Fishing and fashion may seem to be an odd-couple pairing, but collaborations involving streetwear or other apparel labels and functional fishing gear come up more than you might think, including at least two examples this season. All involve companies that are rooted in Japan, where fishing is a popular pastime, or that have strong ties […]
Cheers To Canned Cocktail Collaborations
Licensors across property types have made their presence known across most categories of alcoholic beverage by this point, whether that be beer; wine; spirits including vodka, tequila, and whiskey; or hard seltzer. The hottest category for collaboration of late has been ready-to-drink cocktails, with a range of examples coming to market since January of this […]
Celebrating Summer with Celebrity Swimwear
The swimwear category has been a hot one for celebrity collaboration over the past couple of years, with new collections from actresses, models, athletes, musicians, and more. Some of the forays into the category are extensions of existing activewear or shapewear lines, while others are standalone efforts. A few examples from this summer: Demi Moore […]
Bringing the Beats to Kids’ TV
A handful of classic rappers have made forays into the children’s entertainment and content arena, and sometimes into related licensed products, in the past year or so: Darryl McDaniels of Run DMC partnered with Nickelodeon and Paramount Global last November in a wide-ranging deal in which McDaniels lends his voice to the new Noggin series […]
Spicing Up Food and Beverage Licensing
Spice and seasoning brands historically have played a relatively small part on the large and still growing food-and-beverage licensing stage, with some long-time exceptions (such as McCormick’s Old Bay brand). More recently, however, a growing number of players in this space have entered the field as licensors and/or licensees, some of them very actively. In […]
Leagues Go Large on NFTs
Pro sports leagues from around the world, along with their players associations, have been among the most active property types to date in the world of NFTs. And many tend to think big, signing long-term deals for marketplaces rather than focusing on individual collections of NFTs, although they do that too. This year, and especially […]
Down to a Fine Art
The concept of “artist series,” consisting of in-and-out collections featuring the imagery of a variety of artists, has been with us for decades. But the strategy is certainly experiencing a surge in recent years. Apparel, accessories, and footwear are the most frequent sectors where artist series take place; however, marketers in a growing number of […]
Picking Up the Pace
The governing bodies that oversee professional racing across a variety of vehicles and types, along with other racing-related properties, have been active on the consumer products front since the beginning of 2022. Many have signed new licensing deals (especially in gaming, toys, and collectibles), extended existing agreements, launched new product lines, retained new agents, and/or […]
An Appetite for Regional Restaurants
Restaurant properties have been among the most active in the corporate licensing space of late, as they partner for brand extensions, lifestyle collaborations, and novelty items for fans. For the most part, these are national (or international) chains with multiple locations and a high profile among mainstream consumers. Occasionally over the years, however, local or […]
Copyright Has Its Day in Court
Most consumer products licensing programs are centered on trademarked intellectual property, but copyrighted IP is often involved as well. So it is interesting to look at a number of recent cases involving copyright infringement across a variety of creative industries. These types of situations occur regularly each year, but the frequency seems to be on […]