INSTAGRAM CAMPAIGN WITH SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG AND WHIPLASH

LICENSING CARTOON CHARACTERS AND MOVIE CLIPS FOR INTSAGRAM’S ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

BACKGROUND:

To launch their new Stories feature, Instagram were keen to highlight how users can be creative with celebrating life’s highlights as well as all the casual, everyday moments in between.

THE CALL TO BORN:

Instagram’s creative agency, Wieden+Kennedy, reached out to us with a creative idea that required licensing a range of well-known movie, TV, animation and gaming brands or characters.

THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT:

Wieden+Kennedy had a number of movie, animation, TV and gaming brands or characters in mind that would be suitable for their creative concept, and asked Born Licensing to begin exploring the feasibility of licensing those ideal options, whilst putting together a list of back-up options should their primary choices not pan out. We engaged with a number of Rights Holders to open discussions, walking them through the creative direction and negotiating the commercial licensing terms, should their clip or character be chosen for the final campaign.

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WHERE BORN LICENSING ADDED VALUE:

Being connected to all major Rights Holders globally allowed us to approach a range of Rights Holders quickly and easily, to scope out possible approaches before the creative agency began production. Doing so meant that the creative agency knew what was possible and what wasn’t prior to putting together final scripts, saving time and money. After Born Licensing scoped the possibilities, the creative agency chose clips from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, Sonic the Hedgehog and Whiplash. We negotiated the licensing commercial terms and managed all other aspects of the project from start to finish, with the Rights Holders Paramount Pictures (The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie), SEGA (Sonic the Hedgehog) and Bold Pictures (Whiplash).

THE APPROVAL PROCESS:

As with most clip licensing, the Rights Holders (Paramount Pictures, SEGA and Bold Pictures) thoroughly reviewed and approved the script, storyboards, edits and final material and were closely involved in every stage of the creative production process. Born Licensing make this simple for creative agencies by handling all communications between the parties, ensuring that Instagram and Wieden+Kennedy were able to focus on the production, rather than the licensing and approval processes.

THE LAUNCH:

The multi-channel integrated ‘Stories Are Everywhere’ campaign launched globally in cities in Germany, Italy and the USA. It was so successful that Adweek named it as number 3 in the Top 10 Ads of 2017, and it also won Gold at the 2017 Eurobest awards in the Film category. The campaign was a core contributing factor in the launch and ongoing success of Instagram’s Stories feature.

THE EXPERIENCE:

Born Licensing’s unique business model benefits creative agencies and brands in many ways, and in this particular project we were able to seamlessly manage the licensing and approval processes across three separate Rights Holders, without the creative agency or brand needing intimate involvement. We handled everything from start to finish, including research and development, negotiation of commercial terms, the contractual process, invoicing, the brand assurance and approval processes, and everything else that came up relating to the use of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie clip, the Sonic the Hedgehog gameplay and the Whiplash movie clip.