Character Merchandising

Introduction

Character merchandising is a marketing method by which goods or services similar or related to the well-known real or imaginary character are made for appealing the customers. In other words, the idea of character merchandising simply refers to creating a merchantable product around a famous character, whether real or fictional. Concept of character merchandising incepted when Walt Disney Studios started licensing their famous characters in 1930s, to the present day film product placements such as 'Toy Story' where movies are produced around the characters to serve as a medium of promotion of toy characters. Development of the advertisement industry over the time has emphasized how the fame of famous characters can build cognizance and immensely blow out the admiration of such goods and services. Main source of characters for character merchandising is literary, dramatic, and cinematographic work¹.