Russia has become the source of a rising number of children’s properties with eyes on the international market. Factors behind the increase include a boost in government support for the domestic animation industry since the 2000s, the growing sophistication of the licensing business in Russia, and the development of YouTube and other streaming channels as […]
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Influencing the Craft Category
Social media influencers specializing in handmade crafting and inspiration have, not surprisingly, had a growing presence in the licensing business. They mostly maintain a tight focus on crafting supplies, although some have extended into a few adjacent categories as well. Examples include: Lauren Riihimaki, or LaurDIY. Key licensees, brokered by The Brand Liaison, include Plaid […]
Unboxing New Kids’ Initiatives
The subscription box and meal kit sectors have undergone a number of challenges in 2018. But boxes for children represent one area that seems to be thriving. Many players in this sector are expanding their product arrays, maintaining strong and growing subscriber bases, and/or attracting continued influxes of investment funding. Meanwhile, new competitors—some formidable—are entering […]
Toy Story
As we approach the all-important fourth-quarter selling season for toys, it seems like a good time to take a look at what has been happening in the industry since Toys ‘R’ Us closed the last of its U.S. stores in June of this year, after declaring bankruptcy in September 2017: Other retailers are trying to […]
Private Property
Retailers’ focus on in-house developed private labels has been on the upswing of late, creating more competition for manufacturers and property owners seeking shelf space for their licensed products. These recent examples illustrate the trend: Target introduced three new private labels this summer. They include Heyday for electronics, which debuted in June; Wild Fable for […]
Q&A About TRU
Toys ‘R’ Us announced last week that it would shut all 735 of its U.S. stores under the TRU and Babies ‘R’ Us banners, after declaring bankruptcy last fall and subsequently posting poor holiday results. This move raised a number of key questions for toy companies, retailers, analysts, and licensing executives. Question 1: What happened? […]
Giving Voice to Smart Electronics
One of the biggest topics of conversation at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was the prominence of voice assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Assistant, Apple’s Siri, Samsung’s Bixby, Roku’s Entertainment Assistant, and Microsoft’s Cortana. Not only are such voice assistants associated with smart speakers (e.g., Amazon’s Echo or Google’s Home), which […]
Shopping for New Retail Strategies
Retail chains continue to experiment with different business models as they deal with ongoing challenges. Some recent ventures illustrate the variety of strategies being tested: Partnerships with etailers. Lord & Taylor is launching a presence on Walmart’s website starting in spring 2018, referring to the initiative as its online flagship store. The deal brings the […]
Hot Toys for the Holidays
Over the past couple of months, key retailers have released their hot holiday toy lists, predicting the playthings consumers will be buying for fourth-quarter gift-giving. Licensed products account for between 16% and 32% of the products on each of the lists released by Amazon, BJ’s, Kmart, Target, Toys R Us, and Walmart, with Amazon at […]
A Meditation on Mergers & Acquisitions
Last month came news that Learfield and its competitor IMG College were in late negotiations to merge. If the plans go through, this move would bring together the two major agents in the collegiate licensing business, not to mention their vast sponsorship and multimedia operations, marking a big change for the collegiate licensing business. It […]