Licensing Is No Joke

Many of the top-ranking influencers on YouTube, Instagram, and other platforms, as ranked by sheer numbers of followers, specialize in comedic sketches, observations about their daily lives, pranks, and similar content.

A few of the social media stars of this sort have fairly broad licensing programs. Jake Paul, represented by Brand Central since 2017, is the focus of a traditional, multi-partner licensing program, for example. He announced this spring that he has contracts with Bioworld for accessories, Brandable for toys and games, Brown Trout for calendars, Just Funky for drinkware and blankets, Just Toys for collectibles, Kalan for novelties, Sprayground for backpacks, and Trends International for stationery.

Most comedic influencers’ merchandise activities tend to be more limited, however, and are often achieved through means other than pure licensing:

• Proprietary brands and e-commerce sites. E-comedians’ signature products tend to be available primarily through online shops on entrepreneur-centric platforms such as District Lines, personalization sites such as RedBubble, or their own branded websites. Felix Kjellberg (PewDiePie), who has also authorized a few licensed products, such as a gaming chair from Clutch Chairz, co-founded a fashion brand called Tzuki with Italian influencer Marzia Bisognin. Logan Paul heads up his own brand of young men’s and women’s apparel, Maverick by Logan Paul, sold via e-commerce. And Shane Dawson offers t-shirts and other products through Merch by Amazon and Merch Collab by Amazon.
• Collaborations. Tyler Oakley has partnered with Warby Parker on a collection of three eyewear styles in a range of colors; Oakley’s signature look involves a rotating assortment of fashionable glasses.
• Group licensing and collaboration deals. Back in 2015, Aeropostale paired with Nash Grier, Hayes Grier, Cameron Dallas, and Carter Reynolds for United XXVI, an early fashion collaboration involving social media celebrities. Jazwares has gathered a number of social media influencers from the world of gaming, including comedic stars such as Daniel Middleton (DanTDM) and Jordan Maron (CaptainSparklez), under the Tube Heroes brand. Team 10, co-founded by Jake Paul, is a social media incubator and management company whose members co-create and distribute videos and work together on commercial ventures; Brand Central represents the team for licensing.
• Publishing. Comedic influencers such as Lele Pons have written novels, while Rhett and Link (who recently announced a promotional partnership with Hasbro), Shane Dawson, Connor Franta, Dan and Phil, and others have released nonfiction titles. In fact, books tend to be comedic influencers’ first—and, for some, the only—extension into physical products. Meanwhile, comedy duo Smosh (Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla) paired with Dynamite Entertainment for a series of six comic books published in 2016 in a variety of formats.

Despite the fact that comedian-influencers such as the ones listed here have huge and loyal fan bases, there are two main reasons they tend to oversee more limited and less licensing-centric merchandising efforts than celebrities in other influencer segments, even those with smaller followings.

First, they do not have a thematic specialty that logically lends itself to specific categories of merchandise. Influencers such as LaurDIY (crafting), Michelle Phan (beauty), and Ree Drummond (cooking) have a clear positioning with natural merchandise tie-ins. Many comedians, on the other hand, offer content they sometimes describe as “things I think are funny,” which makes merchandise beyond social expressions a greater stretch.

Second, much of comedic influencers’ content runs toward the edgy and non-PC end of the spectrum, with their popularity driven at least in part by their tendency to flirt with—and sometimes cross the line into—controversy. PewDiePie lost his Maker Channel and Disney relationship after including anti-semitic comments in some posts in 2017, for example, while Logan Paul attracted headlines earlier this year when he filmed and distributed footage of a dead body in a visit to Japan’s Aokigahara “suicide forest.” Both remain popular with their followers and continue to sell their proprietary merchandise brands, but they have scared many traditional licensors and promotional partners away. With comedic influencers, the potential for such behavior is always a risk.

Reminder: Raugust Communications’ next e-newsletter will be distributed tomorrow, July 17, 2018. The Licensing Topic of the Month focuses on shoppable content, while the research spotlight, Datapoint, centers on food-to-food licensing. Subscribe to the free publication here.