With Black Friday coming up next week, it seems like a good time to take a look at what’s up with some of the key Christmas-themed licenses whose annual prime time is just beginning. These evergreen properties expand their reach each year, increasingly extending well beyond traditional holiday-centric categories. A few recent examples: • Universal […]
Archive | Licensing
The Company They Keep
A number of recent collaborations touching lifestyle categories such as apparel, footwear, and cosmetics have highlighted capsule collections inspired or designed by groups of celebrities. The initiatives, which integrate anywhere from three to six personalities simultaneously, tend to be mainly promotional in nature, but have a merchandise component as well. In recent months: Adidas premiered […]
Playing to the Preschool Crowd
By Karen Raugust on November 8, 2018 in Character/Entertainment, Demographic groups, Experiential licensing, Licensing
The landscape of experiential licensing and promotions has diversified over the years, with licensors now highlighting their properties through signature hotels, escape room themes, blood drives, and much more, depending on the brand image and/or content associated with the IP. But when it comes to creating experiences for the preschool set, property owners tend to […]
A Good Hair Day
Celebrity hairstylists, through a variety of collaborations and brand-extension initiatives, have gotten out of the salon and onto retail shelves over the past couple of years: Rita Hazan, who already has a range of hair care products in place at HSN and Sephora, retained The Brand Liaison last month as her licensing agent for further […]
The Best Medicine
A number of deals came to light in October that underscore the licensing community’s continued focus on health and wellness. The announcements involve healthy-living initiatives both traditional and non-traditional: Buzzfeed partnered with Macy’s for an exclusive line of 100 millennial-targeted home goods that promote well-being, tied to its Goodful health and wellness brand. Among the […]
Data Protection
With today’s ever-present worries about credit card fraud and identity theft comes a relatively new product category: Protective RFID-blocking wallets, bags, and contactless protector cards. These items are positioned as creating a barrier against RFID skimming, which is when criminals steal information from the increasing number of credit cards, drivers’ licenses, passports, and so on […]
Characters and Clothing Meet in Poland
Collaborations between classic characters and contemporary fashion labels are a global phenomenon. A recent case in point is Poland, where three high-profile examples involving global entertainment properties and local designers or fashion retailers have attracted attention this summer and fall: Two retail chains, Reserved and Sinsay, created clothing collections featuring the Pink Panther, in a […]
Expanding The Indie Comics Universe
Three independent comic book companies have recently announced new brand-extension ventures for their proprietary properties: Dynamite Entertainment said it was launching a high-end giclée art print program to debut in January. The first collectible prints will be based on Dynamite’s Vampirella, with other characters to follow. Dynamite ranks as the seventh largest vendor to comic […]
Credit RuPaul For This Trend
Marketers in the cosmetics industry have recently been forging deals with high-profile drag queens, a celebrity niche that up to now has not had much of a presence in licensing, collaborations, or promotions. Among the examples that have come to light in 2018: Singer and drag artist Trixie Mattel partnered with Sugarpill Cosmetics for exclusive, […]
Unboxing New Kids’ Initiatives
The subscription box and meal kit sectors have undergone a number of challenges in 2018. But boxes for children represent one area that seems to be thriving. Many players in this sector are expanding their product arrays, maintaining strong and growing subscriber bases, and/or attracting continued influxes of investment funding. Meanwhile, new competitors—some formidable—are entering […]