Five trends to keep an eye on in 2024
Five trends, the licensing industry should look out for. Today's visions are rapidly becoming tomorrow's reality. To ensure that the licensing industry can continue to inspire the children's target group with innovative licensed products in the coming year.
1. Augmented reality
The rapid development of this technology will continue to create new opportunities to create interactive and immersive gaming experiences for children. With AR games on smartphones or tablets, for example, kids can experience adventures in their own neighborhood together with their heroes. Haptic puzzles, educational games or coloring books can also be taken to a new level with AR enhancements, for example when their motifs come to life when scanned with the cell phone camera and interact with the children.
2. Artificial Intelligence
Licensees can use AI in market research to analyze large amounts of data and identify consumer preferences. AI can also help generating product ideas and concepts by providing suggestions based on consumer feedback, design parameters and market trends. From prototyping to manufacturing and quality control, it can also automate many steps, saving costs, time and resources. As a result, more and more companies will add AI-based tools and methods to their human expertise in order to future-proof themselves.
3. Multifunctionality
Children love it when they are surprised by cool gadgets in their favorite series or films. This offers licensees the opportunity to implement these characteristic features of a brand in the form of creative multifunctional products. For example, plush figures of the characters can be equipped with a night light or music function to help children fall asleep. With letter or number puzzles or research and experimentation kits, the play function can be combined with a learning effect. Clothing or accessories can also offer additional functions, such as a school backpack with integrated rain protection and reflectors.
4. Inclusion
In an increasingly diverse and globalized world, inclusion is becoming an important success factor for brands. After all, if the central characters of a brand have different backgrounds, skin colors, cultures or abilities, this increases the potential for identification and gives a broader target group the feeling of being part of the brand world. At product level, you can take this into account by developing items specifically for children with different abilities in addition to toys suitable for the masses.
5. Sustainability
Environmental and climate protection and the careful use of natural resources are increasingly being addressed in children's formats. At the same time, parents are also becoming more aware of these important issues and influencing their purchasing decisions.. The use of certified organic fabrics, such as organic cotton for clothing, accessories and bedding or FSC-certified wood for toys, also contributes to your sustainability initiative. Last but not least, companies can minimize their environmental impact by choosing packaging made from recycled materials or bio-based plastics.
Source: www.brandora.de