Afternoon teas have been on the rise as a form of licensed experience. They are often tied to properties such as British literary characters and anime, luxury fashion and lifestyle brands, and celebrity chefs and bakers, although other types of IPs are involved as well. Another growing source of inspiration for licensed teas over the […]
Chef-Authored Books Call Kids to the Kitchen
More and more chefs are getting into children’s books, either by signing with publishers or through self-publishing. Some of the titles are focused on cooking and recipes, spurring kids’ interest in the craft; some are autobiographical, meant to inspire, comfort, or help young readers feel included; and some are original fiction with a message. All […]
Shop the Friendly Skies
By Karen Raugust on October 30, 2025 in Branding/marketing, Corporate brands, Experiential licensing, Licensing, Promotion
Airlines have long paired with licensed properties for promotions and merchandise, with initiatives involving elements such as fashion capsules, travel collections, uniforms, in-flight amenities, and/or exterior and interior graphics. Such partnerships have, over time, become more diverse in their execution, and more frequent. A few of many recent examples illustrate some of the airlines’ key […]
Drone On
Drone shows have become a fast-growing experiential category for licensors looking for new ways to engage consumers and promote their properties and initiatives. Not only are drone shows appealing to fans as a relatively new type of experience in their own right, but they are also gaining popularity as an alternative to fireworks, which are […]
Tasty Toothpastes
By Karen Raugust on October 23, 2025 in Corporate brands, Food/Beverage, Health/beauty, International, Licensing
Unusual toothpaste flavors, beyond traditional minty varieties, have proliferated since the mid-2010s, with smaller specialty players driving the trend. Hello Products offers blue raspberry, bubble gum, fresh citrus, lavender vanilla, and more, for example, while Tom’s of Maine sells cucumber aloe, coconut and mango, cinnamon clove, and fennel, to name a few. Whiskey, bacon, wasabi, […]
These Toys Are Works of Art
Toys have long been part of the world of museum licensing — the latter a sector that has, overall, been expanding greatly in recent years — yet they remain a relatively small part of most institutions’ brand-extension efforts. That said, a number of high-profile deals have come to light this year in which leading museums […]
May Your Glass Be Full of Celebrity Cocktail
Celebrities have been lending their names, taste preferences, and sometimes financial backing to the canned cocktail category for at least five years in a noticeable way, and the sector has really been gaining steam in the last year or two. The increase in celebrities’ collaborative offerings has mirrored growth in the ready-to-drink cocktail category in […]
Tunnel-Fit Tie-Ins
The intersection of pro sports and the fashion industry has been strengthening for many years. One aspect of this trend that has been gaining more attention of late is the athletes’ “tunnel fits,” or pre-game outfits. Sports stars are intentional about these pre-game looks, photographers snap the players’ trend-forward outfits as they pass through the […]
True Romantasy
Romance books — and particularly “romantasy” titles, which bring together elements of romance and fantasy — have been rising in popularity since 2021 and currently represent one of the fastest-growing sectors of the publishing industry. U.S. unit sales for romance overall in the first half of 2025 were up 24% compared to the same period in […]
From Wool to Watercolors
Pairings of fashion designers with arts and crafts suppliers have been few and far between, but they do pop up occasionally. Such alliances makes sense, not only because both partners are focused on creative pursuits, but because designers’ sketches of their concepts, prior to any cutting and sewing, are often works of art in and […]