Pockets of the global licensing business are facing significant financial impacts due to political fights, trade spats, and social protests around the world. Unlike cases where companies take a stand on a political issue and prepare to face the expected backlash, these are situations that have nothing to do with any individual company’s actions. But […]
Tag Archives | Target
Snap, Crackle, and Pop! (Vinyl)
Over the past year and a half, collectibles brands have been entering the breakfast cereal market. The products are intended to taste good, but also to serve as a collectible in their own right. They are often sold through retail outlets that focus on collectibles and other non-food products, rather than in supermarkets. Three notable […]
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 […]
Now We’re Cooking
The kitchen housewares and tabletop industry has in recent months been the focus of a number of retail-exclusive product lines that involve licensed properties. This type of partnership has been going on for years, but the frequency seems to be on the rise of late. The following have debuted since mid-2018: Chrissy Teigen and Target […]
Holiday Cheer
With Black Friday coming up next week, it seems like a good time to take a look at what’s up with some of the key Christmas-themed licenses whose annual prime time is just beginning. These evergreen properties expand their reach each year, increasingly extending well beyond traditional holiday-centric categories. A few recent examples: • Universal […]
A Good Hair Day
Celebrity hairstylists, through a variety of collaborations and brand-extension initiatives, have gotten out of the salon and onto retail shelves over the past couple of years: Rita Hazan, who already has a range of hair care products in place at HSN and Sephora, retained The Brand Liaison last month as her licensing agent for further […]
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 […]
Revitalizing Retro Toys
The trend of reviving dormant or underexploited brands whose heyday is long past—a phenomenon across many consumer products categories these days—has been hitting the toy industry this summer, with the owners of three retro brands from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, respectively, announcing comebacks. Mego is relaunching its pioneering 1970s action figure line under the […]