Record Sales for Moomin—24 Percent Global Increase

Sales of Moomin products reached record levels during 2015, report Moomin Characters and its agent, Bulls Licensing. Moomin recorded its best sales results and widest ever brand dissemination in 2015, including a 24 percent increase in sales. Today, retail sales of Moomin products total almost €600 million.

The brand has experienced steady growth over the past eleven years. In the Nordic countries alone, the Moomin brand has grown by 485 percent since 2004. What’s more, over 160 new licensing agreements were signed in 2015.

“We’ve experienced positive growth for 40 quarters,” says Gustav Melin, Global Licensing Director at Bulls Licensing. “The growth in sales has been driven by a strong domestic market in the Nordic region, but also by incredible development and demand in Asia. Moomin is one of the three largest brands in Japan and, in China, Moomin was recently nominated as one of the country’s most influential internatio- nal brands. Our agent in Korea increased its sales by over 500 percent last year,” Melin continues.

Sales have been spurred on by a number of commemorations held in recent years. The Tove 100 celebration was held in 2014 in honor of Moomin’s creator, artist, illustrator, and author Tove Jansson, who was born in 1914. In 2015, Moomin Characters and Bulls Licensing focused their brand commu- nication efforts on the Moomin 70 event. The event celebrated the 70th anniversary of the release of the first ever Moomin book, Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen (later published in English as The Moomins and the Great Flood).

“Moomin has its roots in the story, in Tove’s narratives and illustrations,” explains Roleff Kråkström, Managing Director of Moomin Characters. “The brand’s intrinsic values—such as thoughtfulness, friendship, adventurousness, and confidence—are not just universal, but are also in demand. Moomin is no fad.”

Thanks to its global network, Moomin now has over 600 licensees around the world.