensing deals in a variety of core categories, introducing its properties “Wallace & Gromit” and “Shaun the Sheep” to new audiences.

Deals for “Wallace & Gromit” include a cheese box from online cheese retailer Pong Cheese (containing a selection of the duo’s favorite cheeses) and on-trend dog items from online pup fashion store Urban Pup, featuring luxury patterns inspired by the specials.

“Shaun the Sheep” and the Scout Store have come together to create a range of apparel and accessories to be sold via the Scout Shop network. The range will be available to purchase this summer.

An Aardman arts and craft magazine from specialist children’s publisher Signature Publishing will launch in August. The magazine will include pens, modeling clay, crafting activities and coloring pages.

Aardman continues to work with licensees on design guides and assets targeted at specific market sectors, and this clutch of new deals underpins the effectiveness of this strategy.

“Taking a bespoke and focused approach to new business development has been rewarding in our work with Aardman,” says Ian Downes, director, Start Licensing. “We have prioritized developing new deals with licensees that can benefit from using Aardman's characters in a way that maximizes their effectiveness in the market. ‘Wallace & Gromit’ are closely linked with cheese and the product is an integral part of the characters' storylines. With this in mind, working with a specialist like Pong Cheese makes perfect sense. Pong Cheese saw that ‘Wallace and Gromit’s’ love for artisan cheese fitted well with their proposition of celebrating hand-made cheese and supporting artisan cheesemakers, allowing Pong Cheese to amplify its marketing message whilst delivering a great new product to their consumers. Meanwhile, Gromit is a natural fit for dog wear and accessories, as one of the U.K.'s most recognizable dogs. Signature Publishing's Aardman themed arts and craft magazine is a natural development. Aardman have a tremendous archive of arts and craft material and have a proven pedigree in the category. Working with the Scout Store and developing a co-branded range with Shaun the Sheep makes creative sense. The two are a good match thematically.”