LICENSE A FAMOUS CHARACTER
USING CUSTOM ANIMATION
Leveraging the popularity of famous animation characters and putting them in unexpected situations is a great way to get people talking about your campaign.
Custom animation in advertising is popular because it provides entertainment-hungry audiences with fresh content that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to see. It’s also an effective method of helping brands become more culturally relevant if aligning with a popular show. There are different approaches to creating new animation with famous characters depending on the Rights Holder and on production timelines.
CONSIDERATIONS:
Some Rights Holders will allow you to use a third-party animation studio whereas others may require you to use their own animation studio. This can make timings challenging if the animation studio has other priorities.
Some Rights Holders will allow you to cast soundalikes for voice talent – whilst others may need you to use the original voice talent.
The license fee covers you only for use of the IP – you will need to factor in additional production costs such as the animation itself and any voice talent.
CASE STUDY #1:
Envestnet x SpongeBob SquarePants
We worked with US financial services company, Envestnet, and their agency HeyLetsGo on a campaign starring Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob SquarePants. The campaign sees money obsessed Mr. Krabs on a video call with a bemused financial advisor trying to make sense of Mr. Krabs’ complex finances.
We worked with the Rights Holders of SpongeBob SquarePants to release the assets and reference material needed to create the animated scenes. With the Rights Holders approval, Envetnet’s creative agency, HeyLetsGo, appointed the animation studio, Nathan Love to develop the bespoke animation. The Rights Holders provided colour swatches, size charts, and guidance on Mr. Krabs’ mannerisms to ensure the animated scenes were as authentic as possible to the much-loved show.
CASE STUDY #2:
Direct Line x Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Direct Line and their agency, Saatchi & Saatchi, created their own unique CGI version of Donatello and Leonardo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for their award-winning ‘We’re On It’ campaign.
The Rights Holders were closely involved in the development supplying reference material and guidance on how the characters should look and sound, including what props and weapons they should carry. Most of the development was done in post-production with a stand-in used for the actual shoot. As licensing agents to the Rights Holders of TMNT, Born Licensing managed the resource-heavy approval process without charging Direct Line or Saatchi & Saatchi any clearance fees.
CASE STUDY #3:
Simonds Homes x Transformers
Simonds Homes’ creative agency, T20 Group, reached out to us with the idea of creating their very own Transformer - the core messaging being that Simonds Homes ‘transforms’ homes. The Rights Holders of the Transformers franchise were kept in the loop at all stages of the project to ensure their IP was being used appropriately and authentically.
For adults who grew up with Transformers, the ambitious use of such a popular franchise in this real-life context was a unique piece of advertising.