Unusual toothpaste flavors, beyond traditional minty varieties, have proliferated since the mid-2010s, with smaller specialty players driving the trend. Hello Products offers blue raspberry, bubble gum, fresh citrus, lavender vanilla, and more, for example, while Tom’s of Maine sells cucumber aloe, coconut and mango, cinnamon clove, and fennel, to name a few. Whiskey, bacon, wasabi, […]
Archive | International
Soju Raises Spirits Beyond South Korea
Soju, the national drink of South Korea, is growing in popularity outside of its home country, including in North America, as key brands gain wider distribution and the product becomes available more broadly at liquor stores and restaurants around the world. A light, refreshing, somewhat sweet, fermented and distilled spirit, soju ranges from about 10% […]
Anime Is a Hit at Baseball Games
Major League Baseball and its teams, whose 2025 season began late last month, have been increasingly teaming with a variety of Japanese pop-culture properties for products and promotions. Japanese-origin IPs from the worlds of anime, kawaii, videogames, and VTubers are a good fit with the sport in many ways. The league and its teams, especially […]
New Spins On Ancient Artisanal Crafts
By Karen Raugust on March 24, 2025 in Cultural, Design and content themes, DIY/Maker, International, Licensing
The popularity of Japanese culture—anime and manga, kawaii characters, videogames, baseball players, and streetwear brands, to name a few examples—has been expanding globally for years. Lately, a growing number of collaborations involving these IPs, and western IPs as well, have started to integrate nods to traditional Japanese handcrafts and arts in their designs. Most of […]
Soccer Clubs Charm Fans with Year of the Snake Designs
As we near the start of this year’s Lunar New Year celebrations on January 29, we take a look at an active area of collaboration tied to the holiday, namely European soccer/football clubs who mark the moment with special jerseys and other apparel designs in partnership with their official jersey licensees or other companies. These […]
Let’s Get This Party Started
’Tis the season for capsule collections focused on women’s partywear designed for fancy holiday gatherings. The assortments typically include items such as glamorous mini-dresses, slinky floor-length gowns, flowy slacks, fashion-forward sweaters and jackets, spike heels, tuxedo suits, and clutches. They are made from materials such as silk, faux fur, satin, metallics, animal prints, sheer fabrics, […]
Growth is a Piece of Cake for These Bakeries
Bakery chains from Asia—especially South Korea and Taiwan—are quickly expanding on a global scale, including in the U.S. Their combination of Asian and western (typically French) baked delicacies, made on-site daily, along with a range of hand-crafted beverages, appeals to the global Asian diaspora as well as a wide spectrum of western consumers. These shops […]
Opportunities in Africa Accelerate
Brands Licensing Africa 2024, billed as the first-ever licensing trade show on the continent, recently took place in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The event reflects an interest in Africa—as both a licensing market and a source of intellectual property—that has been building slowly for many years. While the North African region and the country of South […]
K-pop Artists and Their Cartoon Mascots
By Karen Raugust on October 24, 2024 in Celebrity, Character/Entertainment, International, Licensing, Music
Many K-pop acts have created cartoon mascots to promote their group and create merchandise to supplement their ongoing group-wide and individual collaborations in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle categories. While this phenomenon has been ongoing since the early 2010s, it has accelerated in the last couple of years. Typically, the singers in the group help develop […]
Asian Retailers Expand Reach
Retail chains from Japan and China that specialize in affordable, stylish merchandise, especially home goods, gifts, and stationery, are expanding quickly on a global scale. Known for their Asian design sensibility—which has become popular worldwide—they turn products over quickly to encourage return visits and give fans new surprises each time. They are often open to […]