BRAND TOTAL
FALL/AUTUMN 2019
A TOTAL LICENSING GROUP PUBLICATION
LICENSING
TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
CONTENTS 6
Editorial Comment
Thoughts from the editor
8 News
Gold’s Gum, Authentic Brands, Bloody Mary, Grazia, Greg Norman and more
14 Iconix Europe
Tailoring global brands for the European market
17 Eurosport
A jewel in Discovery’s crown
18 Cover Story: Juventus
The Bianconeri march on!
23 Sporting Events in Japan
This year and next in Japan - the Rugby World Cup and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
24 Synergy between Sport and Music
West Ham collaborates with Iron Maiden
28 Women and football
A whole new opportunity for the licensing marketplace
29 The Art of Branding
When art becomes a brand 30 Howard Robinson’s Selfies 32 Brenda Manley Designs 35 The Times They are a Changin’
48 Pink Key
Carving a niche in the marketplace
50 Global Expansion
The V&A grow across Europe, the US and East Asia
51 Mary Berry
Queen of cakes... and licensing
52 Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Heritage licensing at its best
60 Creating a Sustainable Planet
TBL talks to Electrolux’s Ciaran Coyle
61 Cannabis Branding and Licensing
How cannabis companies can monetize their IP
64 Corporate Brand Licensing in India
An interaction with LicenseWorks
67 Luxury Retail
Leading the chase in the physical retail space fight-back
69 People don’t buy products...
... what Apple, Samsung and Starbucks learned from Pepsi.
71 Drink up!
What’s new in the world of liquor and spirits
72 Sustainability
How can you make headway?
38 Combatting Licensing Fatigue Through Innovation
73 Coca-Cola
40 Hi Puppy
74 Don’t Call it Brand Licensing...
41 Brands at BLE 2019
76 Splice Celebrates
47 Pierre de Coubertin
78 The Final Page
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You’ve seen it before.... literally!
A new boys’ lifestyle property from Tempting Brands
A look at some of what’s on display this year
A new fashion brand for men
Expanding the best-known brand on the planet
...Rather call it Helping Brands Expand
Organisation reaches its 15th successful year
Shows, advertisers and more.
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COMMENT TOTAL
BRAND LICENSING
A Total Licensing Group Publication CO-PUBLISHER Francesca Ash francesca@totallicensing.com CO-PUBLISHER Jerry Wooldridge jerry@totallicensing.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Rebecca Ash becky@totallicensing.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Joanna Cassidy joanna@totallicensing.com OFFICE MANAGER Helen Bowerman helen@totallicensing.com JAPAN AGENT Roger Berman, ZenWorks rmb@zenworks.jp CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Weston Anson Trudi Bishop Ted Curtin Svetlana Ilnitskaya Evan Loker Jeff Lotman Zander Nethercutt Nick Scott Pierce Urban HEAD OFFICE Total Licensing Ltd 4 Wadhurst Business Park Faircrouch Lane, Wadhurst, East Sussex, TN5 6PT, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1892 782220 Fax: +44 (0) 1892 782226 www.totallicensing.com
Welcome to the Autumn/Fall issue of Total Brand Licensing. As ever, our content is as diverse as the world of brands itself. Across this issue, you can take a look through the vast industry of sporting brands and read about some of the prominent women in sports. Enter the world of heritage brand licensing and discover how some of the globe’s most famous institution are keeping history thoroughly modern. Have a look at some of the prominent liquor and spirits brands and the creativity applied in some fascinating licensing deals. Read about Coca-Cola, and see how one of the world’s most famous brands is diversifying into new areas. And, of course, see the multitude of brands that will be at the upcoming Brand Licensing Europe 2019. In fact, as we approach the show in its new home at Excel in London, we see more and more brands immersing themselves in licensing and brand extensions. In a challenging retail climate, having the solidity of products on shelves sometimes is not enough for the consumer – immersive retail experiences, social media campaigns and ideas that really involve the consumer, who want to experience the brands they love, are becoming more and more common. We have seen this in the entertainment arena for years, but increasing numbers of brands are following this strong trend as well. Retail, of course, is one of the key words on people’s lips when we as an industry come together and meet. How to conquer its challenges, how to keep up with fast-fashion in a changing world, how to meet demand, how to keep up with due diligence and ethical compliance? The last two points are also incredibly important – both to brand ethos and the mindful consumer. Looking especially at Millennials and Gen Z, who are among the most socially and environmentally conscious of generations, they seek depth and reassurance when making purchases. Dire environmental news reaches up daily – the Amazon has been tragically burning for weeks, the amount of plastics in the sea is alarming – and all companies must act now to ensure, as well as keeping the trust of their fans, the longevity of their brand. Electrolux shares with us the fact that 81% of global consumers are more likely to engage with companies or brands that take a stand for the environment, and how the company is working in every area of its business to maintain sustainability. Trudi Bishop, of Bee Licensing writes in her column about some of the top brands that are really fighting to make a difference, and how you, too, can act. So while we may be facing relentless news and most of it seemingly negative – the environment, complicated and polarizing politics (I dare not even mention the words Trump or Brexit) we know that the industry, come BLE, will once again come together, with its usual buzz and anticipation for bracing what might be an uncertain future with the certainty that we are open to change and growing with the times. We look forward to seeing you there and at many of the other worldwide shows in this last quarter of 2019! Rebecca Ash Editorial Director
Total Brand Licensing is published quarterly by Total Licensing Ltd in the UK. ©2019 Total Licensing Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without written permission of the publishers and owners. Although persons and companies mentioned herein are believed to be reputable, Total Licensing Ltd nor any of its employees accept any responsibility whatsoever for their activities.l images are reproduced with permission from their owners.
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NEWS
COCA-COLA AND KITH SIGN FOR NEW COLLECTION Kith’s new collection follows a recent tour the company carried out with Coca-Cola that travelled through Miami, Aspen, the Hamptons and Malibu before finding a home in Hawaii. The 105-piece collection comprises men’s and women’s apparel styles that draw inspiration from the Coca-Cola archives combined with the island lifestyle of Hawaii. The eight colors that represent each island of Hawaii serve as the palette for the collection. Items such as swimwear and surfboards also serve to highlight the islands’ tropical setting. Silhouettes include denim truckers, camp shirts, board shorts, short sleeve rugby shirts, windbreakers and more. This collection also includes collaborations with other Kith partners. Key partnerships include Mitchell & Ness for retro athletic apparel, such as mesh batting practice tops, headwear and basketball shorts that feature a custom Hawaiian print; Orlebar Brown’s bulldog swim trunk reimagined through the Kith x Coca-Cola lens; Golden Bear with an updated version of last year’s varsity jacket, this time featuring a color-blocked design and leather sleeve, eyewear made with Garrett Leight, which features special Coca-Cola-branded lens and custom frame; and Kith’vintage washed blue denim Converse Chuck Taylor 1970 with puffed Coca-Cola embroidery, green translucent outsoles, removable interior bottle cap-shaped All Star patch and custom packaging. The launch of the collection coincides with a limited-edition pop-up shop in Oahu, Hawaii.
BLACK ROCK TAKES MAJORITY SHARE OF ABG Black Rock’s Long-Term Private Capital fund became the largest shareholder of Authentic Brands Group it was reported recently. The fund and affiliated entities invested $875 million.
The deal values Authentic Brands at more than $4 billion including debt. Long-Term Private Capital, which BlackRock unveiled last year, is part of the firm’s effort to build up its business in alternative assets. The acquisition comes four months after BlackRock raised $2.75bn for Long Term Private Capital, its first private equity fund. It ultimately wants to raise $12bn for the fund. As of April, it had secured $2.75 billion from investors, with $1.25 billion in hand and $1.5 billion committed. The New York-based money manager was seeking to raise up to $12 billion. Authentic Brands, founded in 2010, develops and markets brands in sectors including entertainment, fashion and lifestyle. Its portfolio of more than 50 brands includes Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali, Shaquille O’Neal, active-wear maker Spyder and leather-goods provider Frye Co. The company is among several that have been considered potential buyers of retailer Barneys New York Inc.’s name and trademarks according to recent Bloomberg reports.
OPERATION HAT TRICK SIGNS WITH GOLD’S GYM Operation Hat Trick (OHT), one of the nation’s leading organizations supporting U.S. service members and veterans, recently announced a new partnership with Gold’s Gym, the world’s trusted fitness authority. Through this partnership, OHT and Gold’s Gym will release a limited-edition, officially-licensed product line featuring military camouflage paired with the iconic Gold’s Gym weight plate logo and OHT branding to generate funds for wounded personnel. To kick start the collaboration, OHT made a $10,000 donation on behalf of Gold’s Gym to Adaptive Training Foundation (ATF), a cutting-edge military support organization headquartered in Carrollton, Texas. Adaptive Training Foundation was selected by Gold’s Gym for its phenomenal work in assisting veterans with physical disabilities to restore and regain confidence, resilience and independence through exercise and community. All ATF services are offered to veterans free of charge. PAGE 8
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NEWS
BLOODY MARY MAKEUP LINE Bloody Mary is an International Makeup and Accessory Company as well as being founder Bobbie Weiner’s nickname in the film and television industry. “I have grown the company from a start up in a garage in San Diego after I finished working on the doomed dead floating corpses for James Cameron in the hit film Titanic. Today I have 259 employees working for me in the USA and we license Bloody Mary’s name and images throughout the world. It has become popular for our full line of F/X makeup, clothing including T-Shirts, hoodies, letter jackets, jewelry, hot sauces, Bloody Mary mixes, fangs, F/X stage blood, haunted houses and escape rooms.” Bobbie’s comic books, ‘Tales of Bloody Mary’ have been licensed and featured at Universal Studio’s Halloween Horror Nights, Halloween festivals at Six Flags Amusement Parks and various haunted houses. Mark Burnett has featured Bloody Mary in a TV show and the brand has been been featured in magazines, newspapers, television, radio, and fan guides for the famous TV shows, The Walking Dead and True Blood. Bobby Weiner’s autobiography I Can Do This - The Bloody Mary Story is a best seller on Amazon and he has been a motivational and inspirational speaker for different women’s conferences, corporations and universities all over the world. As Bobby continued, “The company was started in 1997 and we turned a nickname into a multi million-dollar brand. Made in the USA!”
GRAZIA APPOINTS BRANDGENUITY Italian fashion magazine, Grazia, has announced they have selected Brandgenuity to build a UK licensing program that extends the brand’s signature Italian style and elegance into multiple product categories. Launched in 1938, Grazia combines a strong heritage with a fresh and contemporary approach. Grazia is the trusted authority on Italian fashion, trend, design and lifestyle. It is the only Italian magazine with 20 international editions and a strong presence and awareness in all continents. With both expert print and digital content, and 15 million followers worldwide across social media, women everywhere are accessing Grazia, and using it as their hub for fashion and beauty-related inspiration on an ongoing basis. Brandgenuity will expand the Grazia brand into licensed products and services and is exploring opportunities in areas including apparel and accessories, cosmetics, beauty, fragrances, home collections, stationery and branded experiences, targeted to women, ages 25 – 45.
NEWS GARMIN ANNOUNCES GOLF LEGEND GREG NORMAN AS GLOBAL BRAND AMBASSADOR Garmin International, Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd, recently announced a new partnership with golf legend and businessman Greg Norman to be its global brand ambassador. A two-time Open Champion, winner of more than 90 tournaments worldwide, and World Golf Hall of Fame member, Norman defended his No. 1 position in the world golf rankings for 331 weeks. “We couldn’t be more excited to announce this strategic relationship and welcome Greg Norman into the Garmin family,” said Susan Lyman, Garmin Vice President of Global Marketing. “As a globally recognised athlete, and an avid outdoorsman and successful entrepreneur, Greg’s winning attitude and adventurous spirit make him a perfect fit for Garmin.” The Greg Norman for Garmin campaign will highlight Norman’s experiences with golf products such as the Approach S60 golf watch and the Approach Z80 laser range and the MARQ Collection of modern luxury tool watches. Much like Garmin, Greg Norman has built a global brand that encourages people to pursue their passions. The campaign launched in August, features The Shark promoting Garmin’s GPS-enabled golf products across print, digital, and social media channels, as well as through personal appearances and interviews. Garmin collaborated with Authentic Brands on the development of this strategic relationship. ABG continues to extend the Greg Norman brand and ‘Attack Life’ mantra into aspirational products, content and experiences for the core audience and next generation of customers. For decades, Garmin has pioneered new GPS navigation and wireless devices and applications that are designed for people who live an active lifestyle. Garmin serves five primary business units, including automotive, aviation, fitness, marine, and outdoor recreation. Arguably the most successful athlete-turned-businessman in the world, Greg Norman is known as much for his entrepreneurial spirit in the boardroom as his dominance on the golf course. Greg Norman now transcends the game of golf, with over a dozen companies around the world bearing his name and the iconic shark logo as part of the Greg Norman Company, which he leads as Chairman & CEO. His internationally recognized brand includes more than 100 golf course designs across six continents, a global real estate collection, award-winning wine, golf-inspired lifestyle apparel and a diverse investment portfolio.
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LICENSE FOR SUPERSPORTS SuperSports by Super7, the sports line from premier pop culture, toy and collectible brand Super7, has announced its newest license to produce merchandise featuring members of the United States Women’s National Team Players Association (USWNTPA). Product will arrive in time to celebrate the 2020 Summer Games, key soccer players of the USWNTPA will be made into ReAction Figures, a Super7 and fan favorite.
Featured athletes include team captains Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, and Carli Lloyd as well as goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, players who recently led the US Women to a 4th world championship. Julie Ertz, Crystal Dunn, and other top members of the defending world champions will round out the group of athletes featured as ReAction figures. “For years there has been a void in the market of officially licensed collectible products commemorating female athletes. I’m thrilled that Super7 will now give fans of women’s sports something to be excited about.” said Super7 CEO Maigread Eichten. Super7 founder Brian Flynn, who worked on the 1995 US Women’s jerseys when he was with Nike, added, “I’m proud to be part of bringing this next generation of female soccer stars to its fans. Back in 1995, women’s national and professional soccer was just gaining traction. Now, as the father of three girls, I couldn’t be happier to have Super7 be part of the story of this team, their unparalleled back-to-back world championships, massive popularity and inspirational success by commemorating our favorite players with fan-favorite ReAction figures.”
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PROFILE
In a challenging and ever-evolving retail landscape, it is becoming increasingly critical for brand operators to partner with Licensors who offer them much more than simply IP. Iconix Europe, the European arm of one of the World’s premier brand management companies Iconix Brand Group, operates an owned portfolio of 23 brands across Sports, Fast Fashion, Streetwear, Heritage and Home, including global brands such as Starter, Ed Hardy, Ocean Pacific, Ecko Unltd. and Zoo York. In a challenging and ever evolving retail landscape, it is becoming increasingly critical for brand operators to partner with Licensors who offer them much more than simply IP. Iconix Europe, the European arm of one of the World’s premier brand management companies Iconix Brand Group, operates an owned portfolio of 23 brands across Sports, Fast Fashion, Streetwear, Heritage and Home, including global brands such as Starter, Ed Hardy, Ocean Pacific, Ecko Unltd. and Zoo York.
Asos, TKMaxx, USC, Harvey Nichols, Titus, Carrefour, Scout, Prisma, La Rinascente and Coin as well as via dedicated brand websites. Iconix Europe specialises in offering its partners a 360 level of support, ensuring that every licence signed is set on the strongest possible path to success from day one. From extensive brand materials made available to partners via best in class asset management platforms, to world class global networking on both distribution and supply/sourcing, digital and social activations, product innovation, trend forecasting, packaging/POS creation and marketing and press rollouts, Iconix continue to demonstrate that added value is a critical component to success during this paradigm shift in the industry.
A key highlight from the company this year which demonstrates the way in which Iconix’s strategy of providing superior Licensee added-value is driving success includes their extensive repositioning and relaunch of the Ed Hardy brand, which they commenced firstly by a significant remastering of the brand materials and trend/product direction whilst maintaining the original artwork and DNA of the brand and, secondly, via the rollout of a premium women’s collaboration collection which was sold via Topshop and Selfridges and rapidly sold out, generating buzz for the brand relaunch. The brand has since gone from strength to strength, with distribution via Footasylum, USC and top independents.
Whilst its American counterpart Iconix Brand Group licenses its brands to a global network of over 1,100 companies that include many of the largest retailers and manufacturers in the world, (which in the US extends from Value tier players such as Target, Costco and Walmart, to Mid-tier such as Kmart, JCPenney, TJMaxx and Kohl’s, to Better and Luxury tier players such as Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s, Saks, Macy’s, Nordstrom and Dillard’s), Iconix Europe works to tailor these global brands to European fascia via a process of localisation and in depth working knowledge of the European market place, operating the portfolio via best in class retailers at all market tiers including via key players Zalando, Snipes, Sprinter, Aktiesport,
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which featured at Paris Fashion Week and was covered in Vogue and High Snobiety, Acne Studios which was covered by Complex, Hypebeast and Highsnobiety, Marcello Burlon which is distributed at Harvey Nichols and Harrods, Mercer Amsterdam which will launch via a large scale pop up event with campaign tie-in, as well as major European highstreet players Snipes (which features prominently in the retailer’s premier doors and online), and Aktiesport Netherlands.
Daisy Laramy-Binks, Managing Director of Iconix Europe adds: ‘Footwear has been a key category for Ed Hardy over the past few seasons, with Zalando recently launching SS19 men’s footwear, generating a fantastic 75% sell through and highlighting the potential that this stand out and on-trend brand has in the European market place’. Iconix and their UK Licensee have also recently launched the official Ed Hardy UK ecommerce site to offer consumers a total look offering. A similar success story has been seen on the Starter Black Label brand as it launched into Italy for the first time; with no previous brand footprint in the region, Iconix worked closely with their Italian apparel, headwear and footwear partner to place the brand into key retail accounts such as La Rinascente, Non Solo Sport, Sorelle Ramonda, Coin, Scout, Shore 21 and top independents, supported by extensive marketing including stadia sponsorships, major celebrity endorsements, top level photoshoots, press and product gifting; the business as a result is demonstrating rapid growth, more than doubling in size from 2017 to 2018 and forecast to do so again for 2019.
Iconix specialise in utilising their global network of partners and suppliers to provide licensees with extensive networking into new distribution, new supply opportunities and new sourcing channels which allow their partners to tap into a wide range of product categories and tag on opportunities across all the brands in the portfolio. By way of example, a new Iconix partnership on the Zoo York brand with the wholly-owned subsidiary of Fila Korea Ltd. has provided Iconix’s global partners with access to a high quality tag on range across a wide variety of skus at excellent price points; such tag on opportunities are made available to partners on categories as diverse as luggage,
underwear, fragrance and cosmetics, skateboards, activewear, handbags, tailoring and more. 2019 will be the third year Iconix Europe shows at the Brand Licensing Exhibition at which they have had an increasingly large presence, this year with a prominent place in the Brand & Lifestyle Zone, booth A361. About Iconix Europe LLC Iconix Europe LLC manages the European licensing and brand management activities of Iconix Brand Group, Inc. across 24 brands including OCEAN PACIFIC®, STARTER®, ECKO UNLTD., DANSKIN®, ROCAWEAR®, ED HARDY®, ZOO YORK® and MOSSIMO®. Iconix Europe is headquartered in London and is a joint venture between Iconix Brand Group and CAA-GBG. Iconix Europe carries out extensive marketing and design activities for all the brands in its portfolio to drive consumer engagement across all touchpoints. For more information, contact: Daisy Hollingdale dhollingdale@iconixeurope.com www.iconix-europe.com
Another key highlight for 2019 has been Iconix’s rollout of premium halo collaborations which it has undertaken to provide its Licensee’s with additional brand buzz around the portfolio; collabs carried out on the Starter Black Label brand for 2019, for example, include Etudes Paris
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NEWS
APPAREL LINE FOR LAMBORGHINI Danish kids’ apparel company, Kabooki has signed a deal to produce a new childrenswear collection featuring Automobili Lamborghini. The childrenswear company will develop a range which will include a full collection for boys aged 4 to 14. The initial collection will debut in Autumn/Winter 2020. “Through this new brand extension for Lamborghini, we want to inspire kids to aspire,” said Kabooki ceo, Christopher Silcowitz. “To create such a range is an exceptional opportunity; our team has been amazed by the world of Lamborghini, including the construction of the super sports cars, the remarkable and very Italian hand-made touch and above all, the passion in Lamborghini’s Sant’Agata Bolognese headquarters. “A very authentic, dynamic and contemporary kids’ collection will honour these very special Lamborghini attributes.” Katia Bassi, chief marketing and communication officer at Automobili Lamborghini, added. “Lamborghini is the dream of so many children. Our new premium kidswear line enables youngsters to enjoy and participate in the Lamborghini lifestyle. Kabooki already interprets global brands into clothing ranges. Our agreement will deliver a unique boys’ collection to give kids a thrill, just like our super sports cars do.”
CHUPA CHUPS AT JAPANESE RETAILER Chupa Chups continues to spread in fashion retailers around the world. This summer the trendy Japanese retailer G.U. has developed a complete Chupa Chups range of pop and vintage t-shirts for young girls. Chupa Chups has been regularly collaborating with Fast Retailing through previous collaboration with UNIQLO. This summer G.U. lhas launched a fun and colourful collection of six different designs inspired by the brand’s heritage and flavor which launched at G.U stores throughout Asia,
CLARKS AND NAT GEO LAUNCH SPACE SHOES National Geographic and Clarks, one of the world’s leading names in footwear, which earlier this year launched the Clarks Kids X National Geographic footwear range, have announced a special extension to the range. Celebrating the official 50th anniversary of man landing on the moon, the partnership has added a limited-edition space-themed collection for kids and toddlers to the Clarks Kids x National Geographic range. The new shoes have three themes: The Moon Landing 1969 (orange), Earth Focus 2019 (silver) and Mars Mission 2033 (black). The new line launched in late July. This launch follows the arrival earlier this year of the first Clarks Kids x National Geographic collection, a colourful, stylish and striking collection with designs inspired by some of the most amazing species on the planet. Tying in with National Geographic’s strong focus on sustainability, 16 pairs of the shoes in the collection are made from 100% recycled bottles, using recycled cardboard and natural vegetable dye for the packaging. Helena Mansell-Stopher, Director Consumer Products, Publishing and Retail, National Geographic Partners UK, said: “This stylish extension to a wonderful, eco-friendly collection is perfectly timed and positioned to capture the thrill of the greatest moment in space exploration – and to encourage young people to dream of great space adventures still to come!”
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PROFILE
A Jewel in Discovery’s Crown Eurosport is, without a doubt, one of the keystones of Discovery’s portfolio of brands. It is the leading sports destination in Europe and the channel is home of the Olympics – which kicked off last year with the PyeongChang games - with huge plans for the Tokyo 2020 games enabling fans and viewers to watch the event unfold on any device, just about anywhere. In fact, PyeongChang reached both record linear and digital viewership across localized Eurosport services. To find out more about Eurosport, Total Brand Licensing talked to Ian Woods, Senior Vice President of International Consumer Products at Discovery to find out more. “Eurosport has a huge heritage,” explained Ian Woods. “Our strategy in everything we do is to ‘power people’s passions’ and Eurosport, without a doubt, does this. The channel is home to cycling, Grand Slam tennis, athletics, Winter sports and so much more. It broadcasts live to 242 million homes in 75 countries right across Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.” Digitally, too, Eurosport is a leader. It is the number one online sports side with 42 million unique visitors each month and the leading European sports network and app. “Eurosport really talks to fans, no matter where they are in the world,” continued Woods. This year was key to Eurosport with the launch of their e-commerce platform. Whilst, of course, some product is aimed at the adult sports fan market, a new initiative was launched, specifically to inspire kids. “Our kids’ lines are specifically designed to inspire children and youth to try different sports and activities. We’re aiming to create programmes that include instructional products with the idea of getting consumers interested in a sport and giving them the tools, and instructions, on how to pursue the sport or interest.” Discovery have partnered with Evolution for
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this new initiative which will launch shortly across EMEA and Asia covering key sports. Each product will have an instructional or educational benefit and initial products lines will include racket sports, balls, fitness equipment and bikes. “We’re billing the partnership as Designed for Future Champions, continued Woods. “Products are specifically designed to inspire parents and children to be more active and to be encouraged to try a new sport, with little expense. We’re aiming to make the range as accessible as possible to enable kids to get more active which is so important. We’re now talking to different retailers in key markets with the aim of bringing multiple sports into one place, and we have over 200 skus in the catalogue so far.” Beyond the new initiative, Eurosport continues to attract new licensees. Ian Woods is careful to emphasize that everything branded with Discovery, or any of the Discovery brands, must create a product or service that has a purpose. “Everything we do absolutely has to be authentic. We’re taking our time to find the right partners. We don’t just launch products for the sake of it – everything must meet the standards that each of our brands is associated with.” In terms of Eurosport products, Discovery has recently signed a new health and beauty range with Lionstooth which is scheduled
to launch in the UK this December via premium retailers. Discovery is also extending their partnership with Le Col and there are nutrition ranges with new partner Petrow and Outdoor Fanatics. These will debut in Benelux, Germany, Scandinavia Ian Woods and the UK later this year. The extensive product line includes protein powders, Iso drink powders, capsules, tablets, supplement powders, RTD protein drinks, RTD carbohydrate drinks, performance bars, energy bars, rehydration drink powders, recovery drink powders and electrolyte supplements. Through their Le Col partnership Discovery is also expanding their agreement with Swift for a cycling activation with media and digital integration. Clearly, Eurosport is a major brand in the Discovery portfolio and will continue to inspire and educate consumers through a carefully targeted brand programme. As Ian Woods concludes, “Along with Animal Planet and the Discovery brands, Eurosport will be a key focus for us at BLE this year. We pride ourselves in looking for non-traditional partnerships that create products that really mean something. Discovery is a very stable brand, in a somewhat unstable world. We have the right brands and tell the right stories. This allows us to continually evolve in line with our trusted brands.”
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COVER STORY
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COVER STORY
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NEWS
JRL TO LICENSE GINSU CUTLERY Ginsu, one of the most well-known brands in the cutlery industry, has partnered with JRL Group, naming them as the brand’s exclusive licensing agency. Going forward JRL Group will be charged with developing and managing a strategic licensing program across multiple categories.
Ginsu knife sets have been a mainstay in the cutlery industry since its launch in 1978. Ginsu became a household name because it was one of the very first brands to market directly to consumers. It has even been said that Ginsu was the innovator that helped to create Direct Response TV (DRTV) advertising! Ginsu remains
TONY ROMA’S MEAT SNACKS one of the most well-known cutlery brands on the market, with multiple lines of knives distributed through multiple online and retail channels. “Ginsu is such an iconic brand and our team is extremely excited about all of the opportunities,” said Andrew Lieb, JRL Group, President. “Whether a consumer already has an affinity for Ginsu from years past or will be experiencing the brand for the first time, we look forward to launching a full line of Ginsu branded products at retail.” “We are delighted to be working with JRL Group. With their experience in expanding iconic corporate trademarks, they are wellpoised to build a licensing program that will allow consumers to experience the joy of Ginsu beyond our core products,” said Randal Moss, Director of Marketing for Scott Fetzer Consumer Brands, Ginsu’s parent company. JRL Group will identify licensing partners that extend the Ginsu brand to complimentary product categories including cooking utensils and accessories, publishing, food, and housewares, among others.
Romacorp, Inc., parent company of Tony Roma’s, recently announced a new licensing agreement with Golden Nest, Inc. that will continue expanding its U.S. and international retail presence. The agreement, brokered by Broad Street Licensing, is for jerky-style meat snacks cooked in the same signature sauces behind Tony Roma’s world-famous ribs and BBQ meats. It is the latest in a string of licensing deals for Tony Roma’s program that has seen the brand continue to expand around the world. “This is another significant step for us in strengthening our brand presence in the retail space,” said Bob Gallagher, Sr. Vice President of Culinary & Beverage of Tony Roma’s. “We are excited to work with Golden Nest to meet the strong demand for the Tony Roma’s sauced meat snacks and offer fans a taste of the same quality food they’ve come to love at our restaurants.” The jerky-style snacks include Tony Roma’s Original Sauce Pork Bites, Carolina Honeys Sauce Pork Bites, and Spicy Buffalo Sauce Chicken Bites.
CAA SPORTS LICENSING TO REPRESENT THE HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS CAA Sports Licensing, the consumer products licensing arm of CAA Sports, has signed an agreement to serve as the exclusive worldwide licensing agency for the legendary Harlem Globetrotters. Under terms of the agreement, CAA Sports Licensing will create partnerships with key licensees and retailers to further extend the Globetrotters brand, message, and goodwill to consumers around the world. Initial efforts will focus on product categories including video games, toys and games, sporting equipment, footwear, collectibles, and digital media, for key regions which include North America, Asia, and Europe. “CAA is one of the most influential leaders in sports and in the licensing industry,” said Globetrotters President Howard Smith. “Few agencies have ever achieved the global footprint that CAA has, which aligns with us particularly well given our worldwide presence. We’re looking forward to working with them.” “The Harlem Globetrotters are in a unique position as this universally adored heritage brand that is as relevant today as it has ever been,” said Scott Bouyack, Co-Head of CAA Sports Licensing. “The opportunity to combine the power of the Globetrotter brand with the global popularity of basketball to create unique new consumer products is exciting.” In addition to the Globetrotters’ live event schedule, playing before two million fans each year in over 20 different countries, they also have a very active and engaged social media audience of 2.5 million followers, and growing, with an estimated 500 million annual social media impressions. PAGE 22
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SPORTS
SPORTING EVENTS IN JAPAN
2019 and 2020 sees the Rugby World Cup and Tokyo 2020 both held in Japan.
Momentum is building for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Total Brand Licensing talked to the organisers to find out more about their plans for licensing and merchandising. Can you tell us about the licensing program for Tokyo 2020. When did you launch the program and what are the key categories? The licensing programme for Tokyo 2020 kicked off in with product sales from May 2016. This was an earlier start compared to previous Olympic Games. Product categories that have been selling well include plush toys based on Miraitowa and Someity, the respective official mascots of the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Also doing well have been T-shirts and other easyto-wear items, highly-popular pin badges and traditional Japanese craft items. The line-up of products is characteristic of Japan. Is your program targeted at Japan or are you licensing overseas? Except for some products sold outside Japan by export licensees, the Tokyo Organising Committee of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games doesn’t plan to distribute products overseas. The Olympic Games will be attended by many overseas visitors to Japan, and we aim to develop products that will be loved by people from all around the world. Can you tell us about your logos/mascots etc that you are licensing and the key demographics at which you are aiming? As well as products using the Olympic logo and official mascot characters, you can find products in-market now with designs based on sports pictograms and the general theme of the Games. In the future, we are planning to expand the number and variety of design variations, including a design based on the Olympic Flame. As we get nearer to the Games themselves, to enhance opportunities, we will create products for towns and municipalities that incorporate the look and feel of the Games. TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
© Tokyo 2020
How is Tokyo 2020 product retailed? Is it through your own stores or through wider retail? We have opened about forty official Olympic retail outlets throughout Japan. We work with companies who have become distributor licensees and are selling Olympic products for us. How do you see the Tokyo 2020 program being different from other previous Olympic programs? We opened an online store very early on, and one year prior to the Games we have opened forty official stores around Japan. As we have thoroughly prepared the merchandising programme, we are confident that our large line up of products meets the needs of the market.
The Rugby World Cup takes place from 20th September until 2nd November this year. Hosted by Japan, the tournament covers twelve venues across Japan culminating in the final at Yokohama Stadium, Kanagawa. Held every four years, the Rugby World Cup is the third largest sports event in the world after the Summer Olympics and the Football World Cup. The new RWC logo which integrates the rising sun and Mt. Fuji, with the World Rugby logo, also represents Japan and the world coming together in the name of rugby. IMG has signed about 40 licensees around the world for the Rugby World Cup including official retail licensees operating on-site venue concessionaires, a megastore (the flagship store) and pop up stores, together with various kinds of merchandising licensees such as the official pports apparel supplier, the official guidebook, the official mascot “Ren-G” plush toys, casual apparel, eyewear, rugby fan goods, collectible pins, Japanese traditional battle product, souvenir goods, stickers, game prizes, venue map products, Japan-made nail clippers and home products, together with various food products. The official Rugby World Cup 2019 megastore opened on August 22 in Shinjuku, in front of the world’s busiest station – Shinjuku Station, with an average of over 3.7 million passengers a day. In addition 14 official popup stores are open across Japan, beginning on August 21st with a department store in Kumamoto. Stores will also open in Narita, Haneda and Kansai International Airports.
How important is your consumer products program to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics? We consider officially licensed products to be the closest form of brand engagement. We will be happy if the products become good reminders of the 2020 Games and that people will cherish them for a long time.
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FEATURE
West Ham collaborates with Iron Maiden As the Club continues to grow both on and off the pitch, West Ham are always looking for new and exciting avenues to expand the brand licensing program in ever diverse areas. But for one of the world’s best known football clubs and one of the world’s greatest rock bands to work together isn’t a licensing opportunity that immediately springs to mind. Dig a little further and you have life-long West Ham fan and founding member of Iron Maiden, Steve Harris. Well -known by Iron Maiden fans for his West Ham-influenced stage costumes, fans turn up in huge numbers adorned in claret and blue and the famous crossed hammers logo. As a band known for playing football matches whenever possible on tour, the opportunity for the two ‘Irons’ to come together was one not to be missed. A collaboration of West Ham x Iron Maiden kits was born. Launching with the full kits as worn by Iron Maiden FC, further apparel will follow. Phantom Music’s Delphine Nizet said of the collaboration, “Die With Your Boots On is the name of a football kit and leisure wear collaboration between Iron Maiden & West
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Ham United. Driven by diehard West Ham United fan and founder member of the band, Steve Harris this partnership evokes the heritage of two great brands with origins in London’s East End. Full kits and terrace apparel will be available to fans around the world who previously have worn the colours of West Ham or the logo of Iron Maiden to show their love for both institutions. They can now support their heroes with one cutting edge homage to the Irons!” Whilst still expanding in traditional product areas with the likes of Fan Seats inflatable chairs, Topps Match Attax and Fun Stickers, licensing growth has also expanded beyond physical product with Sorare digital collectibles and Feed Your Elephant, an exciting micro learning app to increase your knowledge on all things West Ham, past and present. The start of this season has also seen the launch of West Ham United’s 1980 FA Cup-inspired replica Home and Away kits which have clearly caught the imagination of the Claret and Blue Army! Created with the Hammers who defeated Arsenal to win the world’s most-famous trophy at Wembley four decades ago in mind, the Club’s 2019/20 Umbro replica kits have sold in record numbers. The Claret and Blue Home and all-White Away kits are already the best-selling strips in the history of the Club. The 2019/20 kit launch saw four of the Club’s 1980 FA Cup heroes reunite and share their amazing stories with current Claret and Blue stars. Sir Trevor Brooking, who scored the winning goal in the Wembley final victory over Arsenal, joined teammates Phil Parkes, Alan Devonshire and Ray Stewart to film a spe-
Photography by John McMurtrie © 2018 Iron Maiden LLP
cial ‘Gogglebox – 1980 rewind’ feature with Mark Noble, Lukasz Fabianski, Declan Rice and Michail Antonio, talking them through archive footage of that sunny Saturday afternoon, four decades ago. You can watch the insightful, entertaining and emotional film now on the Club’s official YouTube channel and whufc.com. With one eye on the future, the 2020/21 season sees West Ham celebrate their 125 year
anniversary with a commemorative crest and new assets available soon, to build an even wider brand licensing programme.
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SPORTS
Women and Football
A whole new opportunity for the licensing industry
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COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES WOMEN’S FOOTBALL - LICENSING The opportunities that will arise for the licensing industry are significant and Kids Insights have seen in their data that for teenagers who watch football on-screen, clothes are the top sports team related purchase for both boys and girls 13-18 (35% and 31% respectively). Beyond the top spot, amongst teens who watch football on-screen, girls differ to boys in the types of team-related purchases they make. Books are the 3rd most common team-related purchase for teenage girls (compared to 6th for boys), and Magazines
& Comics are the 5th most popular purchase (compared to 8th for boys). While computer games are the 2nd most popular purchase amongst boys, these only rank 6th for girls. The nation was united in its support for the national team at the Women’s World Cup, and Nike capitalised on the England team’s success, launching - for the first time - new exclusive women’s home and away kits, and they can also see that girls 13-18 who play football are 37% more likely than average to say that Nike is their favourite brand – which further illustrates the power of the data that can be filtered and interrogated to individual requirements. The growth of popularity in women’s football opens up more collaboration and influencer opportunities, utilising both male and women footballers developing content for their audience. For more information on how Kids Insights data can help not just plan a licensing selection, but help build a story to potential buyers and ensure that marketing campaigns provide the desired ROI, visit www.kidsinsights.co.uk/totallicensing or call the team on +44 (0)330 159 6631.
Which of these sports/Activities do you play? (Girls 13 - 18) Q2 2018
Horse Riding
Badminton
Fitness Training
Athletics
Tennis
Cycling
Netball
Gymnastics
Q2 2019
Football
GIRLS & WOMEN FOOTBALL Since 2017 they have seen a steady increase in the interest that girls have with football, and in the last 12 months this has further accelerated. The impact of the FA Women’s National League and the Women’s World Cup gained widespread attention, with FIFA estimating 1 billion global viewers. They have also seen how major brands are starting to take more notice, an example of which being Barclays who have recently signed a three year sponsorship agreement to be the title sponsor of the Women’s Super League - a deal which is believed to be worth in excess of £10m. According to Kids Insights data, the number of girls who are playing football has increased by 35% since this time last year. One in five girls now play football, compared to 14% this time last year. Data shows that of the girls who do play, football is taking up more of their time and attention – with their likelihood of being a member of a sports club growing 9% since Q2 2018. Multiple clubs and teams also have increased in popularity amongst girls. Liverpool FC is currently the favourite sports club for 3-18 years old girls who watch football on screen. Other Premier League clubs – Manchester United FC, Chelsea FC, Arsenal FC and Manchester City FC – make up the rest of
the top five favorite teams for girls who watch football on-screen.
Swimming
Kids Insights Launched its latest Leisure Measure report that focuses on the offline lives of kids, from how they spend their time, how much money they receive (that the kid-spending economy in the UK is worth £24.1bn per year) to their favourite hobbies and interests. The research is based on the results of surveying 5,000 British children between April and June 2019, though it also utilises data they have collected since May 2017. Their new data shows, when it comes to children’s hobbies and interest, there is no more popular sport than football, both in terms of participation and viewing.
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ART
When art becomes a brand A few years ago, auctioneers Christie’s held a post-war and contemporary art sale. A black and white painting of a Coca-Cola bottle sold for an astonishing $57.2 million. Why was the painting so valuable? Not for the art itself. It was the brand behind the art – namely Andy Warhol. The art market proves how valuable a brand can be. In the world of marketing, the value of well-known brands continues to increase. Why? Because more and more products are hitting shelves and consumers, inevitably, have less time to evaluate the individual products. They go with the market leader, with a brand name that they know and, presumably, believe in. Supermarkets back in 1977 carried on average 10,425 items. Today’s supermarket carries well over 40,000. Consumers think of brands rather than the individual product. Canned soup is Campbell’s. Ketchup is Heinz. Mayonnaise is Hellman’s. Transfer this to the art market and art licensing market and the same is happening. Consumers buy brands, not art. In many cases the signature on the art is the most important thing. So how do you, as an artist, become a brand rather than merely an assortment of artworks. To delve into this further, look at how valuable some internet brands have become. Pinterest in online scrapbooking, Spotify for music, Kickstarter and Crowd-funding for equity and fund raising. The list goes on and on.
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Why did these become so valuable? Not because they were better than anything else but because they created a new category. The best way, without a doubt, to become a world-famous artist is to create art that is recognised as a ‘new’ category, not just by creating a better piece of art. Claude Monet created Impressionism, Vincent Van Gogh began Expressionism, Surrealism was the creation of Salvador Dali, Comic art came from Roy Lichtenstein, Cubism from Pablo Picasso and, bringing the story right up to date, Sensationalism was the creation of Damien Hirst. Of course, not every famous artist created a new category. But it is a lot more difficult for the second or third artist in a category to become well-known than it is for the pioneer in the category. In the same way, it’s more difficult for a second or third brand to be as famous as the pioneer. Let’s face it, Pepsi-Cola
isn’t in the same league as Coca-Cola. For an artist and his artworks to become a brand, there needs to be a marked point of difference from other artists or artworks. Thomas Kinkade is a perfect example. Billed as the Painter of Light, Kinkade artwork was disliked by purist art critics. But this really didn’t concern him. He hit on a formula of kitch and iconic cottages and feel-good locations and consumers couldn’t get enough. From limited edition prints through to every type of product, Kinkade was licensed and consumers bought the products. His art and prints were franchised into galleries. In fact,
it is report that, at its peak, Kinkade’s Media Arts Group took in $32 million a quarter from 4500 dealers across the US. A significant niche market, it has to be said. Other artworks have been equally successful. A couple of years ago, leading French luxury conglomerate LVMH and American artist Jeff Koons presented a multi-million dollar collaboration combining six iconic works of art with the world’s best leather goods label. Koons emblazoned various classic handbag models with hand-reproduced copies of famous (out of copyright) artworks – DaVinci’s Mona Lisa, Van Gogh’s Wheatfield with Cypresses and more. The bags had both the LV logo and Koons initials and sold for around $2500 each. The end product combined a famous artwork, a famous artist and the luxury of Louis Vuitton. Absolut Vodka did something similar. They ran an ad campaign where artists were asked to present their unrestricted interpretation of the Absolut bottle. It might be fifteen years ago but people still remember it. From all of this, the one thing that comes across is that for art to become a brand, it needs to be innovative. It needs to create a new category, be linked with the unexpected and be aspirational. Consumers want to live in a Kinkade world and they want to swim with dolphins in the world of Christian Lassen. If you can find a niche that appeals to enough consumers, you are well on the way to creating a brand.
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Howard Robinson’s Selfies After another successful Licensing Expo in Las Vegas. Howard Robinson reports that Selfies continues to expand into new categories and territories and an exciting collaboration agreed with Discovery Animal Planet, starting with product and designs for Shark Week. New deals were signed for calendars, notebooks, journals, coloring books, stickers, pencil cases, student planners, colored pencils, board books, crayons, markers, magnetic tins, & invisible Ink, diamond paintings and paint by numbers, glasses and keychains. bedding, curtains, blankets, wall stickers, printed roller shutters, phone cases and device skins. Jigsaw puzzles continue to lead the way with 91 puzzle licenses issued to sixteen companies worldwide in the two months since Licensing Expo. “October is a busy month as we look forward to meeting with clients both old and new starting at Brand Licensing Europe, booth C470,” commented Howard Robinson. As the Asian consumer has now begun to embrace the Selfies universal charm Howard
is seeing much more growth potential in this region. “From our first license with Pintoo in Taiwan, our client roster has quickly grown to include a whole new Selfie Beach Resort complex in the Philippines. As China becomes more protection friendly it begins to offer
new opportunities and so for the first time we will be exhibiting at the China Licensing Expo in Shanghai to meet with prospective new partners working in the China market.” Selfies offers something new and original, engaging with an audience of all ages and already a worldwide proven brand. A twice nominated finalist in the LIMA International Licensing Awards with currently 89 licensing partners around the globe producing over 11,500 individual product items ranging from surf boards to wallpapers and even baby onesies, with a strong presence both online and throughout independent gift stores, tourist destinations and gaining mass market placements throughout Europe, USA and Australia. “Also in October we will again be launching new product ranges at the Hong Kong Mega Show with Prime 3D. Along with our award winning lenticular 3D range of stationary and puzzles we will see the launch of a new collection of Selfie plush characters and a brand new range of Selfie pool and beach inflatables.”
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was doing while employed. Today, Brenda boasts about how lucky she is to represent a roster of 7 immensely talented artists, as well as a handful of potential BMD artists, and creates a few pieces of her own. Together, this small but mighty group produces a varied range of stunning artwork for commercial use. Serving the editorial, publishing, apparel, home furnishings and gift/stationery markets, our portfolio consists of placement art, repeat patterns, coordinates, collections, custom hand lettering, and illustrations available for licensing or sale. The artists are happy to take on commissions and are happy to create work custom-made to suit a project. Brenda Manley was formerly employed by a paper party goods manufacturer. Over a 16 year period she had various roles such as catalog layout, artist, senior designer, design manager, buyer, and trend development. As a buyer/licensee, she cheerfully attended trade shows such as Surtex and Printsource for 12+ years. While employed, she gained knowledge of the challenges manufacturers experience to get final product on shelves. It was also here that Brenda had the fortunate opportunity to reach out and share trend direction with select outside artists/agencies she met as a result of attending shows. Being an artist first (received her BFA in Graphic Design from Ball State University), Brenda was able to communicate and art direct with ease, pitch artwork to internal marketing and sales teams, and upon design selection, she had the pleasure of informing the artist and providing the terms/contracts to proceed. Upon embarking in her new role as an independent, Brenda’s intentions were to simply freelance on her own, however, along the way she met emerging talent who started asking questions. With all her years experience, she was able to offer assistance, and the agency Brenda Manley Designs was fluidly formed. Brenda was, and still is, a natural conduit for connecting artists and their artwork with manufacturers. In retrospect, becoming an agent was a natural extension of the work she PAGE 32
avid photographer, especially of nature. Her goal is to have her art printed on wall art as well as ceramic tableware. Amiee Sue Malott Instagram: @amieesuedesigns Amiee Sue Malott is a surface designer and illustrator from Michigan. Amiee has a B.F.A. in Graphic Design with over 15 years of experience in the Children’s Toy & Craft Market. She is inspired by all things happy and cute! Amiee recently submitted the following artwork to They Draw and Cook Eat the Rainbow Challenge cohosted by They Draw and Cook and Spirituality & Health Magazine. Her cheerful art was hand picked as one of the top 4 winners. This has inspired a shift in
Alyssa Kays Instagram: @akaysdesigner Alyssa Kays is an artist from New Jersey with a degree in graphic design and advertising. However, she found her true passion in the surface pattern design industry! On top of her college degree, she is also a graduate of recommended courses and online classes within the surface design community
direction towards the editorial market. Since she is already so accomplished in the gift/ stationery and fabric markets, expanding only makes sense as the next step.
resulting in desirable artwork for products. Her style ranges from whimsical to traditional. Her art has appeared on gift wrap, paper tableware, fabric and much more. Alyssa is an
Bex Morley Instagram: @bex.morley Bex Morley is a British illustrator and surface pattern designer living on Vancouver Island in Canada. Her designs are whimsical in style with fresh color palettes that appeal to both adults and children. Bex was beyond thrilled when she was chosen as the winner from over 700+ submissions to the Uppercase Surface TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
ART or florals. Lately, Emma has been painting. After digitizing them, she puts them into seamless repeats which are in high demand in the gift/stationery and home furnishing markets. One special highlight she loves to share is when she had the opportunity to see her signature kaleidoscope design style featured on the runway during Fashion Week NY on men’s swimwear.
Pattern Design Guide by Windham Fabrics. They are in the initial stages of Bex’s very own fabric line. With her degree in Creative Arts and training in Interior Design, Bex is always keen to explore new art styles, techniques, and has recently been making a splash in the home decor market!
Lori Danelle Instagram: @loridanelle Lori Danelle Wilson is a talented and accomplished hand letterer and illustrator. She has been filling sketchbooks since childhood. She attended Watkins College of Art and earned a BFA in Graphic Design. Lori is known for her bold, whimsical lettering.
come to life with her use of color, dynamic patterns and textures making her digital artwork reflect the positive messages that are innate in her collections. Puck Selders Instagram: @puckselders Puck Selders is a surface pattern designer and illustrator based in the Netherlands. As a kid, Puck was always busy drawing, painting and sewing clothes for her dolls. She studied Fashion and Textile Design at The Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. After graduating, she worked for more than a decade as an in-house baby wear designer. It was at this juncture her signature juvenile style emerged. Her designs are happy and colorful - ideal for the baby/ juvenile markets. While she works digitally, she also creates hand painted textures.
Emma Schonenberg Instagram: @emma_schonenberg After graduating design school in San Salvador, Central America, Emma worked in advertising, apparel and the home decor industries. Along her journey, she discovered her true passion in a subject unknown in her country back then, Surface Pattern Design. Unique to Emma, she possesses a rare talent of being able to produce a wide range of desirable design styles. Her styles span from vector symmetrical designs to loose watercolMonkey Mind Design Instagram: @monkeymindesign Anita Ashfield-Salter of Monkey Mind Design is a freelance illustrator and surface designer from Denver, Colorado. She is originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico, and graduated from NMSU with a BFA in Graphic Design. After working in advertising, she found her calling in illustration. Anita enjoys illustrating greeting cards, giftware and patterns for home decor. Her work brings to life the vibrant colors and unique themes of the Southwest. Whimsical and bright scenes
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The Times they are A-Changin’ Licensing has gone through many changes over the last 40 years or so, reflecting the changes the wider world has been going through. Technology has changed our lives forever and I am sure we will see some remarkable new inventions in the years to come, like free energy, healing machines, cars that run without gasoline, self driving Uber cars, 3-D printing, Hyperloop 600mph trains and much more. The internet, more than any other factor, has changed the world of licensing and made it far more accessible to artists and photographers across the world. It has leveled the playing field but it also presents challenges that need to be considered. During the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s most licensing activities were done through photo libraries, or as they are now more commonly called, “stock agencies”. The concept was simple. A client requested a selection of pictures and if they wanted to use one, the Agency requested what the usage was. The price was determined by the level of exposure or usage, hence, the bigger the use the larger the fee. In those early years it was a very lucrative business. I set up a Photo library in 1974 in the UK with a partner. It was the first major agency outside of London and we became very successful. From a shoe box in 1974 we built a studio, a small duplicate processing lab and within 4 years we were doing almost $200,000 a year with just a part-time lab guy and my business partner, who was the backroom tech genius, while I handled sales. In 1979 I saw a huge gap in the market.
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Everything up to this point was the licensing of photography and the only “art archives” were basically old engravings, lithographs and historical illustrations. At that time illustrations and art were basically commissioned and often bought outright by the large product manufacturers like Hallmark, American Greetings as well as the poster, print publishers, jigsaw puzzle manufacturers etc.
By Michael Woodward Consultant, Licensing Agent and Educator. www.ootblicensing.com www.artlicensing101.org
All art was purchased outright for a flat fee. This often included the copyright so that the manufacturer “owned” not only the art but the copyright as well for a very low fee. Whereas in the photo library business, photography was being ‘rented/licensed” for a one off usage for a flat fee. As Art or illustration, in comparison, was being purchased outright, this seemed very unfair as the publisher could use the art over and over again or even use the art for additional products, make huge profits but the artist simply was left with his meager flat fee of $100. I saw this as a great opportunity and unexplored territory, so in 1979 I founded
Most of the younger generation reading this don’t know of any other system except the world of digital files. While this has created many more opportunities, it’s also created many disadvantages and problems, which negatively impact certain aspects of doing business. Not least of which is a surplus of designs.
Michael Woodward Associates which allowed me to start recruiting artists and illustrators. I took the art from the few artists I had taken under my wing and started “licensing” the rights on a product use and territory basis for a specific time period which had never been attempted before. This allowed the art to be licensed in several product categories. This was the very first beginning of Art Licensing. I believe I was the very first person to actually coin the phrase. Over the next few years I traveled throughout Europe and the USA with two camera cases containing 5”
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x 4” transparencies (digital images were not invented yet) visiting clients, exhibiting at, or walking through trade shows and by 1985 I had a $1 million dollar business and I was one of the most successful art licensing agents in Europe. By the early 90’s computers were becoming a necessary fact of life. Throughout my career we have had to change our ways of promoting artists’ work in order to adapt to the ongoing changes. We went from showing transparencies and physical portfolios, to CD presentations through to the present day where only digital files are used. Most of the younger generation reading this don’t know of any other system except the world of digital files. While this has created many more opportunities, it’s also created many disadvantages and problems, which negatively impact certain aspects of doing business. Not least of which is a surplus of designs. In my early days there were very few agents and we had to travel to see clients as well as exhibiting and attending trade shows all over the world. We also had huge mailing expenditure, sending selections to clients and we had to employ staff to do all the tremendous admin necessary to run a successful agency. The industry in those days allowed artists, photographers and agents alike to make a good living if you worked hard and some made exceptional incomes. The total licensing industry attracted more and more agents and more and more creators. As an industry, it grew from $ 2.8 billion in 1980 to $27 bn in 1990 and then to $217 bn in 2017, including art licensing which accounts for approx. $2.5bn in retail sales. So what does all this history tell us? In simple terms the pie grew very large but the digital revolution meant that now images can be sent via email instead of expensive mailing of transparencies or original art: every client has a website, so they can be found more
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Licensing as an industry, grew from $ 2.8 billion in 1980 to $27 billion in 1990 and then to $217 billion in 2017, including art licensing which accounts for approx. $2.5 billion in retail sales. easily: there are directories listing manufacturers/licensees all over the world: digital cameras and software like Photoshop allow more and more artists and photographers to create more and more work. So the industry is awash with new imagery from thousands of creators, who all have access to the same clients via the internet. The outcome of this is personified by one of my clients, a greetings card company, who sent out a memo recently basically saying, “as we estimate we will receive at least 70,000 images this year, we are only accepting PDF sheets of new images with the artist’s name on every sheet so we don’t lose track!” Only 2,000 designs will actually be selected. The key info you must take in from this is that many clients will only choose a small percentage from the thousands of designs submitted,. i.e.most submissions will not be chosen simply because of the sheer volume. So even if they receive amazing images artists and photographers still have only a small chance of getting work accepted. No wonder the licensing world has been turned upside down and inside out. It is a similar for many products. Art publishers particularly have had to change their business models. Instead of printing 5000 copies of a new poster or fine art print, everything now is mostly POD (print on demand). This allows publishers to have much larger inventories of designs as they do not have to invest in stock. Adversely for creators it means there are literally millions of images to choose from on the web. Just look at art.com. This means designs can
be changed more often which actually reduces sales/revenue per image. Does this mean art licensing is a waste of time? For wannabe amateurs and photographers and artists who don’t educate themselves about licensing and just send images out with the vague hope they will sell something- then yes, they are wasting their time and energy and, in my humble opinion, they flood the market with substandard work taking up valuable time, energy and valuable resources when the work is often ill conceived, far from relevant and often totally unsuitable for the client in the first place. Too many artists often don’t have a clue about licensing and neither have they researched what the client needs or sells. Trends play a huge part now in what retailers choose so artists need to educate themselves. It’s why I created Licensing Art & Photography 101, which is a handbook for those who are serious about licensing, how it works, what clients need and look for, so they will stand out as a professional. This will increase their chances ten-fold and hopefully allow them to make some serious income instead of pocket money, now and then!
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ART BLUE PRINT JOINS FORCES WITH NOTED Blue Print and Noted are both community based events that will be coming together on 1 - 3 May 2020, to host one joint show in San Francisco! Noted is a first-of-its-kind event with the goal of bringing together the greeting card community and giving attendees a chance to connect with one another, discover new products, and celebrate the diversity of greeting cards and the people behind them. Noted is the Greeting Card Association event of the year, and they will also host the prestigious Louie Awards while the show is on. Blue Print is a surface print and design show, a community of artists, studios, buyers and visitors from all over the world. The show has been attracting buyers from multiple industries who have a need for topical artwork. It is a show that not only hosts well established print studios and artists, but facilitates a more cost-effective event for young, up and coming artists. 2020 will see the start of an annual ‘rotating’ event moving to a different city in the USA each year. The plan is for the first show to be in San Francisco, and the organisers are looking at Chicago in 2021 and New York in 2022. Joining the two shows will enable exhibitors to see clients from all over the USA and further afield. From discussions with
buyers and visitors it will also give them the opportunity to experience the trends, fashions and lifestyles in other parts of the USA, and not just New York each year. Commenting on the venue, Paul Turk, organiser of Blue Print said, “The Festival Pavilion, San Francisco, is a 50,000 sq ft venue planned for the first joint show and is one of the piers at Fort Mason in Fishermans Wharf, San Francisco. It is very well positioned for hotels, restaurants, shopping and nightlife, and the scenic surroundings are stunning, with the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz all in view across the bay.”
ELEANOR GROSCH MURALS IN PHILADELPHIA Magnet Reps report that Mural Arts Philadelphia, the nation’s largest public art program, commissioned two large outdoor murals from Eleanor Grosch this summer. The action-packed images, hand-painted by a fantastic crew, flank and brighten the Manayunk Underpass. The murals depict local bike races – tapping into a favorite theme in Eleanor’s work.
START IN THE UK TO REP BRITISH ARTIST Start Licensing has been appointed to represent British artist Julie Dodsworth across a number of different product categories. Dodsworth’s work evokes her love of all things floral as well as her Narrowboat Calamity jane, and the British waterways. Dodsworth is a traditionalist artist who has created a number of TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
EARTHBOUND TO LICENSE MICHAEL GRAVES Earthbound has been appointed as the exclusive licensing and brand extension agency of Michael Graves Design. The Earthbound appointment follows a recent partnership with Target. The retailer announced it was launching a “platinum collection” featuring Michael Graves Design products inspired by a line of items that originally appeared in Target store more than 20 years ago.
A firm of award-winning architects, interior designers and product designers, MGA&D is accomplished at bringing brand ideas to life for clients. For their own brand, they leveraged all design perspectives to create uniquely original products, packaging, and merchandise strategies. This produced an unparalleled guest shopping experience that led to a successful 15-year-long partnership with Target. MGA&D invented a new merchandising strategy called Perfect Placement that set a new standard for big box retailers. With it, Michael Graves Design sold more than 2000 original, exclusive products across Target in 20 categories, over 15 years. Shortly after Michael Graves Design was displayed in this manner, the strategy was adopted store-wide and has remained Target’s merchandise strategy ever since.
Visit Total Licensing at booth A182, Brand Licensing Europe individual design collections including The Flower Girl, The Lavender Garden, Daisy Daisy, Honey Bee and Hygge Figgy. Her work has been licensed through partnerships with Barbour, Churchill China, Canova and My Gifts Trade. Her daughter Beth, Dodsworth has also developed a wholesale distribution linked to her licensing activities. PAGE 37
FEATURE
Combating Licensing Fatigue through Innovation You’ve seen it before. By Ted Curtin, EVP, Chief Innovation Officer, ProdigyWorks
Similar brands, licensing into the same places, with also-ran products that neither move the needle from a business perspective nor excite the consumer enough to truly build brand equity and customer loyalty. Is there revenue to be made? Yes, in the short run. Is there a risk of brand erosion? Absolutely. Licensing is an incredibly powerful business tool. It’s capable of generating significant new revenue streams, reaching new audiences, accessing new distribution channels, strengthening your core businesses’ competitive positioning and increasing brand equity. But like any other tool, in business or elsewhere, these tools need to be kept sharp and tuned. Differentiation and innovation are key to ensuring the competitive success and even survival of most businesses, and licensing is no exception. Consumers have increasing expectations around quality and functional performance of the products they buy. Retailers and e-tailers have to focus their resources on carrying products with high demand, strong sales and healthy margins. Products and brands that appear to be commodities are forced to lower their price to compete, but this sales model
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won’t provide a basis for long-term prosperity. It often leads to a short-lived licensing deal and that’s problematic for both consumer loyalty and brand equity. At the same time, meaningful and effective differentiation in brand licensing is not always easy to achieve but having a clear sense of your brand’s equity and consumer expectations is a critical component. A successful licensing program needs to carefully build on and extend off a brand’s core equity; veering away, too far, too fast can dilute the brand and confuse consumers. For licensing professionals this means a different approach to licensing. Too many programs are tailored around a licensor’s or a licensing agency’s list of existing licensee contacts. These are often groups of professional licensees, typically companies in apparel, electronics and promotional products that may have five, 10 or even more licensed brands in their stable at any one time. They know what licensing is, they are constantly in and out of different licenses and they are always on the lookout for new ones. For a licensing manager, these companies provide an easy answer to the question: where can I quickly sell my intellectual property? This approach to licensing is detrimental
Ted Curtin
to building brand equity, but unfortunately all too common. For a brand owner, this is a short-sighted approach and not the way to build a licensing program and true brand equity for long-term growth. In fact, given the challenges at retail and the increased competition among licensed brands, this approach is full of significant risk. How can you think outside of the box and still stay true to protecting and enhancing brand equity? Innovation is one of an organization’s most important competitive strengths. It’s an or-
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ganization’s ability to anticipate and identify new opportunities, adapt to changing conditions and respond to change quickly. The pace of innovation today is relentless and with new competitive threats, emerging technological trends and changing consumer preferences, the cost of not innovating can be devastating for a company. The same holds true for company’s licensing initiatives. The fact is, innovation from within is a challenge that even the most creative companies wrestle with. Yet companies that fail to innovate and stay ahead of market trends and competitive threats, risk significant loss of brand equity or worse, disruption that threatens their long-term stability and the viability of their licensing initiatives. It starts with the alignment of your leadership team. Unfortunately, many companies fail to unleash their most valuable resources: human creativity, imagination, and original thinking. Innovation gets plenty of lip service, but companies often lack the necessary resources and organizational commitment to implement a comprehensive innovation program that drives meaningful change. Some companies realize that the quickest path to realizing breakthrough innovation is often found outside of your four walls. External innovation – when done right – can help you get past cultural bias and safe thinking that we often see from internal teams. That’s where we find the truly creative solutions and extensions for your brand that add long-term value to your licensing program and your company’s bottom line. Other organizations feel that they just need a way to harness their own internal creativity to effectively drive innovation. But to build an effective internal innovation culture, you need to be aware of the barriers preventing your company from breaking through such as, a process-focus vs. customer-focus mentality, scarcity of time/resources, aversion to risk and cultural biases. Three Ways to Identify Innovative Brand Extension Opportunities Look Left and Right! Too many organizations wind up with siloed licensing functions. Often, companies are TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
sitting on top of great brand extension opportunities but don’t know where to look. Consider creating cross-functional teams from all corners of your organization – especially people with access to the front lines, where your customers directly and indirectly encounter the various touch points of your brand. Here is where you get a street-level view of your brand, the competitive landscape and gaps in the market that could be a perfect complement to your brand. Talk to your customers. It’s often said that your brand is nothing more than what your customers say it is. It’s not your logo, it’s not what you or your advertisements say about your brand or your products. Your brand is defined by your customers expectations and experiences – for better or worse. And it’s your customers who will decide whether or not your brand is allowed to extend into product “X” or category “Y”. The problem with this approach is the notion that customers don’t know what they want until you present them with the offering. You’ve heard the quote (factual or not) that when Henry Ford asked people what they wanted, they unanimously said, “faster horses.” We also know that no-one asked for the iPhone before it was introduced. As such, the prospect of discovering truly innovative licensing, simply by polling your customers could be limiting. Look outside the box for new target products and categories. External innovation adds a level of reach and depth that provides fresh, unencumbered outside thinking to truly understand your brand’s potential. External innovation can take many forms and come from a variety of sources. The success of any external innovation initiative will rest upon the caliber of ideas you can tap into as well as the ability to mine the data for the rich insights that will lead to long-term licensing successes. Identifying creative and strategic opportunities using an outside innovation network can provide your company with winning and innovative new products and categories to pursue.
ProdigyWorks is a unique resource that gives companies exclusive access to incredibly diverse combinations of the world’s brightest and most creative minds to quickly solve the most difficult innovation challenges and open new growth opportunities for brands. Originally founded as a partnership with Mensa, the high-IQ society, ProdigyWorks’ proven methodology taps into a diverse global braintrust with an unprecedented level of cognitive diversity to take ‘thinking outside of the box’ to a new level. The rapid 6-8 week ProdigyWorks process utilizes high-level outside thinking to build robust innovation pipelines, discover breakthrough innovation opportunities and provide new sources for innovative solutions to bring companies into strategic brand licensing extensions that naturally fit their brand’s core attributes, build brand equity and generate significant revenue. What’s Next? Whether companies utilize the expertise of outside resources or look internally to develop their strategy around brand licensing, an innovative approach and strategic focus is critical when considering which products and categories opportunities are right for your brand. It is vital to make sure that the licensing opportunities you pursue, address the needs of the consumer and the equity of your brand. Done right, you’ll not just drive new revenue opportunities through royalties but also create incremental pull for your brand’s core products and services. Failure to innovate and get ahead of the curve, leaves your brand vulnerable to unknown competitive threats, market disruption and consumer indifference. ProdigyWorks is a creative ideation and innovation lab that grew out of a partnership with Mensa, 14 years ago. ProdigyWorks’ unique approach to breakthrough innovation comes from their exclusive global network of High-IQ thinkers, creative geniuses and a vast array of industry experts. The companies ProdigyWorks partners with span a range of consumer and B2B verticals including HP, Coca-Cola, Mondelez, P&G, Nestle, AB-InBev, Unilever, General Mills, Diageo and more. PAGE 39
Tempting Brands launches a life-style brand for boys at BLE. Hi Puppy. Tempting Brands is a global brand owner of unique brands that are easily extendible into various product categories and are widely recognised by their target audience. Due to the high brand recognition, licensees can market their products under these brands extremely cost efficient. Tempting Brands provides comprehensive Style Guides and Fashion catalogues which include hundreds of designs and concepts. Up until this year Tempting Brands is well known for the authentic American lifestyle brand, ROUTE 66 and – more recently – also for it’s fashion brand for women, Marie-Antoinette.
The preparation for their first dedicated brand for children was long, but being able to share the results with the licensing world makes it all worthwhile. This year at BLE Tempting Brands makes its entrance in the branding market for children’s
The Hi Puppy products appeal to boys of all ages, and to their parents who embrace the core values of the Hi Puppy brand:
products with what seems to be a hit before it is launched: Hi Puppy. The first real lifestyle brand for boys. For little, big boys. With superbly executed logo and a ton of artwork covering a range of topics, such as hobbies, festivities, jobs, school
and seasons potential licensees can make highly recognisable products super-fast in categories such as apparel, backpacks, toys, back to school and home decoration.
1. Naughty. Being naughty makes life a lot more fun. 2. Funny. I never thought I was funny. 3. Sportive. It’s not how big you are, it’s how big you play. 4. Comfortable. If it is not comfortable, it is failed design. 5. Original. To be original is to be yourself.
Aimed at licensees who are tired of short lived action figures or movie heroes, Hi Puppy offers a stable and long term revenue stream for licensees who traditionally have to plan their stocks carefully due to the seasonality and short-term popularity of other boys’ brands. Hi Puppy is a brand for all year round, year after year.
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BRANDS @ BRAND LICENSING CAA-GBG is a joint venture with leading entertainment and sports agency, Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and Global Brands Group (GBG) as one of the world’s leading branding, apparel, footwear, fashion accessories and lifestyle product companies. Brnds represented include Budweiser, Christian Lacroix, Crayola, Jelly Belly, Kodak, Netflix, NYC and Playboy.
Every year The Point.1888 turns its Brand Licensing Europe presence up a notch and 2019 is no different. Since last year’s show, the agency’s success made international news headlines with the signing of a deal with The Metropolitan Police Service, just one of twelve new clients brought on in the last twelve months. The team has also grown to 21 and all of them are attending Brand Licensing Europe. The Point.1888 has a bigger and better stand and some exciting new brands to shout about in every sector and every channel. From Team GB to the Metropolitan Police Service, River Cottage to Barratt, and Mumsnet to CBeebies star Tinpo, the team has been busy sourcing partners and creating products and has a lot to reveal. BLE 2019 will also be an opportunity for The Point.1888 to formally introduce the brand extension agency’s new Creative Division and Consultancy. Led by the ever-changing and increasing demand from both retailers and consumers to know more about what they are buying, The Point.1888 ensures clients are supported in every way. With strategy and marketing being such a big part of creating, communicating and promoting products, it’s TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
The following pages highlight some of the brand licensors and agents exhibiting at Brand Licensing Europe this year. Others, such as Iconix, Discovery, V&A etc are covered in features within this issue. only right that licensing agencies should offer this as a core element of the service. Founder Will Stewart will also be unveiling an exciting personal announcement. Art Ask Agency will be showing the latest on the already established lifestyle brands; Anne Stokes Collection with long standing licensees’ new products and fresh new artwork and Frida Kahlo with extensive licensing. Among the highlights, Anne Stokes Collection, “bringing fantasy to life” for over 10 years, now has a new series of videos on social media, a book launch and 70 successful licensees worldwide. Frida Kahlo has a number of world class licensees now on board, an exclusive jewelry launch at this BLE as well as many other exciting new licensees and product categories lined up for this AW. A number of fashion licensees have been added to the Brandalised programme creating additional territories and new consumer products. For TVBOY Art Ask has added Fashion and Back to School licensees launching this Autumn and new characters and a new book deal have been signed for Pets Rock. Art Ask Agency will also be bringing back the brands Marie-Antoinette with a new style guide, and Jimmy The Bull, an endearing Instagram sensation. Finally, Art Ask is presenting new interesting properties for the first time at this year’s BLE including The Camden Collection – a food and home lifestyle brand from the UK, Hi Puppy – a lifestyle brand for young boys and new signing for Art Ask Agency, Route 66 and IA London – The Art of Fashion. 2019 has been another exciting year for brand extension agency Beanstalk. The company has worked closely with each client to launch
new product ranges, add new licensees, retail partners and expanded its geographic reach. Multiple new agreements have been signed for Beanstalk client, Diageo, a global leader in beverage alcohol. The Baileys licensing programme continues to expand with new partners and reach new consumers. Gordon’s, the world’s number one best-selling gin, collaborated with Pops, a leader in premium ice pops for grown-ups, to create a Gordon’s Gin & Lime ice pop using Gordon’s London Dry Gin and real lime juice. Meanwhile, Guinness
has partnered with Poetic Brands to launch a new range of apparel featuring t-shirts, hoodies, jackets and more which will be available across the UK and Europe. In addition, Guinness have partnered with Finsbury Food Group to launch a Guinness Celebration Cake, exclusively at Asda from October. Beanstalk continues to grow the global licensing programme for longstanding client Procter and Gamble, Braun has announced its long-awaited return to audio with a reinvention of speakers from 1959 in development with licensee Pure. Fairy Non Bio extended its partnership with Star Brands to launch ‘Fairy Non Bio Wool & Delicate’ wash launching in Waitrose & Partners and PAGE 41
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rolling out across all the major multiples. In the hard goods sector, Beanstalk continues to develop the Stanley, Black+Decker, Dewalt and Facom licensing programmes. The Stanley programme continued its growth across Asia with the introduction of Stanley Hand Trucks and the further expansion of Stanley Closet Systems through long term partner, Boozbell in China. The Energizer Brands licensing programme has continued its growth throughout 2019 and shows no signs of slowing down. In addition to winning Best Licensed NonFood Brand 2019 at the Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards, the Energizer licensing programme has further expanded its power and lighting footprint through new and existing partners. Earlier this year, Energizer finalised a new partnership with 8Star Energy for residential solar storage in Australia under the Energizer brand. Matthew Williamson, the celebrated British designer, has added to his extensive portfolio of collaborations with a range of limited-edition toiletries with Champneys and Boots set to launch this Fall. Chupa Chups has collaborated with Galant Cosmetics to launch a range of lip balms across Russia in the Fall 2019. The collection will include five scented lip balms and Chupa Chups has partnered with VDV Benefits to develop a range of scented candles. Brandgenuity had an exciting year, continuing to service clients from the London and Munich offices, including global representation of BMW, the NFLPA for Europe and
ongoing relationships with Anheuser-Busch InBev, Hawaiian Tropic, adventurer Ed Stafford, and Viacom. In addition, we’ve assumed representation of three new clients Unilever, Oxford University and Grazia. Unilever’s portfolio of ice cream brands is synonymous with sweet treats and summer fun. Twister, Cornetto, Solero, and Feast will bring moments of togetherness to adults, PAGE 42
tweens and kids. These products will celebrate the iconic ice cream shapes, exciting flavours, and contrasting colours and textures; all reinterpreted to bring more fun to the everyday across apparel, home, and beauty. The living embodiment of quintessential British heritage, style and spirit, Oxford University is a timeless institution. Drawing inspiration from its famous colleges, museums, libraries and sporting events, Brandgenuity will build a European and US program extending the equity of the brand into the lifestyle, homewares and toys categories. Finally, Grazia is the most trusted arbiter of Italian style worldwide. Grazia represents a community of stylish, witty, thoughtful, ambitious women, for whom Brandgenuity will build a licensing program that spans categories including lifestyle, cosmetics and fragrance, collaborations and experiences. JELC specialises in the development of brands. Headed by the award winning Jane Evans , clients include the National Gallery, I Like Birds and Crimestoppers all of which will be on show at BLE. IMG is a leader within the global licensing industry with a 50-year track-record. IMG represents a diverse mix of clients in various categories including sports, such as Bundesliga, NFL, Arnold Palmer, Wimbledon, and Le Mans. In addition, IMG represent various auto brands such as Aston Martin, Lamborghini Ducati, Fiat 500, Goodyear, Volkswagen, Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Maserati and fashion and celebrity brands such as Brigitte Bardot, Karen Millen, Harper’s Bazaar and Esquire. IMG are also agent for the British Army, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy.
Global Icons is a leading independent corporate brand licensing agency, with wholly owned offices around the world. We specialise in developing and executing brand extension strategies to match our clients needs, building valuable brand equity and additional consumer touch points. Brands represented include Albert Einstein, Citroen, Emirates, Fred Segal, Hollywood Sign and Walk of Fame, Magic chef, Lamborghini, OK Magaine, The Big Issue, Vespa, Southern Comfort, US Postal Service, Fireball Whisky, M-Sport and Moto Guzzi.
TSBA Group, an agency with a wealth of experience in the licensing industry, represents brands including Formula E, Transport for London, The Open and the National Portrait Gallery, will be exhibiting at BLE. TSBA hold the exclusive global rights to license the electric street car brand Formula E, along with all 12 teams who feature in
the Championship including Nissan e.dams, Audi Sport, Panasonic Jaguar Racing and Porsche. A number of licensees have recently been signed including the Simba Dickie Group who will launch their innovative toy range on a global basis in January 2020. Starting in November, Season 6 will see the TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
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teams take to the streets of iconic cities such as New York, Rome, Hong Kong, Mexico and London for more electrifying races. Founded in 1856, London’s National Portrait Gallery holds the most extensive collection of portraits in the world. From its much-loved Tudor collection to contemporary photography, the Collection is a seemingly endless mine of fascinating images and stories that spans kings, queens, artists and authors to musicians, actors, scientists and politicians. TSBA are expanding the reach of the brand through a global licensing programme by creating product ranges that provide a contemporary perspective to the Gallery’s rich heritage. London Underground is an iconic symbol of British culture and a brand that is recognised around the world. Sought after by tourists and locals alike, its rich design heritage, from the roundel and tube map to vintage poster archive, is synonymous with London. Having secured multiple licensing deals from apparel to souvenirs, TSBA is looking to expand the brand across further categories and territories. The Open is the original and most inclusive of golf Championships, and the only one to be played on links courses that truly pit golfers against the elements. The 150th Open will be played at St Andrews, the home of golf, providing a platform for categories including apparel, accessories, gifting and commemorative products. TSBA, who represents The Open on a global basis (excluding Japan and Korea), will unveil a new style guide at BLE.
of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings, drawings, sketches and letters. The museum in Amsterdam welcomes more than 2 million visitors from all over the world each year. Their aim is to make Van Gogh’s work globally accessible to as many people as possible. Thanks to Van Gogh’s global popularity, they have already collaborated with a wide range of brands around the world on developing products tailored to their individual markets, with Samsonite, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Vans as examples of high-end and popular products. They support their licensing partners with extensive and expert knowledge on Van Gogh’s life and work, cooperating closely to build authentic and inspiring partnerships. Pink Key Licensing will once again be exhibiting at BLE. This year the expanded portfolio will include not only the brands that have been the backbone of the business for many years, Kellogg’s Vintage, Pringles, SLUSH PUPPiE and Pan Am; but there will also be the first chance to see the newly acquired brands of Vintage PG Tips, Vintage
wares on the Kellogg range that is currently making its mark at retail. PKL will be showcasing the brands’ diverse and vast array of artwork, and how adaptable it can be when applied to the right product. They want this to be an inspiration to retailers and other potential licensees right across Europe who have yet to see the strong and consistent sales that these brands have generated throughout the last year. While programmes such as Kellogg’s Vintage are quite established there are still opportunities to be part of the expanding product portfolio, particularly in the mainland European market where the brand awareness is very high. Pan Am is generally regarded as a ‘cool brand’ and has had great success in fashion during the year – there is an opportunity to expand this into the travel sector and PKL is keen to discuss with interested licensees. For the other newer brands particularly Colman’s, PG and The Laughing Cow there are opportunities in all areas- especially non-food gifting and housewares. Global Merchandising Services is a leading entertainment and brand merchandising company, headquartered in London. This year at BLE will see them shine a spotlight on some of music’s most influential and fashionable artists, with highlights on several seminal anniversaries celebrating the iconic records of some of the biggest Rock bands in the world. 2020 will see the 40th anniversary of such genre-defining albums like Ace of Spades by Motorhead, Blizzard of Ozz by Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest’s British Steel and Iron
The Van Gogh Museum is a first-time exhibitor at BLE. Founded in 1973, the museum houses the world’s largest collection
Colman’s Mustard, The Laughing Cow, Babybel , Boursin and ICEE. PKL will be showing some of the great new product that demonstrates the diversity of these brands including the Global apparel ranges from H&M, Zara, Pull & Bear and Jules; as well as the growing range of house-
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Maiden’s self-titled debut album. Global work with a diverse roster of world-renowned Music and Celebrity brands such as Mariah Carey, Gordon Ramsay, Spice Girls and Mötley Crüe, whose recent Netflix bio-pic, The Dirt, has already achieved cult classic status and propelled the band into the mainstream. Zolan Agency is passionate to create and discover original and imaginative art and products that awaken happiness and heartwarming feelings. They are bringing to BLE ten award winning global fashion designers, artists, and lifestyle brands including international Scandinavian fashion, lifestyle and film brand, Ivana Helsinki. They will also be introducing a new collection of Environmental and Sustainable art and designs from leading designers and photographers Enrico Fossati, for his amazing photography of Mother Earth, Steve Sundram, int’l collection of Oceanic art, and Ivana Helsinki, for her new Collection of Trees and Animals promoting awareness for the environment.
presents its latest fashion collaboration with White, the Italian fashion label by Gianmario Stuppello. He’s an all-round artist who juxtaposes design and attention to detail, with an emphasis on tailoring and an eclectic use of materials and original prints. His bold street style collections are exclusive to high end boutiques and available on the White official online store. At 2 pm on the first day of the show, Perfetti Van Melle’s Christine Cool will also share insights about the keys to create successful collaborations and co brandings in the seminar organised by Licensing International: “1+1=3: Creating Strategies for Effective Collaborations”. Other Perfetti Van Melle brands on show include Fruit-tella, Smint, Big Babol, Brooklyn and Airheads. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is celebrating its return to BLE after a five-
Perfetti Van Melle, the candy group that creates feel good moments with its power brands’ licensing programs is coming to BLE with the fresh burst of its brand Mentos which has an attractive range of pastel hues, perfect to take to personal care projects and guaranteed to stand out in apparel windows. Mentos is also one of those rare brands that can claim to be truly global. It always advocates to create connections between people, making it the ideal brand for international projects. Chupa Chups, the brand that keeps expanding and evolving its pop identity, makes its debut in style at ExCeL participating in a fashion showcase organised by BLE. The brand
year absence – with a striking affirmation of its unique strengths as a licensing partner and a brand. Visitors to stand B366 can see multiple design assets – including a new RHS style guide for children’s products and new artwork – as well as the RHS Lindley Collections art that has made the RHS one
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of the most resource-rich partners in heritage licensing. Building on its success in outreach for children, families and schools, and the positive response to many product initiatives to date, the RHS is expanding into licensed products specifically for children. Among the main target categories will be toys, games, apparel and tools for young gardeners. This drive will be supported by the first-ever RHS style guide for children’s products. It will combine existing assets and new designs in a resource that will delight children and inspire licensees. The charity plans a strong focus on children’s products in the coming months, and, with a number of licensees expressing interest already, aims to be announcing the first product partnerships at BLE 2019. These new assets join the recently updated RHS logo and strapline and the muchpraised RHS Licensing Geometric Style Guide 2018, last year’s extension to the highly successful RHS Licensing Style Guide. The Geometric Style Guide was created to reflect the current trend for geometric designs – but inspired by formal garden design styles dating from the 1600s and 1700s. The RHS licensing campaign has enjoyed enormous success in recent years. As well as a very strong gardening offering, the RHS name today graces china, homeware, soft furnishings, picnicware, stationery, toiletries, confectionery, scarves, dresses, bed linen, fragrances, art pottery, gin, chocolate and much more. The RHS has the world’s finest collection of botanical art containing more than 25,000 superb images. RHS Enterprises Limited uses this artwork collection and RHS gardening expertise to create and endorse inspirational products. In 2017 the RHS won the award for Best Licensed Heritage or Institution Brand at The Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards. In 2018, again at The Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards, the RHS Flora Apparel collection by COAST won the award for Best Brand Licensed Adult Apparel Product or Range.
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Leading art licensing agency MGL are returning to BLE once more. With a library of over 33,000 images MGL offer a diverse range of artwork suitable for an array of projects and product categories from greeting cards, calendars and stationery, to jigsaws, apparel, home furnishings and beyond. MGL have established lasting relationships with a significant number of international companies of
all sizes and work closely with their clients to ensure their artwork needs are met. This includes providing targeted artwork or creating bespoke illustrations and designs based on client briefs. Smiley are launching two new brands at BLE this year – Newmoji and The Smileys. For the last two years, Loufrani and his team have been working to carve out a new creative vision for the future of emojis, which he believes will provide a modern and creative take on the format whilst driving continued revenues for retailers and licensees. The 2 Newmoji design styles created by Loufrani include an Art and Extreme 3D design style. The Smileys will bring the full archive of world famous SmileyWorld icons to life as new characters in a unique mix and match collectibles concept, with over 100 million possible combinations. The Smileys will be supported by a TV Commercial as well as its own website and YouTube channel, featuring a series of webisodes which will explore the world of The Smileys and their friends. Style Library, part of the Walker Greenbank group, has an award-winning global licensing programme, working closely with carefully selected partners to create beautiful products inspired by designs from six of the finest British brands; Morris & Co., Sanderson, Scion, Harlequin, Zoffany and Anthology. From heritage to youthful to iconic, Style Li-
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brary is home to the widest and most diverse range of British interior brands. Not only are they the custodians of the original Morris & Co. archive founded by William Morris in 1861, they also house the extensive Sanderson archive dating back to the Renaissance. As well as the company’s core products of wallpaper and fabrics, we are building on existing and new partnerships with Licensees across the globe to create stunning product offerings inspired by the creativity and personality of their brands. Their iconic designs are available on an extensive range of products from bedding, towels, haberdashery and rugs, through to apparel, ceramics and umbrellas. Exhibiting at Brand Licensing Europe for the first time, Style Library will be showcasing the diversity of their brands from contemporary to iconic as well as hosting a seminar on the evolution of heritage brands and their relevance today. Appreciating Britain and everything these islands offer seems to be a theme of much of the design and research work at Vicki Thomas Associates in 2019. Julie Lavender continues to extend her patterns collections inspired by natural life in the British countryside and bird watching on the South coast. Some of her designs like Fetch are being picked up as concepts for the National Parks’ licensing program. Similarly, Jane Jones ceramic designs are inspired by her Lake District studio’s views and local walks. Walks and tours are of particular interest. Everyone is escaping to the countryside or at least outside with the dog. Clinton Banbury’s humorous illustrations still appeal to pet owners. Yet, it his paintings inspired by his travels, that are attracting attention. Isobel Bushel is creating maps and views for heritage sites, that allow them to create bespoke ranges. Here too, it is her drawings of horses and sheep that people buy for themselves. The firms interested in licensing designs from
the silk pattern book collections in Macclesfield’s Museums, seem to be picking up on patterns that are quintessentially British. Conversational prints like foxes and dogs and loose florals are top of their wish lists. At Clerkenwell Design Week, several furnishing companies commented how great it was to see British design. The UK’s 15 National Parks are the most extraordinary landscapes. Visited more than 104 million times each year, they provide inspiration and enjoyment for us and in turn inspire us to care for them. At BLE Vicki Thomas Associates will be showing how they as artists and designers have been inspired to care for the National Parks. Working together with National Parks Partnerships, they are developing a licensing programme and style guide that taps into the character of the parks, encouraging the creation of products and partnerships that capture the value of these wonderful locations whilst generating funds to support looking after and conserving these incredible places for everyone to enjoy. The Imperial War Museum consists of five museums and historic sites covering war and conflict from the First World War to the present day. Their various sites include the Imperial War Museum London, IWM North, IWM Duxford, HMS Belfast and the Churchill War Rooms. Their unique collection of objects tell the human stories of lives engulfed in war and show how conflict has shaped the world in which we all live today.
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Tempting Brands launches its fashion brand for men at BLE. Pierre de Coubertin Tempting Brands is a global brand owner of unique brands which are easily extendible into various product categories and are widely recognised by their target audience. As a result of the high brand recognition, licensees can market their products under these brands extremely cost efficiently. Tempting Brands provides comprehensive Style Guides and Fashion catalogues which include hundreds of designs and concepts. Up until this year, Tempting Brands is well known for the authentic American lifestyle brand, ROUTE 66 and – more recently – also for its fashion brand for women, Marie-Antoinette. The Pierre de Coubertin brand has been 4 years in the making and the result speaks for itself. In utmost secrecy, the trademark was registered and is now protected under European Trademark law. Logo design is finished and marketing development has started. This autumn – for the first time – the brand will be presented at Brand Licensing Europe, and here you can see a preview of what will be shown.
Tempting Brands is looking for the best licensing partners for Pierre de Coubertin for apparel, accessories, cosmetics, sports and home decoration.
a final product will look using the Pierre de Coubertin brand. In this article you will see a few examples for yourself, ranging from basic items such as socks and underwear to leather accessories, neckties as well as cosmetics. The Pierre de Coubertin products appeal to the sportive and fashionable man. Self conscious – not arrogant – the target audience is appreciative of values such as honourability, honesty and smartness. The five core values of the Pierre de Coubertin brand are: 1. Fashionable. Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak. 2. Sportive. Persistence to win, character to deal with loss. 3. Honest. Honesty is an expensive gift. Don’t expect it from cheap people.
The new logo, brand philosophy, possible brand extensions and licensing opportunities and a sneak preview of product applications. The Tempting Brands design team has created sample product designs for each product category that will show potential licensees how
4. Honourable. Of all the properties which belong to honourable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character. 5. Smart. Because you can tell how smart people are by what they laugh at.
Oh yes, we couldn’t agree more with the slogan that Tempting Brands will use for Pierre de Coubertin. Style Matters.
PROFILE
Pink Key Licensing
Carving a niche in the marketplace
Pink Key Licensing have been steadily carving a niche for themselves over the last few years and growing their business but Richard Pink, MD & Founder, still believes that success has been as a result of the care that has been taken with the brands currently under their umbrella. “We have been very keen to work with brands where there is a distinct positioning and we are extremely careful that we avoid any kind of overlap or conflict within our own portfolio. We have been approached by a number of
brands and have developed a very simple selection process that has allowed us to take on brands where we can really make a difference. Obviously, there is a leaning towards foodbased brands, but it’s not quite as simple as that. We like to work with brands that have a story; inevitably this will mean that there is a certain amount of nostalgia in our portfolio, but if you look at brands like Pringles, SLUSH PUPPiE and the Laughing Cow, they also have a very strong contemporary presence too. Pan Am is another brand where despite the ‘vintage’ element, it still looks and feels like a modern brand. “The important thing for us is that we have to love it – if we don’t love it, we don’t feel like we can give it the kind of attention that we would like to.” For PKL this means a number of things. Firstly, finding licensees and retailers who can see PAGE 48
the longevity in the brand: none of the brands in the PKL portfolio rely on short windows of exposure – they are all brands which are either evergreen or have a constant and lasting presence for the consumer, albeit with the occasional anniversary that pops up. Secondly, it means developing creative product, some of which may be quite surprising. Pink remarks, “the brands have a lot of ‘stretch’ - how many other brands could you see launch a £1,500 bag and a £19.99 onesie on the same day, like Tony the Tiger did?” He is referring to the iconic Anya Hindmarch bag on sale in New York and the Primark onesie which hit the market at exactly the same time, both selling exceptionally well. Lastly, Pink Key have for some time been developing their social media programme to support their brands and promote them to the trade, particularly on Instagram with Nancy Jones, PKL’s Business Development Manager running the account, keeping a close eye on where the brands are being picked up by influencers and consumers that have any kind of affinity with the brand. Nancy says, “Instagram has become hugely important in the last few years with retailers using it effectively to promote ranges. We have seen retailers such as H&M promote our products to a very wide audience and it’s providing an exciting way of engaging directly with consumers.” So, with BLE around the corner, will PKL be launching new brands? Richard Pink is quite clear: “If we see a brand that we think is ‘us’ then we’ll always consider it but, with our current portfolio, we think we’ve only scratched the surface of what is possible.” Pink Key Licensing is the Licensing Agent for Kellogg Vintage, Pringles, SLUSH PUPPiE, ICEE, Laughing Cow, Babybel, Boursin, Vintage Colmans, Vintage PG Tips, Pan American Airways and Jane Asher. For more information, visit https://www.pinkkey.co.uk
FEATURE
ABG FINDS A NEW HOME IN THE US FOR THOMASVILLE Thomasville, the home furnishing company committed to quality design, craftmanship and value recently announced the next phase of its legacy in the furniture industry with a new partnership with Living Style Group (LSG), the world’s leading supply chain solutions partner for consumer brands and retailers, to manufacture, supply and distribute its furniture in the U.S. and in global territories around the world.
“We are confident that LSG is the right partner to elevate the iconic Thomasville brand,” said Jarrod Weber, Group President of Lifestyle, Authentic Brands Group. Paying homage to the heritage of the brand, we are excited that Thomasville is starting this new chapter re-launching furniture and bringing to market home living solutions for families across the U.S.” In addition to Thomasville, ABG owns a global portfolio of 50+ brands across the lifestyle, fashion, street and active, entertainment and media categories including Marilyn Monroe, Neil Lane, Nautica, Aéropostale, Juicy Couture, Nine West, and its most recently acquired renowned media property, Sports Illustrated. “Leveraging the influence and authority of ABG’s extensive marketing arm, we are excited to see the rise and success of Thomasville
over the coming months,” said Henry Chan, President, Living Style Group. “This classic American brand provides people of all ages and stages a solution for creating the dream home they’ve always imagined, and now, we’re able to deliver on this brand promise.” Established in the USA in 1904, this expansion allows Thomasville to bring its expert styling to life with a thoughtfully curated new selection of quality crafted home furnishings. Providing expanded home living solutions, including bedrooms, living rooms, and dining rooms, the Thomasville collection offers a smart, modern, customer first approach that considers diverse lifestyles and living spaces, while still remaining true to the heritage of the brand reminiscent of accessible luxury. Living Style Group will debut the Thomasville furniture collection at the High Point, NC Market this October.
TRADE LINKER PARTNERS WITH KATHY IRELAND Trade Linker Int’l Inc., a leading bedding importer and wholesaler, has expanded its partnership with kathy ireland Worldwide to include a line of comforter sets, blankets, and throws. The new line will feature rich patterns from contemporary and modern looks as well as more traditional patterns to suit any bedroom. The new kathy ireland blankets and comforter sets will coordinate with the current kathy ireland line of sheet sets, pillowcases and separates. “We are thrilled to expand our kathy ireland bedding line to incorporate bedding sets, plush and cotton blankets, and throws,” said Arslan Ashraf, vice President of Trade Linker Int’l. Our partnership with Kathy and her incredible team at kiWW has been a strong and successful one since the beginning. The partnership between Trade Linker Int’l and kathy ireland Worldwide is a strong collaboration that will continue to impact the bedding industry in the future.” “It is a great joy to announce the extension of our relationship with Tradelinker, which now includes linen for our Chef Andre Sunday Dinner brand, our Andre Carthen Friday
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Night brand and Tommy Meharey’s powerful MIVI which is gaining significant traction in the licensing community. The team at Tradelinker grew out of our exhibition at Licensing Expo and Tommy Meharey, who is our youngest Board Member, has proven himself as an extraordinary student of Jon Carrasco’s creative genius. To experience Tommy and Andre absorb the DNA of brand building and deliver that to Tradelinker, is very exciting. Our business with Tradelinker continues to grow and we have belief in their ability to bring beautiful products and even greater
retail placement to our mutual projects,” said Kathy Ireland, Chair, CEO and Chief Designer of kathy ireland Worldwide which owns the Sunday Dinner, Friday Night and MIVI brands through the kiWW subsidiary, Sterling Winters Company.
Pick up your printed copies of Total Brand Licensing, Total Licensing and Total Art Licensing at Brand Licensing Europe, Booth A182.
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HERITAGE
V&A Expands globally Programme grows across Europe, The USA and East Asia The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) is a brand with international appeal, committed to growing its commercial business further in the global market place, with key territories including East Asia, the USA and Europe. Working with its exclusive agent in China, Alfilo Brands, the V&A has increased its licensing and retail collaborations throughout the territory. ITO released Voyage, a range of luxury luggage inspired by 1920s Art Deco travel posters, with an art display-style launch for key press and media, including ELLE and Bazaar. Lifestyle retail store The Beast continues to grow its V&A ranges launching three collections this year, including The Modern Times range featuring mugs, candles, diffusers, and prints, and in time for Mother’s Day, the Beauty in Bloom range with silk pyjamas, scarves and a china tea set. The items were selected to pamper Mothers on their special day and The Beast’s brand ambassador Yao Chen promoted Beauty in Bloom with a series of fashion tips on social media. Moving into footwear the V&A has worked with Basto to release the Meet White trainer series, the first in a line of shoes for this Autumn Winter. The launch was supported by an extensive marketing campaign, including a photoshoot and film footage shot at the museum in South Kensington. Further Basto shoe and bag ranges will follow later this season. Chow Sang Sang, who exclusively retail the V&A’s licensed fine jewellery online and throughout their stores in mainland China
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launched a new line of rings and earrings, inspired by objects on display within the museum. This included Queen Victoria’s sapphire and diamond coronet, designed for her by Prince Albert in 1840 – the royal couple’s wedding year. This year marks the bicentenary of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s births. Japan continues to be a key area of growth with the launch of two new licensees this year; Texet will be releasing a range of made to order curtains and accessories, whilst Aurora is creating a collection of beautiful printed scarves and stoles. Continuing the foray into fashion the V&A has released its second capsule collection with women’s apparel brand Keith, inspired by 1930s British textiles held in the museum’s archive. The V&A’s Brand Licensing programme now has 10 licensees in Japan, including long-standing license partners in bedding, home textiles and nightwear. The team will be exhibiting next April at Licens-
ing Japan at Tokyo Big Sight, with the aim of continuing to grow the V&A’s presence in the region. Looking at the wider Asian market, the V&A continues to work with pewter specialist Royal Selangor in Malaysia and the recent Streamline collection remains strong. In South Korea, the V&A has been collaborating with new licensee LIDC to launch a range of colourful adult and children’s apparel and accessories. Inspired by an eclectic collection of V&A archive items, from crinoline ladies to dress fabrics featuring shrimps, the range is available on line and throughout stores at the Daemyung Resort.
Expansion continues in the USA with 2 new collaborations; PastedPaper and its range of beautiful pre-pasted papers for interior walls, and Entryways and its artistic range of door and floormats. Meanwhile both Wild and Wolf and Museums and Galleries continue to have great success in UK and US distribution channels with their respective ranges of gifting and stationery. In Europe, the high-profile collaboration with Coco de Mer scooped a B&LLA for Best Brand Licensed Adult Apparel Range. People Tree UK launched a range of eight contemporary pieces celebrating the revolutionary style that defined the swinging sixties. Knomo launched the second of their art-deco inspired travel accessories collection. Long-standing licensee Kitchen Craft is expanding its popular Alice in Wonderland tabletop-ware range, and the first collaboration between Built (owned by Kitchen Craft) and the V&A was launched, offering a stunning range of reusable bottles and tumblers illustrated with designs from the V&A’s archive. This year has seen the V&A expanding across its key territories and categories, driving innovative product ideas in the global market place. With over 15 product range launches before the end of the year, the V&A’s brand licensing team are excited for the Autumn schedule and the forthcoming year. www.vam.ac.uk/licensing licensing@vam.ac.uk TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
MARY BERRY
Queen of Cakes... Queen of Licensing The Mary Berry supermarket range, now worth £5.9 million, is being expanded by Finsbury Food Group
Finsbury Food Group has enjoyed a long relationship with Mary Berry and new additions to the range are launching throughout the UK as we go to press. The Mary Berry cake range was initially launched to supermarkets in April 2017 and has enjoyed huge success, becoming one of the top 10 cake ranges in the UK. The initial range included seven different cakes, all inspired by from recipes from Mary’s own
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books. Finsbury will produce the new additions to the Mary Berry range including celebration cakes, gift cakes and cupcake platters, catering for the most popular cake-eating occasions and opportunities. Developed in partnership with Mary Berry, the new additions are a mixture of classic recipes and include her signature celebration cake brought beautifully to life as a smaller ‘gift cake’. There is also a selection of classic loaf cakes and the completely new addition of a mixed cupcake platter. Finsbury has invested heavily in the research and development of the products, which are all baked at Finsbury’s production sites and hand finished by a Finsbury expert. The range launched at an event at Claridge’s in August, which saw retailers given the first glimpse of the range and enjoy afternoon tea with Mary Berry herself. The range aims to be accessible, absolutely top quality and bring something for everyone, in-
cluding the Raspberry, Lemon and Chocolate Cupcakes, perfect for a baby shower or afternoon party; Classic Ginger Loaf, made with winter get-togethers over a glass of mulled wine in mind; and the Mary Berry Rose Gift Cake, which is perfect alternative to flowers or chocolates. Donna O’Neill, Brand Manager for Finsbury Food Group, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be extending our successful range with the Queen of cakes, Mary Berry. Together, we’ve developed six new products inspired by Mary’s well-loved recipes, including cupcakes for the first time, to cater for every budget and occasion – now as a gift and for enjoying at home. We’ve been delighted by the response to the range so far, and have made sure that the new additions showcase the high quality and expertise that Mary Berry and Finsbury Food Group are known for.” PAGE 51
HERITAGE Ashmolean
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow...
The heritage licensing sector is seeing incredible success
A sector worth over $1 billion, heritage brand licensing is fairly straightforward: it’s about high awareness, longevity, and existing, established assets coming together for an easily marketed offer. Isn’t it? Well, yes and no. Well-known names are involved, of course – some, like The Royal Horticultural Society, have been well known for over 200 years; the RHS is a national institution. But it is not a traditional entertainment or design brand. Heritage brand licensing doesn’t usually have colourful characters, books, films or popular animated TV shows on which to base style guides. It has to employ highly sophisticated and innovative approaches to branding and the use of assets. The RHS is a case in point. Its licensing division, RHS Enterprises Limited, has access to expert advisory images, portraits of rare and unusual cultivars, photographs of the RHS shows and gardens, and, most importantly the PAGE 52
RHS Lindley Collections, the world’s finest collection of botanical art. But what matters is how these assets are used. These assets inform highly innovative style guides using cut-out images of flowers, foli-
age, fruit, vegetables, birds, animals, insects and patterns. Partners are encouraged to use this and any other relevant RHS imagery that might appeal to them (the Collection contains more than 25,000 superb images!) – and to be
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Oxford University
creative with all of it. Style guides must also be expanded or improved on a regular basis to offer new themes, reflect new trends or serve new markets. For example The RHS Licensing Geometric Style Guide 2018 uses garden design styles dating from the 1600s and 1700 to reflect the current trend for geometric designs. Another guide, launching at BLE, consists of four styles that will inspire an exciting new RHS product offering for children. That offering is already
bearing fruit through a major publishing partnership. If a heritage brand plays to its strengths and manages its relationships well, the result should be strong and long-lasting partnerships with licensees that understand and support the brand’s aims, which in the case of the RHS is summed up by the motto “Inspiring everyone to grow”. This doesn’t restrict the RHS to gardening products, of course, although this is a very
successful and multi-faceted category, taking in everything from fertilizer to fashion boots. Food and drink, apparel, confectionery, gifts, stationery and more can reflect the aims of the RHS through appropriate design or through promoting UK craft businesses. A good example of a partner that does all of this is craft distiller Warner’s Distillery, which has installed hives at an RHS garden, so that it can eventually make a Limited Edition of its stylishly labelled RHS Honeybee Gin – with real RHS honey! Like many heritage brands, the RHS is a charitable institution with a committed and knowledgeable membership. Licensing revenue supports its work. It has certain values – care for the environment in particular – that it must uphold. Thus, heritage licensing for the RHS is not about the short term or the big sale. It’s about finding appropriate partners and supporting them to produce high-quality products – products that enhance the reputation of everyone involved. The University of Oxford licensing program offers global renown and nine centuries of heritage alongside a treasure trove of assets and a new, contemporary design approach. The licensing programme will work with licensees to channel the classic British spirit in fresh,
English Heritage
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forward thinking ways. Prospecting continues to identify new opportunities in the brand collaboration space, as well as other various product categories including homeware. Chris Evans, Managing Director of Oxford Limited, answered some of Total Brand Licensing’s questions about the universal appeal of Oxford and plans for the future. Oxford obviously has such a rich history and has been working in the brand extension area for a long time. What new areas are you looking to explore? In addition to our traditional category areas of apparel, accessories and home, the Oxford programme will leverage the University’s educational credentials to create toys, games, and back to school products that allow the next generation of consumers to experience and touch the University of Oxford for themselves. LMI - Highclere Castle
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And similarly, are there any new territories you are looking at? As a globally renowned brand, The University of Oxford has the ability to appeal to audiences worldwide. As a result, licenses will be selected strategically to ensure a truly widespread coverage is achieved. The London-based licensing agent for Oxford, Brandgenuity, will utilise independent business partners in numerous European countries including Italy, France and Germany, to exploit key market knowledge and insights. Further afield, we will be looking to appoint new agents to partner with us in the Middle East and Latin America and well as Australasia, as market conditions and the identification of appropriate partners allow. Can you outline details of any new partners you have signed recently? New partners recently confirmed include Poetic Brands, who will be producing Oxford apparel for distribution in the UK & Ireland. Park Agencies and Europrosem will also be creating Oxford apparel for European distribution. On the hardlines side, Enesco will be launching gift and collectible items for Oxford that pay tribute to famous Oxford University alumni and landmarks and we plan to announce a new partner for educational toys in the very near future.
How do you keep Oxford, with its centuries of history and trove of treasures, relevant for a modern audience while retaining the essential heritage? The University of Oxford licensing program offers global renown and nine centuries of heritage alongside a treasure trove of assets and a new, contemporary design approach. The licensing programme will work with licensees to channel the classic British spirit in fresh, forward thinking ways. The vast collections from the University’s Libraries, Museums, Colleges, Sports Clubs and Botanical Garden provide partners with an abundance of assets. Mood boards have recently been completed to provide inspiration for key product categories in keeping with our new design approach, and a new style guide will follow. This will offer licensees the tools they require to develop creative, aspirational products that capture Oxford’s unique British sensibility. What do you think have been some of the most ‘unusual’ and creative partnerships Oxford has entered into? We recently launched a University of Oxford Gin, “Oxford Physic Gin” in partnership with a local distillery called The Oxford Artisan JELC - National Gallery
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TSBA - Tfl
Distillery (TOAD). In order to make it a relevant and compelling proposition, we looked to the University’s Botanic Gardens, one of the many aspects of the University that we can adopt as part of the licensing programme. Founded in 1621 as a physicke (physic) garden for the teaching of herbal medicine, Oxford Botanic Garden was planted during the 1640s by its first keeper, Jacob Bobart the Elder. In 1648, Bobart created a catalogue of all the plants which he grew, now preserved as a treasured ancient manuscript at the Garden. TOAD has used this to both inspire and flavour its recipes, with twenty five botanicals, mostly from Bobart’s list and many grown and foraged in the Garden today, giving Physic Gin its unique personality and flavour. Oxford is a symbol of academic excellence and ambition – how do you convey these themes into the brand programme, and are you incorporating areas of education – e.g. STEM? This is a vital area to get right for the programme, as it speaks directly to the reputation of the University itself. The process starts with the careful selection of licensee partners who TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
can deliver the very high standards of quality and ethics that we require and who are willing to work with us to adapt and improve upon their base product, in order to add the Oxford value. Each and every educational product entering the Oxford licensing programme undergoes academic review for both the quality of the product itself, but also the supporting leaflets and information. By utilising the knowledge and input of Oxford academics during the product development phase in this category, we are ensuring that product quality is aligned with expectations, and educational benefit for the consumer is maximised. The National Gallery is a powerful brand endorsement for manufacturers and retailers who wish to promote their creativity. Now in its fourth year, the licensing programme reaches across product categories from apparel, stationery and wine to food gifting and much more. The past year has seen the great masters Monet, Van Gogh and Botticelli inspire companies such as Blackstone Designs to produce a range of men’s and ladies t-shirts sold through Urban
Outfitters and Top Shop. Following on from a very successful collaboration with Zara earlier in the year, Pull & Bear have now expanded the range into adult fashion, inspired by the paintings of Renoir and Van Gogh to develop a range of high fashion T- Shirts due to launch in September. This year has seen the National Gallery launch more licensed collections than ever before – from tapestry bags by Signare, launching at Autumn Gift Fair, and collectable gold ingots produced by London Mint, through to stationery and gift bags by East West Designs. Other new partnerships are Eco Chic, Buckingham Covers and The New English Tea Company. Licensing Management International Ltd. (LMI) will be exhibiting at Brand Licensing Europe and bringing several of its heritage brands to the forefront of its offerings. As well as 40 licensees building on the awareness of the Apollo 11 50th anniversary of the moon landing in July but also capitalising on future NASA plans to return to the moon, LMI will be featuring Apollo 11 and many other global PAGE 55
HERITAGE space programme mission patches including but not limited to NASA from the Internationalspacearchives.com collection. LMI also represents Highclere Castle. Most famously recognisable as Downton Abbey, its licensing programme is expanding with Silentnight launching a range of beds, mattresses and home textiles to tie in with the release of the movie in September. A range of cosmetics is also in development for the Korean market. LMI will present for the first time (for international use) approved artwork for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust licensing programme. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust offers both the Shakespeare brand endorsement and a wealth of inspiration from the outstanding collections and unique works of art and books available at Shakespeare‘s Birthplace at Stratford-upon-Avon. The heritage space has always been a focus for TSBA; Shell Heritage was the first brand in its portfolio and TSBA has since represented The British Museum and now the National Portrait Gallery. Heritage brands allow the company to delve into the archives to unearth
beautiful assets and designs to create authentic licensing programmes and, as ever-green brands, to develop long-lasting partnerships with licensees and retailers. Transport for London (TfL), which encompasses the iconic London Underground as well as the Routemaster bus and other London transport infrastructure, is deeply rooted not just in the psyche of Londoners but also the millions of people who visit the UK’s capital each year. The Underground roundel and map are instantly recognisable, while the poster archive of over 5,000 images and moquette seat fabrics provide a backdrop to the social history of London and celebrate many well-known artists and designers of their time. The universal appeal of the London Underground allows it to translate across multiple product categories and retail channels. An extensive range of product is available in the souvenir market, while a premium range of mugs, stationery and leather accessories is currently available exclusively in Selfridges. Sitting at the heart of any product development is TfL’s brand ethos of innovation and design, and it is this focus which allows us to stay true to the
brand. “Authenticity matters in heritage licensing. A heritage licensing campaign must maintain a focus on what inspired the longevity and popularity of the property in the first place. We pride ourselves in absorbing all the DNA of a brand and finding new ways of delivering it to market,” said Ian Mallalue, CEO of TSBA. An example of this is TfL’s collaboration with London-based textile design studio Kirkby Design who have created five fabric designs inspired by moquette patterns in the London Transport Museum’s archive. The result is a contemporary array of beautiful fabrics for upholstery, curtains and cushions. Founded in 1856, London’s National Portrait Gallery holds the most extensive collection of portraits in the world. The Gallery has a unique role as the nation’s family album, inviting visitors to meet the people who have made – and are making – Britain what it is today, including kings, queens, artists, authors, musicians, actors, scientists and politicians. With a new style guide in place and licensees in the apparel, accessories and art categories to be announced, the Gallery is set to become
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a significant player in the growing heritage licensing space. English Heritage works with a number of carefully selected partners to produce a range of licenced products which embody the best of the English Heritage brand. Licensing enables the charity to increase awareness of not only its extensive collections at historic properties and sites but also wallpapers, textiles, artefacts, and our gardens. Current partners such as IG Design Group whose exclusive range of gifting sets produced for Boots, are inspired by wallpapers and textiles found at Wrest Park in Bedfordshire, whereas Quadrille Publishing’s stationery range have sought inspiration from interior features at Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens in Northumberland, and Brodsworth Hall in South Yorkshire. The Pot Company’s Heritage Collection of beautiful planters was inspired by the period design features found at their sites. Quadrille’s Fold and Post award winning product was featured within the licensed category at the 2019 Stationery Awards, which demonstrates the potential that their assets have for licensees. A Boots range successfully launch last year, and is now entering into its second year. Each of the licencees works closely with curators, brand and design teams to ensure that the products produced reflect their brand values. Looking to the future, English Heritage plans to expand into new product categories such as food, jewellery and homewares as its develops licensees that enable English Heritage to have more reach and exposure in both UK and overseas markets. The Ashmolean is the world’s first public museum, opening its doors in 1683. Over the course of its long and eventful history, the Ashmolean has developed from a cabinet of curiosities into the world’s greatest university museum of art and archaeology. The museum now forms part of GLAM, an Oxford University department representing Gardens, Libraries and Museums. Previously the Ashmolean’s licensing programme was managed on a reactive basis, but is now focused on a proactive approach, seeing the value of income generation that isn’t TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
reliant on visitor numbers and maximises its outstanding collection. Through the years the Ashmolean has built up exceptional collections from some of the world’s most famous art names, explorers and academics. These include the Pissaro family archive, John Ruskin’s teaching collection, the world’s foremost collection of Worcester Porcelain, the Hill collection of stringed instruments including the Messiah Stradivarius violin and the Daisy Linda Ward collection of Dutch StillLifes. Being a university museum, the Ashmolean is able to offer licensees unprecedented access to its collections, curators and study rooms. Licensees have studied drawings by Raphael in the Western Art print room and been inspired by 17th-Century Chinese Ceramics in its Eastern Art studio. Currently the Ashmolean’s licensed collection includes greeting cards, stationery, calendars, gin, domestic textiles, tableware and lamps; the possibilities are endless. For example the Museum has recently signed a contract with ThinkSee 3D who are leading experts in digital and physical model making. ThinkSee 3D have scanned various artefacts
from the Museum’s collection, including the Ram of Amun-Re from the Egyptian Galleries and a Degas ballerina bronze from the Western Art collection. These together with other objects will form a unique licensing proposition where visitors can purchase a faithful replica from the collection. The Van Gogh Museum will be a first-time exhibitor at BLE. Founded in 1973, the museum houses the world’s largest collection of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings, drawings, sketches and letters. The museum in Amsterdam welcomes more than two million visitors from all over the world each year. Their aim is to make Van Gogh’s work globally accessible to as many people as possible. Thanks to Van Gogh’s global popularity, they have already collaborated with a wide range of brands around the world on developing products tailored to their individual markets, with Samsonite, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Vans as examples of high-end and popular products. They support their licensing partners with extensive and expert knowledge on Van Gogh’s life and work, cooperating closely to build authentic and inspiring partnerships. PAGE 57
HERITAGE The Science Museum has seen a busy and successful summer. Its Summer of Space campaign has attracted record numbers of visitors, as the anniversary of the moon landing has really resonated with audiences of all ages, and new displays such as the Soyuz landing capsule, Bepi Colombo and Skylark: Britain’s Pioneering Space Rocket have been incredibly popular. Additionally, the new retail shop opened in June, with two floors of fantastic, science-themed products for kids and adults. Science Museum Group and The Monster Factory have teamed up to create their first licensed range of stationery for children to launch in John Lewis & Partners stores across the UK this summer. The new stationery range, inspired by space, includes sticky notes, notepads, floating pens, erasers and keychains, toy rockets and space shuttle kits. The products feature imagery of the solar system, astronauts, and the Milky Way. This practical yet playful range joins the officially licensed Science Museum cardboard rocket playhouse and drinking flasks already available. The products are made from 66% recycled materials, 100% fully recyclable and are manufactured the UK. Zuzi Wojciechowska, Senior Account Manager for Brand Licensing at the Science Museum Group said: “At the Science Museum Group we’re really excited to have partnered with The Monster Factory and John Lewis & Partners on our first licensed children’s stationery range. The designs have been inspired
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adventure for all ages which is reflected in the products! The brand has a great synergy with John Lewis & Partners.” In addition to the stationery range launching in John Lewis, Science Museum is also working with The Monster Factory on some fabulous new products including the cardboard rocket playhouse. The Cardboard Rocket Playhouse is made from 66% recycled materials, is 100% recyclable and are manufactured the UK. Parents are being urged to use #RocketArt on all social media platforms to share masterpieces designed by their little ones. The Science Museum are very excited to partner with Root7 for a range of their OneBottle drinks flasks. The double-walled stainless steel bottles feature images of the Carina Nebula, the surface of Jupiter and the Northern Lights. Unique and stylish design is combined with a high-quality finish, allowing water to be kept cold for 30 hours or hot for 20 hours.
by space, a theme that is echoed in the museum’s beloved Exploring Space gallery and the incredible objects on display like Tim Peake’s Soyuz capsule which jetted back to Earth from the ISS in 2016. While space has always been a popular theme for our licensed products the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Apollo missions this year has really shone a light on this awe-inspiring theme and we’re sure the products will prove popular with children across the country.” Hayley Grix, Marketing Director – The Monster Factory commented: “It’s been wonderful to complete this fantastic mission alongside the Science Museum. We have found the ultimate destination for the range with John Lewis and Partners now on board. We love producing innovative, licensed gifts that have the educational edge for both adults and kids alike and are really enthused for the launch!” Sarah Moughtin, Stationery Buyer - John Lewis & Partners added: “We were really excited to work on the launch of the Science Museum stationery & gift range. I love that the Science Museum is educational, whilst providing a fun TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
ELECTROLUX
Electrolux works to create a more sustainable planet Total Brand Licensing sat down with Ciarán Coyle, Head of Global Brand Licensing at Electrolux to hear about how they are on a mission to shape living for the better All across the world, people are facing a wealth of new and challenging environmental problems. Air, water, and soil pollution is responsible for taking more than 100 million lives annually and this is on the rise due to excessive greenhouse gas and CO2 emissions. The population is greatly impacted by this and many people are changing their behaviors as consumers. A recent study by Nielsen concluded that 81% of global consumers are more likely to engage with companies or brands that take a stand for the environment. Consumers today expect companies to be activists, but they also expect them to provide products and services that foster more sustainable living. Millennials, Gen Z and Gen X consumers are at the forefront of the corporate responsibility movement, with Baby Boomers close behind. Demand for corporate responsibility is shared across generations, gender, race, and socioeconomic status. The Nielsen report revealed that consumers in emerging markets seem to put even more pressure on companies due to the environmental hazards that they face daily. The notion of corporate responsibility is not new to companies, but has emerged as a top priority. Consumers are becoming bolder and clearer about the types of brands and companies they will engage with. Companies such as Starbucks, Patagonia, and Electrolux have heard the call and are taking action. In order to reduce the use of plastic and create cleaner oceans, Starbucks stopped the use of plastic straws. Patagonia is working to make their entire business carbon neutral by 2025. Driven by their company purpose to shape living for the better, Electrolux aims to revolutionize everyday experiences in the home through a focus on taste (kitchen), care (laundry) and wellbeing (air care, floor care, and water care). As part of an effort to shape living for the better, Electrolux is focused on creating more sustainable living environments around the world. This involves offering more eco-friendly options in the market, from core appliances to fill-in products provided by Global Brand Licensing partners. Active in over 75 countries, the Global Brand Licensing program licensPAGE 60
es over fifteen of the Groups’ seventy brands including Electrolux, AEG, and Frigidaire. At Electrolux, licensing is fully aligned with the core business and creates additional brand connections meant to enhance living. Legacy partners have provided solar, water treatment, and heating and cooling solutions for years, but Electrolux’s global focus has accelerated the activity. Brand extensions provided by the licensing business enhance Electrolux’s success in creating more sustainable living. Solar Solutions Gmbh, a licensing partner of the Electrolux Group and a leader in the solar power industry, has been a major player in the clean energy revolution across Europe as they work to empower consumers to understand solar energy and how they can implement it in their homes. From sourcing and production to communications and operations, Solar Solutions operates a sustainable business that is environmentally conscious and constantly improving. The company offers premium sustainable solutions for flexible planning of utility, commercial and residential solar installations under the AEG brand. Additional eco-friendly solutions are brought to market through Ecowater, a licensing partner of the Electrolux Group who offers residential water softeners and filtration systems under the Electrolux and AEG brands. Ecowater’s company focus aligns with Electrolux’s aim to shape living for the better through a reduced carbon footprint and a lower “water footprint”. By 2025, the World Health Organization predicts that half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas. It’s crucial that water consumption becomes a global priority, and AEG and Electrolux softeners are designed to reduce energy consumption in households and to extend the life of all household appliances that come into contact with water. In 2018, IRENA projected that by 2030 more than 90% of heat sources would come from renewable energy. Later this year, the Electrolux licensing program will launch a fully connected, efficient heating system designed to reduce energy consumption by 30%. This system is manufactured by SIA
Greentrace, a licensing partner of the Electrolux Group for the Electrolux and Zanussi brands. The Mosocow-based company has been a partner of the Group for over ten years and is responsible for an extremely successful heating and cooling business in Russia. Electrolux is working globally to create better living environments for consumers and their efforts are driven by over 58,000 employees who show up every day ready to make a difference. Electrolux CEO Jonas Samuelson acknowledges that the company’s employees have a large impact on the development of the company’s purpose and associated targets. “I want employees to feel more fulfilled at work. I want everyone at Electrolux to understand the deeper reason for why they come to work every day. I want them to feel inspired by our company’s purpose ‘Shape living for the better’, to feel excited to be on a journey where their actions on a day-to-day basis can contribute to improving the lives of millions of people and also the world around us. This is especially important for the younger generation who are much more driven by a purpose, who will question ‘why are we here?’ and want to be part of a company that contributes to a better planet,” Samuelson said in 2017. A year later in 2018, an internal study revealed that 90% of Electrolux employees understand and feel committed to the company purpose across the regional business areas and the Professional and Licensing businesses. Alignment from all areas of the business ensures a focused approach to Electrolux’s primary intention to foster better living and action from licensing partners strengthens the Electrolux Group’s efforts to shape living for the better.
CANNABIS
How Cannabis Companies Can Monetize Their IP to Stand Out and Grow As consumer discretionary income continues to rise, demand for various types of licensed products naturally follows. Subsequently, royalties from the licensing of consumer goods has continued to excel every year since 2013. Although there is significant growth in the traditional licensing categories, the expansion of marijuana legalization has sparked a boom in the licensing industry for a wide variety of branded marijuana products, including “flower,” vape pens, edibles, oils, creams, pharmaceutical products, and CBD. At the 2019 LIMA licensing show in Las Vegas, a dedicated section called the “Cannabis Brand Pavilion” was formed to accommodate such new cannabis companies - adding to the existing licensing of major cannabis brands such as: • Cheech and Chong – Chong’s Choice • Willie Nelson - Willie’s Reserve • Snoop Dogg - Leafs The brands at the LIMA Cannabis Brand Pavilion included: • Prohbtd • Hempathy • Legion of Bloom • Futurola Amsterdam • The Patch Co. • Kiva Confections • CBD Living Water • The Original Ceeby Dee’s • Soko Cannabis Creations • Foria • Jushi • Heavy Grass As cannabis continues to make major strides
in legalization, specialized marketing and licensing development will play a key role in the success of the cannabis industry. As examples, Cresco Labs, a vertically integrated cannabis company, and Canopy Growth, a Canadian based cannabis company, have both internally developed and externally acquired brands - see Figure 1 below. Branding is Imperative and IP Licensing is a Necessity Cannabis is essentially an undifferentiated commodity product from the consumer’s point of view. If competitive cannabis businesses want to create any amount of sustainable market share, they need to differentiate their products via branding, brand extension, and licensing - and licensing not just of brands, but of all IP. Unfortunately, the primary blockade to brand building for cannabis is the fact that you cannot register a federal trademark for cannabis itself; but you can apply for Common Law Trademarks on non-cannabis product. Constructing a ring of federal trademarks circling the Common Law Trademark in order to build a cannabis brand via licensing is just one solution. This ring of Federal Trademarks often includes categories such as class 25 clothing, class 30 food and beverage, class 44 healthcare and beauty, classes 9 and 16 for publishing and paper products, class 18 for leather goods, etc.; as well as registrations in service classes 35, 38, and 41 covering various retail and service es-
Figure 1 Parent Company
Internally Developed Brands
Externally Acquired Brands
Cresco Cresco Reserve Remedi Canopy Growth Spectrum Therapeutics
TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
Mindy’s
Tweed Craftgrow DNA Genetics Tokyo Smoke
Doja Van Der Pop Maitri
By: Weston Anson, Evan Loker, and Pierce Urban of CONSOR IP Consulting and Valuation tablishments as well as website and social media environments. The core of this brand building is to have your Common Law Trademarks on your actual cannabis product, and then use the duplicative Federal Trademarks to license to third parties. Licensees can then manufacture products like apparel, smoking paraphernalia, as well as offer services like health centers and social media sites. This is how to create lasting brand value through licensing in the cannabis industry. Licensing and Valuing Intellectual Property In addition to trademarks and brands, how else can a company differentiate itself? One has to think about all of the company’s intellectual property, not just its trademarks and brands. In many cannabis companies, there is a wide range of IP that can be developed internally and/or via licensing, ranging from trade secrets to copyrights and from patents to cultivars. The question then becomes: What other IP is within the company? How do we identify it, and more importantly, how do we value it? For example, how do we value brands and trade secrets as opposed to patents -- or how do we value technical know-how, and how do we value complex systems that effectively run a cannabis lab testing facility? We will explore the most accepted IP valuation methodologies in practice by looking at a brief case study of “Cannabis Corporation,” in which a theoretical company has two bundles of assets that require valuation: a trademark/ brand bundle and a trade secret/technical know-how bundle. Cannabis Corporation is illustrative of a relatively well-established Oregon based company that has many products and lots of propriPAGE 61
CANNABIS
the cost approach. diverse product which can be consumed in This valuation meth- various forms - - baked, eaten, put in mediciTrademark/Brand Vundle Valuation - Income Approach 2018 2019 2027 odology reflects the nal creams, inhaled or ingested in many variRevenue $30,000,000 $39,480,000 $105,409,542 cost that a company ations. Therefore, different forms should be x x x EBIT Margin 16.6% 16.6% 16.6% could avoid by pur- branded to fit many different lifestyle markets. x x x chasing, rather than With today’s technology and social media, it EBIT $4,980,000 $6,553,680 $17,497,984 x x x duplicating, a similar is easier than ever to tailor a specific brand Discount period midpt 0.50 1.00 9.00 development effort. identity and reach the customers most likely Discount factor @ 20.1% 0.91 0.83 0.19 The annual trade se- to identify with them or the “experiences” that Present Value of Free Cash Flow $4,544,172 45,456,776 $3,365,474 cret/know-how val- the brand curates for all to see. Total PV of Cash Flow $53,018,523 ue that the company Allocation of Value to will charge to license Future of Cannabis Branding Trademark/Brand Bundle 10% this IP is based on the A total of 12 states have fully legalized canValue of Cannabis Corp’s Trademark/Brand Bundle $5,301,852 time, labor, and oth- nabis while 21 states have legalized cannabis er inputs necessary to for medicinal purposes. The outlook for the etary IP, and one whose licensing program is maintain the system on an annual basis for the cannabis market is promising, as large nationjust getting started. The company wants to remainder of its useful life. We apply the an- al companies, such a Molson Coors Brewing license the IP within each bundle to companual IP costs to the entirety of its useful life, Company, continually test the waters with ponies in Colorado and California. Figure 3 In order to in this case just five years, and then discount tential cannabis infused products. Growth will value the company’s two bundles of IP, we Trade Secret/Know-How Valuation - Cost Approachthose annual amounts back to a present valbe on all fronts, from branding to manufacmust first consider the different Standard Value of $1,573,347. Although trade secrets and turing to growing (i.e. cultivation, soil, lights, Annualised Cost uation Methodologies: the income approach, Software $110,000 technical know-how are significantly import- and operating procedures). Additionally, Facilities the market approach, and the cost approach. $115,000 ant for the development of cannabis products, merger and acquisition activity will continue Data Management $105,000 Lab Testing $80,000 consumers generally make purchasing deci- to increase as more multinational players enter CRM $40,000 Valuing the Trademark/Brand Bundle sions based on brand name and the qualities this exponentially growing industry. To determine the value of Cannabis Corpo-$450,000 Annual Trade Secret/Know-How Value associated with that brand. Over the next decade, as cannabis legalization ration’s trademark/brand bundle, we relied on Figure 2 becomes more widespread, and perhaps fedthe income approach to calculate the present Trademark/Brand Vundle Valuation - Income Approach Brand Development and Social Media erally legal, corporations small and large will 2018 2019 2027 value of the hypothetical future cash flows. We Cannabis products have the unique ability to concentrate their branding and licensing efRevenue $30,000,000 $39,480,000 $105,409,542 accomplish this by conducting a discounted x x x offer both an “experience” and a tangible, en- forts to differentiate their products from the 16.6% 16.6% 16.6% cash flow (“DCF”) analysis, which estimates EBIT Margin joyable product. There arex two distinct types competition. Consumers can expect a major x x the value of an investment based on its future EBIT $4,980,000 $6,553,680 $17,497,984 of cannabis: indica and sativa. While indica increase in various types of branded cannabis Figure 1 x x x free cash flows. Discount period midpt 0.50 1.00 9.00 strains are generally calming, sativa strains products resulting from increased brand deParent Company Internally Developed Brands Externally Acquired Brands We project Cannabis Corporation’s revenue Discount factor @ 20.1% 0.91 0.83 0.19 provide more stimulation and are often paired velopment. And with new types of cannabis and profits into the future for Cresco10 years, a Present Value of Free Cash Flowor the $4,544,172 45,456,776products, $3,365,474 with social interactions creative process. an abundance of licensing opportuCresco Reserve Mindy’s standard DCF timeframe. While trademarks Remedi Total PV of Cash(or Flow Each strain a hybrid of$53,018,523 the two) offers a nities follows. essentially have an indefinite lifespan (think AllocationTweed ofpredictable Value to relatively “experience.” The two questions that remain are: 1) where is Canopy Growth Spectrum Therapeutics Doja about how long Coca-Cola has been and Trademark/Brand Bundle Van Der Pop 10% Craftgrow Social media has become a way to curate and licensing headed; and 2) will cannabis brand GeneticsCorp’s Maitri will continue to be around), for the sake of ValueDNA of Cannabis shareTokyo one’sSmoke own experiences with the world. development continue in-house? Nothing in $5,301,852 simplicity we have limited our projections to Trademark/Brand Bundle If branded properly, cannabis has the poten- this world is certain; however, cannabis licensonly 10 years. We then discount those future tial to become a family of lifestyle brands, ing looks poised to generate strong returns as cash flows to the present, and allocate an avembodying similar values and interests for a cannabis popularity continues to grow. Large erage trademark/brand value percentage that wide multigenerational group. Cannabis is a multinational companies are not only investis derived from public company filings during ing in cannabis companies, but also Figure 3 a merger or acquisition where the company examining how to incorporate canplaces a value on its IP. In Figure 2 (above), Trade Secret/Know-How Valuation - Cost Approach nabis into their own products. We is a summary of our trademark/brand bundle Annualised Cost believe that in-house cannabis brand Software $110,000 analysis. Facilities $115,000 development will continue to inData Management $105,000 crease as corporations develop experi$80,000 Valuing the Trade Secret/Technical Know- Lab Testing CRM $40,000 ence in honing and adapting existing How Bundle products and brands to fit consumers’ Annual Trade Secret/Know-How Value $450,000 To value Cannabis Corporation’s trade secret/ evolving lifestyles. technical know-how bundle, we employed Figure 2
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INDIA
Inflection Point for Corporate Brand Licensing in India - An interaction with LicenseWorks What is your background, and what led you to start LicenseWorks? Rishabh: We are professionals turned entrepreneurs. Engineers and MBAs by education, we have worked with leading multinational corporations in various roles across operations, sales and brand management before starting off LicenseWorks. Entrepreneurship was always on our minds; we came across the concept of brand licensing through a common friend and we were fascinated by it. Corporate Brand Licensing was still a nascent domain in India, but with our understanding of the retail ecosystem, we believed this business would have tremendous potential here. Given our industry connections and past professional experience, we felt that the corporate brand licensing business would be a great fit for us, and we jumped right into it. Can you tell us a bit about LicenseWorks’ services? Pranav: LicenseWorks offers a full 360-degree solution to its clients integrating Licensing Strategy Development, Execution and Ongoing Program Management. We strive to create partnerships that are successful over the long term. We are very much involved in managing the partnership even after the license is signed, assisting in approvals, royalty collection, business reviews, resolving issues and ensuring success of these partnerships. Essentially, we work like a local arm of the client’s global licensing team. We are the pioneers of corporate brand licensing services in India and we pride ourselves in our proprietary approach, strong connections and a solid track record. PAGE 64
9 years in business Pioneers of Corporate Brand Licensing in India Expertise in 60+ Product Categories Clients include Stanley Black & Decker, Elle, Thomson, Harvard, Ironman, Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club Only Indian agency in ‘Top 20 Global Licensing Agents’ list 2019 Can you give us an overview of the Indian market? Rishabh: India is the 7th largest economy in the world. Considering India’s 7% GDP growth rate, it is predicted that India will outgrow UK, France, Japan and Germany to become the 3rd largest economy by 2030.A
large part of this growth is expected to be focused on consumption. As people have higher purchasing power, they will consume more goods that they aspire to possess, which could be somewhat expensive for them today. The retail market is expected to grow 4 times from $550B in 2015 to $2.1T in 2025. We expect
Rishabh Singla (left) and Pranav Anand
five large categories to entail a majority of the consumer market- (1) Fashion (2) Food & Beverage (3) Beauty & Personal Care (4) Consumer Technology and (5) Home & Kitchen. With this growth, how are the distribution channels evolving in India? Pranav: Until a few years back, almost 90% of the business in India happened through unorganized retail that largely comprised independent mom-and-pop stores. This made it extremely costly and time consuming for new brands to build their distribution network in India. However, this is changing at a fast pace. In the next 5 years, the contribution of modern retail and online retail is expected to double. With a reach of over 19,000 pin codes in India, most large consumer brands have adopted online distribution.
Thus, new brands can now build a large business outside the general trade network, making their growth faster, cheaper, & more capital efficient. This is great news for brand licensing as new launches can leverage E-commerce to build sizeable and scalable internet-first brands and then expand to other channels gradually. TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
INDIA “We are the pioneers of corporate brand licensing services in India and we pride ourselves in our proprietary approach, strong connections and a sold track record” India has high import duties, how does that impact the brand licensing business? Rishabh: Due to the high import duties on several consumer goods, international brands find it tough to succeed in India via distribution alliances or even by setting up their own subsidiaries if they have to rely on their global sourcing. The Brand Licensing model works very well for international brands looking to enter India, as it helps them overcome this hurdle by allowing the Indian licensee to manufacture or source products best suited to Indian market, at the best possible prices. In addition, Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative has boosted local manufacturing, brought down sourcing costs and spurred innovation which allows new brands to utilize these savings towards brand building activities. Thus, brand licensing can be a far more sustainable Market Entry model for brands looking towards India. Is this the right time for brands to plan their expansion into India? Pranav: Market penetration levels for several goods and services are significantly lower in India than in developed markets. This offers an early-mover advantage for new brand launches. Also, according to the latest ease of doing business rankings, India moved up by 30 places. This indicates that the regulative environment in India is becoming more conducive for launch of new businesses. India’s retail market is expected to more than double over the next 5-7 years. A large part of this growth will be driven by purchases online TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
or purchases which are digitally influenced. It is estimated that 70% of the users who have internet access, go online to make a purchase decision. Thus, new brands can reach out to a large customer set at relatively low costs now. Rising income levels and increased awareness have also resulted in a growing appetite for international brands and better-quality, premium products. All these factors make the Indian market very conducive for expansion of new brands. What is the current status of corporate brand licensing in India? Rishabh: Corporate brand licensing is still a young concept in India. Until a few years ago, most of the licensing activity in India was confined to the likes of cartoon characters on kids’ apparel, stationery etc. however that is changing now. We have invested a considerable amount of time educating the market about corporate brand licensing and its benefits. In fact, in most of the product categories relevant to corporate brands, licensing deals facilitated by our team have been the first ever in India. As more companies are starting to adopt this model, their success stories are encouraging several more potential licensees to explore this model and they are reaching out to us to inquire about the possibilities, which is a great sign. A significant boost in manufacturing capabilities and capacities has also prompted several large companies to think about inorganic growth options like acquiring brands, for distribution within India, or for exports to other markets – and they are starting to appreciate how brand licensing could be a very useful tool
for them to achieve their growth objectives. Given this changing environment and economic landscape, we are quite excited about the opportunity around corporate brand licensing in India. What are your company’s future plans? Pranav: Over the last 9 years, we have built game-changing licensing programs for some of the world’s largest brands. We are totally stoked about using the power of licensing, to scale up businesses for licensees and licensors. Going forward, we will continue to focus on bringing more Western brands into India. Due to inadequate safety and quality regulations in India, Indian consumers do not fully trust local brands. They prefer western brands as they perceive such products are made to a higher standard. Also, owning international brands is considered a matter of prestige. Thus, we believe there is tremendous value in bringing reputed Western brands to India via brand licensing alliances.
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IP PROTECTION
Collaborate to Innovate
Why licensor partners need to prioritise IP protection online
While both parties benefit from the sale of licensed goods, licensees are currently bearing the brunt of online counterfeiting and are calling for greater collaboration, argues Svetlana Ilnitskaya, Principal Analyst at Incopro. Licensed goods are a lucrative pursuit for counterfeiting operations due to the increased level of demand, particularly during high-profile events. The 2019 Women’s Football World Cup was targeted by fast-moving counterfeiting operations, with fake merchandise for the USA widely available on Amazon throughout the tournament. Licensees are therefore requesting increased collaboration with their licensor partner as online infringers continue to damage their brands and associated intellectual property (IP). Some even choose not to partner with licensors that aren’t actively engaged in a brand protection strategy. It is clear that greater collaboration is needed if the problem is to be tackled effectively. Licensors undefended against IP threat Large counterfeiting networks produce fake licensed goods in high volumes, safe in the knowledge that they are unlikely to experience reprisal from licensor brand owners. This is the case for many of the world’s largest licensors who will only put in place IP protection strategies that protect for their largest licensees, and even these are often limited in scope. The scale of the issue can be seen with this year’s Champions League final between Liverpool and Tottenham, where a counterfeit ring was arrested for selling around 2,000 items of fake merchandise close to the venue in Madrid. If you are investing time and resources into obtaining a license, you should have the guarantee from the licensor that your products will be safeguarded from bad actors online. Not only does counterfeiting damage a licensor’s brand and reputation, particularly if a poor-quality counterfeit ends up reaching consumers, but also the established brands owned by the licensees whose goodwill is relied upon to attract new business. PAGE 66
Licensor partners need to encourage better protection Licensees have strong brands of their own to protect. Companies such as Funko, Hasbro and Hot Toys feature their respective logos prominently on their licensed products and lean on their brands heavily on ecommerce sites. It is costly to obtain a license and represents a significant investment. If this is immediately undercut by counterfeiters who haven’t paid to use a brand’s rights, licensees face their efforts being put to waste. That’s why, during negotiations with licensors, licensees should ask two key questions to establish whether they want to do business with the brand: 1.
Do they have an IP or online brand protection solution in place? (If yes, what is their strategy?)
2.
Are they open to the idea of close collaboration involving data sharing and authority to enforce on certain rights owned by the licensor?
If the answer to either of these questions is no, or if the licensor is unwilling to disclose their strategy, it may be worth re-evaluating whether you want to be partnered with a brand that won’t aid you in protecting your investment. Promisingly, there are a growing number of licensees that will refuse to engage with a licensor without an online brand protection strategy in place. Some licensors are resistant to proactively enforcing on counterfeits of licensed goods because they believe the visibility of fakes drives wider brand awareness. But this is a short-sighted view of the problem, limiting the price licensors can levy on their license. It is important to stress to your licensor partner that it is in the interest of both parties to facilitate the enforcement on licensed goods. Through comprehensive online IP and brand protection, large-scale counterfeiters can be
By Svetlana Ilnitskaya
taken down and both licensee and licensor brand equity protected. Licensors will be able to charge more for their rights and will be able to generate increased business from new partners. Licensors and licensees need to collaborate to innovate Once trust is developed, data should be shared between the two parties to allow their legal or brand protection teams to gain an overview of the online threats to their brands. Only with a complete view of the online landscape can licensees and licensors meaningfully reduce infringement. The ability for a licensee to enforce on certain rights owned by a licensor is also hugely beneficial. By passing the responsibility to enforce on licensed goods from an overstretched legal team at a licensor to a dedicated team at the licensee, enforcement efforts can become highly targeted and more effective. Proactive enforcement, enabled by the sharing of data and enforcement responsibility, will allow the licensee to take down large-scale counterfeiting operations, regardless of whether they try to avoid enforcement or even detection by only using a licensor’s trade marks. TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
FEATURE
Luxury Retail
Leading the charge in the physical retail space fight-back
Physical retail space, popular wisdom has it, is staring into the abyss. House of Fraser and Debenhams are amongst the giant names who have recently looked in danger of succumbing to adverse trends in modern consumption, and UK retailers recorded the longest period of falling sales in eight years last month - the longest period for sliding sales since 2011 – with Rain Newton-Smith, Chief Economist at the Confederation of British Industry, commenting: “The sun is clearly not shining on the British high street.” Besides modern consumers’ ability to purchase whatever we want with a click of a mouse and receive it the next day, and while many (without naming any specific fellow media outlets’ names) would rather blame the rain, economic uncertainty is also a major factor: any boost to the retail scene precipitated by the pound’s plummet over the course of the Brexit saga – and think how many of the 30 million visitors the city receives from overseas each year make a beeline for London’s TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
retail zones – has been offset by the blow to consumer confidence amongst residents. And yet, bar some high-profile mishaps - as most readers will know, a couple of weeks back, Barneys New York seemed to be on the brink of bankruptcy – the luxury sector is leading the fightback. To be fair, its customers having more disposable income gives it a huge advantage, but that detracts not a jot from the innovation high-end brands are showing when it comes to remaining impervious to the ravages – be they digital, climatological or political - of our times.
By Nick Scott, Editor-in-Chief, Robb Report UK https://robbreport.co.uk
Take the endlessly congenial denizens of Number 73 Duke Street, for example. Visitors to this illustrious address, a stone’s throw from Oxford Street, can take in the consistently razor-sharp apparel of Manchester-based outerwear specialist Private White V.C. on the ground level, then head downstairs to peruse top-grade British luggage and accessories maker Bennett Winch, before perhaps enjoying a pampering in the capable PAGE 67
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wind in tangible retail’s sails. The re-opening by Bucherer of the largest standalone Rolex boutique in Europe at the foot of London’s most expensive apartment block, One Hyde Park, has provided one of the capital’s most spaces and congenial spaces for the perusal of timepieces, while Roger Dubuis has done an equally impressive job with a much smaller space about a mile to the east in Bond Street. Again, that London club feel was the desired effect – think Vegas suite-style not-so-minibar in the client showroom area – while the
hands of Stefan Avanzato of traditional barbers Avanzato Grooming Lounge. Initially thrown together by accident, the protagonists involved in this happy triumvirate have cooperated from the outset - the barber’s shop waiting room chairs have been redesigned using the same leather that Bennet Winch sources for the bags, for example – and have worked tirelessly to champion their three-fold proposition, and make 73 Duke Street a one-stop-shop where experiences, as well as commodities, await. Thanks to Bennett Winch co-founder Robin Winch’s contacts in the drinks industry, a series of
sponsorships has meant that the basement basement floor now doubles up as a part-time gentleman’s club, as well as event space which has hosted the likes of David Beckham. “Retail is struggling, so I think we have to innovate,” explains Winch. “Having a onestop shop for different things and making it an experience, rather than just a shop visit, is one way of doing that.” An outdoor cigar lounge, meanwhile, is in the offing… Needless to say, given that purchasing a mechanical watch is such a tactile experience, the horological realm is also breathing a fierce
interior design offers witty nods to horology such as display units ensconced within shelving that looks like a giant skeletonised case structure. Isaia’s relatively new boutique on 45 Conduit St, incidentally, is a thrilling space in which to explore Neapolitan menswear at its finest - the phrase “measured flamboyance” sums it up neatly. And it’s not just about sexy spaces. Dunhill CEO Andrew Maag, attributing the brand’s recent 10-year lull in part to aggressive but ill-conceived expansion, has opted for an approach that is more akin to a guided missile than a scatterbomb: bold decisions such as moving the New York boutique from Madison Avenue to increasingly trendy Hudson Yards, on Manhattan’s West Side, have paid dividends. The times, as Dylan once rasped, they are a-changin’. And the luxury sector should be applauded for the sheer energy and rapidity with which they’re adapting to the tides of change.
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FEATURE
BUY YOURSELF
People Don’t Buy Products ... They Buy Better Versions of Themselves
What Apple, Samsung, and Starbucks learned from Pepsi By Zander Nethercutt, media columnist zander@zandercutt.com The year was 1957, and Pepsi — like many of the youth at that time — was dealing with an identity crisis. Despite efforts from marketers, Pepsi was being outsold by its biggest competitor and perpetual market leader — Coke — by a factor just shy of six to one, even as it was selling at half of Coke’s price. It wasn’t the product that was lacking, it was that Pepsi’s brand ethos — indecisive and directionless — was a fragmented shell of what it would need to become to take on Coke. At the time, Coke was unrivaled, having succeeded in convincing the American public that they’d captured everything good and wholesome about American life within the murky confines of a glass bottle. This clear transcendence of the competition was not unlike Apple’s; like devotees react viscerally to a green speech bubble in iMessage, so too was it that, to anyone who embraced the deeply American traits of exceptionalism, community-mindedness, and of course, Santa Claus, consuming anything other than Coke would’ve been considered heresy. In 1963, Pepsi hired a young advertising executive named Alan Pottasch to address the issue. Pottasch’s task was, to put it gently, difficult. He was to reinvigorate a brand competing against one of the most successful of all time, a product that not only outclassed Pepsi in every consumer-driven category, but was also — chemically — nearly identical. And so Pottasch made a decision that would
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later become iconic — as he put it, “…to stop talking about the product, and start talking about the user.” Here is Tim Wu in his book, The Attention Merchants, on the decision: “Pottasch thus conceived of marketing Pepsi without reference to its inherent qualities, focusing instead on an image of the people who bought it, or should be buying it.” For the first time in history, a brand decided to promote the type of user that purchased a product as opposed to the product itself. Beyond that, Pepsi promoted the idea of an entirely new generation, one free from the manipulative, consumerist messages being perpetuated by the mass media. (It was, after all, the 1960s.) This group would come to be known as “The Pepsi Generation.”
would take off.” But his intuition would prove correct. “What you drank said something about who you were. We painted an image of our consumer as active, vital, and young at heart.” Over the next decade, Pepsi — as a result of the Pepsi Generation campaign — gained significant market share on Coke. And while the campaign was revolutionary, the recipe for its success was simple. As Wu points out, “Desire’s most natural endpoint is consumption.” In other words, the campaign simply reimagined what people desired. This generation longed to escape consumerism, and the fact that Pepsi convinced them to do so by embracing it — purchasing a Pepsi, after all, is about as consumerist as it gets — is a testament to the genius of the campaign.
The Pepsi Generation was revolutionary because it was the first time a brand convinced people to purchase their product by focusing on the type of person that doing so made them. No generation before had ever so vocally longed to transcend themselves — to escape the consumerist mindset and achieve truly independent thought — and thus Pepsi’s message, drink our product and do exactly that, reached the perfect group at the perfect moment. In his book, Wu quoted Pottasch on the success of the campaign: “For us to name and claim a whole generation after our product was a rather courageous thing,” Pottasch would later remember, “that we weren’t sure
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FEATURE
Samsung learned this the hard way, dogmatically focusing as they did for the longest time on promoting the features of their products, as opposed to the person you could be by using them. Now they avoid talking about the speed of their processors or the depth of the blacks in their screens because 99% of people don’t care; what they do care about — selfishly — is what they will become — “makers, directors, creators,” in the words of Casey Neistat — if they use a Samsung product. The message? Be like us. The solution? Buy a Samsung. Those who bought in and became a part of the Pepsi generation were searching for a new way to feel, rather than a new beverage to drink. Pepsi’s genius was that it found a way to be both. The profundity of the Pepsi Generation campaign is twofold. First, its success reinvigorated a brand on the verge of being knocked out in an early round by one of the greatest competitors of the 20th century — Coke. Second, even decades later, it is nearly impossible to find a brand that has not used the strategy Pepsi pioneered: selling not a product, but a better version of ourselves. Consider Apple. To be an Apple user — at least in the era of Jobs — was to “think different.” Critics might laugh at that characterization of an Apple user now, given the homogeneity and ubiquity of Apple products, especially among the wealthy. But those critics would miss what Apple didn’t: people don’t buy products because of what those products do, they buy products because of what they can do — or what they imagine they can do — with them. This idea even permeates Apple’s retail strategy. Apple employees will never show you how a product works, rather they will let you use it, forcing you to familiarize yourself with the product, yes, but more importantly, yourself in its presence. A diverse range of product options to choose from, after all, will never be as captivating as a homogenous product that turns you into a superhero — and Apple has the latter in spades.
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Samsung even reworked Pepsi’s initial genius, realizing that it is as powerful to portray the person people aspire to be as it is to portray the person they aspire not to be — in Samsung’s case, the brainwashed Apple user who never makes the switch. The consumer who finally does is the one Samsung shows in their commercial, “Growing Up,” the better version of the “Apple Sheep,” portrayed leaving behind those who foolishly opt for the iPhone, the clearest among them a scowling man with the iPhone X’s trademark “notch” etched into his hairline. The message? Don’t be him. The solution? Buy a Samsung. Samsung’s Growing Up ad. Itis far from just tech companies, though. Adidas and Nike both do it, the former with a similar line of thinking to Samsung’s, and a similar list of influencers. Starbucks does it by crafting beverages like the Unicorn Frappuccino, a drink that famously and unsurprisingly “looks better than it tastes.” While a poorly-flavored but photogenic drink wouldn’t have sold in prior generations, to this generation — our generation — it does. Why? Similar to how Pepsi understood they would never compete with Coke on product alone, Starbucks understands that in 2018, it is less about the drink itself than it is about who the drink makes you — on Instagram, and thus in real life. And regardless of what you think about us millennials — narcissistic, selfish, vain, outspoken — one thing is abundantly clear: as a result of social media and the Internet, our generation is more conscious of how we are perceived — by friends, family,
colleges, jobs, hell, even people we’ve never met — than any other generation, ever. Social media is well-understood to be contributing to identity politics, but I’d argue it’s contributing to something deeper: identity paralysis. This condition is one in which we have a forced awareness of how everything we say and do — even the seemingly inconsequential, like the shoes we wear, or the airline we fly — reflects on us. It follows that our generation would also be uniquely drawn to brands that make us feel how we want to feel about ourselves, even as how we want to feel about ourselves is often nothing more than how we want to be perceived externally. Like Starbucks with the Unicorn Frappuccino, we prioritize external perception over just about everything else. The social media market, where we live now, demands a focus on visible characteristics — which are, by their very nature, external — from designer drinks, yes, but from individuals, too. Given all of this, I propose that analysts routinely overlook how people feel in the context of a brand when considering the value of a company. This “statistic” isn’t discussed on earnings calls and there is no way to measure it on a balance sheet. But perhaps that’s because it has only begun to matter; Pepsi, after all, was the first company in history to market itself by promoting the image of consumer
that drank it, as opposed to the product itself — and that was only 50 years ago. Since then, consumers, aided by social media, have become far more conscious of who they are in the context of the products they use than even Pepsi could’ve imagined. In this society of ultra-conscious consumers, successful brands will be those that make consumers feel the way they want to feel about themselves. TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
DRINKS LICENSING
Drink Up! Beanstalk announces that Pimm’s has partnered with Duerr’s, the oldest family-owned English jam makers, to launch a special edition Strawberry, Tangerine & Mint flavoured preserve perfect at any time. Pimm’s also saw a recent collaboration with POPS, to launch
What’s new in the world of liquor and spirits?
ones. The range demonstrates how gifting can be completely reinvigorated by focusing on trends, and pairing Gordon’s with carefully selected, more premium products such as the Copa glass. Harrogate Tipple, an independent craft distillery which is part owned by renowned master distiller Tom Nichol, will be producing a new officially licensed spirits range inspired by the television phenomenon Downton Abbey. The new Downton Abbey movie is debuting this fall. The official Downton Abbey gin (43% abv) and whisky (40% abv) range will be produced in limited batches for sale in the UK and North America to celebrate the movie release. Nichol, who has created globally famous drinks recipes including Tanqueray Ten, has developed the gin and scotch whisky at the North Yorkshire distillery that is located between the towns of Ripon, York and Harrogate, home to the fictional Downton Abbey Estate.
the world’s first Pimm’s Popsicle. Made with Pimm’s No.1, lemonade, real strawberries and cucumbers, the sorbet-like popsicles are only 32 calories and 4.3% ABV per Pimm’s Popsicle. By extending into the fun and seasonal category that is popsicles, Pimm’s has leveraged its brand into a completely new aisle in the supermarket, bringing a new way to taste the spirit of summer. Also represented by Beanstalk, Gordon’s Gin too partnered with POPS to launch the world’s first Gordon’s Gin & Lime popsicle across the UK. In the gifting sector, Gordon’s continues to grow its Gordon’s Pink gifting by Beams International, a specialist gift supplier since 1997, to complement the release of Gordon’s Pink gin. The product range has successfully created diversity within the existing Gordon’s range, offering the consumer more flavour assortments to enjoy and gift to their loved TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
Silver Screen Bottling Company is one of the premiere licensing, bottling, and distribution companies for the most prized properties in film, television, gaming, music, and sports. After the positive reception from both critics and fans to the first products released from their partnership with CBS bringing the world of Star Trek to life with James T. Kirk Bourbon and Ten-Forward Vodka, Silver Screen Bottling Company continues their journey to Go Boldly with Montgomery Scott Blended Scotch Whisky, named after the famous USS Enterprise engineer, Montgomery Scott, otherwise known as “Scotty”, which was added to the Star Trek spirits collection with overwhelming fanfare. Silver Screen also expanded into the sports market by partnering with the Carolina Panthers and debuting Two States Vodka. This vodka was meant to celebrate
a vodka that was born in the Carolinas and could be enjoyed by any fans of the Panthers even in the off-season. Returning to the film industry, Silver Screen Bottling Company partnered with Lionsgate Studios and intro-
duced the John Wick franchise to the spirits industry with the release of Continental Bourbon. This bourbon aims to smoothly deliver flavor in every sip, just like John Wick would have preferred. Global Brews which is a division of leading entertainment merchandising company, Global Merchandising Services, explores the brand extension opportunities into the beverage market for their iconic portfolio which includes world-renowned music clients such as Iron Maiden, Motörhead and Mötley Crüe, among many others. Global Brews has successfully developed a whole range of alcoholic beverages such as Beers, Vodka, Wine, Gin and Whisky for their clients including Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Slayer, Scorpions and Ghost, selling millions of units around the world. One brand which has had success across multiple different products in this category is Motörhead. Their diversified catalogue of product has included best-selling whiskies, award-winning dark rum and an American Pale Ale produced by UK brewer, Camerons. PAGE 71
SUSTAINABILITY
How Can You Make Headway Towards Sustainability? by Trudi Bishop, Director, Bee Licensing As I write this article the very ‘lungs of the earth’ have been burning for more than three weeks. The Amazon Rainforest is not only home to some of the most diverse eco systems, animal and plant life in the world but they also serve as the earth’s carbon sink providing us with clean air to breathe. Unfortunately it is also valuable land for cultivating soy, logging and beef production resulting in an estimated increase in deforestation and forest fires of 80% compared with 2018. This results in contributing around 9% in global green house gas emissions. Along with the fires, our oceans are filling with plastic and are also acidifying as CO2 levels increase. Our global reliance on fossil fuels – for transportation; of us, our food etc., and for heating and lighting our homes and businesses, and for the production of the wonder product – plastic, are all increasing levels of green house emissions to such a point that we are verging on the world’s ‘tipping point.’ And unlike the TV show, we won’t get a cash prize but we will get food and water shortages, increases in extreme weather such as heat waves, flooding, hurricanes and increases in disease. Unfortunately many of the world’s current politicians are not moving swiftly enough to make the changes needed to turn this emergency around. So its being left to us and some forward thinking companies to begin the change the world needs while we languish in political apathy. In the toy industry, Hasbro is leading the charge by committing to having all their packaging virtually plastic free by 2022. They are already part of TerraCycle’s ‘Toy Recycling Scheme’ in the US helping old, unwanted toys become new items such as chairs or park benches. This commitment is part of a 10yr long journey (thus far) toward a fully sustainable business. But it is not just in toys that we are seeing moves toward more sustainable business management. Ikea is phasing out all single use plastic in its PAGE 72
stores by 2020. They are also reducing their reliance on fossil fuels through a number of actions: investing in wind farms and moving towards using 100% renewable energy. Selling solar panels in a select number of their stores is also being trialled. Further reduction in fossil fuels reliance is their move from virgin plastic to recycled plastic only and have gone as far as investing in their own plastic recycling plant. For their other core household items they are moving toward only sustainably or renewable sourced materials such as wood, cotton and bamboo. In 2018 their furniture was made from 60% renewable, 10% recycled and this is due to increase year on year. Their cafes are adding more vegetarian/vegan options to their menus as it is well documented that if we all moved to a more plant based diet we could reduce our food based carbon footprint by around 50%. Within the food retail industry, Iceland was one of the first major retailers to publicly announce their commitment to eliminating plastic packaging from their own brand products (by 2023). The pledge has been worthwhile not just in their reduced environmental impact but has improved their brand’s reputation with both the media and consumers. Before rolling out changes in the supply chain Iceland went for the quick wins in plastic reduction starting at their HQ. The first step was replacing plastic bottles in vending machines with glass or cans, removing disposable coffee cups from the in house Costa coffee shop, giving all staff an aluminium water bottle and removing the plastic cups from the water dispensers. These changes saved 12,000 bottles, 91,000 coffee cups and 124,000 plastic cups from going to landfill in the first year alone. It also has had a positive impact within the company improving employee engagement and showing they are truly committed to the cause. After HQ, the next step is the stores where all 5p plastic bags were removed and replaced with ‘bags for life’ made from post consumer plastic waste or consumers could purchase wo-
ven bags. This removed almost 3000 tonnes of plastic waste annually. They are also trialling a plastic bottle return scheme where consumers get a 10p voucher for every bottle returned. In six months at the 4 stores and HQ more than 300,000 bottles have been returned. They plan on rolling the scheme out to more stores in 2019. Iceland’s own brand product range is now well on its way to being plastic free having removed 600+tonnes of plastic waste from egg packaging alone. New products such as their plastic free chewing gum by ‘Simply Gum’ and developing compostable packaging have proven to be great successes for the company. Collaboration with suppliers has also been key for their initial success and continued commitment. The work on their own brand range is also having a ripple effect within the industry with more supermarkets working toward plastic free goals. Under a new CEO, Unilever has a Sustainable Living Plan, engaging its 100,000+ employees to create it. The core component in this is that all companies under the USLP must be purpose led – both from an environmental and social point. The dedication to the plan is so strong that they’ve committed to selling off brands that hurt the environment or society even if they are strong performers. This approach has proved successful, as their sustainable living brands have brought in around 75% growth for the company in 2018 showing that brands with purpose grow. Sky, like Unilever used employee engagement to meet its 2020 single use plastic reduction plan throughout all aspects of the business. By educating employees on the need for urgency showing them they are part of the solution not the problem. Through streamlining their waste management they have been able to achieve plastic reduction in a cost-neutral way. These companies show having a sustainable business model needn’t be costly but can be beneficial to the whole company. trudi@beelicensing.com TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
COCA-COLA
Expanding One of the Best-Known Brands on the Planet Coca-Cola is one of the best-known brands on the planet, with a rich history and global recognition. Total Brand Licensing spoke to Kate Dwyer, Senior Group Director, Global Licensing at The Coca-Cola Company about the new and innovative approach to licensing that the brand giant is undertaking. “We have new growth strategies in place, and the most important approach for us is to look through the consumer lens – what do consumers actually want?” Kate explains how Coca-Cola are diversifying into new areas. Fashion, of course, has always been a top priority for the brand, but latest extensions have seen beauty products including lip balm, OPI nail polish and the functional beauty arena. In the Coca-Cola signature red, of course. “Coca-Cola has always seen great success in the fashion business. Around 60% of our licensed business is fashion! Coke is now a reputable fashion player across multiple tiers, from high to low, runway to street. However, Coca-Cola has 20 billion-dollar brands in the portfolio,” Kate continues. “Those include Fanta, Sprite and Minute Maid – all of which have robust licensing programs of their own.” “In fact, Coca-Cola is really focusing on these key items for our overall licensing arc, and the company is mapping which brand is best suit-
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ed to each category. We are seeing an expansion into food and licensed retail.” Kate goes on to talk about the message behind Coca-Cola. “In a time when we have seen a movement towards nationalism, and troubled political and social times, Coca-Cola is a symbol for inclusivity, coming together. The global youth-style audience also wants to wear fashion brands that embrace inclusivity and diversity, and our June collaboration with Japanese label Facetasm epitomized that.” Kith recently reprised their partnership with the brand for the fourth time to create a co-branded collection that channels a vintage inspiration through a modern lens.
Over the last four years, Kith and Coke have traveled together to Miami, Aspen, the Hamptons, and Malibu before finding their latest home in Hawaii. This 105-piece collection is comprised of men’s and women’s apparel styles that draw inspiration from the Coca-Cola archives fused with the island lifestyle of Hawaii. Kate also talked about the environmental mission that Coca-Cola is undertaking. “The ‘World Without Waste’ initiative is really our umbrella term for sustainability across our brands and products. We put more water back into the world than we take out, many of our products now use recyclable materials, and we use this strategy to help educate our partners to create a global ethos. We all have to be in it together. “There is certainly the comfort of nostalgia and reliability in the brand, and really the consumer connection is invaluable. In times of strife, people turn to the brands that they love – we have seen a ten percent increase in
business in the last year alone.” How does Coca-Cola connect with consumers all over the world? “We have seen a huge increase in our activities around the world. As we know, immersion in the brand we love is invaluable, and we have applied this all over the place, from pop-up shops in Japan, to handing out beverages in Primark and Forever 21, events in Brazil and Malaysia. It’s all about resonating with the consumers and understanding what they want, in different areas around the world.” Kate gives an example of a product unique to China. “There was a fantastic product developed in China. Often in the big cities there is limited parking, so our partners developed a device which sits on the dashboard of your car. If you have had to double park, thus blocking someone in, your cell phone number is on the device so the person you’ve blocked in can call you and ask you to move your car! We thought this was very innovative, and a great illustration of how localised some of the product campaigns can be.” How does Coca-Cola keep the brand strategy and ethos with so many different countries and territories to work with? “We work with wonderful partners in some regions, and in other regions we have an inhouse team. The global policy really isn’t hard to implement, as we work with best-in-class people and we undertake a lot of due diligence with all partners, both existing and potential. We are extremely confident in one hundred per cent compliance.” Kate outlines some of the markets that the company is keen to grow their brands in. “Some of the most interesting territories to us are India, the Middle East and South Africa. We look forward to expanding our licensing programs in these countries. “As we think about our total program, we think about how we can drive the brand value, growing the business within licensing. As we look at each of our brands, we look at who the audience is and tailor our licensing plans accordingly.” PAGE 73
BRAND EXPANSION
Don’t Call It Brand ‘Licensing’ How you describe your profession matters mightily... I help brands expand. Imagine you’re standing in front of a room full of chief marketing officers, or CMOs, from the Fortune 1,000. You have one minute. You offer up the following pitch:
all of a sudden all you hear are crickets. The once-pervasive fervor dissolves like a popped balloon. “Licensing?! Isn’t that when you slap our name on a koozie? We’ll get back to you.”
“Everyone here knows the traditional communications playbook: Marketing, public relations, advertising, social media. Some of you may also use product placement and/or spokespeople.
Welcome to my world!
“These are important programs, yet they all share one fatal flaw: Each costs money — a lot of money — and each has a hard-to-prove ROI. “By contrast, what if I told you about a tactic that won’t cost you a cent, but instead will make you money? “There’s more. This tactic isn’t about just the money. It’s really about market share. Do it right, and you’ll broaden your brand, gain new customers, and overtake your competitors. This is truly a case where the sky’s the limit. “Finally, lest you think I’m hawking some get-rich-quick, flash-in-the-pan scheme, consider those who swear by it: This tactic is embraced by the likes of Nokia, Major League Baseball, and Lamborghini, each of which draws on it to rake in billions of dollars a year.
After 20 years brokering relationships between licensors and licensees, I’ve come to the conclusion that “licensing” is the wrong word to describe my industry. It’s too amorphous, too transactional. The term manages to both overplay risks and downplay benefits. In short, this misnomer is costing companies untold opportunity. Let me explain.
It’s Too Amorphous First, the word “licensing” is too amorphous. To cite three quick examples, there are dog licenses, patent licenses, and marriage licenses. Indeed, Google the term “licensing,” and the first result is for a driver’s license. When a word can be stretched so far, it’s impossible
Quick: Check the labels on the shirt you’re wearing right now. If you’re like most people, where this garment was made didn’t factor into your purchasing decision.
By Jeff Lotman Jeff Lotman is the founder and chief executive of Global Icons, an agency that helps clients such as Nokia, Fireball Whisky, Hostess, and Lamborghini expand their brands. He is also the chairman of Fred Segal, an experiential clothing retailer that was established in 1961. Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn, where he comments daily on the use and abuse of brand expansions. for a single definition to pierce the zeitgeist. Making matters worse, the type of licensing I specialize in — brand licensing — is further diluted by its association with its better-known cousin: Celebrity licensing. The
“By this point, 80% of the room is hooked. How could they not be? After all, these are people who don’t blanch at making a multimillion-dollar ad buy — and now they’re being offered the chance to make their department a cash cow rather than a cost center and bring in new customers!! “Then I drop the hammer. I explain that I help companies license their brand — and PAGE 74
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BRAND EXPANSION
difference: Ford is a company that licenses its name to use on pressure washers; Arnold Palmer is an individual who licensed his name to use on iced tea.
Similarly, when Crock-Pot makes meal kits and seasonings that complement its beloved slow cookers, that expands the Crock-Pot lifestyle. It frees the slow-cooker enthusiast from a lot of the food preparation, so she can serve more stew and tell everyone how much she loves making and eating it all week.
And let’s not even get into character licensing — I could write a whole column on the history of Mickey Mouse and New Yorker cartoons. If these distinctions sound esoteric, you’re right. I often say that half my job consists of explaining what I do. Not selling or pitching. Explaining. And the explaining is made harder by a quirk of human nature: no one wants to admit when they don’t understand something, especially when it sounds like something they had heard of.
It’s Too Transactional The second albatross weighing down the word “licensing” is that it sounds too transactional. It suggests a short-term swap, whereas the greatest licenses are long-term, rooted in research, strategy, and controls. Make no mistake about it: The most profitable licensors built their empires judiciously and patiently.
What’s more, the transaction that “licensing” conjures up is one between businesses. Technically, that’s correct: Licensing is a “B2B” program. Yet this imagery suffers from tunnel vision: It spotlights the sausage-making rather than the sausage. It elevates the B2B relationship over the B2C one — i.e., what’s important to the customer. After all, customers don’t really care who’s ultimately manufacturing the product they’re buying. What influences their purchasing decision is far simpler: That a familiar name and logo are front and center, thus delivering the quality and trust to which we’re accustomed. That’s the promise and power of the “brand” part of licensing.
Brand “Expansion” So, these are the problems with “licensing.” Let’s see if we can think of a solution. At first, I was tempted to revive “brand extensions.” This term has the benefit of being established; it boasts its own Wikipedia article and dots headlines in Adweek and HubSpot. Yet “extension” doesn’t fully capture the benefits of licensing. Consider a few examples: Caterpillar is known for construction equipment. It parlays that brand to sell shoes. As a result, when you buy a pair of Cat boots, they’re tough and well made. The people who wear them work construction. And whether they’re using Caterpillar equipment or not, they’re telling everyone that they believe in it. Cat boots are thus a walking ad for Caterpillar earthmoving equipment.
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Last story... Vicks comforts you when you have a cold. Its lozenges soothe you; the smell of VapoRub makes you think of mom. Vicks vaporizers expand that brand. When you’re suffering, why shouldn’t Vicks make the air moist and calming as you’re downing its cough medicine. And since the vaporizer goes all winter, it reminds you all winter what company can soothe you whenever you’re sick. These aren’t just brand extensions. They’re brand expansions. They make brands deeper and customer loyalty stronger. They provide customers with new ways to inhale and internalize their favorite names and images. Indeed, the real opportunity of licensing isn’t the money generated in royalties. It’s about the love affair that’s expanded between customers and their iconic brands.
No More Excuses Licensing is one of the most misunderstood concepts. One reason for the confusion is that it’s not taught in school. You can get a degree in advertising and branding - and even nannying - but not in licensing, which is a $30 billion industry. Another reason is that brand licensing is the new kid on the marketing block: As a modern-day practice, it’s less than 30 years ago. By contrast, public relations is celebrating its 100th birthday. So, it’s not entirely the fault of those that treat “licensing” as repellant. On the other hand, now that we’re talking about “brand extensions,” their excuses hopefully are evaporating.
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SPLiCE
SPLiCE CELEBRATES
Organization reaches its successful 15th year anniversary
The Society of Product Licensors Committed to Excellence, SPLiCE, founded April 26, 2004, celebrated its fifteen year anniversary. SPLiCE reached its successful milestone with relentless dedication. Its vision to improve brand licensing stands strong today. Since 2004, the organization has acted as a thinktank for brand owners. Success stems from the focus on brand and technology licensing practices. An academic platform ensues through design of conversational thought leadership. Kimberly Kociencki, Chief Executive Officer and a founder, stated “As a community of licensors, we’ve always shared best practices to protect, promote and enhance brand integrity. We have benchmarked functions of social & environmental responsibility, product regulatory compliance and quality. Business management, finance, legal benchmarking includes anticounterfeiting and trademark. SPLiCE Member engagement flourishes a kaleidoscope of brand knowledge from over 40 Industries”. SPLiCE benchmark success frames the organizational cornerstones of legal, marketing, and quality. The educational framework remains on functions that impact & influence licensing initiatives. PAGE 76
During its first formative five years, SPLiCE concentrated to objectify brand licensing processes. Paramount to best practices, was to create business metrics. Scorecards tied essentials to a successful licensing program and legitimize its management philosophies. By design, the SPLiCE Licensee Selection Checklist complimented the SPLiCE Licensee Scorecard. The SPLiCE Checklist tool supports a robust dialog with the (potential) licensee. The SPLiCE Scorecard factors the study of brand activation through licensing. Both tools offer an assessment of the licensees’ 360-performance per contract obligations. Areas include performance in Program Administration, Brand Alignment, Sales, Marketing & Advertising, Manufacturing, Environmental Sustainability, Product Integrity, Social Accountability, and International Licensing. From 2009 to 2014, SPLiCE created its Brand Licensing Metrics and Objectives Playbook. The Playbook introduced ways a brand owner can stretch and innovate through licensing. Benchmarking expanded to include technology, social media, and selling licensing internally. Tools, executive briefs and expert thought leader trainings affected monumental program management enhancements. In 2012, the SPLiCE Licensors Summit™ premiered. Hosted as an educational forum, it builds awareness for the licensing industry. The event facilitates collaboration for Licensors & Solution Providers. Together, they understand
business challenges and generate connections. Since 2014, benchmarking exercises expanded. Topics such as Licensing Models, Branded Retail Stores, Royalty Collections, Organizational Structure, eMarketplaces, and Food Licensing were organized. Today, SPLiCE is an active Community of Best Practice. With 70+ Members represent with brand voices of corporate, academia, military, and nonprofit. 61% enjoy 5+ years in membership and 11% are 15 year Members. Over 70% of the Member licensing programs in 2018 exceed 15 years. Global brand giants are actively engaged within SPLiCE. “We have witnessed colleagues commence, flourish and retire as successful licensing executives. Over 1,000 individuals collaborated within SPLiCE over the years. Our capacity, dynamism and vigor is principal within the industry. We know how to build collaborative communities. Future sights ahead include our fourth annual meeting in London at Member Host Unilever on September 30th. Our inaugural cooperation with the China Licensing Federation, Shanghai Licensing Expo, will occur this October,” stated Ms. Kociencki. SPLiCE HQ maintain offices in sunny Buffalo, New York, USA. For more information please visit www. SPLiCElicensing.com or contact Kimberly at kimberly@SPLiCEonline.com.
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INFORMATION
The Useful Page... INDEX OF ADVERTISERS Blueprint .................................................................................................................... 63 Brenda Manley ............................................................................................................ 32 Chelsea FC ............................................................................................................ 26, 27 Discovery ...................................................................................................................... 9 Electrolux ................................................................................................................... 13 Howard Robinson ....................................................................................................... 31 Iconix ............................................................................................................................ 7 Juventus ........................................................................................................................ 1 LicenseWorks ................................................................................................................ 5 Licensing International ............................................................................................... 77 Pink Key Licensing ..................................................................................................... 80 Science Museum ......................................................................................................... 59 Smiley ......................................................................................................................... 43 Tempting Brands ...................................................................................................... 2, 3 V&A ............................................................................................................................ 11 Van Gogh Museum ..................................................................................................... 10 West Ham FC .............................................................................................................. 25
UPCOMING SHOWS & EXHIBITIONS Brand Licensing Europe 1 – 3 Oct www.brandlicensing.eu
Pitti Bimbo 16 - 18 January www.pittimmagine.com
MIP Junior 12 – 13 Oct www.mipcom.com/mipjunior
Sports, Tailgate & Licensing Show 16 - 18 Jan www.sportstailgateshow.com
MIPCOM 14 – 17 Oct www.mipcom.com Frankfurt Book Fair 16 – 20 Oct www.buchmesse.de China Licensing Expo 16 – 18 Oct www.chinalicensingexpo.com/en/ Sports Merchandising & Licensing Show 18 Nov www.sportsmerchandiseandlicensingshows.com Hong Kong International Licensing Show 6 - 8 Jan 2020 www.hktdc.com/fair.hklicensingshow-en
Maison et Objet 17 - 21 Jan www.maison-objet.com Nuremberg Toy Fair 29 Jan - 2 Feb www.spielwarenmesse.de Magic 5 - 7 Feb www.ubmfashion.com Licensing World Russia 11 - 13 Feb www.licensingworld.ru New York Toy Fair 22 - 25 Feb www.toyfairny.com
Pitty Uomo 7 - 10 January www.pittimmagine.com
London Book Fair 10 - 12 March www.londonbookfair.co.uk
Atlanta Gift & Home Furnishings Market 14 - 21 January www.americasmart.com
International Housewares & Homewares Show 14 - 17 March www.housewares.org/show
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Did you know…? To go with our Museum and Heritage feature, here are some little known facts... There are more museums in the U.S. than there are Starbucks and McDonald’s combined. The Museum of Endangered Sounds exists to allow streaming of once popular technological sounds. ie. the dial-up tone, ICQ chat tone, Windows 95 startup. President Garfield’s assassin chose an ivory-handled gun over a similar woodenhandled model because he knew it would look better in a museum exhibit. In 2016, a 91-year-old woman filled out a crossword that turned out to be $116k artwork in a German museum. The camera that recorded the only known footage of the first plane strike on 9/11 is now in the Smithsonian Museum. There is a museum in Croatia named “Froggyland” which is entirely composed of over 500 stuffed Frogs in human positions. A snail spent years glued to a card in the British Museum before they realized it was alive. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum displayed Wonder Woman’s invisible jet for one day only: April 1, 2015. The largest art heist in history was completed in 1990 at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, totaling 13 paintings worth $500 million. Not only is there a full taxidermied whale in a Swedish museum, but a couple was once caught having sex inside. Japan has a museum devoted entirely to rocks that look like faces. There are over 1,700 rocks on display, and they include rocks that look like E.T. and Elvis Presley. TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
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