The Ever-Expanding 'Miraculous' Universe

It’s been year of transition for the “Miraculous” brand. In May, Mediawan and ZAG introduced Miraculous Corp, a joint venture that unites all facets of the Miraculous franchise under the ownership of the two partners. In recent weeks, Miraculous Corp has expanded its licensing presence in Turkey, the Middle East, Africa, Greece and India and announced new “Miraculous” consumer products in video games, audio books and more. To date, Miraculous Corp has more than 400 licensing partners with over 740 million products sold, achieving over $1.5 billion in retail sales.

As the team is planning for Brand Licensing Europe as an exhibitor, Julian Jacob, chief operating officer and board member, Miraculous Corp, spoke with License Global about what led to the new company founding and how they’re planning to celebrate the 10th anniversary of “Miraculous.”

Julian Jacob chief operating officer and board member, Miraculous Corp.

License Global: What do you look for when pairing the brand with new licensees?

Julian Jacob: We always look for partners with a shared vision and who understand the DNA of the Miraculous brand. The “Miraculous” TV series, specials and movie are full of action, comedy, romance, relationship dynamics and intriguing villains – but at its heart, “Miraculous" is a coming-of-age story about kids learning about believing in themselves and finding their true power – that they are the hero behind the mask. We want to create products that empower children to be their best selves, whether that is through play, publishing, apparel, home goods, fashion, food and more.

Related:Miraculous Corp Appoints IMC for LatAm Licensing

What are some of the launches you’re most proud of?

There are so many great partners and launches. We have a long-term partnership with Playmates Toys, who consistently delivers toys that children are clamoring for. Their latest launch is the Miraculous Ladybug Paris Heroez Playset, standing four-foot-tall, and centered around Ladybug’s hometown, Paris. And Playmobil has done a fantastic job with their playsets that launched this year that feature popular scenes from the series, including Marinette’s Loft and Gabriel’s Fashion Show, that are distinguished from other toy offerings by Playmobil’s iconic look and feel.

“Miraculous” Marinette's Loft from Playmobil.

We’ve launched partnerships with some of the biggest FMCG companies in the world,from Kellogg with an original macaron-flavored cereal, to Fresh Del Monte with canned and fresh fruit promotions, Danone for yoghurt, and Ferrero for chocolates who we have worked with for five years in fifty countries. With PUMA we launched apparel and footwear, with Swatch, the Flik Flak watch, and we’ve launched multiple publishing campaigns with partners including Hachette and Blue Ocean. Last year we had a very special relationship with Volkswagen for “‘Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir,’ The Movie” with their line of I.D. electric vehicles featured in the movie itself. We’re pleased to have worked with the world’s top retailers including Target and Walmart, Carrefour, E.Leclerc, Smyths, Aldi, Deichmann, Lidl, Pepco, and more. And families around the world have celebrated multiple happy meal promotions with QSR partners including McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, and most recently, Herfy, across the Middle East. Coming this fall we have a new QSR with La Piadineria in Italy.

Related:Nex to Launch ‘Miraculous’ Active Runner Game

We’ve also had incredible success in the gaming space, especially with our partner GameMill Entertainment who, following the successful launch of the first console game for the brand, will be launching the second console game later this year. And our mobile runner game from our partner, Crazy Labs, has had over 250 million downloads.

We have multiple additional launches coming around the world this year across a wide range of products and experiences. Most recently, a custom-designed partnership with Air France was announced, with a special episode to be featured on long-haul flights to Paris featuring our two superheroes taking families on a thrilling guided tour of the City of Light and a partnership with leading motion technology company, Nex, to develop an endless runner game for the global market, to launch in the U.S. this fall.

Related:Mediawan, ZAG Announce the Birth of 'Miraculous Corp'

What is the biggest change you’ve seen with Miraculous as a brand, and as a company, within the past five years?

The most recent big change is the launch of Miraculous Corp – the groundbreaking joint-venture between Mediawan, Europe’s premier independent production powerhouse led by Pierre-Antoine Capton, and ZAG, the innovative independent animation studio led by Jeremy Zag – that unites all facets of the Miraculous franchise and is committed to expanding the Miraculous IP globally. Former “CoComelon” and Netflix executive, Andy Yeatman, was recently appointed as CEO of Miraculous Corp USA and global operations.

We are fortunate to have a robust presence on platforms around the world, including Disney Channel and Disney+, Globo, TF1 and Netflix, where it is the No. 1 non-preschool animated kids’ series. We are now in production on the sixth season of the series which will start to be delivered in the fourth quarter of this year, with Season 7 already in development. We launched the first blockbuster movie last year, directed by Jeremy Zag, that claimed the No. 1 spot in several countries where it was released theatrically, including France and Germany, and garnered over 35 million views on Netflix in the first month. It’s the origin story for our superheroes that resonated with existing and new fans alike.

Miraculous Corp has grown the consumer products business by 200% in the last five years, with offices now in Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, Paris, London, Mexico, Tel Aviv and Dubai. We launched our own e-commerce platform, providing strong online support to licensees, working on the quality of the product pages and running online retail media campaigns. With 17 shops across 14 countries and with 27,000 products listed, Miraculous has seen its revenues for the e-commerce division explode.

We’ve also built an entire digital ecosystem around the Miraculous brand. The Miraculous universe is accessible all the time, on every social network, offering different custom-made experiences for fans.

On YouTube, “Miraculous” attracts over 33 million subscribers across its 17 official YouTube channels, currently available in 15 languages. With over 39 billion views of authorized and user-generated content, fans have collectively viewed more than 2.8 billion hours of content. And on TikTok, “Miraculous” has exceeded 702 million views since launch (over 5.7 million followers). There have been over 250 million downloads of the official app and over 720 million plays on “Roblox.”

“Miraculous” flavored water by Surprise Drinks.

Miraculous Corp is a part of License Global's Top Global Licensors report. What do you think are Miraculous’ strengths in licensing?

Fans across the globe have fallen in love with superheroes, Ladybug and Cat Noir, in the “Miraculous” TV series – the characters are engaging, likeable and admirable, but most importantly relatable, as family and friendships are always an important part of the storylines. Given their love for the content, fans constantly seek for ways to engage with their favorite characters. And we have taken great pride in creating breathtaking animation that draws in the audience and keeps them coming back for more. “Miraculous” resonates with a broad audience, with TV ratings indicating that both girls and boys watch the show (55% to 45% on average). And digital data from YouTube and other social media platforms all indicate we index high in the pop culture space with teens and young adults.

What is on tap for Miraculous Corp for 2025?

2025 is the 10th anniversary of “Miraculous” and we have many initiatives in the works to celebrate with our partners around the world. With the newly formed Miraculous Corp, you can expect to see upcoming news about content expansions to include TV movies and spin-off series that feature a new era of iconic characters and captivating stories. And, we are on the cusp of announcing some incredibly exciting partnerships with some of the most prominent and renowned companies in the world.

This story was taken from the September 2024 issue of License Global. Read the full issue here …