' Geek ' market matures and stimulates revenue of retailers with licensing

The sale of licensed products, consolidated stores, won once the shelves of retailers targeting the young people of the geek universe – made by aficionados in comics, anime, series and everything involving the popular culture. Before the nerd world was just a piece of the teen market, today this consumer profile is disputed by major networks.
"The geek market is on the rise. He is no longer a niche and became a real market. Because of this, we began to invest more and more in marketing to surf this wave of more organic way, "says the founder of the Piticas franchise network, Felipe Rossetti.
The brand, specialized in the production and sale of t-shirts of characters the world geek, bet on various licensing lines to suit all kind of nerd. And the decision resulted in good fruit: with 306 units in operation – 108 of them open this year – the company arrived in all Brazilian States and between stores and kiosks, estimates revenues of R $120 million this year, 54% up to 2016.
With the boiling of this market, many retailers, including large, sought ways to meet the demand of these consumers, boosting the brand licensing and iconic characters in the country. According to the Brazilian Association of licensing (Abral), this thread moves R $18 billion per year. "We still have plenty of room to grow, especially in the adult segment that represents 40% of the total in Brazil", says the President of Abral, Marici.
Despite the broad potential, the bureaucratic process on the part of the holders of copyright and piracy still hamper the sector. "It's not easy you acquire licenses. We've been through, for example, by a complex certification of Disney. Everything has to be approved by the matrix. They provide us with a guide to arts and within this tab, we can do whatever we want, but there's a lot of restrictions, "said Rossetti.
The little darlings
One of the favorite characters for this audience include Star Wars product lines, DC Comics, Marvel and Harry Potter, but there is also room for classic characters from the games, such as Mario Bros line, and brazilian culture, as Turma da Mônica, keys and Chapolin-these two recent graduates by SBT.
Hook this audience may not be an easy task, but it is quite profitable. Formed basically by young, unmarried and with a reasonable spending power, the Imaginarium filled gondolas this year with licensed products. "The licenses come gaining a major stake in our business. The products of the brands Harry Potter and Star Wars are too strong for us, "admits the Imaginarium's commercial Director to the DCI, Donato Ramos.
And it is with the support of this network consumer intends to terminate 2017 with a turnover of $276 million R, 18% over the previous year.
To better serve its customers, the Imaginarium has invested in a new store this year – 10% more expensive in relation to the previous model. "We had a renewal in our project. They're more enlightened now. It was important to rejuvenate the brand. We opened 38 stores in this new project, "says Ramos.
With the intention to diversify the operation and win consumers of different profiles, the Uni.co Group-old Imaginarium Group – recently announced the acquisition of totalitarian Puket, retailer of pajamas, socks and accessories. "This acquisition is part of the project to be a platform of prominent retail brands," says Ramos. In February this year, the company had already bought the MinD, focused on House decoration. Outside them, complete the Group's flags Ludi Uni.co.
Inverse path
If investment in licensing is heated in the geek universe, there are also those who bet the other way around, as the network specializes in gifts Uatt?, who saw the OWL Bubu, character created by brand, become a cartoon that aroused the interest of several children's tv channels. "Throughout the process of construction of assortment, we chose not to bring brands to our business. Instead, the Uatt? created a brand to be licensed, "says the Director of innovation and marketing the Uatt?, Carol Toledano.
Due to the crisis, the Uatt? changed business strategy and gave up the franchise operation, closing about of 50 stores in 2016. Now, working in stores, multi-brand marketplaces and e-commerce, the company intends to earn R $50 million in 2017, 22% over the previous year.