By Reyne Rice, Trend Analyst and Trend-Spotter/ Consultant, New York, New York. July 2013
First posted on the YourToyCom.com blog forum and community website serving the toys, games and childrens’ technology industries, on behalf of the Spielwarenmesse. Spielwarenmesse is the leading and largest International ToyFair in the world, held annually in Nuremberg, Germany in early February.
Pop Culture, as a trend factor, influences many categories of goods, including toys and games. Some areas where Pop Culture plays a significant influencing role are Blockbuster in-theater movies, character licenses from TV entertainment or publishing, music & musicians, celebrities, fashion brands & icons, sports franchises, comic books, etc. Let’s review some of the latest new licenses and entertainment properties for second-half 2013 and as we approach 2014. Are you on-board?
In Theater Movie Entertainment is on the Upswing
Just-released statistics reveal that the blockbuster movie summer slate in 2013 boosted theater ticket sales through the beginning of July 2013, and is projected to increase the summer box-office dollars to over 18 percent this year, in North America (Source: Box Office MoJo). 2012 Summer movies captured 4.3 Billion US dollars. The 2013 summer box-office take is expected to surpass the best-ever US summer box-office record of .4 Billion US dollars, achieved in Summer 2011. This prediction was made even BEFORE Despicable Me 2 and Smurfs 2 hits the big screens! Internationally, many of the same movies are also creating Box office increases for global markets, so we may be in for a worldwide record breaking summer season at the movie theaters.