The concept of “safety in numbers” seems to apply to the licensing business more and more of late. This fact was evident at this year’s Licensing Expo, as licensors (and sometimes licensees) gathered disparate properties under the umbrella of a single brand.
These initiatives take several forms. In some cases, a network, streaming platform, retailer, or publication serves as a common brand for diverse licensors connected to that venue. This was a trend at the Expo in 2015, with AwesomenessTV, YouTube, and Amazon, not to mention PBS Kids, highlighting various properties aired on their network or platform, with each IP licensed by its respective owner. Other similar ventures have included Aeropostale uniting four Vine stars under the UNITED XXVI Collection and GQ’s Best New Menswear Designers participating in a group capsule collection at The Gap each year.
In other instances, one licensor may collect multiple characters from its various franchises under a single theme. A recent example is The Joester Loria Group and Eric Carle Studios celebrating the 50th anniversary of Carle’s picture book character Brown Bear through a licensing program encompassing all of Carle’s Bears (Polar, Brown, Panda, and Baby). Similarly, Warner Bros. recently launched DC Super Hero Girls, a property focusing on younger versions of female characters from across DC Comics’ brands. Sanrio Friends pairs Hello Kitty with other Sanrio characters, including Chococat, Charmmy Kitty, Cinnamaroll, and others. This configuration has been around for a long time, arguably pioneered by Disney Princess, and includes a wide range of examples.
Finally, sometimes a licensee gathers multiple properties under one brand. Toy company Jazwares assembled more than 30 YouTube stars, from Captain Sparklez to TDM, into one line of toys under the brand name Tube Heroes, which is being licensed by The Brand Liaison. Penguin Books created the Skylanders Universe to collect characters from all of Activision’s Skylanders iterations into one cohesive publishing program.
No matter who is driving the collaboration, these ventures serve many purposes: They reduce risk, they create a more powerful brand than their components could muster alone, and they offer varied product development potential. They may even allow lesser-known properties to break out as solo hits, after initially riding the coattails of their better-known siblings under an overriding brand umbrella.
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