Archive | Design and content themes

Made by Hand

A number of deals of late have involved limited editions of handcrafted products. The increasing tendency to include handmade products as a component of a licensing program is not a trend that has arisen suddenly. Rather, the strategy has gained strength steadily and rather stealthily over several years. Recent examples cut across a variety of […]

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Collaboration, Not Appropriation

Last month, the wife of Mexico’s president alleged that the Ralph Lauren fashion label had plagiarized a number of designs associated with Mexico’s indigenous Contla and Saltillo communities. The brand said it had thought all such goods had been removed from retail stores a few months earlier, when it had first recognized the issue, and […]

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Supporting the Change of Life

Women undergoing menopause represent one consumer group that has historically been ignored, and the subject seen as taboo. But marketers’ perspective has been changing of late. One indication: Three celebrities have recently announced collaborations and other initiatives specifically focused on this group: This month, actress Naomi Watts announced two deals. First, she is launching a […]

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Eyes on the Sky

Interest in space-themed merchandise remains strong, thanks to a number of factors. In the past year, the inaugural commercial flights of the for-profit space tourism firms Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic, along with frequent news about the International Space Station, have attracted attention. Since early 2020, there has been a pandemic-fueled increase in enthusiasm […]

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Gnome Décor

Gnomes have been an integral part of home décor, and popular culture in general, for decades, always an evergreen presence with waxing and waning popularity over time. Sales are currently in the midst of a long uptrend, with the latest resurgence ongoing since the mid-2010s. Google Trends, which measures interest based on the number of […]

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Food Truck Feast

Food trucks have become ubiquitous on street corners across the U.S. and in some other territories since at least the mid-2010s. As a result, they have emerged as a frequent element within children’s storytelling—including both food-centric and non-food-centric TV shows, books, games, and movies—as well as a common theme in kids’ consumer products, especially toys. […]

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Kids in the Kitchen

Kids’ cooking- and food-themed content continues to proliferate, including in the form of TV shows, social media content, cooking and baking competition shows, and spin-offs of existing children’s IP. Several of these properties have dipped their toes into licensing, consumer products, and promotions, to various degrees. Here’s a sampling of some of the properties and […]

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