Brand Licensing Expo

CAA Hits Hard In The Licensing Arena

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:58:00 -0400

Guest Post by Erin Weinger

Any mention of CAA, the L.A.-based talent agency behemoth known for repping major movie stars including Brad Pitt, Natalie Portman and Bradley Cooper, conjures images of the silver screen (and the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, to which we would love an invite). But the agency has expanded their core business by creating a licensing division devoted to marrying clients with business opportunities that fit their personal brand. And to help get the job done, CAA exhibited at this year’s Licensing International Expo — the entertainment company’s first time officially exhibiting at the show.

According to the company’s licensing booklet, which was on display at their celebrity photo-stamped booth during LX11, beauty and grooming are popular licensing wishes among their clientele, with Eva Mendes interested in fragrances, Dancing With The Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba looking to lend her name to false eyelashes and NBA star Carmello Anthony setting his sights on a men’s grooming line.

Fashion is also in the mix, with Chelsea Handler, Mariah Carey and Olivia Munn wanting to create clothing lines, toddler apparel and lingerie, respectively.

Surprisingly, it isn’t just household names who are in CAA’s stable of licensable lifestyle talent. Quirky, Los Angeles-based perfumer Douglas Little, whose D.L. & Company line of luxury candles are a popular purchase at specialty retailers including Barneys and sell for $100 a pop, is also handled by the agency, and available to lend his name to jewelry, liquor and even Halloween décor. Chip & Pepper denim, popular contemporary boutique Steven Alan and NY Indie label Ruffian are also handled by the CAA division. All three brands have appeared on the pages of glossy style magazines including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and InStyle as being favored by many of the CAA’s talent division clients.

The diversification is an interesting and smart strategy for CAA, as in the case of Jessica Simpson’s $1 billion lifestyle brand has proven, the revenue from licensed products can — and usually do — far outweigh even the heftiest movie star salary.

CAA is notorious for signing only the heaviest hitting talent when it comes to their entertainment roster (in addition to the aforementioned names, Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Aniston and Anne Hathaway are also clients), the agency’s Licensing Division eschews premium names in favor of premium business opportunities.

Case in point: Artist Thomas Kinkade, whose light-filled landscape paintings are a favorite at malls across Middle America and a bane to the existence of fine art collectors, is a CAA Licensing Division client. And for good reason, The Thomas Kinkade Company has seen $4 billion in revenue over the past 15 years, a substantial slice of business that CAA has handled since January, 2011. The company plans on expanding Kinkade’s presence internationally.

And no, this doesn’t mean that you’re any more likely to get CAA super agent Kevin Huvane to watch your YouTube reel. Unless, perhaps, you are a multi-million dollar lifestyle brand in the making. Or you happen to bump into the right person at next year’s LX11.

SeaWorld At Licensing Expo

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:56:00 -0400

Guest Post by Erin Weinger

It isn’t standard fare for a tradeshow to host animals on their exhibition floor. Apparently the Licensing International Expo 2011 was anything but standard.

SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, the Orlando, FL-based company that hosts roughly 23 million visitors throughout 10 U.S. parks each year, turned their booth into a venerable wildlife menagerie, with penguins, and exotic birds among the creatures on display.

Both LX11 exhibitors and attendees packed the company’s booth, and were treated to an up close and personal taste of SeaWorld’s brand at work; the company currently cares for nearly 60,000 animals, 18,000 of which are on the endangered species list.

And that offers licensees quite an extensive library of four-legged, winged and finned talent to choose from when creating their SeaWorld-stamped merchandise mixes.

On the eve of their second showing at Licensing International Expo, we spoke with John Walker, SeaWorld’s Senior Digital Marketing Manager, to find out how the company’s extensive, three year-old licensing program works — animals and all.

LX11 Blog: SeaWorld seems to have an extremely diverse set of goals when it comes to the types of products and opportunities being sought from a licensing standpoint. Can you break down the future of your program?

JW: Our goal is to continue to grow our global consumer products licensing program with corporate partners who share our core values of conservation and education and embrace the way we communicate those values through every product we take to market. SeaWorld works with the world’s leading designers, publishers, manufactures, and entertainment providers in order to produce products that are inspired by nature and represent our commitment to conservation. In the past six months we signed a publishing deal with Andrews McMeel Universal for books and calendars; Sleepy Giant: video games; UNCAS: jewelry; Creative Imaginations: Scrapbooking & Stickers; In Motion Entertainment: DVD’s & Music; and Fathead: Wall decals.

LX11: Growing up, we recall one of our favorite bath toys came courtesy of SeaWorld (true story). What are some specific products in your licensing portfolio that modern-day children seem to be gravitating toward?

JW: While they are all equally important, we are looking to focus establishing new product line focus areas such as apparel, educational products, publishing, gaming, and toys. We are also developing an entire new entity to focus on licensing our 50-year old library of video and imagery content.

LX11: Your booth at Licensing International Expo 2011 was pretty awesome to say the least, and the penguins and birds you had on display seemed to be an incredibly successful draw. Is this the first time you’ve brought animals to the show?

JW: This is our second time bringing our animals and our animal education ambassadors to the Licensing International Expo. However, this year we brought a much larger guest interaction element to our booth with live demonstrations featuring Julie Scardina, who appears for our company on major network talk shows with our animals.

LX11: How do you think having such an interactive booth strategy benefited the success of your show?

JW: Our mission is to celebrate, connect, and care for the natural world we share, through the power of entertainment. So to remain true to our core, bringing our animals – arguably our most valued part of our SeaWorld brand – to the Licensing International Expo is a huge benefit. It’s one thing to just showcase them. For us, we then bring our animal education ambassadors and trainers alongside to share more information to bring our mission statement to life.

LX11: Are you planning on bringing the animals back next year?

JW: Yes, we are planning on bringing our animal ambassadors back to the show next year, in a bigger, more impactful way. So you’ll have to come by next year to see what’s new!

Pan Am Takes off with New TV Series

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:03:29 -0400

When the new series, Pan Am, lands on ABC this fall, the legendary airline and its logo will play a leading role, thanks to a licensing agreement between Pan Am Brands and the show’s producers.

As owner of the intellectual property rights to the original Pan American World Airways, Pan Am Brands offers an exclusive line of Pan Am-inspired luggage and travel accessories.

Pan Am Brands has worked closely with the show’s producers to ensure historical accuracy and image. Former Pan Am employees have offered a wealth of information on the airline’s achievements and history, from major technical advances to details of in-flight services, right down to the china and glassware that made Pan Am’s First Class President’s Special service a legend in the air.

“Our agreement to license the Pan Am name to develop this series, is another important step in developing new marketing and promotional opportunities,” says Stacy Beck, Pan Am Brands director of marketing and corporate development. “The program will bring back the excitement and style of the Jet Age and reinforce the glamour of the Pan Am brand.”

The Pan Am bag is still highly regarded and greatly sought-after by today’s collectors, Beck asserts. Pan Am Brands’ first collection, “The Originals,” is based on this icon, once seen in airports from Rio to Rangoon. Since its launch in 2007, Pan Am Brands has developed a line of over 50 travel bags and accessories, from luggage and carryon bags to watches, passport holders, baggage tags, model planes and tee-shirts.

Customers can choose from the classic flight bag to reinterpretations of the Pan Am logo with bags that are fun and whimsical, elegant and understated, colorful or conservative. Bags are designed to meet most current carry-on standards and to make checking in and passing TSA Security Checks as efficient and secure as possible.

Pan Am Brands is committed to expanding the Pan Am brand through merchandising and licensing agreements and promoting awareness of the airline’s extraordinary history.

Hasbro is releasing its KRE-O brand construction toys in...

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 16:40:25 -0400

Hasbro is releasing its KRE-O brand construction toys in July. With the debut of the Transformers: Dark of the Moon movie from Paramount Pictures this week and the animated series Transformers Prime currently airing on The Hub television network, KRE-O Transformers sets are another exciting new way for kids and fans to experience the iconic Transformers brand this year.

Licensing Expo: Interview with Ubisoft’s Greg Bartoletti at LX11

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 14:05:06 -0400

Jason Schreier:is an NYC-based freelance reporter/editor who writes for Wired.com, the Onion News Network, and a number of other sites and publications. His work has also been featured in Time, CNN, and NPR. He graduated NYU in 2009 (go Violets!) and is a hopeless, yet passionate Jets/Nets fan. You can follow him on twitter@JasonSchreier

Q: First of all, could you tell me a bit about what you guys are doing here?

A: Sure, Ubisoft just finished E3. We’re the third-largest provider of video games in the world. So we had a very successful E3, and this is kind of the next step for us in the licensing arena. Ubisoft wants to be known as an entertainment company, not just a video game company so we’re branching out into all areas of licensing, film, and of course consumer products in terms of t-shirts, toys, accessories, figurines, publishing. So we’re looking forward to meeting new partners here this week. We have appointments scheduled on the half-hour for three days – we’re very excited.

Q: I know you guys have the Ghost Recon brand and Assassin’s Creed – could you tell me a bit about the other brands you have here?

A: Those are core games for us. Our entertainment and dance genres have been very good. Just Dance just reached 14 million units. We have Michael Jackson: The Experience attached to that, and Just Dance for Kids. And then in the shooter format, we’re very excited for next spring, we’ll be launching Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Those are key games for us.

Then there’s Raving Rabbids, kind of an iconic brand for us that does really well in Europe. And our Petz series, which is a caring, nurturing game geared primarily towards girls. We’ll be lasting the MMO, online version in June. At the show here we’re looking to meet with different partners in toy and plush, cause we have an electronic element that will be a part of that game as well.

Q: So for your big brands, like Ghost Recon and Assassin’s Creed, what kind of franchise directions are you looking toward?

A: We’ve got great partners in figurines, so they have toys that are the iconic characters from Assassin’s Creed – and then we have multiple versions, so the 4-inch figurine, then the bigger 7-inch figurine. We’ll also be speaking with a few people to work on a collectors’ series with more of a 12 to 15-inch, higher end. So there’s tremendous interest there, plus apparel, plus accessories, custom controllers, strategy keys.

Q: Great! So is there anything else you’d like to share?

A: We’ll see how today goes, we’re very busy! We also have our European counterparts here, from the French office, which is pretty good and they also have appointments. The Licensing Expo I think has done a good job of bringing in people from all around the world, so we brought our Australian office here as well as our Paris office.

On Saturday, Smurfs fans in 11 cities around the world ...

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 10:50:04 -0400

On Saturday, Smurfs fans in 11 cities around the world celebrated Global Smurfs Day by setting a new Guinness World Records title for the largest gathering of people dressed as smurfs within a 24-hour period in multiple venues.

The worldwide events were organized by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Pictures Animation in anticipation of the release of The Smurfs, which will be released in the US on July 29.

How to Develop and Manage a Successful Brand Licensing Agreement

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 08:05:06 -0400

Understanding the ins and outs of a licensing agreement is absolutely imperative for any brand considering venturing into the licensing playing field. This seminar covered why a brand or compnay would want to license, how to determine if your brand is ready for licensing, and how to make sure the license is successful.

Speakers included:

Brooke Bridges- Associate VP, Business Development and Marketing, Beanstalk
Scott Bannell- VP Corporate Brand management and Licensing, Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. Ron Feinbaum- Senior VP/ General Manager, Consumer Products, Scripps Networks- Home Category

The first question to ask yourself is Why license? What are the benefits?

When done well, licensing benefits all part of the equation.

For a Licensor- it takes a brand and extends it into new categories, new distribution, the ability to reach a new consumer demographic, provides additional revenue streams.
For a Licensee- it expands the product, helps reach new consumers, increases the revenue stream, helps differentiate from competitors.
For the Retailer- it creates a point of difference, creates a destination, gives access to new consumers, offers variety in terms of the assortment strategies.
For the consumer- it is the consumer that is given another opportunity to establish a connection with a brand in a different, new emotional way.

With licensing you are connecting with a consumer in a new way. It is an integral part of the marketing communications strategy; PR, social media, advertising, product placement. Licensing is arguably just as critical in the marketing communication strategy as any of the areas listed here.

The reason for this is that, by definition, licensing is the consumer choosing to live with and adapt to your brand in their lifestyle. It’s not talking at them but it is them self-selecting to engage with your brand in a new way. There is nothing more authentic than that. It is also the only part of the marketing communication mix that pays you back.

Coca Cola is a master of this. All of their strategies- internet, packaging, sponsorship, public relations, product placement, direct mail, even down to their delivery trunks- is integrated and strategic. And that extends to their licensing strategy, as well.

There are several thing to consider when deciding whether your brand is ready for licensing:

Is your brand healthy?
Does it enjoy a high degree of awareness?
Does your brand have relevance beyond your core category? You often find people who are in love with opportunity for their brand but they forget to have a look at the broader spectrum.
Do you have alignment between business and brand strategy?
Are senior level executives behind the idea
Are there adequate resources to support licensing?

Keys to Licensing success:

High brand awareness: consumer trust
The right tools: comprehensive style guide, consumer research, category selection
Operational readiness: corporate commitment, proactive management
Careful license selection: extensive company research, clear criteria for partner selection
Vigilant program development and management: comprehensive training, well-designed products, stringent approval process, zero tolerance, ongoing program evaluation

10 Pitfalls to Avoid when Licensing:

Unrealistic goals for licensing program
Failure to prioritize among objectives
Lack of objectivity in assessing brand strengths
Lack of objectivity in assessing consumer permission
Lack of active involvement and commitment from brand
Failure to conduct licensee due diligence
Lack of contractual protections
Insufficient licensee education
Cursory product approval process
Inadequate systems for program administration and reporting

Disney Publishing Adds Comic App

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:23:26 -0400

Disney Publishing Adds Comic App

The Resident Evil franchise enters 3D gameplay July 1...

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:19:51 -0400

The Resident Evil franchise enters 3D gameplay July 1 with

Resident Evil The Mercenaries 3D

Inside Licensing: Interview with Konami’s Careen Yapp

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:00:06 -0400

Jason Schreier: is an NYC-based freelance reporter/editor who writes for Wired.com, the Onion News Network, and a number of other sites and publications. His work has also been featured in Time, CNN, and NPR. He graduated NYU in 2009 (go Violets!) and is a hopeless, yet passionate Jets/Nets fan. You can follow him on twitter @JasonSchreier

Q: So first of all, could you tell me a little about what Konami is doing here at the show, what your goals are?

A: Well, the number one goal and the reason we have a booth is because we are building merchandising and licensing programs for our brands. A couple of the brands that we’re focusing on this year include

· Metal Gear Solid 3D and Silent Hill.

· Downpour, which are both coming out this fall.

· Pro Evolution Soccer, specifically in the Latin American territories, as it is the number one soccer game in those territories. So really trying to build our merchandising programs is the main goal.

Q: So what kind of brands, what kind of products are you looking at?

A: The traditional categories are very easy for us to obtain, so things like publishing for strategy guides, publishing for graphic novels, accessories, apparel, electronics. But we are also trying to meet with other licensees to see if there’s something a little bit more intriguing to build a merchandising program. What we’d like to do is really take our brand and expand the universe and make sure that the consumer is able to incorporate our brand into their lifestyle.

So for instance, we did a deal for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, for high end apparel which is available online right now. It’s great clothing – you can see this jacket, which [Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima] actually took a picture of himself wearing.

It looks like anything that anybody would wear in Europe, or New York, or Tokyo – but it’s a Metal Gear jacket, and if you look closely you can see small embellishments that reflect the Metal Gear Solid brand. So for us, it’s about providing the apparel with the logos, and the artwork, in addition to expanding that into a lifestyle.

Q: What are the other brands you’re showing here?

A: Castlevania is a big one for us. And Frogger – we have some exciting things happening with the Frogger 30^th Anniversary – you’ll probably be able to see some apparel and accessories. There are lottery tickets available, and other things we haven’t announced yet. The coolest thing – and this is kind of a sidenote – the lottery ticket is actually very large, and it has three little frogs. When you scratch, you see arrows come up and you’re literally playing the game on the lottery ticket. But every once in a while, the arrow makes your frog run into a car or jump in the lake.

Q: Anything else you’d like to share about your successes here so far?

A: The licensing show is an important event for us, not only from a licensing perspective but from an acquisitions perspective, just learning what’s going on in the entertainment industry. I think that having this gaming area is great, having the participation of so many key players in the market is just fantastic – it shows that the video game industry is at a level where not only the consumers love us and pay attention to us, but it’s a great way for retailers and other licensees to understand that this is an important business.

Inside Game Licensing: Interview with Sega’s Cindy Chau

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 10:00:06 -0400

Q: For starters, tell me a little bit about what Sega is doing at the show – what is your purpose for being here?

A: The purpose for doing the show is to really promote Sonic the Hedgehog, the brand/character, it’s going to be his 20^th anniversary coming up on the 23^rd of this month. So it’s really selling branding, 20 years of a really iconic character in the video game industry, celebrating the licensing program we’ve had over the past few years. Back in the 90s he was really a household brand, and he’s expanded across all categories. And to this day we’re still doing amazing things with Sonic the Hedgehog.

We have a great toy program at Toys’R’Us that we’ve also expanded into Walmart and Target. He does outstanding in mass as well as specialty, reaching all age groups – anywhere from 7 to 25 as we get the younger kids playing the games. And then you have the retro properties, which touch the nostalgia, appeal to the older gamers. It does very well.

Q: With Sonic Generations coming out this November, are there big plans for licensing tie-ins?

A: We do have big plans for licensing. We are doing a 20^thanniversary branding across all of our brand games. It started January 2011 and will carry on throughout December. We did tie-ins with our ice cream partner and our toy partner. We also have our home décor partner, the accessory guys and they’ve all been doing fantastic

Q: Is there anything in particular you’re looking to get out of the show – any specific kinds of licensing deals?

A: Increased exposure for Sonic. We’ve had a lot of new pitches and proposals for Sonic so far. Just this whole part of the show was great – lot of exposure, people are reaching out left and right. We’re just rejuvenating the brand for Sonic.

Q: Are you looking to brand any of Sonic’s friends, like Tails and Knuckles et al?

A: Yeah, we have Shadow, Knuckles, Tails does quite well. Our entire cast of characters does just fabulously.

Inside Licensing: Interview with Electronic Arts’ Patrick O'Brien

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:12:00 -0400

Q: So first of all, tell me a little about what EA is doing here at the show?

A: This is our third year at the show and we are meeting with a lot of our existing partners, meeting with potential new partners. There’s been a real growth in interactive entertainment licensing, partly because if you look at the connected nature of our games, and the growth of them, the whole industry is kind of heading towards a blockbuster industry. So you’ll see Battlefield for us is huge, you know Mass Effect, Need for Speed, FIFA, Madden – same with our competitors. As you have fewer and bigger games, the footprint is larger and it sort of lends itself to licensing and you want to be out there providing stuff to people wherever they are.

Q: Could you give me a couple of examples of the types of new licensing deals you’re looking for here?

A: Well, I’d rather give you a couple examples of the ones we’re launching in the fall.

· So we’ve got a really nice deal with Mega brands, doing Need for Speed Megablocks cars and we’re partnering with them, with a number of retailers here and in Europe at the launch of our game, with the launch of our toys to create a significant retail footprint.

· We do a lot in the fanboy animation, novels, comics world – we do a lot of figures deals. A lot of our brands that are the most licensable are things like Mass Effect, set in an alternate universe and so on – and they lend themselves to kinda fanboy collectors.

· And a lot of apparel – we do a lot of online sales (our fans are online) so we’ve got a lot of online deals at Bioware.com, etc. We’re able to market and sell directly to our fans.

Q: When I was at E3 last week, everyone was wearing those N7 brands.

A: The N7 hoodies – it’s the Coach bag for men!

Q: So with something like Madden, how would you license something that’s already a license of something else (the NFL)?

A: Well, we license EA Sports. So we have a whole team here from EA Sports that has entered into licensing in a big way – they have a number of deals that they haven’t announced yet, but that are coming up this summer/fall.

Q: Anything you can hint at?

A: I’ll let them handle that!

Q: No worries! Have you done any licensing with EA Sports already?

A: Yeah, they’ve done peripheral deals, they’ve done apparel deals… they did some kinda educational toys where you’re learning how to hit a baseball, how to play soccer because of the mechanics in the ball or the bat.

Q: Great. Is there anything else you want to share with readers as far as your strategy here at the expo?

A: You know, we’re constantly educating people. We’re finding that even now, interactive is bigger than film, and particularly with social connectivity it’s just getting bigger and bigger. We’re still educating the licensing community on who we are, who our demographic is and why these are attractive licenses. And I think that’s 50% of the reason why we’re here is to constantly enforce what the interactive industry is all about.

Inside Licensing: Interview with Activisons’s Geoff Carroll

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 13:02:00 -0400

Q: Could you tell me a bit about what Activision is doing here – what your goals are at the expo?

A: Activision has been very focused on making great entertainment, great games. We have Call of Duty, we have the Blizzard titles like World of Warcraft, as well as Skylanders, which is our huge kids IP. We also have Guitar Hero and others. We haven’t focused too much on licensing and partnerships, but we think that gaming in particular is now starting to transcend all of entertainment so franchises like Call of Duty are just as relevant for merchandising and licensing as Avatar. So we really wanna build up that part of the business, find partners who share our values, find premium categories, premium merchandise… so that’s why we’re here.

Q: Could you tell me a little bit about the type of licensing you’re looking for, for, say, Call of Duty?

A: Sure, so Call of Duty is obviously a market leader in gaming now, with 30+ million gamers and 8-10 million folks playing on any given night. It’s almost become its own TV network at this point – so how do we find partners who are premium, who could be premium retailers with us, maybe to have innovation design, innovation materials and really just lead in merchandise like we lead in gaming? This is a great place to find all those folks, and we’ve been doing great so far.

Q: Is there any specific type of merchandise you guys are looking at for Call of Duty?

A: We’re looking at every category, but honestly we want only merchandise, only categories that make sense and feel legitimate – feel like Call of Duty. So we’re very careful in looking at all those – I wouldn’t say we have one in particular, but you know, apparel merchandise can be very big for us and we’re looking at all the above.

Q: Is this Activision’s first time at the show?

A: You know, we’ve been here before but this is our first time having this big a presence – having a big 40 by 40 booth and showing people that we’re really serious about licensing.

Case Study: Navigating a Cause Licensing Agreement

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:14:47 -0400

During the 2011 Licensing Expo in Las Vegas last week, one of the hottest topics was Cause Marketing in the licensing industry. The class was put together in order to teach the various models that exist in the for-profit and non-profit worlds when it comes to licensing relationships and their successes and failures.

Speakers included:

Tony Summers, director of Production and Licensing for National Wildlife Federation
Dawn Ciccone, senior director of Brand Licensing for PBS and PBS Kids
John Merrick, founder of Lemur Licensing

Cause Marketing is a partnership between a non-profit and a for-profit formed in order to create a mutual profit. Within cause marketing you have Sponsorships, Promotions, and Licensing.

Here I highlight the various topics that were covered during the seminar:

Why do Brands Implement Cause Marketing?:

For the charity, things like building brand equity and brand awareness, revenue, increased reach, becoming competitive, and brand extension all take center stage.

For the company, it’s about creating an emotional connection with the consumer, increasing market share, and creating incremental lift in sales.

The Effectiveness of Cause Marketing:

According to a Cone Group Study, 85% of consumers have a more positive outlook on brands that embrace cause marketing and 65% would switch to a brand upon learning their involvement. But one might argue whether this can really be viewed as accurate. People often say one thing and do another.

One example was brought up by Dawn Ciccone who called upon an example of a cause marketing effort done with PBS kids and Philosophy skin care. They created a core product that was not in alignment with a cause and the same product that was in alignment with a cause. The core product outsold the cause product. This, they believe, was attributed to the fact that the cause product did cost a bit more and consumers just weren’t willing or able to spend more money, even if it was associated with charitable giving.

But for those consumers who do embrace cause marketing and charitable donation through purchasing, they tend to do so because it truly is an expression of their values and a personal connection with the brand. They feel good about the fact that they can donate through their purchasing power.

Licensing for Non-Profits:

If one piece of advice can be sited when deciding whether a non-profit should align itself with a brand it is to make sure you’re in a space that makes sense for your brand and speaks to your core audience.

Brand fit is extremely important. If you look back at case studies or any unsuccessful licensing done in the past, you will often find that the brand fit just wasn’t there. The company you choose to work with must align with your brand and fit your strengths and weaknesses.

Editor’s Note: While this piece of advice was offered to the Non-Profit side of Cause Marketing, this writer ventures to say that it is completely applicable to the Company side of the partnership. While supporting a deserving cause of any kind is commendable, choosing a cause that compliments your brand and makes sense to your current customer base seems like a smart move.

Choosing the Right Form of Licensing for your Brand:

There are two forms of licensing a brand can choose to focus on: Affiliate Licensing and Endorsement Licensing.

Affiliate Licensing, while powerful, can cause concerns around the revenue of a brand. An example of this is when a credit card company wanted to become an affiliate of PBS. PBS met this with opposition because, as they saw it, if using your credit card made you a supporter of PBS, then why would you ever take out your checkbook and make a separate donation?

The only way to avoid this pitfall is to test it. Create a list of credit card affiliate holders and follow their additional donations. If they’re not donating, then it’s not a good licensing agreement and should be re-evaluated.

The messaging (how you tell the consumer what they are supporting) is very important. Affiliate licensing requires total transparency and brands venturing into the area should be in touch with the Better Business Bureau to fully understand the compliance laws and rules.

Endorsement Licensing, can often be met with opposition on the part of the non-profit. They tend to not like the word “endorsement” , they often don’t like to be seen as “endorsing” anything. But endorsement licensing can be very powerful for the brand that is associated with the non-profit.

There are a lot of brands out there that want to be associates with PBS Kids; simply based on the feeling of trust it gives consumers. That is why PBS kids is extremely careful about any endorsements they may consider.

Sometimes endorsements don’t immediately make sense but upon further consideration, there can be many successful partnerships formed through them. An example is when GreenWorks, a cleaning supply brand, was endorsed by Sierra Club, an environmental non-profit. Yes, cleaning products are bad for the environment but when GreenWorks creates a product that is 99% chemical free doesn’t it make sense, as an environmental cause, to support such efforts?

How Do I Know if My Brand is Right for Licensing?:

Brands need to evaluate by looking inward.

· Do you have enough awareness; do people know who you are?

· Do you tell a story?

· Do you have an emotional connection?

· Does it fit you legal business structure?

· Does senior management “get it”? If not, an education must come first.

· Can you financially support the effort?

· Do you have patience in seeing return? These things take time.

What Makes a Cause Licensing Relationship a Success?

Before anything else, it’s important to set expectations before going into a licensing partnership. Then make sure everyone involved understands their role and responsibilities. Success is measured by whether those roles were filled and those expectations were met and/or exceeded.

Nicole Giordano has an established a career as a social media strategist and brand ambassador for a variety of fashion-based companies. Giordano is the founder and editor of StartUp FASHION, a resource for emerging fashion professionals, as well as NicoleGiordano.com, a textile and accessory blog which concentrates on ethical and slow fashion. You can follow her on Twitter @NicoleMGiordano.

Nate Williams Prints A Hit At Licensing Expo #LX11

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:06:02 -0400

insidefmm:

The dog loving illustrator Nate Williams, has a growing passion for silkscreen printing and hand lettering, which is portrayed in his beautiful art. His inspiration comes from nature’s inventions, unique ideas and foreign cultures.

Some of Williams’ clients include Coca Cola, Converse Shoes, Urban Outfitters, Penguin Group, Microsoft and many more.

For more about Nate Williams.

Some Of The Cutest Toys At The Licensing Expo! #LX11

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 18:55:06 -0400

Get A Look Inside The Paul Frank Mobile

Love Playing Ping Pong With Paul

Angry Birds Products

Who Doesn't Love Angry Birds

Cutest Paul Frank Bike

Julius Is So Adorable

Bratz Does It Right Again

Even Adults Love Nerf Guns

Suzy's Zoo Toys

Fun Things From Zhu Zhu Pets

Some Of The Cutest Toys At The Licensing Expo! #LX11

Action Figures Everywhere at Licensing Expo…#LX11

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:39:14 -0400

Love Transformers

Huge Transformer Character

Anime Action Guys

Going To Be Another Great Success

Cute Character On The Floor

Action Figures Everywhere at Licensing Expo…#LX11

Hasbro Shows The Licensing Show That Their Clothes Are Just As...

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 14:16:56 -0400

Fashion Show Time

Lovin' The Sparkle

Hasbro Shows They Have Style

Love It

The Models Knew How To Work It

Hasbro Shows The Licensing Show That Their Clothes Are Just As Cute As Their Toys!

#LX11

Finnish Textile Make Marimekko Steals The Show at Licensing Expo

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:00:00 -0400

A girl could swoon, Marimekko Textiles took our hearts at Licensing Expo #LX11

Marimekko, the Finnish textile maker whose floral Unikko print is instantly recognizable to design buffs worldwide, isn’t the only iconic floral fabric in town.

While perusing he Licensing International Expo floor, we came across the timeless, upbeat florals of French artist and designer Paule Morret, who began her textile line in 1920 and won the French Legion of Honor in 1952.

Morret’s work is bright, feminine and anything but dainty. And the modern, cheerful work — which was largely influenced by writer Marcel Proust and artist Auguste Renoir — found fans in the likes of Paul Poiret, to whom she once sold a dress design, and Jacqueline Kennedy, who based a room in the White House on one of Marrot’s flowers.

In 1999, Paris-based Paule Marrot Editions SAS began licensing Marrot’s fabric designs, which have since appeared on Anthropologie housewares, limited-edition Nike dunks and decorative trays in the Liberty of London for Target collection.

Paule Marrot Editions SAS president Sebastien Storck says that despite their even merchandise mix of home décor and fashion items, there’s no time like the present to continue expanding Marrot’s presence in the style world.

“We’re talking with many different US based companies, both designer and mainstream,” Storck said of the company’s future in apparel. Though Marrot died in 1987 and most of her work spans the 1920s to the 1970s, her designs fit into fashion’s current affinity for happy, sunny colors and bold, bright patterns. It also doesn’t hurt that Marrot’s innovative styles — including the bestselling Beatrice floral — haven’t yet been plastered on every T-shirt, tote bag and iPhone case around.

“We really want to get into the [apparel] market,” Storck said from his booth on the Licensing International Expo floor. “Her colors, her prints — now just feels like the right time.”

Paule Marrot Editions is at booth 3878 at Licensing International Expo 2011. paulemarrot.com

Photos: 2009 Paule Marrot Nike dunks and dishes and napkins stamped with Marrot’s designs — including Caspari’s Beatrice floral paper napkins.

Post By Erin Weinger

Photos by Kaitlin Mattingly

#LX11: Live Nation Resurrects Kiss Army Brand

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 18:30:00 -0400

Whether you’re more into Gene Simmons’ music or his rabid tongue, Kiss fans are about to have something to celebrate.

According to Mark Stroman of McGhee Entertainment, the legendary band’s L.A.-based management firm, Live Nation is readying to resurrect the Kiss Army brand of fan club merchandise that first appeared in 1975.

Though used to refer to Kiss fans since the mid-70s, the Kiss Army brand didn’t become the band’s official fan club until 1997. And today, Stroman says plans are in the works to create a line of apparel and other merchandise using the classic red and yellow Army logo that has been long recognized by Kiss fans all over the world — including former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who joined the Kiss Army in 2008.

“It won’t just be concert merchandise,” Stroman said from Licensing International Expo 2011. “We’re exploring a more stylized apparel line.”

In addition to the new Kiss Army apparel offerings, Stroman also said that the band also has a goal for the fall: to own Halloween.

The band has entered into an exclusive deal with Spirit Halloween, the seasonal retail concept owned by Spencer Gifts, to promote their line of realistic, Live Nation-sanctioned costumes that allow wearers to channel Gene Simmons, minus his famous mouth candy of course.

Besides for costumes, Kiss’ Halloween collection includes pumpkin-emblazoned T-shirts and yes — coffins.

“We license some weird stuff,” Stroman said. Indeed Kiss-stamped goods include curiosities such as condoms, deodorant and ketchup. “But if it isn’t weird it isn’t for us.”

Post By Erin Weinger