Brands Have Found Their New Favorite Fictional Court, and It Is Not Disney's
Target, Fine'ry, Knix, Funko, and Loungefly are all racing to put Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses on everything from fragrance to underwear, betting 75 million book sales translate into actual sales.
Ahead of "A Court of Splintered Harmony," the sixth book in Sarah J. Maas's "A Court of Thorns and Roses" series, out October 27, brands have turned the "romantasy" juggernaut into a licensing free-for-all. Target launched merchandise built around the series' Courts and characters this week, including BrüMate tumblers and Alex and Ani jewelry, with midnight release events planned at select stores. Fine'ry reworked four of its existing fragrances with new ACOTAR-themed names and packaging, made with IMG Licensing and landing in more than 7,000 doors at retailers including Amazon and Books-A-Million. Knix spent 18 months building a Court-inspired underwear, lingerie, and sleepwear collection, sourced from 40 fan employees and a customer survey where ACOTAR ranked the top request, and it is rolling out on Knix's own site plus Free People and Canadian retailer Indigo.
Funko and Loungefly got there earlier, with character figures and book-cover-print bags already on shelves. The series has sold more than 75 million copies since 2015, and as January Digital's Jeremy Ekes put it, "attention is the scarcest thing in marketing, and IP comes with it pre-installed." He also warns that ACOTAR's fans "know the lore cold," so a lazy tie-in gets dragged fast, a lesson Barbie and Wicked collaborators mostly learned the easy way.
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Source: Modern Retail
Kyle Duford, Founder & Editor, BRNDWIRE. More from Kyle →
