Meet us at the licensing show!

We are so glad to be exhibitors at the Licensing Show in Las Vegas this week, thanks to our partner Alita Friedman!

Today was already a day filled with fun, excitement, live drawing and many fantastic encounters. More to come tomorrow!

stitchbunny is conquering the Licensing Show

stitchbunny is conquering the Licensing Show

Come visit us at booth G171 and get your own personalized live drawing by Pixopop creator Ali Sabet. Every day at 11am!

ALITA FRIEDMAN RAISES THE BAR with Pixopop and other amazing brands!

Warren, NJ, June 11, 2014 - Alita Friedman raises the bar!  Licensing industry veteran and former Uglydoll® Chief Brand Officer, Alita Friedman, launches her premier consulting house, ALITA'S BRAND BAR, advising companies how to develop new revenue streams through innovative and exciting brand extension strategies.

After a dozen years growing Uglydoll® into a powerful consumer brand that skyrocketed into a worldwide iconic evergreen property, Alita is taking her boundless energy into the marketplace to help companies maximize their potential with creative and cutting edge solutions.

 

ALITA'S BRAND BAR is consulting and licensing across industries representing companies including: venerable publishing house, St. Martin's Press, fashion handbag leader, MZ Wallace®, iconic artist, Ali Sabet'sPixopop™, lifestyle leader, Chicken Soup for the Soul®, trailblazing raw chocolate superfood, Vita Organic, consumer packaging innovator Zipz™ Premium Wine, MobWives™ Reality TV stars and a newcomer to the toy industry, the multi-cultural brand GirlzNDollz™.

 

In addition to these companies, Alita is collaborating with Netherlands basedPS not just another agency, to reintroduce the esteemed Oilily® brand as the exclusive United States licensing agent.


"I am incredibly excited to be involved with such fantastic and diverse brands," says Friedman. "ALITA'S BRAND BAR is partnering with companies to innovate and create new value in this dynamic global marketplace."


Joining Alita in her new venture as Vice President of Sales and Marketing is long-time retail executive Nancy Kopilnick.  Nancy brings with her many years of both brick and mortar and e-commerce experience, as well as a proven track record in business development and overseas sourcing. 


Together, Alita and Nancy and their team offer their clients a full menu of services.  ALITA'S BRAND BAR is the results oriented option for businesses that are ready to grow their revenue with pivotal strategies.


ALITA'S BRAND BAR will be exhibiting with Global Pursuit the 2014 Licensing Expo Booth G-171.


Email: info@alitasbrandbar.com to schedule an appointment.

For more information, please visit www.alitasbrandbar.com


Media Contact

Nancy Kopilnick
VP Marketing
973-698-8056
nancy@alitasbrandbar.com

Pixopop featured on the OCWEEKLY

Ali Sabet: Emperor of Emoji

[Trendzilla] Pixopop's founder on the genesis behind Stitch Bunny, Pishi the Cat and more

By MICHELLE WOO Thursday, Jun 20 2013

The term "emoji" was spawned from the social network Mojizu, a site Ali Sabet created. He mentions this to me in passing, as if it's not a big deal that he's the reason we have a word for those adorable icons that adorn our emails and text messages. But the 37-year-old pop artist is humble like that. Sitting by the window at Peet's Coffee, Sabet casually paints a picture of Stitch Bunny, a blue rabbit with giant stitched eyes.

"About a year and a half ago, I asked myself, 'What would happen if I focused on doing the stuff I love?'" he says.

What he loves is drawing a world of adorable characters—along with Stitch Bunny, there's Draco the Dragon, Pishi the Cat, Bearoo the Bear and others. He's the skilled hand behind Pixopop, an Irvine-based brand that has made its mark on T-shirts, iPhone cases, restaurant walls (check out Mokkoji Shabu in Irvine and the Iron Press inCosta Mesa!), plush dolls and coloring-book apps.

For Sabet, drawing has been an obsession since he was a kid. He had moved to the United States from Iran, and "it helped me cope through all the transitions in my life," he recalls. He studied communications at Cal State Fullerton, then worked at major ad agency FCB, designing for companies such as Taco Bell. As a creative release, he drew characters such as the Tanashoii Twins, a martial-arts duo. In 2005, Sabet started Mojizu, an online community in which more than 50,000 character designers around the world shared their characters, or "mojis."

While he enjoyed leading the forums, what Sabet really just wanted to do was create. He tried to get his work out there, he says, but went about it the wrong way. "I would go into a store with Pishi the Cat T-shirts, and people would say, 'I'd rather go with Paul Frank. I don't know who Pishi the Cat is.' In the art world, I wasn't taken seriously because I would come across as a pitchman, a salesman. You can't do that."

Instead, he began creating a following by drawing for himself and documenting his work on social media. He now has 33,000 followers on Instagram. Companies have been paying attention, too. Pixopop was recently signed by Uncommon, which creates and markets iPhone andiPad cases for pop brands Uglydolls, Paul Frank and the Public Zoo.

"I'd been so focused on the destination, but this past year, I've really experienced the journey," Sabet says. "The art itself is speaking for me now."

Follow me on Twitter: @michellewoo.

 

Ali Sabet : Emperor of emoji by Michelle Woo

Ali Sabet : Emperor of emoji by Michelle Woo