trends

Bare Tree Media is the leading digital licensee for IPs such as The Smurfs, Betty Boop, and Care Bears. We offer brands a variety of digital solutions including, but not limited to, mobile messaging stickers, mobile phone themes, smartwatch faces, virtual goods within online worlds and the metaverse, and digital collectibles. 

In case you missed it, our team flew out to Las Vegas, Nevada to attend Licensing Expo’s annual licensing trade show. This event hosts more than “10,000 professional attendees involved within the consumer product licensing industry” and connects the world’s most “influential entertainment, character, art, and corporate brand owners” with consumer goods licensees (Licensing Expo). 

Bob Ferrari (President) & Sonya Priest (Licensing Coordinator) sat down to recap their experience at the 2024 Licensing Expo.

BF: The Licensing Expo is Bare Tree Media’s most important trade show of the year. This event provides us the opportunity to meet with our licensors outside of Zoom boardrooms for face-to-face meetings and social events. In addition to meeting with our partners, we also network and explore new business partnerships. Most of the licensing industry centers around physical merchandise—apparel, accessories, and home goods. We love showing brands how our digital offerings allow them to more effectively reach and engage their audiences.

SP: We have a large IP portfolio primarily composed of media and entertainment brands. Each year, our brand partnerships list grows, giving us more opportunities to meet, network, and connect at the Licensing Expo. Some of our current licensors include:

• Paramount: Spongebob Square Pants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Rugrats, Garfield, Avatar, Mean Girls, I Love Lucy, and Star Trek
• Cloudco: Care Bears and Madballs
• CPLG: Strawberry Shortcake and Teletubbies
• Paul Frank
• The Smurfs
• Betty Boop

We also work with numerous independent artists managed by Tate Licensing. We had many productive discussions with our licensors and are looking forward to announcing some exciting new projects.

SP: Beyond the networking opportunities and client meetings, the Licensing Expo holds many presentations, panels, and workshops. We received resources and guidance on navigating style guides and saw case studies for specific brand launches. We also attended the “Video Games: Driving Billions to Play” panel and “Paris Hilton and 11:11 Media: Building a Global Brand Across Culture, Content, and Commerce” keynote presentation. These presentations discussed trends within the licensing industry and how licensees can better engage kids and family franchises. We work with a lot of brands that have cross-generational appeal, so these discussions were really informative.

BF: I am excited licensors are embracing digital as a key category for the future plans of their IPs. Our team is always focused on innovation, and we will present ideas that drive both digital sales and marketing initiatives.

BF: We are positioned perfectly to help brands navigate the future of commerce through “Phygital” opportunities, the merging of physical and digital opportunities. In 2024, we will be offering AR experiences on Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat to engage fans and link them to a site for purchasing our branded digital products. We are also exploring tech to link the purchase of a physical product at retail to a digital replica GIF to own. Exciting times ahead for our company and licensed IP owners.

SP: The Licensing Expo is always a great week, and I am sad it’s over! Bob, however, will be attending the Brand Licensing Expo in Europe this September.

Gone are the days of traditional marketing and advertising. With the proliferation of new technologies, immersive marketing has become a useful tool brands can use to build stronger and deeper emotional connections with their consumers. 

Immersive marketing uses cutting-edge technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), or mixed reality (MR) to provide consumers with more enhanced and engaging marketing experiences. Whether it’s through AR-enhanced shopping experiences, interactive branded events, or VR simulations, immersive marketing allows brands to connect with their audiences in more meaningful ways all while driving engagement, brand awareness, customer loyalty, and a positive return-on-investment (ROI).

The phrases “immersive marketing” and “experiential marketing” are often used interchangeably. While both deliver memorable experiences and generate earned media, there are fundamental differences that set the two apart.

Experiential marketing describes any hands-on, interactive experiences brands design for consumers. The goal of these experiences is to draw visitors, and therefore, generate brand awareness. Audience members become active participants in crafting a brand’s story. Oftentimes, these do not occur within a simulated environment. Examples of experiential marketing include:

• Gen Z and millennial-focused marketing agency Wasserman Next Gen partnered with Coffee-mate to build a 20’ coffee cup “cafe” on Ohio State University’s campus to provide students with a caffeine boost for finals season. Wasserman Next Gen coupled this pop-up with an on-demand coffee and creamer delivery service.
• To reinforce the brand’s “Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat” tagline, Kit Kat installed benches that resembled the famous candy bar in public spaces. When people sat down, the bench would dispense a free Kit Kat bar and people could take a break and have a Kit Kat.

Unlike experiential marketing, immersive marketing transports consumers into an entirely fabricated world infused with the brand’s values, beliefs, and messaging. These multi-sensory experiences rely on technologies to bridge the gap between the real and virtual realities. In addition to increasing brand awareness, building emotional connections, and boosting engagement, immersive experiences can differentiate brands when tailored to a particular target audience and industry. Examples of immersive marketing campaigns include:

• Ally Bank teamed up with Monopoly and used AR to build an interactive multi-city scavenger hunt. Life-sized Monopoly-style game squares were placed across U.S. cities, and when activated via QR code, entered users into a virtual game. This campaign leveraged immersive technologies to gamify financial literacy.
• IKEA’s AR app, IKEA Place (now known as IKEA Kreative), offers customers a chance to design and visualize their own living spaces. Using their personal digital devices, IKEA customers can place virtual furniture and decorations in their homes in real-time. This immersive experience helps customers “try before they buy” and make more informed purchase decisions.

Immersive marketing is not a fad: according to Polaris, the immersive technologies market is expected to reach multimillion USD by 2030 and undergo a mean annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.7%. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), immersive marketing is expected to become more personalized. Finally, immersive marketing will integrate with social media to provide users of platforms such as TikTok and Instagram with opportunities to shop without having to leave the apps.

Our experienced team of AR developers work with brands to create immersive marketing solutions that leverage the power of AR. Interactive lenses allow customers to engage with their favorite brands within mobile apps such as Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram. As the official Branded Effect Partner for TikTok, we’ve worked closely with PLANTERS, Macy’s, KIA, and Cannes Lions to produce personalized experiences for their larger marketing campaigns.

• We teamed up with Macy’s in 2022 and developed the perfect gift finder for holiday shoppers. By answering a series of prompts about their giftee with just the nod of the head, Macy’s shoppers could find the best holiday gift and later share their results with friends. “Macy’s Gift Finder” amassed over 54.8M views on TikTok.
• To announce the launch of three new cashew flavors, PLANTERS asked us to create a showstopping AR effect for TikTok. With over 55.6M views, “CashewOKE” had audiences breaking out their karaoke skills and singing along in real time to PLANTERS’ cashew-fied version of “Hungry Eyes.” The 2D cashew bounced across the lyrics to help users keep time.