PROFILE
New year, new partnerships for the
Natural History Museum It may only be a short time since the launch of a fresh strategy for the Natural History Museum’s licensing programme, but the licensing department has already built up many strong partnerships. The team, led by Head of Licensing Maxine Lister since 2016, has even more to look forward to in 2019. Following a hugely successful Brand Licensing Europe in October 2018, a number of exciting projects are underway, along with a raft of ongoing conversations, ensuring an exciting (and busy) year ahead. Even at this early stage in 2019, the team has been able to announce two new partners that have recently joined the Natural History Museum family. UK Heritage Rugs will develop a range inspired by some of the collections – such as insects and minerals – held within the Museum’s archives. Heritage Rugs’ expertise in designing and creating beautiful rugs of exquisite quality, all handmade and completely unique, has already served it well, gaining it partnerships with other key museums in the UK heritage sector. The Museum’s resources and quality rugs are an ideal combination, as Brian Sales, owner of UK Heritage Rugs, explains. “Using lustrous silken highlights on a robust wool ground allows us to celebrate the beauty to be found in nature, whether it is a close-up of a butterfly’s wing or a display of iridescent
feathers,” he says. “Our Natural History Museum rugs will compliment any interior scheme and be a lasting pleasure to own.” Another new licensee, and one set to address the many younger supporters of the Natural History Museum, is My Icon Story, a company that enables consumers to create a personalised art print that is unique to them. Using My Icon Story’s eye-catching and beautifully simply icons, these build-your-own graphics tell a story or bring a memory to life. The company’s founder, Laura Lane, explains: “We believe there is an icon story in all of us. For children visiting the Natural History Museum, it’s the story of their trip, favourite discoveries and memorable experience, offering a unique way for children to capture the magic of their museum visit.” My Icon Story has already worked successfully with another socially and culturally notable brand in the form of Transport for London. However, this new deal with the Natural History Museum will be its first license specifically aimed at a younger demographic. “We are looking forward enormously to working alongside both UK Heritage Rugs and My Icon Story to further demonstrate how flexible the Natural History Museum brand can be in creating inspiring product ranges that span different audiences,” says Maxine Lister. January also saw a product launch, in the form of a brand-new collection of Natural History Museum greeting cards, the result of a new collaborative partnership with Alison Hardcastle, a design studio and independent stationery company that produces stylish, clever and playful stationery. This collection of 18 cards, which offers a fresh and contemporary interpretation of the Museum
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and its contents, focuses on four main topics: gems, minerals and crystals; flora; butterflies and bugs and the Museum’s architecture. The range launched at Top Drawer, and can be found online at alisonhardcastle.co.uk. Rugs, prints and cards constitute an impressively diverse product mix, but the Natural History Museum has already enjoyed success across many categories, including fabric collections, crafting, print on demand, wooden prints, apparel, seed ranges, science kits, dinosaur cut-outs and most recently womenswear. Expect many more announcements, therefore – and even more diversity – throughout the year. Not that Maxine Lister and her team will be relaxing. They will soon embark on the development of two brand-new style guides, which will be available to all existing licensees by the summer and will be officially launched at BLE 2019. Lister explains, “With one guide targeting an adult demographic, and the other a younger audience, these new visual assets will be a fantastic addition to the existing set of style guides and our vast image bank of assets.” She adds, “Licensing partners are delighted with the support this programme offers – and we are delighted with the quality of partners it attracts.”
TOTAL BRAND LICENSING