Plush bouquets are an increasingly popular gift for Valentine’s Day—as well as for Mother’s Day and other gift-giving occasions—and character/entertainment licensing plays a role in the sector. The product consists of plush figures assembled in a plush wrapper, like a bouquet. Some of the plush items are specially designed to combine character likenesses with flower […]
Game-Changing Gear for Girls
Women’s professional sports have large contingents of young female fans who look up to the athletes and often aspire to turn pro themselves one day. In fact, part of the mission of women’s sports leagues is typically to bring young girls into the sports community as players and fans, as well as to support and […]
Museums Exhibit a Knack for Licensing
Art museums around the world are expanding their licensing efforts, continuing a trend that has intensified over the past several years. Licensed products and experiences can be a way to raise awareness by bringing museums’ brands and artwork into new places, generate ancillary revenue that helps keep the institution open and support its mission, and […]
Elevating the Fast-Food Drink Selection
Quick-service restaurants have long been at the forefront when it comes to creating offbeat novelty items to raise visibility for their brands and give something new to their loyal customers. One of the latest trends may also be one of the most unexpected: The pairing of fast food with wine. Such collaborations make a PR […]
Leaning to the Right
A handful of conservative women in the U.S. who are pundits or otherwise famously politically right-leaning have launched merchandise collections in the last year. Historically, such celebrities have been viewed as too controversial for most manufacturers and retailers who are aiming their goods at a mainstream market; a few initiatives, mostly limited-edition and targeted at […]
Soccer Clubs Charm Fans with Year of the Snake Designs
As we near the start of this year’s Lunar New Year celebrations on January 29, we take a look at an active area of collaboration tied to the holiday, namely European soccer/football clubs who mark the moment with special jerseys and other apparel designs in partnership with their official jersey licensees or other companies. These […]
Characters Clean Up in Personal Care Category
Skincare, haircare, bodycare, and other personal care products have been an active category for licensing in recent years, across a wide variety of property types. One subsegment that has been a hot spot in the past 12 months is personal care items tied to children’s entertainment and character properties, mostly of the classic or nostalgic […]
Designers Look to the Future
In the past month, three long-established, designer-led fashion and lifestyle labels whose founders are still active have come under new ownership. These types of deals can help solidify the designers’ future legacy and allow for additional near-term expansion, while allowing the founders to continue doing what they love and maintain a say in how the […]
YouTube Drives Toy Sales for All Ages
New licenses signed by major toy companies over the past year illustrate how far the entertainment/character licensing space has transitioned away from its historical reliance on properties with television as a key component of their distribution platform. This is one of the most mainstream of mainstream categories, historically targeting a global market with mass-priced products […]
Hot and Steamy Spin-Offs
Sauna and public bath culture, historically important in places like Finland and Japan, is on the rise globally of late, including in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and China. Most researchers forecast annual growth rates for the global sauna and bath industry of between 3% and 6%, with the U.S. market pegged at the high end […]