Earlier this month, Licensing International released the latest market-by-market reports on kids’ preferences for characters and brands, with data gathered from 42 countries around the globe by Kidz Global/BrandTrends Entertainment.

It’s apparent from a look at several of the reports that they vividly illustrate the wisdom of the marketing truism “Think Global, Act Local” – have a broad strategy for the business no matter where you operate, but adapt your tactics to conditions within any single local market.

That’s particularly true the lower the age range of kids you’re targeting. The younger the child, according to the data, the more likely they are to have latched on to locally popular characters, as opposed to global powerhouses.  That equation, however, begins to shift the higher you move up the age scale.

Local Knowledge
If anyone from outside Brazil, for example, is looking to compete there for the affection of kids up to age two, they’d better be aware that the top three licenses cited by those infants’ parents are the locally produced Monica’s Gang, Galinha Pintadinha and Mundo Bita. Global powerhouse Peppa Pig ranks fourth for that age group.

In Japan, the top three spots for the 0-2 crowd are held down by the character Anpanman and long-running children’s shows Inai Inai Baa and Okaasan to Issho. Thomas and Friends polled as the fourth most popular property among those children’s parents in April.

One more example is Sweden, where Babblarna, Bamse & Kylling and Bolibompa rank as the most popular for those under two; after those come Peppa Pig, Lego and another local favorite, Pippi Longstocking.

On July 28, Philippe Guinaudeau of BrandTrends/Kidz Global will give further perspectives drawn for the April numbers in an hour-long webinar, “What Kids Want: Insights from the Latest Kidz Global Study. Click here for more information about the webinar, which is free to all Licensing International members. The twice-a-year Kidz Global reports also are available free to all members of Licensing International.