What a difference a niche makes
Character branding specialist Dan Good of Absolutely Cuckoo spoke on his riches to rags to riches business journey. The energetic modelmaker and his wife Lucy described how they’d spent six years working hard, but not smart, in a greetings card company they started straight out of St Martin’s college. Initially it enjoyed success, rapidly achieving a multi-million pound turnover and establishing a niche for retro kids TV merchandise like ‘The Clangers’ and ‘Bagpuss’.
However, brilliant as they were at creating characters and spotting trends, Dan and Lucy were less expert in other areas. “We found ourselves involved in every aspect of running a publishing company, including contract negotiation and sales – things we didn’t feel comfortable with.” Frustratingly, Dan and Lucy watched bigger and more ruthless industry players walk away with their concepts and, after six years, their business folded. “Our big mistake was that we didn’t own any of the IP,” says Dan.
Down but not out, he describes the following years as ‘stressful’. He worked for major greetings card publishers as a creative director but didn’t feel at home. “I was a square peg in a round hole,” he says.
Eighteen months ago he and Lucy decided to go it alone again – only they stuck with what they knew best and left the business areas to trusted associates they’d met along the way. Happily, the new company, Absolutely Cuckoo, is booming and Dan cheerfully admits that ‘we’re doing much more business than we expected’.
One of Dan and Lucy’s most exciting developments is an animation series called ‘Way to Blue’. Parents of three young children, they enjoy creating concepts their own offspring will enjoy. ‘The characters in Way to Blue levitate when they do acts of kindness,’ says Dan. ‘It’s hippy-ish but it’s the kind of thing we feel has integrity. We wouldn’t create characters simply with an eye to toy sales!’ Apparently, the BBC editor who commissioned it, was so moved by Dan and Lucy’s work, the showreel brought tears to his eyes. It will air in 2009.
Right now Absolutely Cuckoo is working with production companies for a consultancy fee. However, Dan recognises that working directly with TV channels is more lucrative. “It’s tempting to go down that route,” he says. “But we’d be careful not to repeat the mistakes we made a few years ago. This time it would have to be a collaborative effort. We’d be sticking to what we know we do well and letting others take the strain in the areas where we’ve failed in the past!”
A man after our own heart... and on the road to commercial success by all accounts. Read what other Designer Breakfasters made of Dan’s presentation and his inspiring story of turning business failure into sweet success.