I tawt I taw...a new Tweety. You did, you did see a new Tweety! Tweety, that bright blue-eyed, cute yet mischievous yellow
canary of Looney Tunes fame, is ready to turn fashionista heads on both the East and West Coasts. Warner Bros. Consumer Products
has given Tweety a new twang--lengthened eyelashes, a brightened beak, and a floral hair accessory. And, two of the hottest,
trend-setting boutiques in the country--Los Angeles-based single-store Kitson, and Scoop, with locations in New York, Miami's
South Beach, Las Vegas, Connecticut, and the Hamptons--will roll out exclusive, higher-end fashion merchandise, May 10 and
18, respectively. What better time to celebrate the color of yellow than summer 2005, when the hue, according to the fashion
runways and consumer fashion magazines, stands as the must-have for trend-conscious females everywhere. Since Tweety is for
all intensive purposes "a natural blonde," the age-old comment, "Blondes have more fun," can easily be Tweetyized: "Tweeties
have more fun." Warner Bros. Consumer Products, with its roster of higher-end licensees with merchandise ranging in retails
from $30 to $595, are banking that Tweety will twinkle.
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Tweety TalesIrrespective of Looney Tunes media, the Tweety business has been sizable, robust, and has grown over the last 10 years, according to Jordan Sollitto,
executive vice president of worldwide marketing, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. "Tweety is not a media-dependent property.
Tweety has equity among girls ages 4 to 8 and women in their 20s and 30s. Tweety has had continuous performance at the cash
register, transcending media exposure," says Sollitto, noting that classic Tweety licensed merchandise exists in channels
including mass, mid-tier, and some specialty. Warner Bros. Consumer Products' research corroborated its thoughts about Tweety's
equity. "When we spoke with girls and women about Tweety, they weren't as interested in talking about media or a movie around
Tweety. They relate to the character as it relates to merchandise. Tweety's cuteness, according to our research, was the driving
characteristic," he explains. Some of the kitschy graphic elements for the new Tweety include hearts, flowers, and fleur-de-lis
(all of which will be used as accents on product in the collection). But while Tweety may be "cute," you may recall that Tweety
also can be provoked. Warner Bros. Consumer Products played right into that with one of the new Tweety visuals featuring a
touch of mischief, with a great eye-winking, something-up-my-sleeve attitude and feel, as well as Tweety with hand on hip.
So with an archive chock full of well-loved Warner Bros. characters, why Tweety? Beyond its already-established licensing
business that is living simultaneously at mass and specialty, Sollitto says Tweety is a resilient character with velocity.
"That's the upside," he comments. Not to mention, a little luck with the choice of yellow as this summer's color.
Tweety's New Take Sollitto says the collection launching at Kitson and Scoop is a move by Warner Bros. Consumer Products toward a "more collection-driven
program." "Tweety is a strong business for us in the all-important apparel and accessories category, but special programs
like the one we're doing with Scoop and Kitson platform the power of the brand as a trend-setting style icon," says Maribeth
Towers-Toth, vice president, apparel and accessories, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. "It's great to see the buzz building
around our favorite 'Natural Blonde,' and we already are beginning to see the halo effect for the broader market." 
