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“We’re trying to get kids excited about Dennis and Gnasher. It’s not all about the Beano as a magazine, it’s more about the characters. Where do they find these characters? Is it gaming? Is it digital devices? Television? YouTube? Wherever it is, we need to be relevant.”
So said Tim Collins, head of brands at D C Thomson, which is working hard to expand the appeal of Dennis.
The Beano is still one of the most successful British comics, averaging ABC sales of 32,000 copies a week— but the 1950s heyday, of weekly sales of two million are long gone, said Collins.
“The world then was very different,” he said, pointing out that kids in the 1950s didn’t have the same distractions as children of the 21st century. “Successful brands now are ones that span into different arenas . . . whether you’re a publisher who owns the intellectual property or a licensed publisher, it’s one of the big planks of exploitation.”
Collins said television was “hugely important” and a big goal involves taking programmes into different territories. D C Thomson has already sold “The Dennis the Menace and Gnasher Show” to the ABC broadcasting corporation in Australia, and it is hoping to break into North America and major European markets.
“I’m confident that the DNA of the characters will work internationally, we just have to present it in a way that’s relevant,” he added, as the company can’t rely on the reputation of the Beano in the same way it can back home. “If we want to step up to the US and the
big European territories, we’ve got to come up with content that is compelling and stands alongside other shows that kids are watching.”
Digital is also very important in the growth strategy, and D C Thomson is gearing up to make a big announcement later in the year. Without going into too much detail, Collins said gaming and the “huge global channel”YouTube are both important, and pointed out that Beano comic strips are already available digitally, thanks to a deal with MeBooks.
When it comes to licensing, partners that really understand the brand are key, he said, describing a recent deal with Puffin to create a series of physical books based on Dennis’ diaries as “brilliant”. The first book, The Diary of Dennis the Menace by Steven Butler, has already sold 8,315 copies in the UK since its February release (according
to Neilsen BookScan), and five more titles are planned.
D C Thomson now has around 60 licensees for the Beano, with merchandise for children, teens and adults. “We sell in all different areas, from the supermarkets and department stores, through to galleries and the Conran Shop,” says Collins.
Of the Beano‘s 75th anniversary last year, Collins said: “I definitely think it will be a long time before comics are dead. Whether it is exactly the same format in which we publish in five or 10 years’ time I don’t know, but as long as the brand is popular and the characters are popular, there will always be a home for Dennis and Gnasher in print.”