BORN LICENSING WINS AT THE 2021 LICENSING INTERNATIONAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS I Born Licensing

Born Licensing scoops second award for ‘Best Licensed Promotion’!

We’re delighted to have been awarded ‘Best Licensed Promotion’ for Direct Line’s ‘We’re On It’ campaign featuring RoboCop, Bumblebee from Transformers, and Donatello from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

‘We’re on It’ by Saatchi & Saatchi for UK insurance company Direct Line launched in March 2020 with a world-first TV and VOD ad break takeover estimated to have reached 7.5 million people.

The winners of the 2021 Licensing International Excellence Awards were unveiled on August 24 in a virtual gathering that brought together nearly 1000 licensing industry executives from around the world to celebrate the best of the best.

The 22 award winners for different categories were selected from among 152 nominees from around the world who made the final ballot. More than 650 entries were received, and an elite global judging panel narrowed those entries down to the final ballot, which was voted on by members of the licensing industry at large.

Our Director, David Born, accepted the award on behalf of all parties: “It is so exciting to win this award for the second time. Thank you so much to everyone who voted for us. This really was a team effort, so I’d like to share this award with the Licensee, Direct Line, their creative agency, Saatchi & Saatchi London, and of course the wonderful teams at ViacomCBS, Hasbro, and MGM who were amazing partners throughout the process.”

The Winning Campaign

‘We’re On It’ centres around three cinematic action-packed spots directed by ‘King of the Super Bowl’ Bryan Buckley. Each character is the star of their own 60-second advert which sees our three iconic heroes spring into action to help people in need - only to find they’ve already been ‘outheroed’ by Direct Line. The campaign was supported by out-of-home, cinema, social, PR, and radio.

The latest data shows the campaign is 20% more effective at driving sales compared to Direct Line’s previous campaign, ‘The Fixer’. That’s saying something given the hugely popular and successful campaign won two IPA Effectiveness Gold awards and ran for six years.

In addition to recognition from the licensing world, the campaign was also met with critical acclaim within the advertising industry. The notoriously hard-to-impress marketing mogul, Mark Ritson, declared that “Direct Line has replaced one of the most effective brand campaigns of recent years with a new approach that promises similar success”, applauding the campaign for understanding “the power of characters in unlocking branded recall” (Marketing Week, 11 March 2020).

More importantly, the campaign was received rapturously by the franchise fans even leading to calls that Direct Line’s CGI version of Donatello, created entirely from scratch specifically for the campaign, be used in the next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film.

You can read more about the work we did on this campaign here.

Read the full Donatello case study to find out how we brought this hero in a half-shell to life for this spot.

Read the full RoboCop case study to find out how we brought this cyborg hero to life for this spot.

Read the full Bumblebee case study to find out how we brought this Transformer to life for this spot.

The Nominees for ‘Best Licensed Promotion’

We’re particularly proud to have won when up against such talented competition. The nominees for ‘Best Licensing Promotion’ were..

Barbie & Tim Hortons Hockey Promotion – Mattel
Monet Afternoon Tea at Pizza Hut – Museum of Fine Arts, Pizza Hut
sweeTARTS Unleash Your Super Self, WW84 Ferrara Candy & Warner Bros
The Smurfs: EU Beach Cleanup – IMPS, LaFig
tokidoki Snow Holiday at Changi Festival Village
Changi Airport, tokidoki
Direct Line ‘We’re On It’: RoboCop, TMNT, Transformers - Born Licensing

Full list of winners:

LICENSED PROGRAM

Art/Design: The Very Hungry Caterpillar / The World of Eric Carle from Eric Carle Studio / The Joester Loria Group
Celebrity/Fashion: Dear Drew by Barrymore Brands / CAA-GBG
Character/Toy Brand: L.O.L. Surprise! by MGA Entertainment
Corporate Brand: Pantone by Pantone / Brand Central
Digital: Emoji by The Emoji Company / Global Merchandising Services
Film/Television/Entertainment (Animated): Rick & Morty by Adult Swim and Cartoon Network
Film/Television/Entertainment (Live Action): JoJo Siwa by Nickelodeon
Food and Beverage/Restaurant: Guiness by Diageo / Beanstalk
Sports: WWE by WWE
Licensed Promotion: Masters of the Universe & Dirty Dancing from Mattel and Lionsgate / Born Licensing
Location-Based or Experiential Initiative: National Geographic Encounter by National Geographic
Retailer: Spirit Halloween for Stranger Things

LICENSED PRODUCTS

Apparel/Footwear/Accessories: Vans for Peanuts footwear, apparel and accessories
Appliances/Automotive/Electronics/Hardware/Housewares/Paint: Broil Chef for Star Wars Tie Fighter Gas Grill
Digital (Apps, Software, Video): Amazon for ‘Sesame Street’ Alexa Skill
Food/Beverage: Brand & vision for ‘Sesamstrasse’ (Sesame Street) organic food range
Health and Beauty Aids: Sally Hansen for Crayola Insta-Dry nail colour collection
Home Decor (Domestics, Furniture, Giftware, Textiles): Jay Franco and Sons for ‘Minecraft’ home collection
Publishing/Social Expression/Back-to-School: Lovepop for Beatles pop-up cards
Toys/Games/Novelties/Role Play (0-12): Cra-Z-Art for Nickelodeon Slime kits
Toys/Games/Novelties/Role Play (13+): The LEGO Group for LEGO Star Wars BB-8 - 75187

BEST LICENSED BRANDS

Art/Design/Celebrity/Fashion Brand – The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle Studio
Digital/App/Video Game Brand – Super Mario by Nintendo
Corporate Brand - Goodyear by The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and IMG
Entertainment/Character Brand: Animated – Peppa Pig by Hasbro & Hasbro China
Entertainment/Character Brand: Live-Action – Harry Potter by Warner Bros. France
Food/Beverage/Restaurant Brand – Coca-Cola, Hi-C & Sprite by The Coca-Cola Company
Sports/Collegiate Brand – NFLPA by NFL Players Association

OTHER AWARDS

Best Licensed Promotion – Direct Line & Born Licensing for “We’re On It” with Transformers, TMNT & Robocop
Best Licensed Collaboration – Crayola x Adidas x Donovan Mitchell
Best Retailer for a Character/Entertainment Initiative – BoxLunch for Marvel Eat the Universe
Best Retailer for a Corporate/Lifestyle/Sports Initiative – H&M for Coca-Cola
Best Licensing Agency – IMG
The Pandemic Pivot Award – Peanuts At-Home-Offerings by Peanuts Worldwide