In recognition of the increasing licensing and marketing opportunities in the Asian market, Turner Home Entertainment set up its own licensing and merchandising division based in Hong Kong just over a year ago.

The office has since coordinated a variety of programs throughout the Pacific Rim with leading fast-food packaged goods and manufacturing companies, and predicts the market for licensing programs will grow as the television industry continues to be deregulated throughout the region.

Some examples of THE licensing and merchandising programs include:

– A fully integrated licensing and merchandising campaign for The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, which is premiering throughout the fall in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and South Korea.

– A full exhibition of merchandise themed on Gone with the Wind in Japan co-sponsored by Takashimaya Department Stores, Kyoto Newspapers and the State of Georgia. Children were brought into the promotion through the use of a Tom & Jerry sales corner in Takashimaya stores, offering Tom & Jerry plush toys, mugs, apparel and accessories.

– ‘The Flintstones & Friends Christmas Carnival’ is the theme of a Christmas Lighting Ceremony at Hong Kong’s New World Center, one of the leading shopping malls in Hong Kong with an estimated traffic of some 500,000 shoppers over the holiday season. The two-phase promotion includes such highlights as three-dimensional Flintstones displays, banners and posters with Cartoon Network branding, and entertainment games.

– Kentucky Fried Chicken Thailand and Cartoon Network have formed a strategic alliance through which KFC’s Chicky Club will introduce a variety of Cartoon Network characters, such as The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo, to more than 120,000 club members age 12 years and under. The promotion will incorporate six pages of H-B cartoon strips and six pages of activities and fun sheets in KFC Chicky Magazine, as well as Cartoon Network premiums as giveaways.