Licensed product plays a significant role in Spain's retail landscape. In 2008, the licensed sector grew by €1.153 million
($1.6 million), hitting €354 million ($496 million) and representing 33 percent of all retail sales.
Maria Doolan
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Keeping price points in line with non-licensed product is important to the success of the category. According to Maria Doolan,
managing director of brand and business development at Spain's Zinkia, in terms of pricing, licensed products are pretty even
with non-licensed product. "Currently the average licensed product sells for €18.1 as against €18.2 ($25) for non-licensed
products," she says.
One other notable feature of the Spanish licensing market is its seasonality—Christmas accounts for 70 percent of all Spanish
licensing sales.
As in most countries, a softening 2009 economy will take a toll on the business. "There is no doubt that 2009 will see a fall
in licensed sales," asserts Doolan.
Given that at the end of first quarter 2009 the government's own figures put unemployment at 17.4 percent, up from 9 percent
at the start of 2008, that is hardly surprising. However, Doolan does have some optimism, believing that, "in general terms,
the licensing sector is not doing as badly as might be expected," although she does acknowledge that "the one exception is
the toy sector," which she describes as, "experiencing a significant downturn."
Retail. Click to view larger.
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As is often the case, however, broad statements and figures hide significant differences. Doolan reveals that, "in the 2 to
7 age range, 60 percent of all toy sales are of licensed products."
Laura Navarro, licensing manager at HIT's Iberian agent Imira Entertainment, estimates that "licensed toys account for around
35 percent of all toy sales in Spain." Imira represents the Australian TV property "H20" in Spain.
Both Doolan and Navarro agree that the big trend in Spanish licensing over the past two years has been the emergence of an
increasingly important preschool market. "Two years ago, preschool almost didn't exist, but now it is a very important sector,
and one which is growing strongly. This is partly a reflection of Spain's increased adoption of Western and American values
and products. For better or worse, Spain is now adopting shopping malls, fast food, licensed products and daytime television,"
explains Doolan. The adoption of daytime television is, believes Doolan, another reason for the growth of preschool.
"Much of Spain's FTA channels," she points out, "escape the normal European censorship criteria allowing daytime content to
be aired that is much stronger than in the rest of Europe, and unsuitable for children. This has led to huge audiences for
niche kids' channels."
And there is a bigger audience for younger programming as a result of a baby boom which occurred five years ago when Spain's
economy was strong, and due to a large amount of immigration over the same period.
