Three U.K. greeting card brands have recently taken steps to expand their presence in the market by forging representation agreements with licensing agents to help them facilitate their move into additional product categories or regions:
- Brilliantly Brave, a new greeting card publisher whose mission is to promote good mental health, both through its messaging and by donating its profits to community mental health programs, is working with agency This Is Iris, in a deal announced this month. Categories planned include calendars, stationery, and home goods, among others. The founders of Brilliantly Brave are also behind the greeting card brand I Like Birds, which has had an active licensing program over the years, with licensees ranging from Portico Designs for calendars to Opticaid for reading glasses, cases, and accessories.
- Studio Blom, a collection of greeting cards from publisher Pigment, retained Lisle Licensing as its agent in March. The brand is known for its brightly colored, eclectic, boldly lettered, and positively messaged designs. Its cards are sold in U.K. grocers, bookshops, independent shops, and other retailers. Widdop & Co. became the first licensee to be signed, for gifts, home décor, home fragrance, dinner- and drinkware, and crafting kits, with the inaugural products hitting the market in August.
- Crumble & Core, a brand of greeting cards, stationery, candles, ceramics, gift wrap, and prints, many featuring the watercolors of co-founder Jilly Mercer, signed Active Merchandising as its agent for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg in December 2023. The company’s core products are distributed in the Benelux market through The Art Group, which recently extended its deal with the brand. Crumble & Core has a licensing program centered in its home market, with licensees including recently signed Ravensburger for puzzles, among others. Active Merchandising is focusing on the stationery, home furnishings, and gifting categories in its territories.
These brands are just three of many IP owners with origins in the British greeting card industry that are overseeing licensing programs, with examples ranging from UK Greetings and its Boofle brand to Carte Blanche Greetings and its Me to You property, among others.
The U.K. greeting card industry—like that in the U.S. and around the world—is facing some significant challenges, including a difficult overall retail landscape, struggles among some high street greeting card specialist chains, changing consumer behavior when it comes to the sale and purchase of cards in an era of social media communication, and rising prices, both for cards and postage. Outbound licensing is one way for greeting card companies to strengthen their market position, by expanding awareness of their brand names, diversifying their product mix, and bringing in additional revenue streams.
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