Meegos are popular MSN accesories.
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The news that Habbo Hotel had engaged Entara as its licensing agent signalled something new and interesting for the licensing
business. Habbo Hotel, a burgeoning online community populated by some 55m Habbo characters is just one of the growing number
of online places where consumers are spending their time networking and creating virtual worlds and alter egos. Spaces such
as Habbo, My Space, Bebo, etc are defined by their fluidity, their speed to evolve and, most importantly, by their users rather
than their creators.
To flashback not very far, the last 12 to 18 months have seen the rise of a number of online networks that allow individuals
to connect with each other by creating their own online presence (which might include pictures, blogs and information), uploading
content such as videos or photographs to exchange and then seek out their own or new friends via the site. Many are already
famous names like Bebo, MySpace, Face Book, YouTube and Habbo Hotel. Between them, you have a significant number of sites
that are occupying global consumers of all ages.
Habbo Hotel has a captive audience and is unreliant on broadcast.
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Some of them have as many users as some countries have residents (MySpace has 110m registered users, for example). Some develop
a speciality (Face Book, popular with college students, for example). And everyone using them has discovered them by word
of mouth.
So how does the real world of consumer products become a part of it all?Helen Howells, of Target Entertainment, which represents
Meegos, the popular MSN Messenger accessories, suggests there is no licensing model out there for this sort of property. 'We
know a property like this is not heading for the mass market because that doesn't fit what it is all about. It's viral and
constantly evolving whereas things on TVare, by their nature, more static.' Helen's view is that the initial focus will be
on personalising products such as gifts and basic apparel and, to this end, the Meegos online store is scheduled to be in
operation by the end of this year. Rupert Murdoch now owns MySpace; Yahoo owns Flickr and Google acquired YouTube in October for $1.6bn. For other sites, city
finance has proved keen to support and the media giants are circling anything that remains unsold with very large wallets.
In terms of additional revenue, some sites are selling products you can customise yourself but this is limited (t-shirts and
bags on Habbo Hotel, for example). Not surprisingly, the Murdoch-owned MySpace is surging ahead with commercial experiments
such as offering the site on mobile phones, a potential magazine and a music label.
A more developed model comes into play in gaming communities where actual commodities and services that are needed to work
the site are traded in real cash.
Karen McNally from Entara, which is looking to extend the Habbo phenomenon through licensing, explains why Habbo was such
an attraction. 'We were drawn by the fact Habbo isn't reliant on broadcast and because it has a captive teen audience, which
spends more time online than in front of the TV now.' She says that the traditional licensing model will serve to start with
and that licensing is for purposes of revenue and to secure the audience. 'The two are inextricably linked,' says Karen. 'We
want to capitalise on the environment and give fans what they want.' Habbo already works with big-name partners for promotions
and online events but the first products are likely to include pre-paid cards (for Habbo credits); books; stationery; back
to school and apparel. Other standard categories like gifts, homewares and health and beauty will follow. Karen stresses that
Habbo users have pride in the site and the community and that licensing initiatives must be careful not to alienate that audience.
'This is an unusual situation where a brand is defined by its users and they are quick to complain if they see something they
don't like.' One plus is that new ideas can be teased online with users to help licensees get the formula right. Although
she does admit this is a "leap of faith", she explains, 'we're not doing anything new; it's the property and the way it's
absorbed by consumers that is new.'
