DC Thomson reveals more about Oor Wullie and The Broons licensing
Following the announcement that DC Thomson plans to make its Oor Wullie and The Broons characters available for third party use for the first time, Martin Lindsay, licensing manager for the publishers has revealed that the merchandise will spread further than the UK and Scotland.
Lindsay revealed that while discussions are under way with brands and companies to use the characters in their promotions and merchandise, none had yet been signed.
“The Programme will look to work almost exclusively with leading Scottish companies and Brands,” continued Lindsay. “It may not necessarily be restricted to the Scottish marketplace as we would expect some of the leading Scottish companies to have presence in markets outside Scotland and given the popularity of The Broons and Oor Wullie with the millions of expatriate Scots in America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, there should be potential for good overseas business.”
Activity is expected to roll out in the final quarter of this year across giftware, collectables, stationery, clothing, music & entertainment, FMCG and promotional activity.
As to how long the strategy had been planned, Lindsay explained; “Internal discussions have been ongoing for some time and it was agreed that the occasion of the 75th anniversary offered the ideal launch opportunity. Time was taken to shape the Programme Strategy to ensure that the Brand Values and Integrity were maintained.”