Several niche spectator sports are starting to emerge as commercially viable and increasingly mainstream, and a few have attracted licensing deals. The pastimes, and their associated products, tend to appeal largely to millennials, with their fan bases often, but not always, skewing male. Some are global athletic competitions, supported by sponsors, TV coverage, and other […]
Living the Lifestyle
Over the past two years, lifestyle blogs that speak to young women have been slowly and steadily extending into branded products, sometimes through licensing or collaborations and sometimes managed in-house. Some examples: Brit + Co., overseen by Brit Morin, launched its first significant product extension last September, signing a deal with Cheeky to produce a […]
Sweet (?) Smell of Success
Long gone are the days when scented candles and home fragrances would fill a room solely with traditional aromas such as vanilla, lavender, strawberries, and sea breezes. Back in 2014, the distinct smell of foods, from a few rare instances of bacon to a wide range of baked goods, started taking hold in the industry, […]
K-Beauty Goes Mainstream
CVS announced last week that it is adding a K-Beauty HQ to 2,100 of its stores this month, offering a range of 100 Korean beauty products curated by celebrity K-Beauty specialist Alicia Yoon. This news, along with Target’s similar initiative in January of this year, likewise with Yoon, signals a growing awareness of the Korean […]
Fast Fashion Slows Down
The specialty fashion tier focusing on teenage girls and young women has been one of the segments hit hardest by the financial woes plaguing all of retail. In the face of this difficult environment—as well as millennials’ increasing resistance to disposable fashion for economic and especially environmental reasons—two of the leading fast fashion chains playing […]
Brands Enter the E-Sports Arena
Last year, Jinx—a company perhaps best known for its Minecraft apparel—announced that it would create clothing and accessories specifically for e-sports players and fans under the Jinx Pro brand, including licensed products tied to teams such as Team Liquid and Echo Fox. It is one of a growing, but still small, group of manufacturers acquiring […]
On Sports and E-Sports
Licensing deals in the e-sports arena remain fairly limited, both in number and in scope. But e-sports—a term that refers to professional competitive video gaming—continues to progress commercially, likely setting the stage for more and bigger licensing agreements down the line. One recent development of note is that traditional pro sports organizations are increasingly supporting […]
Checking the Time
The fashion watch category has been experiencing some significant challenges, thanks in large part to the fact that smartphones have replaced wristwatches as many consumers’ primary tool for keeping track of time. In one illustration of the issues facing the industry, exports of watches from Switzerland—the source of many higher-end, fashion-driven watches—declined 10% in February […]
Heading Home
The International Home and Housewares Show, held in Chicago this month, is always a good time to take stock of licensing deals involving house and home. A sampling of initiatives announced at the show or in the weeks leading up to it illustrate the breadth of licensing in this segment: Gibson Overseas is debuting a […]
Online Properties, Offline Products
By Karen Raugust on March 20, 2017 in Character/Entertainment, Digital, Licensing, Publishing, Toys/Games
Original entertainment series distributed on streaming platforms, rather than on traditional television, have quickly gained traction as viable licensing opportunities. The first licensed products for these sorts of IP, which began to emerge in the world of licensing nearly two years ago, tend to be toys and/or books. Some examples: Jim Henson Productions’ Word Party, […]