Accessibility Statement Skip Navigation
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • +44 (0)20 7454 5110
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
Return to PR Newswire homepage
  • News
  • Products
  • Contact
When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type.

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases

      • All Public Company News
      • All Multimedia News
      • View All News Releases

      • Regulatory News

      • D/A/CH Regulatory News
      • UK Regulatory News
      • View All Regulatory News

  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation

      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads & Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking & Road Transportation
      • View All Auto & Transportation

      • Business Technology

      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors
      • View All Business Technology

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film & Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Financial Services & Investing

      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers & Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalisation
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Shareholder Meetings
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital
      • View All Financial Services & Investing

      • General Business

      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls & Research
      • Trade Show News
      • View All General Business

  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology

      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Consumer Technology

      • Energy & Natural Resources

      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil & Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities
      • View All Energy & Natural Resources

      • Environ­ment

      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters
      • View All Environ­ment

      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Aerospace & Defence
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation & Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking & Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco
      • View All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Telecomm­unications

      • Carriers & Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Telecomm­unications

  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail

      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines & Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics & Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture & Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewellery
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys
      • View All Consumer Products & Retail

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film & Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Health

      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine
      • View All Health

      • Sports

      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories
      • View All Sports

      • Travel

      • Amusement Parks & Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels & Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry
      • View All Travel

  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest

      • Animal Welfare
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Economic News, Trends & Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • Labour & Union
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Public Safety
      • View All Policy & Public Interest

  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture

      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women
      • View All People & Culture

  • Overview
  • Distribution
  • Paid Placement
  • Multichannel Amplification
  • Disclosure Services
  • SocialBoost
  • Rooms
    • MediaRoom
    • ESG Rooms
  • AI Tools
  • General Enquiries
  • Media Enquiries
  • Partnerships
  • Hamburger menu
  • Cision PR Newswire UK provides press release distribution, targeting, monitoring, and marketing services
  • Send a Release
    • Phone

    • +44 (0)20 7454 5110 from 8 AM - 5:30 PM GMT

    • ALL CONTACT INFO
    • Contact Us

      +44 (0)20 7454 5110
      from 8 AM - 5:30 PM GMT

  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • News in Focus
    • Browse News Releases
    • Regulatory News
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Policy & Public Interest
    • Policy & Public Interest
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • Overview
  • Distribution
  • Paid Placement
  • Multichannel Amplification
  • Disclosure Services
  • Cision Communications Cloud®
  • AI Tools
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • General Enquiries
  • Media Enquiries
  • Partnerships
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists

Beanstalk to Develop a Global Licensing Program for Outfit7's Mobile Entertainment Phenomenon, Talking Friends


News provided by

Beanstalk

28 Jun, 2011, 13:00 GMT

Share this article

Share toX

Share this article

Share toX

NEW YORK, June 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Beanstalk to Extend Talking Friends' Characters into Multiple Product Categories to Engage Users Offline, Connecting Digital and Physical Properties

Beanstalk, a leading global brand licensing agency and consultancy, today announced that it has been selected by Outfit7 as the exclusive, global licensing agency for Talking Friends, the wildly popular series of mobile applications that have become a pop culture phenomenon.  Beanstalk will be tasked with launching a worldwide licensing program across multiple categories for Talking Friends, its series of mobile applications and its cast of characters including Talking Tom Cat, Talking Ben the Dog and Talking Gina the Giraffe, among others.

The Talking Friends franchise, which launched in July 2010, has become a sensation with the media and millions of fans of all ages the world over.  Each of the Talking Friends apps features a unique, heartwarming, and fully animated 3D character that comes to life when poked, tickled, and played with on mobile touch-screen devices for the iOS and Android platforms. The interactive character repeats everything a user says, and the apps allows fans to create customized videos of their interactions with the Talking Friends  and share them via Facebook, YouTube, MSS or email. Over 400,000 videos are spread virally every month.

Since its launch in July 2010, the Talking Friends Collection of apps have been downloaded over 135 million times with upwards of 10 million people a day engaging with one of the Talking Friends characters. Talking Tom Cat ranked No. 3 among the free applications on Apple's App Store for iPhone in 2010-—ahead of Angry Birds, Google, Twitter and Apple's iBooks. The recently launched Talking Tom Cat 2 was downloaded 4.5 million times in the first week and reached the No. 1 chart position in over 70 countries. More than 15,000 Talking Friends user-created videos have also been uploaded to YouTube, generating over nine million views.  The Talking Friends franchise cuts across multiple age groups with millions upon millions of users every day.

Beanstalk will launch a global licensing program for the Talking Friends characters with innovative licensed products that incorporate specific play patterns and interactive features unique to each character. Select products will incorporate developmental elements of the characters such as speech, music, co-ordination, reading, writing and sensory interactions.

Like Talking Friends' cast of digital characters, the licensed products will engage users differently depending on the user's age and provide the same unique connections and game experiences that have made the application so popular.  The licensing program will have a two-pronged focus with consumer products designed for the user demographics -- children ages 2-8 and tweens, teens and adults.

"Outfit7's objective is to combine innovative and creative design with loveable characters that capture the imagination and hearts of people of all ages," said Andrej Nabergoj, CEO of Outfit7.  "We call our apps the Next Generation of Entertainment because they were inspired by the new generation of mobile touch devices, leveraging their advanced technical features to create simple, engaging apps that people can enjoy alone or together.  We chose to work with Beanstalk because they too have a history of innovation and the pioneering spirit we seek in all of our partners, as well as the capabilities and experience needed to extend our brand across the globe. Consumer products, both digital and physical, are a key part of our long-term strategy to expand the franchise across various platforms and categories."

The program will extend Talking Friends' amusing and engaging cast of characters into a range of product categories including toys, games, apparel and accessories, social expression, arts and crafts, electronic accessories, home décor and health and beauty, tapping into best-in-class licensees. The program will be available across multiple retail channels including online, mass, mid-tier, drug, grocery and specialty retailers.  Products are slated to rollout in 2012 with a limited launch for Holiday 2011.

"Expanding the Talking Friends franchise into the real world through creative and innovative licensing and brand extension programs is truly an exciting prospect for Beanstalk and representative of an important emerging trend in the world of entertainment," said Michael Stone, CEO of Beanstalk.  "While video games, digital and online properties have a long history of brand extensions and licensing, we are just witnessing the tip of the iceberg for app brand licensing.  This is the new frontier of licensing and we are delighted to be a part of it.  Apps have become such a mainstream part of our lives now that they occupy the same kind of loyalty and affinity as movies, television programs and other entertainment properties."

About Outfit7

With more than 135 million downloads since its launch in July 2010, Outfit7 is the world's leading creator of mobile entertainment. Its Talking Friends collection has become a major phenomenon, with characters featured on ABC's "Modern Family" as well as NBC's "Today Show." There are currently 11 characters in the Talking Friends collection including Talking Tom Cat, Talking Tom Cat 2, Talking Ben the Dog, Talking Lila the Fairy,  Talking Gina the Giraffe, Talking Baby Hippo, Talking Larry the Bird, Talking Harry the Hedgehog, Talking Santa, Talking Bacteria John, Talking Roby the Robot, and Talking Rex the Dinosaur. Outfit7 has offices in Palo Alto, California and Ljubljana, Slovenia and is committed to building the world's leading next generation entertainment company.

About Beanstalk

Beanstalk, a global brand licensing agency and consultancy, extends brands through the strategic and creative development of licensed products. The company works with blue-chip brands and other high-profile clients to leverage licensing as a strategic tool to enhance brand awareness, increase consumer touch-points, and generate revenue. Beanstalk also offers a breadth of additional licensing services including direct-to-retail program management, license acquisition for manufacturers, celebrity/expert talent management, and TransAct™ customized legal and financial services.

Beanstalk is the licensing agency of record for over 50 world-class brands and has developed thousands of brand extensions in every major product category, resulting in nearly $2.3 billion in retail sales in 2010 alone.  The company is headquartered in New York, with offices in London, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, and Hong Kong, and affiliates throughout the world.  For more information, please visit http://www.beanstalk.com.

Beanstalk is a part of Omnicom Group Inc. Diversified Agency Services (NYSE: OMC). Omnicom (http://www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company.

Modal title

Contact PR Newswire

  • +44 (0)20 7454 5110
    from 8 AM - 5:30 PM GMT
  • General Enquiries
  • Media Enquiries
  • Partnerships

Products

  • Content Distribution
  • Multimedia Services
  • Disclosure Services
  • Cision Communications Cloud®

About

  • About PR Newswire
  • About Cision
  • Partnering Opportunities
  • Careers
  • Accessibility Statement
  • APAC
  • APAC - Simplified Chinese
  • APAC - Traditional Chinese
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • Czech
  • Denmark
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Israel
  • Japan
  • Korea
  • Mexico
  • Middle East
  • Middle East - Arabic
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Russia
  • Slovakia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • United States
  • Vietnam

My Services

  • All News Releases
  • Customer Portal
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • Data Privacy

Do not sell or share my personal information:

  • Submit via Privacy@cision.com 
  • Call Privacy toll-free: 877-297-8921

Contact PR Newswire

Products

About

My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Customer Portal
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
+44 (0)20 7454 5110
from 8 AM - 5:30 PM GMT
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Information Security Policy
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookie Settings
Copyright © 2025 PR Newswire Europe Limited. All Rights Reserved. A Cision company.