TRANSFORMING HOMES: SIMONDS HOMES CELEBRATES

LICENSING THE TRANSFORMERS FRANCHISE FOR CREATIVE ADVERTISING

BACKGROUND:

Simonds Homes is a home builder based in Australia, and to celebrate their 65th anniversary they wanted to create their biggest ever campaign, focused on their annual Simonds Big Brands sale.

THE CALL TO BORN:

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. Born Licensing reached out to Hasbro, the Rights Holders of the Transformers franchise, to gain initial buy-in and begin negotiating the commercial licensing terms.

WHERE BORN LICENSING ADDED VALUE:

Being licensing agents for Hasbro allowed us to quickly and efficiently negotiate the licensing terms and manage the entire project from start to finish - without charging any clearance fees to the agency or client. Thanks to our existing close relationship with Hasbro, the process was simple and ensured there were no hold-ups during the project. Born Licensing’s David Born attended the shoot in Australia and was on the ground with T20 Group and Simonds Homes throughout to facilitate solving any licensing issues as they arose.

LICENSE ICONIC CHARACTERS FOR YOUR NEXT BIG CAMPAIGN

THE APPROVAL PROCESS:

Hasbro, the Rights Holders of the Transformers franchise, were kept in the loop at all stages of the project to ensure any issues were dealt with as efficiently as possible. Born Licensing handled communications between parties, ensuring Hasbro were kept up-to-date with scripts, storyboards, still poses, edits and final material. We managed the entire approval process start to finish, including being present at the shoot itself, to ensure the other parties could focus on their own roles.

THE LAUNCH:

The campaign launched across Australia, in Victoria, South Australia and Queensland. The final multi-channel product included a 45-second cinema spot, 30- and 15- second TV spots, fence banners at display centres, print advertising, online animation, 15-second cinema digital advertising and a 2-metre high Transformer standee. The campaign launched on Grand Final Day, the biggest advertising day of the year in Australia, to much applause.

THE EXPERIENCE:

Using our knowledge and industry experience allowed us to manage the entire project, start to finish, including negotiation of commercial terms, the contractual process, invoicing, the brand assurance, approval processes and anything else that came up relating to the use of the Transformers likeness. Thanks to our relationship with Hasbro, we were able to provide a full service to T20 Group and Simonds Homes without charging any clearance fees or adding to the overheads associated with the campaign.