THE INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS OF BING

LICENSING MAGAZINE interviewed Katie Rollings, Chief Licensing Officer at Acamar Films to learn more about the latest activities and next plans for the international pre-school brand, Bing. 

How has Bing become one of the top Preschool brands in the UK and internationally? 

It is mainly because of its authenticity. Bing centers on the true experiences and reactions of pre-schoolers and celebrates the simplicity of the everyday. It is a child-centric show, the micro dramas that play out in every episode reflect the reality of every child, which is what makes it globally relevant.

Bing is truly about seeing the world through the eyes of a child: the audience sees itself reflected in Bing, and through him the viewers become able to make sense of their own development and also the world around them, and to do it in their own way. I consider that this is really what sets Bing apart. 

In this post-pandemic world, the parents are defining different priorities. Now it is much more about the EQ, rather than the IQ: the importance of building mental, emotional and social skills has never been more urgent. Bing has never been more relevant, because the parents are looking for tools to help build their children's emotional resilience.

In my opinion, Bing really has a great purpose, which is why it is one of the top pre-school brands in the market.

Which are the key markets of this brand? 

We launched Bing in the UK back in 2014, and now we are excited as we come into 2024, to be celebrating our 10th anniversary. We have seen huge success over the years in the UK, and success on YouTube and BBC iPlayerhere Bing is a top requested show, with a great number of licensees. With good products at retail, we are building out our experiences to find new ways to connect with our audience. The UK is our primary market and where we premiered. I would say another important market for us is Italy, where Bing is the number 1 most streamed pre-school series on the Rai Play platform. We have over 1,200,000 YouTube subscribers, and we work with Maurizio Distefano Licensing as our agent in the market. 

The same can be said of Poland and the CEE markets, where we also have over 1,000,000 YouTube subscribers. We have had fantastic store openings in Hungary, a great success with our cinema events and strong retail performance.

Another key market has been the Netherlands, where we had sold-out theatre shows, and a strong consistent retail performance. Recently, we are very pleased to have had a strong content launch in France. We have seen strong viewership which is paving the way for us to drive a licensing focus as we go into 2024.

This international growth is a huge priority for us over the next 3 to 5 years. There are still several big markets in which we plan to launch. Our approach is a gradual rollout to achieve long-term growth, with a robust localization strategy.

Read the full interview in the new Licensing Magazine issue and watch the video interview at this link.