When it comes to adult-skewing lifestyle collaborations with entertainment properties, footwear is a frequent area of focus. Recently, a very small but high-profile handful of in-world footwear initiatives have taken this phenomenon to the next level, attracting significant attention among fans and the media: Red Wing Shoes paired with Nintendo for a real-life version of […]
Archive | Licensing
Grocery Store Chic
Grocery and convenience store chains are the latest group of corporate brands to get into limited-edition branded merchandise drops in a big way. The products seem to be resonating with loyal consumers and, in several cases, lending a cool factor to the brands among young adults. Recent examples include: Aldi. The value grocery retailer next […]
Cutting the Clutter
Last week, de-cluttering expert Marie Kondo, made famous in the U.S. through her Netflix show, Sparking Joy, as well as her four books, announced a collection of home organization products with 3Coins, a discount home store in Kondo’s native Japan. The first category to debut is kitchen storage, including bags for sorting perishables, expandable organizers, […]
Up a Creek Without a Padel
Pickleball has been one of the fastest-rising sports—in participation and licensing interest—in the last couple of years. But another up-and-coming racket sport, padel, is emerging in mainstream popularity and seems to have similar potential to pickleball. Padel, played with four people per team, is described as a cross between tennis and squash. It takes place […]
Painting a Picture
One of the products in the gift shop at this year’s sold-out Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is a licensed plush figure depicting Dick Bruna’s rabbit character Miffy as Vermeer’s The Milkmaid. This is the latest in a small but growing group of collaborations, mostly taking place in Europe or Asia, whose design inspiration […]
The Mainstreaming of Drag-Related Merchandise
Drag performers have been active in collaborations in the cosmetics space in a big way going back at least four or five years—we wrote about the trend in 2018—and to some extent well before that. More recently, they have also been gradually doing deals in an ever-widening swath of categories, including products for children. That […]
Lessons from the NFT Trenches
Even though the NFT market is down in general in terms of value, NFTs can still be an effective means of generating fan loyalty—if they are a good fit with the property and its consumer base, and if they provide those consumers with something they value at a fair price. Achieving the right balance is […]
Coats of Many Colors
Color is one way to differentiate a brand or product line from its competitors, both in its look and in the emotions the signature hues call forth. In the last two years, more and more brands are pairing with the Pantone Color Institute to create unique custom shades for use in product collections: Just this […]
Life of Luxury
The marriage of luxury brands and K-pop stars continues, as global luxury labels strive to solidify their strength in the important Asian market, as well as take advantage of the stars’ worldwide popularity. For the most part, the relationships are pure brand ambassadorships, with the singers posting on social media to their vast followings, appearing […]
Happy Galentine’s Day
Today is Galentine’s Day, a celebration invented by Amy Poehler’s fictional Leslie Knope in season two of the TV series Parks and Recreation, which some marketers and consumers have started observing in real life. It takes place each year on the day before Valentine’s Day and is all about celebrating female friendship. Some of the […]