Agreement taps WildBrain to lead global YouTube strategy for Australian toy brand
London, UK – 9 July 2019 – WildBrain, a leading digital kids’ network and studio, has been appointed by Headstart International Pty Ltd. to manage the Best Furry Friends – or BFF – toy brand on YouTube. WildBrain will employ its expertise in content and channel management on YouTube to grow the global audience for BFF with exclusive content designed to delight a key viewership of girls 6-9 years old.
WildBrain will manage existing BFF channels on YouTube and also launch new channels for the brand across international territories and manage advertising on the channels. BFF content under WildBrain management includes 13 x 11-minute 3D CGI-animated episodes, 13 x11-minute unboxing videos, 6 x 12-minute toy-play videos, and 6 x 12-minute stop-motion videos.
“As we continue to expand the offering of third-party kids’ brands on WildBrain, we are delighted to be teaming up with Headstart’s BFF, an ideal toy property to feature across our YouTube network,” said Rachel Taylor, Commercial Director, WildBrain. “The brand’s range of collectible toys with cute, distinctive characters lends itself perfectly to both animated and live-action videos, allowing kids to immerse themselves in a world of play and imagination. We look forward to working with Headstart to grow the global audience for BFF.”
“We’re really excited to be working with WildBrain on our Best Furry Friends YouTube channel,” said Andrew Hendy, CEO Headstart International. “We have amazing content to share with our fans and WildBrain are the perfect partner to help us grow the brand globally on YouTube.”
The Best Furry Friends are cute fashionista animals who love to hang in their super sweet fashion bags with the Besties, six girls who always keep their furry friends close. In addition to the six Bestie dolls, kids can collect over 60 variations of BFF and fashion bags in a range of colours, sizes and styles. Sold globally, the Best Furry Friends range currently includes collectibles, dolls, playsets and plush, with line extensions coming in the shape of interactive toys and more.
For more information, please contact:
Trade Media: Aimee Norman at DDA Blueprint PR
aimee@ddablueprint.com
+44 (0) 20 7932 9800
About WildBrain
WildBrain is an industry leader in the management and creation of preschool and children’s entertainment content on platforms such as YouTube, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire and others. WildBrain’s branded YouTube network is one of the largest of its kind, featuring more than 145,000 videos for over 600 kids’ brands in up to 22 languages. One in three kids worldwide with access to YouTube watch video on the WildBrain network, which has over 95 million subscribers, and generated over 161 billion minutes of watch time across 32 billion views in 2018. Connecting kids’ content owners with advertisers in the Advertising Video-on-Demand (AVOD) space, the WildBrain network features popular third-party brands such as Fireman Sam, Woody Woodpecker, Popeye, Shopkins, Irish Fairy Doors and Ben 10; original brands Kiddyzuzaa and Ellie Sparkles; and much of DHX Media’s world-renowned library of 13,000 half-hours of kids’ and family content, including Peanuts, Teletubbies, Strawberry Shortcake, Caillou, Inspector Gadget, Degrassi, Yo Gabba Gabba! and many others. WildBrain Studios also specializes in the creation of new, original content for its network, such as animated and live-action shorts; toy-play and stop-motion videos. WildBrain is a wholly owned subsidiary of DHX Media (TSX: DHX; NASDAQ: DHXM).
Twitter & Instagram: @WildBrainKids
About Headstart
Headstart is one of the largest toy companies in Australia where Headstart represents many great toy companies as a distribution partner. Globally Headstart sells its own brands such as Best Furry Friends™, HairDooz™, Micro Wheels™, Ooshies™ and Baby Secrets™ as well as products under license from Sesame Street™, Care Bears™, Disney™, The Wiggles™ and many more. The company’s core foundations continuously drive growth because of stability, fresh and innovative approach to marketing strategies, and the diverse and innovative people. They passionately believe in the power of their brands, and the ability to find new and better ways to connect their brands to their consumers through meaningful relationships with retail, media and partners.