The hotel and hospitality industry has been an area of interest for licensors of late, with potential opportunities taking many forms:
- Branded hotels. Karl Lagerfeld announced in November that he would launch a chain of luxury hotels, with the first to open in Macau in 2018. He joins fashion labels such as Armani, Missoni, Bulgari, Laura Ashley, Versace, and others that already have one or more branded hotels around the world. Designers are also increasingly decorating signature rooms in hotels, with Diane von Furstenberg, Bottega Veneta, Vivienne Tam, and Christian Dior among many examples.
- Promotional tie-ins. CBeebies is one of the latest character licensors to team with a hotel or resort on a promotional basis, pairing with Alton Towers Resort. Other instances (of many) range from Geronimo Stilton to Angry Birds. Elements of such tie-ins typically include themed room décor and menu items; on-site activities; and property-specific videos, toys, and books available for young guests to use. Licensors outside of the entertainment space that have done similar, but adult-focused, promotions include Christian Louboutin and the NBA.
- Product distribution. Celebrity surfer Laird Hamilton forged a deal with One & Only Resorts to be the launch partner for his collection of functional clothing for men under the Laird Apparel brand. A curated collection, including an exclusive t-shirt, was available at three One & Only Resorts in early 2016, after which the line expanded into wider retail distribution. Separately, Edgewell Personal Care signed Hotel Emporium to a licensing deal; the latter will develop Hawaiian Tropic-branded health and beauty products for guest rooms.
- Outbound licensing and hotel-identified products. Hotels sometimes exploit their own IP as well as serving as licensees or promotional allies. Virgin Hotels partnered with Parker&Morgan for an e-commerce shop highlighting products found in Virgin hotel rooms, such as a desk chair inspired by a Vespa scooter and a mini-bar refrigerator. Meanwhile, Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, which has a beach theme, licensed PakLab for a line of Bay Soleil-branded suncare items.
The marriage of the licensing business and the hotel and resort industry is by no means new, but the amount of activity seems to be intensifying. In fact, hotels and hospitality were top-of-mind enough in the past year to make Raugust Communications’ list of the “Top 16 Licensing Trends of 2016.” Read all 16 here.
We will be taking a short break next week. RaugustReports will return to its schedule of twice-weekly insights on licensing trends after the holidays, with the first post of 2017 set for Thursday, January 5. In the meantime, we wish you and yours a happy and prosperous new year.
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