Children’s and family entertainment producer and rights management company, Coolabi, has appointed licensed greeting card specialist Gemma as its new strategic partner for the iconic humour brand Purple Ronnie.
Purple Ronnie is one of the UK’s leading social expression brands, selling over 60 million cards to date.Gemma will create an exciting new look product range covering every major occasion from summer 2014 including greetings cards, wrap, party products and print-on-demand cards.
Gemma is one of the UK’s leading publishers of licensed greetings products, already representing other market leading licenses from its brand portfolio including Disney, Peppa Pig, Hello Kitty, Moshi Monsters and Angry Birds.
This deal follows hot on the heels on Coolabi’s partnership with online producer and broadcaster Little Dot Studios which has seen the launch of a brand new Purple Ronnie You Tube Channel www.youtube.com/purpleronnie. Targeting 15-30-year olds, the channel features original animated shorts which are witty social expressions presented as ‘snackable’ content for easy sharing. The channel boasts over 35,000 video views since launching in December 2013.
With a strong heritage and existing cross-generational following, the Purple Ronnie brand has been completely updated for a contemporary audience and has increased its digital presence over the last few months. The Facebook page now has over 30,000 likes with a high engagement level from its growing fan base, while the Twitter following increased by 270% in 2013.
Valerie Fry, Director of Sales at Coolabi said: “This refreshed creative direction for Purple Ronnie is already attracting a huge following in the digital space and we are thrilled to be taking the brand to new audiences at retail with the new range of products from Gemma. We have further licensing activity planned for the property in 2014.”
David Wesson, CEO of Gemma adds: “Purple Ronnie is a great addition to the Gemma brand portfolio, supporting our strategy to continue to work with the best consumer brands and further strengthening our core retail proposition. It is rare that you have the opportunity to work on a brand with such awareness and heritage as Purple Ronnie. We are absolutely convinced that the new creative direction and fantastic new product in development will really excite our retail partners and consumers.”
