Quality Time

While consumers are divided on many issues, one thing on which almost all can agree is that they expect their licensed products to have a level of quality commensurate with the price. Lately, several marketers have been dealing with fan blowback—magnified on social media—because their products or plans, at least according to some of their most vocal fans, do not match this expectation:

• The NHL’s new deal with Fanatics, announced last month, sees the latter replacing Adidas as the league’s official provider of authentic jerseys for 10 years, starting with the 2024-2025 season. This news generated a large number of negative comments from hockey fans, who got on social media to point out and make jokes about Fanatics’ level of quality, which they allege is far lower than Adidas’. While the new line has not been produced yet, they cite past issues connected to other Fanatics products, with printing errors, fabric quality, and less-than-optimal customer support among their complaints. Fanatics has been working with the NHL on other licensed products as well as e-commerce and retail operations for some time, but the authentics program comes with higher expectations. (Fanatics does produce on-field products for other leagues.) The NHL has told sports media outlets that it has confidence in its new partner.

• Taylor Swift’s fans have been on TikTok complaining about the t-shirts and sweatshirts being sold during the singer’s current Eras tour. They say two of the primary items, a $45 cotton t-shirt and $75 hoodie, which come in black-and-white and color versions, tend to fade significantly, and sometimes lose their shape, develop holes, or show bleeding of some of the ink—all after just one wash. While some fans have helpfully offered laundry tips or made jokes, many are upset. Swift’s team issued a “care notice,” telling fans to follow the washing instructions on the label. They also said some fading is normal on the first wash, and explained that the shirts feature a special ink meant to give them a distressed, vintage look. They noted fans with significant fading could contact the singer’s online store to see if they are eligible for a replacement.

• Magic the Gathering has very loyal but also discerning fans that have made their opinions known a number of times over the past couple of years. Last fall, for example, consumers noticed a growing number of mistakes on the cards that are the core element of the game’s play pattern, including wrong fonts, mistaken artist credits, missing or incorrect elements such as tokens, nameplates, and water marks, and the like. Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast, the marketer of the game, attributed the issues to the difficulty of quality control during work-from-home conditions at the start of the pandemic, with cards from that time period just coming on the market. Fans have also complained about increasing prices and too many products being released.

• In 2021, luxury brand Chanel released an $825 advent calendar, a popular category with luxury brands during the holiday season each year. Fans alleged that it incorporated cheap trinkets such as string bracelets and stickers for each day’s surprise gift, offering far too little value for the price. One day’s item was a dust bag that the company typically gives to customers free with purchase, they said. All told, the box, a 100th anniversary product shaped like a Chanel perfume bottle, offered 27 mystery items such as ornaments and miniature beauty products. The company’s response was that the value of the very limited, uniquely designed product was its collectibility and not just in the value of the daily gifts. Dior faced a similar issue with its advent calendar for 2022, which retailed for $3,500 and had at least a few daily gifts with which influencers and fans were not impressed.

• Beauty influencer Jaclyn Hill received criticism from her fans back in 2019, shortly after the launch of her new makeup brand, due to the low quality of her lipstick. Some of the complaints included holes, bumps, and beads, as well as something like hair that covered many of the products (the last later attributed to the gloves worn by the manufacturer’s employees). Hill and her team responded at the time that the problems were not intended and that they were trying to figure out what happened and remedy the issues. They also offered a refund and thanked fans for their feedback.

These situations are a reminder of the importance of quality control, on the part of both licensee and licensor, during the product development and manufacturing process. Due diligence up front can protect a brand from many of these circumstances, although unexpected glitches can still occur. It is also essential to have a plan for quick remediation and fan communication.

It is also worth mentioning that this sort of blowback can happen even when it is largely unwarranted, with a relatively small number of opinionated fans creating a PR issue that still needs to be addressed in a way that the bulk of the product’s consumers feel is timely and authentic.

A reminder that Raugust Communications’ monthly e-newsletter comes out tomorrow, Tuesday, April 18. The Licensing Topic of the Month focuses on retailers’ recent forays into the metaverse and what the licensing business can learn from them. The Datapoint research spotlight examines the importance of direct-to-consumer channels for sales of licensed merchandise. If you do not yet receive this free publication, you can subscribe here.