The last few months have brought news about the signing of several multi-faceted, multi-year toy deals, both in the U.S. and globally, many involving well-established properties: Spin Master joined the Wizarding World through a deal with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, with plans to produce playthings tied to the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts franchises. Merchandise […]
Archive | Licensing
Culture Club
A number of cultural institutions—the bulk of which have traditionally handled their licensing and product development activities (if any) internally—have signed licensing agents in the past year, with most of the announcements coming since the beginning of the COVID era: The Metropolitan Museum of Art launched a global licensing program, announced in July, with Beanstalk […]
Family Affair
Digital influencers’ content often features supporting appearances by friends and family. Ryan Kaji’s videos include his parents and younger twin sisters, who also have their own spin-off channel, although the Ryan’s World licensing program is focused exclusively on Ryan. Siblings Charli and Dixie d’Amelio and Jake and Logan Paul sometimes play a role in each […]
Mooncakes Rising
Mooncakes are baked goods traditionally eaten during China’s Mid-Autumn Festival, which celebrates the moon and the fall harvest and is one of the most important Chinese festivals each year. Traditionally, mooncakes are round, two to four inches in diameter and up to two inches deep, with a filling commonly made of red bean or lotus […]
Home Sweet Home
Some of the most established names in fashion have recently forged licensing or collaboration deals in the home furnishings category. A few are entering the sector for the first time, others are re-entering the arena after a pause, and still others are expanding their programs. While home goods represent a common category for fashion labels, […]
Basic Training
A number of property owners have announced the launch this fall of branded educational courses, online at the moment, mostly through partnerships with education providers. All are focused on professional training. The timing makes sense given the high number of furloughs and layoffs that have occurred since the start of the pandemic. Many adults want […]
Wine Pairings
One product category that has flourished during the pandemic is alcoholic beverages, including wine. From early March through mid-September, wine sales grew 19.3% in volume and 24.7% in dollar sales compared to the same period the previous year, according to Nielsen. A number of new licensed and collaborative wines, some limited editions and others under […]
For China’s Eyes Only
For some time, licensors ranging from luxury and sportswear labels to owners of character and sports IP have been developing their brands in China. Many have started to see some success there. In fact, a growing number identify the territory as one of their fastest rising in terms of merchandise sales. As a result, an […]
Reexamining Contract Terms
One of the themes noted across all four weeks of the Festival of Licensing, organized by Informa Markets in partnership with Licensing International, was the need to restructure and rethink the terms of licensing contracts, both new and existing, as a prerequisite for success of a licensed product line. Some of the configurations that were […]
Opening Moves
By Karen Raugust on November 5, 2020 in Design and content themes, Interactive gaming, Licensing, Sports
Interest in chess has been on the rise for the past five years, but it has really been experiencing a pop-culture moment this year, especially since the pandemic began. Some of the indications: Chess as esport. All told, viewers on Twitch, the video game-centric streaming service, have watched more than 43 million hours of chess […]