Good Game: CAA Expands Global Gaming IP with 'Minecraft' and 'Stumble Guys'
At a Glance
- Building on ‘Minecraft’ and Teeing Up ‘Stumble Guys’
- Driving Brands Farther
- Playing Localized Retail
CAA is a leader in the world of licensed product extensions. With 26 offices around the world, CAA Brand Management directs brand extension and growth for many of the most popular and globally recognizable IP including corporate brands such as Coca-Cola, Budweiser, Skechers, Oracle Red Bull Racing, The Cheesecake Factory, miffy, The World of Peter Rabbit, “Sesame Street” and Mondelez; artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring; and automotive powerhouses like Ford, Jaguar, McLaren and more.
And while programs for these IP and the others in its global portfolio of blue-chip brands is always top-of-mind, at this year’s Brand Licensing Europe event, CAA will offer up the biggest names in gaming, whether licensing in or out.
“Minecraft” partnership for UHU office and adhesive products.
Building on ‘Minecraft’
For 15 years, “Minecraft” has been entertaining players around the world as they break and place blocks to create anything the user can dream of – from cat-filled houses to entire dreamscapes filled with endless possibility. To-date, more than 140 million players have engaged with the 300-plus million copies sold, making it the best-selling standalone video game in history (source: BBC). And as the blockbuster gaming title heads into entertainment – a film is coming next year in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery and a series is in development with Netflix – CAA is primed to take this brand even farther.
“An exciting fact about ‘Minecraft’ is that 50% of its engagement happens outside of the game, which is the ecosystem we live in,” says Sasha Lerner, vice president, client management and co-head EMEA, CAA Brand Management. “This is super exciting because it means we have a lot to play with within consumer products. The audience is super engaged, and that is incredible.”
And for “Minecraft,” that means a lot of plans are in play to support the thriving game and upcoming entertainment offerings in EMEA, including Eastern, Northern and Southern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Turkey.
“The tagline ‘Beyond the Game,’ is really prevalent with this brand,” says Lerner. “For us, there hardly is a category we haven’t licensed, but that’s not to say we are brand slapping or that there is a sea of green everywhere. In 2025, food partners are launching, which is the first time we’ve ever gone into that category. We see this as a huge growth category, which has a balance between healthy eating and treats.”
Lerner also sees whitespace for the brand in the health and beauty category, as well, which is new for “Minecraft” globally, she says.
“To keep the program fresh and exciting, it’s all about continuing to build around that ecosystem and continue to keep the audience engaged outside the game,” continues Lerner. “There’s phenomenal sets from LEGO – the whole toy program is phenomenal – so next year is going to be interesting and exciting as we go into newer categories.”
Scopely’s “Stumble Guys” is primed for a host of brand extensions via CAA Brand Management.
Teeing Up ‘Stumble Guys’
“Stumble Guys” is a multiplayer battle royale obstacle course game where players race to become the last one standing. Developed by Scopely, the mobile game is one of the most downloaded apps in the world, enjoyed by millions of players in 50-plus countries. Quite a feat, given the game only launched in September of 2020.
For CAA, which only recently signed on to helm brand extension efforts for the property, BLE will be its big coming out party.
“We are very excited to take on ‘Stumble Guys,’” says Lerner. “It ’s brand-new, which is super exciting. The brand is global and is launching into new platforms, which is going to give it even greater presence within the gaming community. We love that we get to be with it from the very beginning.”
Because this program is just building, CAA will go after all the major categories. Master toy and a master trading card partner are locked down, but opportunities abound in toys, action figures, board games, apparel, accessories and arts and crafts, among others.
Driving Brands Farther
Automotive categories – everything from luxury to accessible brands – is hitting big at retail, evolving car IP from directly adjacent categories into true lifestyle brands. And it’s the firms like CAA who have made this so with the smart and savvy programs that capitalize on the very heart of what licensing is: a fan-driven, emotional connection to brands based on trust, value and aspiration.
The next frontier, then, is to bring auto brands into the very games that consumers are playing, integrating them organically into properties and IP.
What better auto brand to realize these multifaceted connections then Porsche.
“If we look at Porsche from a gaming perspective, their marketing strategy is “driven by dreams’ – kids dream of owning a Porsche,” says Lerner. “When you’re a little kid, you loved playing with toy cars… maybe your Hot Wheels Porsche. So, engaging with kids on the [gaming] side of the brand and being smart about how we enter is really important to us and Porsche.”
CAA continues to bring the Porsche brand deeper into the gamut of gaming platforms, expanding on existing racing simulation games with companies such as Forza, arcade games, mobile games, e-sports, downloadable games and open world adventure games. Porsche is also open to featuring in the world of virtual reality content, according to Lerner.
Lerner says that with a brand as strong and dynamic as Porsche – a brand that includes fans from car enthusiast to the casual gamer – the sky’s the limit.
In fact, the always evolving tech of games goes hand-in-hand with automotive evolution, allowing concept cars or the latest models to find an organic home in-game.
According to Lerner, it’s the auto brands that brought gaming brands onto its radar in the first place when they placed Ford into the “Stumble Guys” game. And it’s a medium that continues to have deep importance for many brands in the CAA portfolio.
“Gaming is a very different kind of brain space,” says Lerner. “I have a nine-year-old boy, and I see how he interacts with games and how important they are to his world. When you look around you on public transportation, what are people doing? They are on their phones playing games. Mobile gaming is growing and growing. Every single massive brand must have an online gaming strategy because that is where your audience is.”
Sasha Lerner, vice president, client management and co-head EMEA, CAA Brand Management
Playing Localized Retail
Taking these brands into global retail, however, means using a custom localized approach.
What might work in Japan, will not necessarily resonate in Spain, for example.
“Retail is very important at CAA, and one we really focus on,” says Lerner. “Retail is king. We work closely with retailers and must be one step ahead to make sure that all levels of retail are serviced by our brands. It is where our strength lies as an agent.”
CAA’s regional expertise and people enable the firm to build strong local retail relationships and gather boots-on-ground market intelligence, keeping them ahead of regional consumer trends.
For example, CAA has adapted certain “Minecraft” product ranges into the surprise-and-delight space in Japan, featuring the brand in vending machines and blind bags, which is a popular consumer medium in the region.
“I think that our [localized] approach to retail is one of the most important pieces that CAA shows our clients through value,” says Lerner. “It is how we show up in different markets in different ways to make sure that it’s culturally productive. For Porsche, Germany is its home market, so we’ll be sensitive to who the audience is there versus Asia or the U.S.”
This also shows up within its approach to mass retail channels in varied markets. You may find the same property in the same store in every major market, but the product will have a distinct point-of-difference based on regional tastes, says Lerner.
So, to CAA, we say “good game” as it ties together offerings for its suite of notable IP under a gaming banner.
This story was taken from the September 2024 issue of License Global. Read the full issue here …
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September 2024License Global OriginalGlobalCAA Brand ManagementCreative Artists AgencyMinecraftAbout the Author
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