Hearing aids became available over the counter in the U.S. in October 2022, making them more accessible and lowering prices. The change has enticed consumer electronics companies including Bose and Sony, who see potential in the market and are entering the category alongside the traditional specialist marketers. A few collaborations are starting to emerge in […]
Protein Powders To Satisfy A Sweet Tooth
Marketers of protein powders have been expanding their flavor assortments, especially on the sweet side of the spectrum, with SKUs such as chocolate lava cake, cookies and cream, blueberry cobbler, and banana nut bread proliferating in response to consumer demand. Small wonder that licensed brands connected to candy, cereal, cookies, donuts, soft drinks, and similar […]
Trouble on the Home Front
The two-week period from April 24 to May 5, 2023, was particularly brutal for retailers specializing in home goods, with three 50-year-old brands declaring bankruptcy and two of them shutting down completely: Bed Bath & Beyond, the original “category killer” in the home space, declared bankruptcy and liquidated its 360 stores, along with the 120 […]
Bloody Successful Promotions
By Karen Raugust on May 11, 2023 in Character/Entertainment, Experiential licensing, Licensing, Nonprofit
A Peanuts t-shirt offered in conjunction with the American Red Cross was recently in the news for successfully encouraging young-adult fans of the property to give blood. This is the latest in a fairly regular stream of promotions over the past five years or so in which character and entertainment properties are used to attract […]
A Helping of Mac and Cheese
A few months ago, we noted that cheese had become a hot commodity for food-to-food collaborations. One niche within that space that has generated particular interest of late is the ultimate comfort food, macaroni and cheese. Marketers of mac and cheese are looking to create limited-edition varieties by partnering with brands associated with compatible flavors, […]
Designers Bring Diversity to Hockey
Professional hockey clubs, like pro teams in other sports, are increasingly collaborating with local designers on limited-edition lifestyle apparel collections, many with an eye toward diversity: The Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League introduced a new third jersey at the beginning of this year in collaboration with designer Rhuigi Villaseñor, founder of the luxury […]
Joint Ventures
As more states legalize marijuana and THC for recreational use, following the federal legalization of hemp (and effectively CBD) in 2018, licensed properties continue to enter the cannabis space at a healthy pace. Collaborative products range from accessories and lifestyle goods to consumables such as beverages, snacks, and joints, with some containing the psychotropic (high-producing) […]
Picture-Perfect Beauty
Art museums, and the fine artists whose work appears in those institutions, have increasingly been forging licensing and collaboration deals in the beauty category—especially in fragrances—resulting in creative interpretations of key works of art, not just on packaging but in the formulation of the scents and color palettes themselves. Products range from exceedingly limited and […]
Standing in Someone Else’s Shoes
As retailers continue to increase brand-extension activity based on their proprietary IP—through licensing or other models—footwear has, not surprisingly, become a key category of interest for retail chains in the fashion and lifestyle spaces. Sometimes the licensed or collaborative shoes are sold primarily in the licensors’ own stores, but they often find distribution opportunities in […]
School Spirits
When New Mexico State University and its licensing agent, The Collegiate Licensing Company, signed a deal with Dry Point Distillers in 2020 to create Pistol Pete 1888 Six-Shooter rye whiskey (named after its mascot, Pistol Pete), it noted that it was the first college or university to introduce a whiskey collaboration. The school has been […]