Summary
This paper provides an overview of the mass merchandising industry, primarily in the United States. The paper gives a snapshot summary of the emerging industry in the US, with additional sections on its development, organisation and structure, current conditions and leading companies. It concludes with a brief section about the industry in other countries ('America and the world') as well as a list of further information sources and reading.

Summary
The article discusses the use of licensed properties (characters) in marketing brands to children. The problem is how to link the emotional value of licensed characters effectively with the brand. There are five `tiers’ of licensed property (discussed): `logo slap’, promotional use, character-affected products, character-related categories, character-integrated products. These tiers rise progressively in their degree of integration with the brand, likelihood of longer-lasting success, and avoidance of parental resentment (prevalent with the first two). Young people are inherently afraid of new things (neophobia); the familiarity of a well-loved character can help to overcome this. Marketers should develop stories for the characters which emphasise personality traits that link relevantly with the brand. Logo slap and mere promotion should be avoided. A good example (described) is Lazy Town, a children’s entertainment programme conveying messages of healthy living and lifestyle, which has had major successes in influencing eating behaviour. From a five-article feature on youth marketing.

Summary
This paper delves into children and their relationship with the characters that make up their world, their features, origins, aesthetics, the stories in which they are involved and the different roles played. Preferences for local vs. global, fiction vs. reality, what is explicitly targeted to them vs. teenage and adult proposals, cartoon format vs. 'live action', male vs. female characters and the values they represent are examined.

Summary
This wide ranging article on licensing - defined as a promotional use of an established creative property such as a film, TV or cartoon character - highlights the potential advantages and pitfalls in mounting this type of promotion. The author claims that retailers are turning to licensed properties to generate unique 'points of difference' and licensors (usually a licence agency or sometimes the owner) have created a buyer's market for their properties. The article discusses how brands and licensed properties can come together and how the retail outlet becomes a 'theatre' for the promotion but to achieve this needs integrated communications. The author concludes that licensing can work but a careful understanding of objectives and target audiences must drive the search for a suitable licence.

Summary
This paper describes findings and practical applications of a 1998 quantitative study conducted in six countries including Argentina, Brazil and Mexico by Nickelodeon, Just Kid Inc., and Research International. The study was designed to provide Nickelodeon with a strategic planning tool to support programming research and development and Nickelodeon's regional expansion. Available surveys and data sources lacked sufficient insight and depth of information about the brand and consumer environment in which kids reside, as well as their attitudes, beliefs, aspirations, and consumption behaviors. The paper also discusses some observations about brands and branding and the significance of building brand loyalty early, kids' attraction to more adult brands, how children are becoming more sophisticated consumers at a younger age, and the emergence of regional and global brands targeted to kids.

Summary
This paper traces the history of characters up to the mid-nineteenth century, and thereafter through five ages of character development. Research is described that regularly plots the popularity of characters among children over a number of years. Differences are noted by demographics of age and sex and between countries. Characters have been increasingly licensed as properties where the character is applied to diverse product fields - the character is the brand and the product takes on its persona. Personalities, especially singers and musicians and sports celebrities are also taking on the nature of marketable 'properties' that can be laterally marketed in varied product fields. Research is used to track popularity trends of 'heroes', singers and of sports personalities. Case studies are given of Nickelodeon's Rugrats, the amazingly successful group 'The Spice Girls' and of the growth in popularity of football clubs and football celebrities in Britain.

Summary
Discusses brand licensing, in which manufacturers lend or borrow brands and characters; examples include the use of Disney's 'The Lion King' on a wide range of goods from stationery to toiletries. It is now a £5 billion market in the UK alone. The article explains how it works, the characteristics a property must have before it can attract licensing, the best way to develop a synergy between the partners to the licensing agreement, why licensing agencies are necessary, the job of the agency, and the principles underlying the financial and other negotiations. Several successful examples are quoted; but the article also suggests that there is still a large unfulfilled potential.