Before the COVID-19 pandemic put the travel industry on ice, the practice of pairing licenses with vacation travel services, cruise lines, and other travel-related businesses had been on a long upward trajectory. One sector within that broader trend, illustrated by a recently announced deal between Thrillest and Academic Travel Abroad, consists of packages that put […]
Archive | Corporate brands
Taking Cereal in a New Direction
Since about 2018, cereal companies have been frequently forging inbound licensing deals or other forms of partnership with marketers of sweet snacks, from candy to cookies to ice cream. The result has been a proliferation of breakfast foods such as Nestlé Drumstick cereal from General Mills, Peeps cereal from Kellogg’s, and Hostess Twinkies cereal from […]
Brands Practice Self-Distancing
By Karen Raugust on March 26, 2020 in Branding/marketing, Corporate brands, Design and content themes, Licensing
A number of brands—many of which are involved in licensing in some way—have gotten creative with their logos as a means of stressing the critical importance of self-distancing to curb the spread of COVID-19. These tweaks simultaneously engage the brands’ fans and boost awareness during a difficult time for most businesses. Examples include: Mercado Libre. […]
Baby Bump
By Karen Raugust on March 5, 2020 in Character/Entertainment, Corporate brands, Demographic groups, Licensing, Toys/Games
Branded video platforms for preschoolers have been active in the licensing business of late, especially in the toy segment: Treasure Studio signed Jazwares for a toy line based on the YouTube channel CoComelon. Founded in 2006, the channel has more than 72 million subscribers and 2.5 billion monthly views. The stories and characters seen in […]
Gun Brand Licensing in a Polarized Landscape
By Karen Raugust on October 28, 2019 in Corporate brands, Licensing, Politics/social movements, Sporting goods
Last week, the U.S. government submitted a court filing that assigned responsibility to Academy Sports, a sporting goods discount chain with more than 250 stores in 16 states, for contributing to a church shooting in Texas in 2017. The retailer had sold the shooter the semi-automatic rifle and high-capacity magazine used in the shooting. The […]
Sugar Rush
About a year ago, we wrote about sweet snacks making their way into the cereal category. That trend has intensified since then, with a long list of candy, ice cream, and cookie brands being licensed for breakfast cereals: General Mills debuted Nestlé Drumstick and Honey Maid S’More cereals, as well as Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Crème […]
Corporate Culture
During and after the global recession that began in 2007, the trend in corporate licensing was for branded products to serve as key complements to the core business—true brand extension—rather than falling under the heading of awareness-generation. But the pendulum definitely seems to be swinging back these days, as marketers create merchandise that is primarily […]
A Different Kind of Commute
Some consumers—a growing, albeit still small, number—are considering alternatives to gas-guzzling cars as a means of getting to work. As a result, relevant corporate licensors have been taking a closer look at commuter scooters as a potential brand-extension category. This segment includes high-end and street-legal vehicles such as foot-powered kick scooters, Segway-like personal transportation, electric […]
A Spoonful of Sugar
So much for a healthy breakfast. A trend in the world of licensed and co-branded breakfast foods is to pair cereals with sugary snacks, with each of the big-three cereal makers recently introducing or announcing its own example: Kellogg’s confirmed in August that it would release a Pop Tarts cereal, Pop Tarts Crunch, in 2019. […]
Offline Offerings
Most of the attention when it comes to licensed properties with digital origins—e.g., downloading, streaming, social media—has historically been on influencers, entertainment properties, and games. Add to that list a growing number of brands associated with distribution platforms and lifestyle destinations, which have been proliferating in the licensing and experiential arenas since early 2017. Among […]