BARC Connect: When the Moomins Said No to Disney and Went Their Own Way

Listen to our podcast with Roleff Kråkström from Moomin Estate here

How do you build a global licensing strategy for a Finnish comic universe within an organization that has a tradition of saying no to innovation?

When Roleff Kråkström joined Moomin Estate, the company behind the Moomins, 15 years ago, fragmented commercial partnerships had diluted the brand, and there was no overall strategy. Although it was tempting to accept an offer to sell all rights to the Disney corporation, he instead introduced a new global strategy under the motto: “Don’t worship ashes - pass on the flame.”

Now the tables have turned, and Moomin Estate is a billion-dollar enterprise with theme parks, cafés, and licenses all over the world. Discover some of Roleff Kråkström’s secrets behind this success in this post. You can also listen to our podcast episode with Roleff HERE.

Art is all about taking risks

First, let us remind ourselves what an extraordinary person Tove Jansson was - the author and creative mind behind the Moomins. She grew up in a fascist Europe. She created satirical drawings of Hitler, Stalin, and other heads of state. She was homosexual and lived with another woman for 25 years despite it being illegal at the time. She was a woman. She was petite. In other words, she was courageous beyond the ordinary. She risked her life for her art.

It was in Tove’s willingness to take risks that Roleff, many years later, found the courage to transform the company she had created through her wonderful stories about the beloved Moomins. It may not have been with his life at stake that Roleff entered the family business, but it required another kind of courage - because something drastic had to happen. The Moomins as a brand had to reinvent themselves.

“We were in a no-space - we said no to everything. When our partners asked about upcoming products they could work with - films, apps, content, and so on - we had to say there was nothing. There was no commercial strategy. We had to open ourselves to the world around us. The world had become global,” says Roleff.

This would require major changes in the way the company approached the market. And it would require a radical internal cultural shift. In an organization where innovation was not part of everyday life, people were used to things running quietly but well. Many employees and partners were nervous about the development, but as Roleff says, all art is about daring to take chances.

Back to the core: Scandinacian storytelling

Before a new and more outward-looking strategy could be introduced, work began to rediscover the core of the Moomin brand. Why had it been diluted by commercial partnerships, and what values should lead the Finnish trolls into a new era?

The first realization was that they could not - and should not - compete with Disney. The American entertainment conglomerate launches two new products every single day. They have massive distribution channels through their own retail network and TV channels. With a snap of the fingers, they can earn billions from Frozen lunchboxes and pencil cases.

Roleff elaborates: “Disney and the major entertainment companies are in the driver’s seat. They have their very own value chain. When they release a new animated film costing $100+ million, it filters down through their system to stores, partners, and so on. They groom retail to maintain a specific matrix created by themselves - so they always win.”

So far, so good. Disney was in a category of its own, and competing directly with them had to end. Then the next realization emerged: the Moomins are art. And they should be treated as such.

Tove Jansson’s body of work consists of a series of stories about fundamental human values: fear, courage, care, love, inclusion, and respect for nature. A kind of Scandinavian “road to happiness” without references to religion and free from political agendas - but with a very clear storyline.

The Moomin brand therefore had to return to the original works. It should no longer be “biomass for commercial activities,” as Roleff puts it. They wanted to return to the core and to clear storytelling with respect for Tove Jansson’s original work, which is essentially eight powerful stories about human relationships.

“We should not be our own hairdresser”

The new strategy should not imitate Disney, but neither should it be protectionist. The company wanted to force itself to open up to the outside world by entering new partnerships with licensees who focused on quality and the core narrative. The new strategic mantra became: Don’t worship ashes - pass on the flame.

So they pushed themselves to hold hundreds of meetings with new partners who could help the Moomins become part of the new global agenda. Under this new strategic mantra, Roleff travelled the world to find the best film producers, musicians, graphic designers, theatre people, and publishers who could help advance the brand’s new mission.

It was a strategy that proved highly successful, and it is still how they work with the brand today. But it is also a strategy that requires letting go of control to some extent and allowing other creative minds to work with the brand. In working with licensees around the world, there is a high degree of freedom and trust.

“We cannot be our own hairdresser, we cannot be the best at everything,” says Roleff. “We must embrace creativity and interpretation. Our cafés in Thailand look very different from those in Scandinavia.”

Roleff’s best advice to cultural organizations and rights holders is to be careful not to become gatekeepers. Those who hold the content should make it accessible to new generations of talented people who can help endorse it, develop it further, and “pass on the flame.”

But how do you open up to co-creation while also protecting a brand you care about? According to Roleff, it is about identifying the core - what is truly important. That should be protected. Everything around it can be worked with.

Roleff explains: “Of course, we approve everything in Helsinki, but we need to endorse co-creation. We should not sit there as gatekeepers with rigid style guides. Ninety-five percent of what we see is fantastic. The last five percent… hehe… it’s a little crazy.”

If we do not grow, something else - and something more foolish - will

What does the future hold for the Moomins? What do you aim for when you have already built a brand that generates more than USD 1 billion in revenue? Roleff is not obsessed with conquering the world. Moomin Estate does not have an expansionist agenda. There is no ambition to be present in every country and every market at all times. In recent years, growth rates have been particularly high in Asia, although entering new markets is not a goal in itself. At Moomin, they believe they offer a product and a story with a different kind of “weight” than many other ultra-commercial brands. As Roleff says: “If we do not grow, something else - and something more foolish - will.”

The high growth rates in Asia are therefore not the result of massive marketing efforts. It is a deeply rooted philosophy not to spend money on marketing and advertising. Growth happens together with the partners they choose to license with, and in step with the success of these shared projects, which bring new revenue into the business.

Today, there are Moomin cafés and theme parks around the world in countries such as Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, China, and Germany. Market share is 50% in Asia and 40% in Northern Europe. They do not yet have any partners in the United States. However, sales on moomin.com are largely driven by American consumers. And according to Roleff, it is probably only a matter of time before an American agent gets in touch. Who knows - perhaps it will be Disney calling with a new offer?