According to a study conducted in 2023 by Licensing International – the global sales of licensed merchandise and services touched $340.8 billion in 2022, up 8.02% over 2021. However, when compared to the single-digit growth number globally,Warner Bros.Discovery(WBD) has seen a significantly higher growth in the APAC region.

As per Vikram Sharma, Head, Consumer Products, Advertising & Partnerships, Warner Bros. Discovery,“ Our business has grown at a high double-digit growth over the last two to three years.”

However, India tells another story. While on the downside India is still a relatively small market at $2.175 billion - that’s around 0.64% of the global market - this is also the land of unlimited licensing opportunities.  Sharma says,“ India represents a significant expansion opportunity and potential for the licensing industry in the coming years. The growing economy and government-backed infrastructure projects will unlock the true potential as a retail market.”

The Indian Licensing Conundrum 

While licensing globally (and even in the APAC region) is an established concept, it is still at a nascent and evolving phase in India.  A major challenge in the country is a lack of awareness and understanding - both by partners and retailers, about the benefits of licensing. Sharma explains, “The opportunity of IPs monetisation beyond content has not been exploited locally.  When we look at any IP - whether it comes from comics, television or theatrical - we look at the franchise flywheel and monetising it across different parts of the business.  In India, the awareness and education of this concept is growing. ”

Other challenges have been rampant piracy limiting the sector’s growth, limited distribution of global toy players resulting in children having limited exposure to the scale of licensing products viz-a-viz global markets and an unorganised retail sector that overpowers the organised sector with an over 80% share despite a massive growth of the e-commerce business.

Sharma says that the overall licensee base in India is still limited and though the numbers are increasing, the base is still small. He continues, “Retailers in India are fashion-dependent. This is a big challenge as retailers need to understand the potential that exists in categories other than fashion such as personal care, home products, food and beverages.”

Pitching to Indian Brands 

WBD employs a two-fold approach to licensing -a consumer perspective and a partner perspective, a licensee or a retailer. With consumers having an emotional connect with the IPs from the Warner stable, the strategy is to maintain the storytelling, seamless interaction and engagement with the fans across all touch-points.

For partners, the approach is to become a solution provider. Says Sharma, “Our approach is to understand our partners’ objective and KRAs and then build in our IPs to make sure that we help them achieve that objective. It’s about understanding what the partner needs from the partnership - is it share gain, creating a buzz, improving brand strength or is it entry into a new retail channel dependent on the demographic, positioning and gender focus? That’s when the partner will benefit from licensing. It is not about slapping a character on any product; the attributes have to match with the partner.”

A key learning from the APAC region is licencing can be driven by young adult females i.e.  YAF – as against adults and children in India - and this is a cohort that the company is keen to explore in India. “Young adult females are the crux of the licencing business. We've been extremely successful with young adult females in other markets and need to bring the learning to India and become the pioneer in India to drive the licencing business for young adult females,” states Sharma

The India Story 

A key focus for WBD in India is to partner with leaders across multiple categories. “You cannot build a licencing market if you're not working with the leaders in each category.” Sharing insights about collaborations in the Indian market, Sharma spoke about how WBD helped Cybeart, the new entrant to the market, break through the clutter in the gaming chair category by speaking to the core TG.

Limited edition gaming chairs, by integrating Warner Bros. Discovery IPs such as DC, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, Mortal Kombat, Lord of the Rings, and Rick and Morty met with a positive response.

Consumerwearables andelectronics brandZebronics operates in a hyper-competitive market that typically shows low brand loyalty and is price-sensitive. Zebronics’ associations with Warner Bros. movies, Black Adam and Joker helped bring in a new set of consumers from the young adult demography, by integrating elements into the product range and the opportunity to ride on the popularity of the DC Franchise. Looking ahead, Zebronics will be launching Aquaman-inspired product range shortly in line with the movie release.

Says Sharma, “The objective is to get in new people - a new demographic of young adults. While Zebronics continues with celebrity brand ambassadors, it is character and entertainment licencing which adds value to the brand.”

Two brand associations that were“ landmark associations” for WBD were with boAt and Bira91. For the homegrown market leader in the wearables and hearables/audio accessory brand market, the licencing deals with boAt with DC theme design helped differentiate the brand in a hyper-competitive and cluttered space and create an emotional connection with consumers who were also fans of the DC franchisee. The association with Bira 91 gave WBD the opportunity to go beyond core categories and enter the alco-bev space.

Bira 91’s limited edition, House of Dragon beer, helped in positioning the beer brand, as an innovative market leader. The partnership was amplified by an on-ground experience where Bira 91 engaged with more than 11 Alehouses including top Beacon Accounts & Bira91’s Taprooms across cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to create buzz around the partnership.  This garnered a high degree of engagement and fan participation along with social media buzz.

Wizarding worldsmartwatches were launched with OnePlus for the first time globally in India. Sharma states, “This has been the fastest-selling IP-driven association for OnePlus in India. Priced at Rs 18,999, the smartwatches were sold out within a month of launch.”

While working with category leaders remains a priority, Sharma says that working with disruptive brands is also part of game. He says, “We continue working with leaders in the category to amplify them, but being leaders in the licencing space, the responsibility is to amplify homegrown brands in India and globally.” WBD’s collaboration with WOW Skin Science allowed the then-nascent beauty brand - catering to a young adult demographic enter into a new market segment, the kids' personal care market by leveraging the beloved Justice League franchise characters. Capitalising on the massive DC fandom helped WOW Skin Science capture the attention of young consumers.

On a final note, Sharma stated, “We believe India will be the fastest growing market over the next five years, not only from the expansion of the market perspective but also on how we work in the market in India. India is top of the priority in terms of the growth.” He continues, “Despite the challenges, the industry continues to have a very positive outlook with massive scope for retailers to explore the potential of untapped categories.”