The beauty segment has been one of the most active for inbound licensing and especially collaboration deals over the past several years, with the pace picking up during the pandemic. The category is seen as a prime opportunity for celebrities, classic characters, films and TV series, museums, corporate brands, and IP from virtually every other […]
Archive | Corporate brands
Competitive Advantage
Thanks at least in part to the rise in board games’ popularity during the pandemic, corporate and fashion marketers have gravitated to this category. Several have recently created limited-edition board game releases as a means to promote their brands: Vivetta Ponti, an emerging Italian designer, paired with Mattel’s new collaborations platform, Mattel Creations, for a […]
Eating Out, At Home
The challenges faced by restaurants during COVID-19, especially those that do not have strong take-out, curbside, or delivery infrastructures in place, have been well-documented. Perhaps that is why there has been a flurry of announcements about new retail brand extensions—most often in the form of licensing deals—into the food and beverage category in the past […]
A Weapon in the Chicken Sandwich Wars
Quick-service restaurants specializing in fried chicken, not to mention other fast-food chains including hamburger, taco, and pizza specialists, have introduced chicken sandwiches to great fanfare over the past couple of years, leading to the current so-called “chicken sandwich wars.” Experts trace the start of the war to a skirmish between an early Popeyes sandwich and […]
Gig-Economy Opportunities
The use of so-called “gig economy” businesses, such as food-delivery providers, ride-hailing services, and online travel-rental marketplaces, has been increasing significantly over the past several years, with use of food-delivery brands growing even more exponentially during COVID-19. The rising popularity of this business model has led to a more competitive landscape and a need for […]
A Toast to Beer-Branded Foods
Hard liquor labels tend to get most of the attention when it comes to the extension of alcohol trademarks into food categories. Examples include brands of cognac (Courvoisier licensed into truffles), bourbon (Jim Beam into potato chips), and liqueur (Bailey’s into bakery goods). But some of the big names in beer have also been increasingly […]
A Sweet Way to Stay Strong
Sugary comfort foods meet hardcore health and wellness in a handful of recent deals involving sweet-treat brands being licensed for protein powders: Just last week, Hostess Brands teamed with Bodybuilding.com for Remix Nutrition protein powders in Hostess Twinkies and Hostess Chocolate CupCakes flavors. Additional Hostess snack cake varieties may be added to the line of […]
Learning Through Travel
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 […]
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. […]