It’s been almost 18 months since we first introduced our head of licensing- Al Kahn- to the ECOMI community. Al has been involved in licensing and branding for the majority of his life and is responsible for some of the world’s top-grossing brands. Add to this a partnership between his newest company- CraneKahn LLC and ECOMI-and we’re poised to hit the ground running with our revolutionary digital collectibles platform.
If You Don’t Know, Now You Know!
Unless you’ve been around licensing your whole life (or have read our previous articles) chances are you’ve never heard of Al Kahn. But that doesn’t mean his work hasn’t had an impact on your life. As a little refresher:
- Al is a licensing hall of Famer, having been inducted into the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association in 2005, and the Kidscreen hall of fame in the same year.
- His company, 4Kids Entertainment was responsible for some of the world's biggest and most recognizable brands, including Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Al is actually credited with renaming ‘Pocket Monsters’ to Pokémon and bringing the international megahit out of Japan in the early 90s.
- Al is an expert in licensing, branding, digital media, and marketing, he is also the CEO of Crane Kahn LLC
A Lifetime in Licensing
In the early days of his career, licensing wasn’t anywhere near as common as it is today. In a career that began with purchasing toys, and in one of his earlier positions with Coleco, Al began to license and develop new products for children.
One new piece of information that came to light in his most recent interview with ECOMI (scroll down to watch!) was that Al also had a hand in the development of Smurfs, and quickly realized that this was the future of merchandising. It was from this that 4Kids Entertainment was born, and where our interview begins.
In this clip, we hit Al with some of the questions that were put forward from our community, so you can gain more insight into Al’s career, and share his excitement about the future of digital collectibles:
- “What were you doing before you got into licensing, and how did that career path develop?”
-0:17 min - “Can you talk about some challenges you have faced in your career?”
-1:49 min - “Have you ever licensed something that did not work out?”
-3:30 min - “What led you to join ECOMI?”
-5:10 min - “What are your thoughts on marketing with ECOMI?”
-6:42 min - “What do you think of this new, emerging digital asset space?”
-8:18 min - “How prepared is the licensing industry for the rise of digital ownership?”
-9:43 min - “What do you like to collect”
-10:57 min
With huge support behind ECOMI CEO David Yu, and recognizing that the timing for digital collectibles is ‘absolutely coming’ Al’s wealth of knowledge and experience is not only helping ECOMI to acquire world-class licenses but also to help develop the digital collectibles industry.
By taking collecting to a ‘whole new, open-ended universe,’ and now with the digital delivery systems available, Al understands that the potential to re-create the collectibles industry, and acknowledges (9:33 min) that there is so much more potential in this digital universe than what is being spoken about, but of course, we can’t reveal everything at once!
With his vast experience in licensing and collectible brands, Kahn brings a very high caliber of expertise to ECOMI. We are all very excited to work with him to continue to develop both our own digital collectibles platform and the wider industry to boot!
If you’d like to know more about Al Kahn and his relationship with ECOMI, check out some of our previous articles and videos by hitting the links below.
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About ECOMI
ECOMI is a technology company based in Singapore and is leading the way in the emerging digital collectibles space. ECOMI offers a one-stop-shop for digital collectibles through the ECOMI Collect app bringing pop culture and entertainment into the 21st century.
The Collect app allows users to experience true ownership of premium digital collectibles. Through the app marketplace, users can obtain common, rare, or one-of-a-kind digital collectibles, share these across the social network service, and exchange them with the Collect community, all from the palm of their hand.
ECOMI sees digital collectibles as a new asset class that offers intellectual property owners the opportunity for new revenue streams in the digital landscape. Digital streaming, gaming, and in-app purchasing have become a multibillion-dollar market and the next to join this digital trend is the pop culture and collectibles industry.
For more information please see the ECOMI Collect Whitepaper or join the community on Telegram, Twitter and Facebook.
