ZAG Appoints Former Disney Exec Rafael Baltodano to VP, North America Retail Development

ZAG has announced the appointment of Rafael Baltodano, formerly with The Walt Disney Company, as Vice President, North America Retail Development.  The announcement was made by Julian Zag, EVP Global Operations and Head of Consumer Products.

Reporting to Lisa K. Foster, Sr. Vice President, Licensing, North America, Rafael will manage strategic relationships across all tiers of retail throughout North America for the roster of properties under the ZAG Heroez™ label—an umbrella brand franchise that brings together the superheroes from ZAG’s animated properties that include the global phenomenon Miraculous™: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir; Power Players; and the company’s newest property, Ghostforce. He will help further ZAG’s mission in building best-in-class licensed programs, supporting licensees with product placement and promotion.

Rafael’s initial focus will be to work with retailers on the fall rollout of products for ZAG’s Miraculous™: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, for which over 200M products have been sold during the past three years.

“Demand continues to be extremely strong for Miraculous with sales exceeding expectations across the board,” commented Julian Zag.  “Rafael will lead the charge to expand placement for our partners as well as securing promotional space for retailers around key events surrounding the brand.”

“I have been impressed by the tremendous growth of ZAG over the past couple of years and the quality of content and merchandise the company creates,” said Rafael. “I look forward to working with the ZAG team, retailers, and our partners, to bring a whole new range of quality products to our Miraculous™ fans across North America this fall and throughout 2023.”

Numerous licensed Miraculous products are rolling out this year alongside the new fall 2022 toy line from ZAG Lab and Playmates which includes an expanded Heroez doll line with new characters and nineteen Kwami collectibles. Toys have been rolling out in planogram at retailers Walmart, Target and Kohl’s to name a few.   Other products rolling out this year include watches from Accutime; craft and activity products from Horizon; walkie talkies from Kid Designs; healthy snacking from Crunch Pak; andfruit snacks from Ferrara.