Enid Blyton is extending into the baby food and accessories arena with its first characters for babies. Called nursery noddy, it comprises Noddy and a cast of adorable animal friends ­ rabbit, dog, cat and bear. Head of licensing Jon Keeble says: "We wanted to keep nursery noddy very simple. What makes it different are the designs which are playful." Its first licensee, Euromark, is launching a feeding range into a major supermarket next year. Kerry Foods' £5m relaunch of Mattessons hot dogs included renaming Smokey Joes as The Simpsons Hot Dogs and sales shot up by 34% [TNS Superpanel 52 w/e September 16 2001]. Meanwhile Highland Spring has enlisted the help of the Looney Tunes to get kids to drink bottled mineral water and claims its sales are "way ahead because of strong distribution". Striking the right balance between parents and kids is the strategy adopted by Georgia Pacific, manufacturer of kitchen towels, facial tissues and toilet tissue, and it has found this with classic characters. Category director Steve Duncan says: "Winnie is Disney's single biggest character and one which has given us continuing sales growth ­ 20% of our total sales is Winnie the Pooh. We never promote it, we never price discount it, and we always sell. It appeals to ages eight to 19 and is very much bought by young mums." The company has now teamed up with Warner Bros to produce a Looney Tunes variant for its KittenSoft Thirst Pockets household towels. It is in discussion with Disney for another character for 2002. Euromark claims that one retail sector within the licensed arena that has grown above all others is mobile phone accessories and, under the PhoneWear brand, it has tapped into this booming category with clip-on covers, cases and hands free sets. It hopes to emulate the success of The Simpsons with its latest, Manchester Utd and Harry Potter, both going into Tesco. More than eight million celebration cakes are bought each year in the UK, says Hazlewood Foods, and this it says equates to a market worth £49m and growing at 11.4% year-on-year. Hazlewood's has snapped up Hoobs, Fetch the Vet, and Butt Ugly Martians targeted at five to 10 year old boys. Canned food is an obvious carrier for pop stars and both Heinz and HL Foods have secured licences, Heinz with Steps and HL Foods with rival band Hear'Say. Ye Olde Oak's foray into character licensing has been the launch of Mr Greedy mini hot dogs. Bright imagery and easy to open, single serve ringpull cans appeal to parents and its target audience of children aged four to eight. The company says this is the first in a series of Mr Greedy branded products. {{FOCUS SPECIALS }}