Realising ten year old dream

Mr. Rajiv Chilaka

Having launched the ‘Green Gold Store’ in the recent times, Green Gold Animation Pvt Ltd is aiming to achieve exponential reach and growth in the times to come. Rajiv Chilaka, Founder & Managing Director, Green Gold Animation shared the Company’s impressive expansion plans and much more about their 10 year old dream which recently transformed into a reality…

License India (LI): When did you venture into licensing and merchandising (L&M) activities and when was it first that you tasted success in this space?
Rajiv Chilaka (RC): We started our L&M activities in 2004 but didn’t have the bandwidth for distribution neither did we have a hit show. We rekindled this idea again in September 2008, once we realised that Chhota Bheem was a huge hit. In Jan 2009, we put up a stall in a two day exhibition in Hyderabad, wherein we tested our Comic, Coloring and Activity books where we sold around 500 copies in two days. This gave us enough confidence to surge forward in the direction of L&M. Later on we extended to other categories such as DVDs, Apparel, Watches, School Bags, Caps, Photo Frames, Mugs, Pencil Stands, Key Chains, Magnets, Labels, Sticker, Tattoos, etc.

LI: Which are the characters that constitute your current portfolio and which are the markets you’re catering to currently?
RC: Characters from our hugely popular shows Chhota Bheem and Krishna Balram mainly constitute our L&M portfolio as of today. We are shortly launching products on our latest show ‘Chorr Police’ which has tasted success on Hungama TV. We are catering mainly to India and plans are underway to expand this activity to other regions.
 
LI: Green Gold Animation has recently come up with a Green Gold Store in Hyderabad. It is since when that you were nurturing this dream? Which are the cities in which you plan to expand your retail presence?
RC: We have started to setup Green Gold Stores which would be a chain of specialty stores selling only Green Gold related items, some of them exclusive. Thanks to our hugely popular shows, we at Green Gold managed to establish a very strong L&M company actively involved in getting new products released regularly. With our exclusive store we would be in better position to maximize value of our products. This store is a pilot project for us and we have plans to expand it to other cities soon. Our aim is to reach a target of 6 centers by the end of the year 2011. To start with, we plan to open stores in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Lucknow. Having our own store is a dream that we saw 10 years ago. We are happy that our store can take kids closer to the characters that we have created over the years.

LI: What was the kind of investment that was required to come up with this store and what is the kind of investment that you’re planning to do in the coming times with regards to opening new stores?
RC: Including the infrastructure, stock, rental deposits etc., we had invested around INR 10 Lakh into our 1st store. We are opting for the franchise route as this is the best way to expand the business successfully. We are looking for right partners with whom we can create win-win situations.

LI: Which are the categories you’re present across and which are new ones in the pipeline? How has been the response so far for the licensed merchandise?
RC: So far the response has been phenomenal, due to which within a short span of time, we were able to establish country-wide distribution network for our merchandise. We are currently into Apparel, Comics, DVDs, Watches, Mugs, Photo-frames, Key Chains, Magnets, School Bags, Labels, Stickers, Tattoos, Masks and other Gift items. Later this year we would be launching Toys and Board Games.
We have recently licensed Chhota Bheem’s character for Notty (Kids Drink) and Vividha (kids furniture and room décor).  We are in the final stages for closing few more licensing deals. We also plan to sell the products that we license in our stores.

LI: Who is your target audience and how do you identify a potential market before you decide to enter it? What remains to be your core marketing strategy?
RC: All the shows produced so far by us have been developed keeping in mind the keen sentiments and expectations of a predominantly Indian audience. Our target audience is primarily kids between ages 2 – 14. Currently the local Kids TV stations are looking for Kids content (4+) that connects with the Indian Audience. We are different from majority of the other Indian studios and we are focused mainly on creating IP for the local market. Because of our continuous efforts to create original content, we are able to understand Indian kids better compared to other studios.

LI: What is the price range for your products?
RC: Our merchandise prices range starts from INR 20 to INR 599 covering various kids’ product categories.

LI: In your opinion, what is the future of licensing and animation in India, and how do you perceive this industry to grow in the next five years? How ripe is the market abroad and what is that, you think, is lacking in the Indian market?
RC: The future is definitely very bright, but it is not easy to establish a profitable L&M activity unless very popular animated shows/characters are associated with it. At the moment animation characters generate negligible revenues through L&M in India, but this would change over the next 5 years. The L&M Industry in India is expected to grow at 50% every year for the next two years. In developed nations, L&M activity is already an established business, while In India, the L&M activity has just began.

Interviewed by Vrinda Oberai