Bulldog Licensing has announced a clutch of new deals for YO-KAI WATCH – the hit boys’ property that’s rapidly becoming a licensing powerhouse.
YO-KAI WATCH follows an average boy, Nate, who gets a special watch empowering him to discover mysterious beings called ‘Yo-kai’. Yo-kai are everywhere, causing little nuisances in our daily lives. Nate’s ongoing quest is to discover the reason for the Yo-kai’s mischievous behaviour, with hopes of talking them out of it. Each time Nate needs to solve a problem – a problem often caused by another troublesome Yo-kai – he uses his watch to call upon a friendly Yo-kai to aid him.
Four new licensees have signed up for the YO-KAI WATCH programme. These are Dreamtex Ltd
(bedding), GB Eye (posters and related merch), Amscan (balloons and party decorations) and MV Sports and Leisure (wheeled toys). This adds to existing partners Danilo (greeting cards, calendars and gift tags, wrap and bags), Spearmark (lunch bags, bottles and lighting), Blueprint (stationery and bags), Cooneen (nightwear and underwear), Fashion UK (daywear), Kinnerton (confectionery), Centrum Books (publishing), Egmont (magazine publishing), Panini (sticker collection) Hasbro (master toy) and Nintendo (video games).
This is an impressive list of licensees for a show that has only recently hit UK screens. Cartoon Network shows YO-KAI WATCH every weekend morning and evening – backed by major marketing support, including trailers and website competitions.
The brand’s potential is shown by its huge success in Japan, where it dominates the television, merchandise, gaming and toy markets – generating retail sales of over €2 billion in less than two years.
“YO-KAI WATCH is an incredible opportunity for the boys’ market in the UK,” says Bulldog Group MD Rob Corney. “The creative is incredibly strong and completely different from anything else on the market; the commercial partners are top calibre and retail buyers across the market are working with us to develop in-store presence and promotions. There’s much more to come from this brand and we have interest from numerous potential partners across many different categories.”