Born Licensing, an agency specializing in licensing characters, clips and entertainment IP solely for advertising, is celebrating its 8th anniversary by signing a raft of new licensors to its roster.  

Penguin Ventures (Peter Rabbit, The Snowman, Fun with Spot and Flower Fairies), The Smurfs, Atari (“Asteroids,” “Breakout,” “Missile Command”) and ZAG (“Miraculous – Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir”) will now be represented by Born Licensing worldwide in the advertising and marketing space.  

Born Licensing has had a strong year, working on several major advertising campaigns. In April, it celebrated the launch of Direct Line’s Optimus Prime campaign, followed just months later by a campaign starring Marvel Studios' “King Valkyrie.” The agency’s most recent work launched in August, with Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob SquarePants starring in Envestnet’s latest advertising campaign, which License Global featured in its digital news. 

“We are excited to add such a broad range of globally recognized brands to Born Licensing’s portfolio of represented characters and IP,” says David Born, director, Born Licensing. “As we continue to broaden our focus to new markets, it’s critically important that we are representing properties that have global appeal. We are confident that advertising agencies and their clients from all over the world will be eager to find ways to incorporate our new partners’ IP into their upcoming campaigns.” 

Related:ZAG Signs Born Licensing to Represent Global Clip Licensing for ‘Miraculous’

 “We are continually looking for creative ways to bring our classic characters to contemporary audiences,” says David Sprei, commercial director, Penguin Ventures. “Working with Born Licensing will enable us to take our characters off the page and on new adventures; we’re excited to see how these iconic stories can be carefully reimagined with Born.” 

“Born Licensing is such a passionate team, and we are so excited they are now representing our beloved little blue ones,” says Fabienne Gilles, head, consumer products and business development, IMPS, The Smurfs. “The universal values, the blue cuteness, the variety of characters, the language, the unique mix of nature and magics; the pop-culture heritage of The Smurfs is so rich, and we are convinced it will inspire many creative agencies to bring inspiring fun and powerful Smurfy communication to parents and kids all around the world.” 

“Atari pioneered the video game industry, creating fun, memorable classics such as ‘Pong,’ ‘Asteroids’ and ‘Centipede,’” says Casandra Brown, director, licensing, Atari Interactive. “Now as the company celebrates its 50th anniversary, the Atari brand is a pop-culture icon that is recognized around the world. We are delighted to collaborate with the creative minds at Born Licensing to bring Atari’s iconic portfolio of IPs to life in the exciting, immersive world of advertising.”  

“Born Licensing has done a tremendous job licensing fictional characters to engage and connect with audiences,” says Hyde Schram, head, global brand partnerships, ZAG. “Guided by their innovative and creative approach to brand building and partnerships, we look forward to connecting with highly established brands whose missions complement the empowering and inspirational values of ‘Miraculous.’”