Ultra-cute, ultra-positive, and often-magical characters and images have permeated the toy industry and other categories of late and continue to represent a strong trend. Examples include unicorns in particular, as well as mermaids, rainbows, kittens, and the like. A newer, but already ubiquitous development consists of hybrids of some or all of the above, with […]
Archive | Licensing
A Run on Pet Food
Interest in the pet food category has been on the rise over the past year, with a number of properties entering this space. For example: • Roobarb & Custard, a British animated TV series represented by Those Licensing People, paired with Two Near The Bone for a direct-to-consumer line of pet foods under the When […]
Labels for Rent
A subset of the subscription box sector consists of online personal styling services, sometimes known as rent-to-buy services or clothing rental boxes. In this model, subscribers set their preferences and, for a subscription fee, receive periodic boxes containing five to 10 items they might like, curated by the service’s staff stylists, to try for a […]
Exploring The Unknown
Celebrity adventurers have recently been looking to extend their brand equities—built on qualities such as curiosity and exploration, survival, overcoming challenges, protecting the environment, toughness, and never giving up—by entering the world of merchandise: Ed Stafford retained Brandgenuity as his licensing agent in October 2018, with plans for survival gear, outdoor apparel, knives and multipurpose […]
Celebrating the Year of the Pig
By Karen Raugust on February 4, 2019 in Demographic groups, Design and content themes, Holiday, Licensing
Tomorrow (February 5, 2019) is Chinese New Year, marking the start of the Year of the Pig on the Chinese lunar calendar. Global marketers in recent years have increasingly been embracing Chinese New Year in their January and February messaging and product releases, and that includes property owners involved in licensing and collaborations. The most […]
Fifty-Plus Fashion
Women aged 50 and over have long been an untapped market segment for licensing programs. But a growing number of direct-to-retail initiatives with etailers, retailers, and home shopping networks have focused on this demographic over the past few years, all involving celebrities who are in that age group themselves: Most recently, Jane Fonda paired with […]
Are Prints Losing Their Power?
Four licensed lifestyle brands known for their distinctive all-over prints have been struggling of late: Orla Kiely, the 1970s-infused label tied to the Irish designer billed as the “queen of prints,” announced in September that it would liquidate, shutting its stores, located in the U.K. and Ireland, and its website. The 20-plus-year-old brand’s licensing business, […]
Corporate Culture
During and after the global recession that began in 2007, the trend in corporate licensing was for branded products to serve as key complements to the core business—true brand extension—rather than falling under the heading of awareness-generation. But the pendulum definitely seems to be swinging back these days, as marketers create merchandise that is primarily […]
Creative Collaboration
The pairing of artists and fashion designers continues as a strong trend, with high-profile creators in all genres of fine and graphic arts teaming with design labels. Among the goals: to offer customers an unexpected new look and to encourage followers of both properties to become fans of the other. A handful of examples from […]
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 […]