High-end hotels are entering the home furnishings realm, creating collections positioned as allowing consumers to treat themselves to the feeling of being in a fine hotel while remaining in the comfort of their own bedrooms and bathrooms. Most often, hotels sell the furniture and home textiles they feature in their guest rooms through their own […]
Archive | Licensing
Two-Sport Athletic Deals
With the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Finals in progress, WWE, the wrestling entertainment brand, announced last week that it was creating an officially licensed legacy championship belt for the winning team. The belt, like those given to winners of wrestling events, highlights the Stanley Cup in the center, where the WWE logo usually resides, […]
A Little Pizzazz on the Pickleball Court
Pickleball, still relatively new on the scene as a mainstream participant sport, continues to grow in popularity with players of all ages. As a result, properties of nearly every type have lent their names, logos, and other assets to pickleball apparel, accessories, footwear, and especially paddles and paddle covers over the past few years. Recently, […]
Fright Night in the Toy and Collectibles Aisle
Scary plush and plush-like characters from the worlds of video games and collectibles are currently having a moment in the licensing business. These properties do not represent a new phenomenon, but their number is currently ramping up, likely due in part to the popularity of the horror genre in general. Most are meant to appeal […]
Medaling in Olympic Fashion
When the 2024 Summer Olympic Games open on July 26, national teams from around the world will be more fashion-forward than ever, as befitting the Games’ location in the fashion capital of Paris, France. A large number of fashion brands, from luxury labels to sportswear companies to streetwear brands, are pairing with national Olympic committees […]
Grabbing a Slice of Licensed Product Sales
Earlier this month, Domino’s retained Brand Central as its agent for brand-extension licensing, joining a handful of other pizza restaurants with outbound licensing programs. Overall, relatively few of the leading players in this sector are actively involved in lending their names to retail foods and other consumer products, at least in a significant way. This […]
Joining the Fight Club
Two toy-industry deals announced this month, for the fighting franchises WWE and UFC, respectively, are the latest of a number of agreements in this space to launch over the last couple of years. In addition to the loyal family audience attracted to the leading properties, fighting-related IPs offer a clear play pattern that makes them […]
Bringing Home (and Keeping) the Bacon
Over the last few years, licensed properties are increasingly playing a central role in programs that teach financial literacy to adults and children. The IPs are a way to not only raise awareness for these promotions, but to make the subject matter more accessible, interesting, and fun. Recent initiatives, mostly featuring characters or celebrities, take […]
Welcome To Summer
Summer is here, and so are announcements of summer-specific licensed and collaborative products for use at the beach or pool (or in the back yard). These represent an evergreen category, with new offerings across an increasingly varied range of properties coming to light each year. But the IPs that make the most sense are those […]
Science of Reading Spurs Focus on Phonics
In the hopes that all U.S. children will be able to read at grade level by their third year in school, educators have turned to instruction rooted in “the science of reading (SoR).” This is a body of research about how children learn to read that emphasizes phonics and phonemic awareness along with fluency, vocabulary, […]