Total Brand Licensing Winter/Spring 2020

BRAND TOTAL

A TOTAL LICENSING GROUP PUBLICATION

LICENSING

WINTER / SPRING 2020

University of Oxford

Historic Royal Palaces

Van Gogh Museum

The RHS

Science Museum

V&A

COMING MID FEBRUARY

Brand new www.totallicensing.com

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CONTENTS 6

Editorial Comment

Thoughts from the editor

8 News

Jelly Belly water, Joseph Abbaud, Emoji program, Peanuts in space, NFL and H&M, Royal Museums Greenwich

14 Pink Key

Hitting the bullseye!

15 The Art of Branding

16 17 18 20 24

Blue Print returns to NYC The House of Turnowsky Art and Design News The world of MGL The Art of Beryl Cook

44 Licensing China

45 Life & Style Licensing

New licenses for world-famous architect

From Better Houses & Gardens to Marie-Antoinette

46 Finlayson

Taking Scandinavian designs to new audiences

47 The World’s most valuable brands

Interbrand’s latest report

48 Top Drawer

A review of what was on show

49 Sussex Royal

25 Frank Lloyd Wright

New licensing event debuts in Shenzhen

Will licensing form part of Harry and Meghan’s future?

50 The Final Page

Shows, advertisers and more.

27 The UK’s National Gallery

Extending this well-known brand

28 The Art Gallery of Ontario

Licensing one of the largest art museums in North America

30 Cover Stories

University of Oxford, Historic Royal Palaces, Van Gogh Museum, the RHS, Science Museum Victoria & Albert

37 Come alive with House of PepsiCo

When a superbrand becomes a fashion brand

38 Not working with Influencers?

Maybe you should...

40 Rubik’s Cube is 40 years old

Host of new deals celebrate milestone

42 Gone but not forgotten?

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Resurrecting dead brands

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COMMENT TOTAL

BRAND LICENSING

A Total Licensing Group Publication CO-PUBLISHER Francesca Ash francesca@totallicensing.com CO-PUBLISHER Jerry Wooldridge jerry@totallicensing.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Rebecca Ash becky@totallicensing.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Joanna Cassidy joanna@totallicensing.com OFFICE MANAGER Helen Bowerman helen@totallicensing.com JAPAN AGENT Roger Berman, ZenWorks rmb@zenworks.jp CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Gordon Glenister, The BCMA

Michael Stone, Beanstalk Richard Pink, Pink Key

HEAD OFFICE Total Licensing Ltd 4 Wadhurst Business Park Faircrouch Lane, Wadhurst, East Sussex, TN5 6PT, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1892 782220 Fax: +44 (0) 1892 782226 www.totallicensing.com

Total Brand Licensing is published quarterly by Total Licensing Ltd in the UK. ©2020 Total Licensing Ltd. All rights reserved.

No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without written permission of the publishers and owners. Although persons and companies mentioned herein are believed to be reputable, Total Licensing Ltd nor any of its employees accept any responsibility whatsoever for their activities. Images are reproduced with permission from their owners. Printed in the UK.

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Apparently it’s getting a bit late to keep saying ‘happy new year’, so I will instead give you a warm welcome to this winter/spring issue of Total Brand Licensing.

It has already been quite a year. Global events shook the world as the decade dawned. Firstly, horrific images of the raging bushfires in Australia brought everyone together in shock and grief. Donald Trump nearly went to war with Iran, as well his impeachment hearings rumbling on. At the time of going to press, the UK is days away from Brexit. And Harry and Meghan, aka, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, announced their own exit from Royal life, dubbed by many as ‘Megxit’.

It’s not a great revelation that we live in turbulent times. Economic uncertainty, social unrest and a looming climate crisis top news headlines around the world. We also live in changing times. The digital revolution means that companies and brands have to move with the times, fast.

Retail is one of the biggest challenges facing the whole of the licensing industry, with bricks-and-mortar retailers closing their doors in record numbers. While online and e-commerce have grown, traditional retail is suffering. Of course, many retailers are finding ways around this, with experiential shopping, pop-ups and immersive brand options. The demand for product has not changed, but the way people are buying it has.

The trust factor of a brand is especially important, in these aforementioned unsettled years.

Throughout this issue of Total Brand Licensing, you will see brands that, through their licensing and expansion programmes, are working with their audience, as we live in a rather more transparent age now. Social media and online communities mean that people are able to be more in touch with their favourite brands – apparel, celebrities, music, influencers, heritage, sport – than ever before. This is a goldmine for any brand owner, if utilised properly. You can read about how working with influencers – done correctly – can make a real difference, on page 38.

Our cover features six diverse and inspirational heritage/museum brands. Working with history, tradition and trust, these brands have adapted and expanded their programmes with some truly stunning designs and products. (Page 30.)

In our Art section, (page 15) you can see the vast range of art licensing that is being undertaken, and how you can work with art & design brands.

Michael Stone, Beanstalk, talks on page 42 how to resurrect a brand from the dead – and when is a good time to do so. There are some interesting global brand profiles throughout the magazine, ranging from Finlayson to Smiley, from Marie Antoinette to Meredith to the Art Museum of Ontario.

We’re looking ahead to Spring Fair, and reviewing what we saw at Top Drawer.

And of course, we couldn’t possibly send the magazine to the printers without mentioning Megxit (page 49) and how the Sussexes look to build a vast global brand too, now that they have stepped back from Royal duties.

Happy reading and a successful 2020 to you all,

Rebecca Ash Editorial Director TOTAL BRAND LICENSING

NEWS

Hi-Tec collaborate with Sealand Gear in South Africa

Joseph Abboud sold to WHP

Hi-Tec Sports, a subsidiary of Apex Global Brands have announced a new collaboration between Hi-Tec and Sealand Gear, the South African-based upcycle and ecocycle brand renowned for its environmentally and socially responsible products and accessories.

Designed and developed with HI-Tec footwear licensee International Brands Group, the explorative design collaboration will feature an environmentally conscious limited-edition release of HI-Tec’s Sierra Re:Flex trail shoe, which marks Sealand’s debut within the footwear industry, as well as a collection of everyday travel bags and accessories.

Emphasizing the city-to-trail functionality of both brands, the outdoor crossover collaboration draws inspiration from travel of all forms, whether it be the explorer, the daily commuter, the jet-setter or festival go-er. The newly designed model of the Sierra Re:Flex trail shoe featured in the collaboration will incorporate environmentally conscious materials and be packaged in re-usable functional travel kits that will replace the conventional shoebox and eliminate excess waste.

“With global distribution over 40 years, Hi-Tec has demonstrated its unique ability to continuously innovate,” said Henry Stupp, Chief Executive Officer of Apex Global

Tailored Brands has agreed to sell its Joseph Abboud trademarks to WHP for a reported $115 million and have also signed a licensing agreement for the rights to sell and rent the brand for apparel and accessories in North America. Tailored bought the Abboud brand in 2013 for $97.3 million.

“The Joseph Abboud brand has played an important role in our retail brands and we look forward to our new partnership with WHP and to the next phase of our relationship with the designer Joseph Abboud,” said Tailored Brands President and CEO Dinesh Lathi. “This transaction allows us to unlock the value in the Joseph Abboud trademarks through an experienced partner who will focus on building the brand.”

Brands. “Sustainability - whether that be in the manufacturing process or sourcing of materials - is a demand from the consumer that we are committed to delivering. By partnering with Sealand, a brand that has put social and environmental responsibility at the forefront of everything they do, we’re confident that this capsule collection will deliver sustainable products that impact our customers, as well as, help shape the practices of the industry at large.”

“The collaboration represents the coming together of like-minded brands to make a genuine positive change to our industries,” stated Jasper Eales, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Sealand. “We have embraced this opportunity to work with a global shoe brand, who has strong heritage roots in our home country, South Africa, while at the same time build product to last. Visually our brands speak to a similar urban outdoor audience, so we have kept this in mind and created a trail sneaker and range of bags that can walk the streets or the mountains with the same ethical style. We are pleased to see how our small business from Cape Town South African, can lend itself to inspire and influence bigger business to improve and best protect the planet.”

New ranges of Jelly Belly sparkling water launched Joffer Beverage is launching Jelly Belly sparkling water at the Hy-Vee grocery chain across eight states in the US Midwest, as it enters licensing for the first time. The sparkling water will be available in eight sugar-free flavors. It also will be sold through Jelly Belly’s ecommerce site.

Jelly Belly Candy Co. is a seventh-generation family business, and, apparently, the inspiration for Jelly Belly Sparkling Water came at a Mother’s Day party where members of the family had gathered.

“We were on the back patio, drinking a couple of the more popular sparkling water brands, when I said out loud, ‘If only someone could nail a sparkling water with really stand-out flavors,’” recalled Stephen Joffer, a co-founder of Joffer Beverage Company. “The lightbulb came on when my PAGE 8

dad suggested, ‘Why not our own Jelly Belly flavors? We are known for flavor innovation after all.’”

From there five Jelly Belly Candy Company family members banded together to start Joffer Beverage Company.

“The Jelly Belly brand promises fun, flavor and quality — characteristics that we believe

sparkling water drinkers are looking for and our product delivers perfectly on that promise,” said Justin Joffer, a co-founder of Joffer Beverage Company. “We want to bring excitement to the sparkling water category through unique and intense flavor experiences.”

With over 100 Jelly Belly flavors to choose from, the team is looking forward to developing many more flavor options as the brand grows.

“A favorite in the Midwest for its variety and quality, Hy-Vee is an ideal partner to introduce Jelly Belly Sparkling Water to consumers thirsting for something new,” said Ben Joffer, co-founder of Joffer Beverage Company. “We are excited about this partnership and look forward to providing Hy-Vee customers with innovative new flavor options in the beverage aisle.”

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NEWS

Beanstalk to license Perdue branded chicken products

Space and Superhero ranges

Perdue, the leading brand of fresh and organic chicken products in the U.S., is partnering with licensing agency Beanstalk to extend the brand into complementary food categories.

This new partnership is part of the premium protein brand’s commitment to offer evolved, differentiated, high-quality mealtime and snacking protein solutions that fit conveniently into consumers’ lifestyles.

Perdue Farms, the Perdue brand’s parent company, is a fourth-generation, family-owned American company that prides itself in implementing industry-leading animal care practices, including raising all chickens with 100% vegetarian feed with no animal by-products. Perdue Farms’ brands are leaders in no-antibiotics-ever premium chicken, turkey, pork, and beef, and in USDA-certified

London-based baby and kidswear brand Cribstar, has launched two gender neutral Peanuts babywear ranges – Space and Superhero – in a collaboration brokered by WildBrain CPLG UK, on behalf of Peanuts Worldwide.

The Space collection was inspired by the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landings. The monochrome range features a signature Cribstar slogan, ‘I Need Space’, alongside illustrations of Snoopy as an astronaut.

Pieces include an all-over print sweatshirt, an all-over print harem legging, motif print t-shirt and motif print long-sleeved harem romper.

The collecion in base grey features the slogan ‘Kind of a big deal’ which was created to tap into the love of superheroes. In addition to the slogan, the illustrations feature Snoopy as a masked superhero alongside a graphic yellow lightning bolt print.

Also included in the collection is a very limited run Christmas jumper, which features a festive Snoopy wearing a Santa hat and matching scarf, marching along with his best friend Woodstock, with the slogan ‘Is it Christmas Yet?’ Jadwiga Batatawala, Director, at Cribstar, said: “We delved into the Peanuts archive to tap into the sarcasm and irony featured in our two collections – we hope these designs bring a smile to parents’ and children’s faces!”

Laura Quinn, Category Manager UK, at WildBrain CPLG, said: “We are so excited to see the Peanuts collaboration with Cribstar launch! Cribstar have created a wonderful collection featuring unique and fun designs perfect for Peanuts fans young and old, expanding the brand’s presence in the baby category.”

organic chicken.

With this new partnership, Beanstalk will serve as Perdue’s exclusive brand extension licensing agency, helping to enhance Perdue’s reputation as the brand that consumers rely upon for the highest-quality, freshest-tasting, most convenient, better-for-you foods.

Allison Ames, President and CEO of Beanstalk said, “We are delighted and honored to work with Perdue, the most trusted brand in premium protein. With today’s trend toward healthier and balanced eating, Perdue’s expansion into additional protein-centric foods will offer families new ways to help achieve healthier lifestyles.”

“As we celebrate our 100th anniversary in 2020, our commitment to helping families meet all their various mealtime needs continues,” said Eric Christianson, Chief Marketing Officer at Perdue Farms. “We’re excited to extend Perdue into additional food categories that provide consumers with new options for the highest quality, premium protein foods.”

The new licensed products will be available at grocery, mass, club and convenience stores in North America.

MemBrain to license Church & Dwight MemBrain in Los Angeles has been appointed by Church & Dwight Co., Inc. as its brand licensing partner for new digital physical product categories, services, informational products, and other unique brand extensions, positioning the company for growth in innovative new markets and distribution channels.

Church & Dwight has long developed groundbreaking, authentic brand extensions for its portfolio of legacy brands; most notably, Arm & Hammer’s evolution into a wide range of products from laundry detergent to cat litter. Forthcoming opportunities for Church & Dwight’s brands will include partnerships with emerging digital platforms, subscriptions, services, and informational products, reflecting a commitment to constant innovation.

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“Trust and authenticity are at the heart of fostering consumer loyalty in today’s media-driven society. Creating strategic brand extensions that reflect this evolution in consumer behavior is an exciting assignment for our team. We are thrilled to collaborate with the team at Church & Dwight, a company with an incredible portfolio of historically trusted brands, to uncover and bring these new digitally-driven brand extensions to market,” said Jennifer Sullivan, president of memBrain LLC.

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NEWS

NFL launch new range at H&M The National Football League (NFL) has announced a new collaboration with global fashion retailer H&M to launch men’s, women’s and children’s NFL-branded apparel and accessories, in a deal brokered by IMG. The products will be sold in more than 20 countries outside of the U.S, including the UK, China, Japan, Colombia, Germany, India, Mexico, South Korea and the Middle East. The first capsule collection of men’s jackets, tops and loungewear is available in stores and online now, with women’s, children’s and accessories lines to follow next season.

The collaboration reflects demand from growing legions of international NFL fans in recent years with regular season games in London and Mexico, and its annual Super

Bowl event now watched in more than 180 countries and nearly 25 languages.

“By partnering with H&M, we are able to reach fans in markets across the world with a diverse selection of apparel and accessories for men, women and children,” said Akash Jain, NFL Vice President of Commercial Development.

“NFL fanbases are growing throughout countries in every corner of the world and we want to continually meet our fans needs for fashionable apparel and fuel their fandom for years to come.”

Matthew Primack, SVP, IMG, added: “We are delighted to be bringing one of the most popular sports leagues together with one of the world’s favourite fast fashion retailers. The NFL’s international appeal as a lifestyle and fashion brand continues to grow rapidly.”

Royal Museums Greenwich sign kids clothing line Royal Museums Greenwich has partnered with Kite to launch a collection of sustainable children’s clothing which will be available to buy from late summer 2020.

The partnership has brought stories from the Museum’s collection to life in the form of unique and fun clothing designs. Kite’s beautiful range features designs inspired by RMG’s extensive collection of fascinating objects, with themes relating to space, maritime and royal history across the four sites – the National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory, the Queen’s House and Cutty Sark.

The two brands share environmental values and are passionate about protecting the planet and sustainability. Kite’s garments are made from organic cotton, recycled plastic bottles or fabrics approved by OEKO-TEX and all the elements in Kite’s supply chain meet comprehensive organic and ethical standards.

Elizabeth Bowers, Brand Licensing Consultant at the Museum, said “We are delighted to be working with Kite on this adorable

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range of planet-friendly children’s clothing inspired by the four Royal Museums Greenwich sites. It has been a pleasure to work with a company who are so passionate about producing ethical, sustainable clothing and it is exciting to see our themes transformed into fun designs and beautiful outfits made from the softest organic cotton.”

The clothing range, suitable for ages 0-11, will be stocked by retailers throughout the UK including the Royal Museum Greenwich retail shops and online

Host of new licensing deals for JoyPixels JoyPixels, owner of over 3,000 emoji icons, and their master agent Born Licensing, saw in the new year with a host of new deals across the globe.

JoyPixels celebrated Christmas in style with a festive emoji take-over at one of Jakarta’s finest shopping malls. The ongoing monthlong event at Lippo Mall Kemang was brought together by JoyPixels South East Asia sub-agent, PinkTank and their local partner, Brandlink.

The event featured a JoyPixels emoji ferris wheel, installations, character meet & greets and, the star of the show, a 12m tall JoyPixels emoji Christmas tree! JoyPixels emoji merchandise by Upgoodies is also available to visitors.

The range includes emoji cushions, tote bags and t-shirts. JoyPixels has ambitions to roll out licensed events across the region.

International restaurateur and creator of Beefbar, Riccardo Giraudi, has renewed his license with JoyPixels adding sugar packs and espresso cups and saucers to their luxury tableware offering which is now also available to purchase online.

JoyPixels emoji plates are already a mainstay and popular feature at Beefbar restaurant locations around the globe including Paris, Malta, Hong Kong, Mykonos, Mexico City etc. Made by Bernardaud, masters of French porcelain since 1863, the range highlights the diversity and adaptability of JoyPixels emojis.

In Germany, local sub-agent Active Merchandising has brought together a JoyPixels partnership with online retailer, Not Like You, to create a range of personalised Converse shoes.

Specialising in high quality printing, Not Like You gives its customers the option of selecting from a range of JoyPixels emojis to create a truly customised gift.

In the UK Danilo has now developed over 30 JoyPixels SKUs In addition to a wide range of seasonal greeting cards, JoyPixels emoji unicorn gift wrap and gift bags are now also available. Retailers include Sainsbury’s, Asda, WHSmith, The Entertainer, Clintons and The Card Factory.

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NEWS

The B&LLAs 2020 are open for entries The annual awards ceremony for Brand and Lifestyle Licensing returns for its fifth year Companies wishing to pit their brand licensed merchandise, IP management and retail execution against the crème de la crème of the ever evolving brand and lifestyle licensing industry, are invited to submit entries and nominations here - https://www.brandlicensingawards.com/how-to-enter.html by Friday February 28th, 2020.

With categories spanning products, retailers, properties and brand ambassadors, there is something to celebrate and reward excellence

in every element of the brand and lifestyle licensing industry, shining a dedicated spotlight onto this dynamic facet of the industry, which is distinct from entertainment and character licensing.

The 2020 awards, hosted by Max Publishing, once again welcome Brand Licensing Europe as the headline sponsor, and trade organisation Licensing International will also be supporting the programme.

Anna Knight, VP of licensing, Informa Markets said: “BLE is honoured to once again support the B&LLAs. Brands and lifestyle licensing is a really exciting space to be in right now – it’s growing, maturing and bursting with creativity.

“Brands are embracing the potential of collabs with retailers and each other to give consumers exciting new products they love from brands they really connect with. The results speak for themselves, and that’s why the B&LLAs shortlist gets stronger by the year.”

Kelvyn Gardner, UK MD of Licensing International, added: “As consumer products licensing grows to encompass ever-wider branches of IP, so does the realm of brands increasingly attract the keen interest of retailers, licensees, promotional partners and even so to speak, ‘each other’ in the various forms of collaborations and cross-promotions between brands.

“Licensing International fully embraces the brands business, and the B&LLAs reflects excellence in this new and profitable business focus. Accordingly we are proud to be closely associated with this fine industry event.”

The winners of the Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards 2020 will be unveiled at an afternoon event held in the luxurious Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Park Lane, London on Wednesday April 29, 2020, which will be attended by over 425 retailers, licensees, brand owners and licensing representatives.

You can book tickets and tables by visiting https://www.brandlicensingawards.com/ tickets.html or by emailing Clare Hollick at events@keystonecomms.co.uk.

For sponsorship, how to enter or general enquiries on the B&LLAs 2020, please contact Ian Hyder or Rob Willis on 020 700 6740 or email ianh@max-publishing.co.uk or robw@max-publishing.co.uk.

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FEATURE

Pink Key - Hitting the Bullseye!

Licensing programmes may have many objectives - maximising royalties, building awareness, adding intangible brand value.... the list goes on. However every programme, whether it’s stated or not will have the objective of longevity.

For some entertainment properties the resilience of a licensing programme is dependent on the continued popularity of the property (it’s particularly cut-throat in the lovely world of pre-school TV).

Some one-off films have successfully extended themselves into franchises, and some TV programmes have punched well above their weight in this area – you don’t need me to tell you who and what they are.

But over here..... oi!

OVER HERE.... the East End of Excel, the land of the BLLA’s, longevity is essential because our brands have been here for

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a while and their brand life cycle will tend to be longer because well-loved food brands and football teams engender a longer term loyalty than a film or TV programme.

Knowing that the brand you are licensing has a lasting presence gives you a slightly different perspective than you might have when there is a rush to deliver revenue as quickly as possible due to a release date. Of course there is still a need to make sure that you capitalise if you have a particularly ‘anniversary’ for the brand, and also if you happen to find yourself ‘on trend’, we’ve seen this with the recent popularity of food brands, and particularly vintage food brands.

But when the trend has passed the brand still remains because the owner is committed to investing, not just in the equity, but in the actual product itself.

That’s why, while it’s great to be riding a trend, as a licensing agent or manager it’s important to stay focussd on the essential idea, attribute or (dare I say) DNA of the brand.

This is where the ‘bullseye’ comes into play, because that’s the driver of the longevity behind the brands licensing programme.

In other words what is the central attribute from which we can build longevity for our brand programme.

For some brands it might be simpler than others; in our mind the centre of the Kellogg brand will always be a cereal bowl – it’s the obvious product to have in the programme and where we always return to. With Pringles it’s not so obvious ( although it is once you see it!), but we’ve found that we keep coming back to the shape of the can – we continually ask ourselves and our licensees, ‘its’ great, but could we do it in a can’ (drives them nuts!).

Of course not everything in our Kellogg’s programme has a bowl attached, and not everything in the Pringles programme is can shaped, but it’s a focal point for us.

In archery terms we look at the bullseye first then what’s in the inner ring, then the outer ring and it gives a structure to the kind of products that we should be looking at to make up the core of our programme for the long term.

Of course occasionally you’ll find something way off the archery target that just works and we all love a bit of ‘left field’ (Anya Hindmarch Tony the Tiger £1500 clutch anyone?), but generally speaking we think it works and I get it reconfirmed every time I look at the sales of Fizz Creations SLUSH PUPPiE slush making machine - bullseye !

At Pink Key Licensing it’s the question we always ask ourselves - ‘what’s in the bullseye?’

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Boutique and Unique!

In 2020, Blue Print is going back to its roots, offering a ‘boutique’ size show and showcasing some of the best studios and exciting new artists from around the world... all on one floor.

It’s always been the policy to make Blue Print

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affordable for exciting new artists to be part of the show, and to treat them fairly when it comes to space allocation on the show floor.

The venue is the 6th Floor of the HudsonMercantile building on 10th Avenue in New York. It’s a well-lit industrial building in

midtown Manhattan, and right next to the recently finished Hudson Yards.

To register to exhibit go to: www.blueprintshows.com/apply-to-exhibit To register to attend go to: www.blueprintshows.com/register .

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House of Turnowsky UK Agency, This is Iris, has signed two international deals for House of Turnowsky.

This is Iris and House of Turnowsky have recently announced the signing of two international licensing partnerships with UK home decor company Art Cushions and agency Zespa Media.

The partnership with Art Cushions was brokered by House of Turnowsky’s UK licensing agent, This is Iris, and will allow Art Cushions to produce a new range of Home decor products featuring Turnowsky’s delightful original designs across the UK. Mark Turner, Owner, Art Cushions said, “We are delighted to be working with House of Turnowsky on these new collections, which sees us shift and expand the range that we can offer to the consumer market.

The classic timeless style of Turnowsky’s designs will, we believe, be widely welcomed in the interiors sector. Our cushions continue to be handmade in the UK, using eco-friendly inks and ethically sourced materials - an additional benefit, and assurance to our clients.”

House of Turnowsky Licensing Manager, Iris Parizer, said, “We are happy to start the New Year with the two new partnerships with “Art Cushions,” a unique lifestyle & decor company that licensed home furnishings and textiles and Zespa Media that specializes in the China licensing market. I hope this is the start of a long and successful working relationship with productive and successful results”.

Zespa Media’s partnership with “This Is Iris” licensing agency succeeded to bring a new licensing deal with the licensee Forun Art & Culture for homeware, accessories & stationery following their attendance at the in China Licensing Expo in October.

“We are really pleased to be closing the first deal along with This Is Iris for House of Turnowsky in China following our joint showcase at the CLE Shanghai less than 7 weeks ago. China is a huge market with tremendous consumer demands, and we know as a fact that outstanding artists such as Turnowsky have great potential here. With the right amount of local marketing, promotion and development, and with the fantastic support and expertise provided unreservedly to us by This Is Iris, we look forward to bringing more deals and success for our clients in this exciting market.”

Jean Dong, Chairman of Zespa Media Ltd House of Turnowsky is an award-winning publisher of luxury calendars, stationery, greetings cards and other paper products, is now in the 4th year of a successful international licensing program which has seen its distinctive designs appear on over 40 licensed product ranges worldwide. Categories include tabletop, ceramics, and houseware, gifts, fashion accessories, stationery, and home textiles.

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Marion Hancock

New Art Brand Kathryn Murray Launched

This will be Marion Hancock’s tenth year in business, supplying art greeting cards to retailers in Ireland and the UK. She started publishing cards in Dublin while her husband was working with a new business startup there (unrelated to cards). Art was her hobby, and she was meeting lots of artists in

Kathryn Murray has announced the launch of her new surface design art brand, combining a lively color palette with her own playful style of calligraphy and illustration. Her surface design artwork features bright and bold colors, along with a storybook-like quality of elements, including unique hand-lettering. Designs are created with a wide variety of products in mind. In addition to florals and unique holiday themes, Kathryn Murray specializes in novelty and juvenile designs, such as, truck driving dogs and candy colored castles. Available for licensing.

“I am very excited and proud to launch Kathryn Murray. This has been a long-held dream that I have been working towards for some time. I am so thrilled to share my work! The brand is about the love of hand lettering and illustration, along with the appreciation of the small, sweet moments in nature. As a steadfast believer in dreams and the influence of everyday joy, my hope is that it may charm all who see it,” explained artist and owner, Kathryn Murray.

According to her bio, Kathryn Murray only loves two things, her family and fabric. Well, maybe that’s not true! She also loves Italy and Colin Firth! Kathryn studied illustration at Parsons School of Design, then returned to the West Coast to begin work in the niche world of calligraphy and wedding stationery. When she is not mixing paint, working on an embroidery, or drinking coffee, you can find her chasing her son, reading in bed, or rewatching The Office. Kathryn works and dreams in an absurdly pink studio in Los Angeles.

Dublin and Wicklow and it struck her that it would be great to see more of their work on the high street, rather than it disappearing into private hands. Marion Hancock now supplies many of the ‘Best shops in Ireland’ (as judged by the Irish Times) and are actively looking for more stockists in the UK. With St Patrick’s Day coming up on 17th March, and it having become a day of celebration far beyond Ireland, Marion believes that retailers might like to think about stocking some cards with a tasteful Irish angle!

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Dream Big! shortlisted in the GOTY Award 2020 After a series of awards last year, including winning the Lux Designer Award 2019, Soula Zavacopoulos is kicking off 2020 with another exciting award nomination - her Dream Big! range has been shortlisted in The Gift of the Year Awards 2020!

Soula is the founder and designer of The London Studio, winner of Most Creative Design Consultancy 2019. Originally a greeting card publisher, supplying stores such as Selfridges, Harrods and Urban Outfitters, Soula changed her business model from publishing cards to licensing her designs, in order to free up more time so she could focus on her design work, as well as focus more on the consultancy side of her business, where she advises, mentors and helps other card publishers and gift companies to grow.

Commenting, Soula said, “I’m really happy I made the move into licensing and consultancy.

Winning Most Creative Consultancy last year gave the business added recognition on the consultancy side. And for the licensing side, I feel very fortunate to be licensing my ranges to some of the top companies in the field of cards, gifts and book publishing. Together, we are creating some amazing collections and I’m excited about the great response we are getting from retailers and consumers alike, plus the national press has been picking up on my work and featuring it, including OK Magazine and the Guardian.”

This year’s award nomination is for Soula’s Dream Big! Diary and Happiness Planner, which she has licensed to Browntrout Publishers. Says Soula, “I’m delighted that Dream Big! has been shortlisted. It is a range that means a lot to me as it’s my way of “giving back”, trying to help people and trying to make a positive difference through my work.”

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London Portfolio London Portfolio is a New Jersey based design studio specializing in creating artwork for the paper products and textile industries. The collection is the creative effort of twenty worldwide artists who design a variety of novelty driven conversational designs for Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day and other holidays, as well as everyday themes and categories.

The studio was founded in the mid 1980’s by designer Gillian Fullard as a women’s fashion studio based in the fashion district of New York City and grew to be popular and successful before moving to northern New

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Simone DeSantis launches line of licensed products

Jersey in 2005 to focus on surface designs for textiles and paper.

Since 2015 the studio has been owned and operated by Michael Hernandez and London Portfolio continues to be a resource for designs for manufacturer’s of home, paper, and textile products, as well as many major US retailers.

Watercolor artist and surface designer, Simone DeSantis, based in Los Angeles, has launched a line of licensed products featuring themes including florals, novelty, holiday, home/garden and hand lettering.

“It’s been an exciting transition from merchandising/interior design to textile and surface pattern design,” says DeSantis. “For years, I’ve always had to work with what already existed in the marketplace, but now I can truly express my signature style through my own designs. I love mixing different techniques into each collection to give it a more eclectic and hand-selected look.”

Her first fabric line, entitled Electric Florals, is now available on Spoonflower.com

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TOTAL Art Licensing

The world of MGL

50 artists and 300+ licensees around the world

Over the past 30 years, MGL has become one of the leading global art licensing companies representing over 50 artists and working with 300 plus licensees globally.

The Art licensing industry has never been so buoyant with so many companies now looking for great art for their products that will stand the test of time as well as being able to reflect growing and emerging trends. With the rapid growth of e-commerce, it’s clear that consumers now have much more choice as manufacturers can offer a wider array of product than they could at traditional retail.

This variety naturally means that licensees now need to expand their offering beyond the traditional ‘easy sell’ entertainment and popularity driven brands. MGL are happy to offer a wide variety of art and design to cover this growing need.

At MGL they don’t just serve as an image ‘library’ by just licensing imagery, in fact, quite the opposite. They strive to build artists’ popularity and brand them rather than just serve as a ‘stock’ source. One of their main strengths has been the fact that they can work closely with their licensees creating illustrations to briefs, as well as developing in house

“The art licensing industry has never been so buoyant.”

artistic spectrum, which ranges from fantasy, wildlife, and pattern, all the way to kids’ illustration.

designs based on upcoming trends. In other words, they can be equally pro and reactive to market needs. On the subject of ‘strengths’, their main strength is being fortunate to represent some of the world’s best commercial artists and studios, such as Archive by Portico, which is having great success with John Lewis in the UK as well as a number of retailers overseas.

One thing they have realized in the last 30 years, is the importance of not only working closely with their partners to help target their customers, but also the importance of being flexible and rapid response time to art call outs.

As always, MGL sees the future of art licensing to be very positive, and they are looking forward to another strong year for their licensees and artists. .

“Deep and luxurious, Archive from the studio of Portico Designs continues to grow in both the UK and US markets. Just back from both Top Drawer London and Atlanta Gift shows, Portico’s managing director says, “Our best two shows to date with customers in both territories buying Archive in depth. They love the rich colours and vibrant artwork.”

Other design-based Artists MGL represent such as, Valentina, Aimee Stewart and Sharon Turner continue to be as strong as ever due to their ever-increasing portfolio, and on- trend look. They wish they could talk more about the amazing variety their artists bring to the table, but there is not enough space to do so here. In short; their artists cover most of the PAGE 20

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Multi-product collection for Rongrong DeVoe Renowned fashion illustrator, Rongrong DeVoe, has launched a multi-sku collection with licensees, Me & My Big Ideas and Sino Gifts, which are now available nationwide at Hobby Lobby, JOANN’S and Michaels.

The licenses were brokered by Rongrong’s agent, Jewel Branding & Licensing. Me & My Big Ideas launched The Happy Planner x Rongrong collection featuring original designs from highly recognized fashion illustrator, Rongrong DeVoe. The collection includes a wide assortment of sku’s with products including planners, notebooks, stickers, washi tape, stationery, pen cases and dated goods. The collection aims to inspire consumers to plan their days using products that illustrate optimism and happiness, encapsulated through DeVoe’s signature imagery of confident, empowered women. This collection is now available at

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Hobby Lobby, Michaels and JOANN’s. Sino Gifts also launched a new collection featuring Rongrong’s unique style on a range of products including bulletin boards, picture frames, small wall décor, shelf sitters, pillows, cosmetic bags, luggage tags, and drinkware.

The products portray DeVoe’s sought- after feminine aesthetic, and are geared towards the modern day working woman who is bold and courageous. The collection is now available at Hobby Lobby stores across the U.S.

www.totallicensing.com for all your licensing information

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TOTAL Art Licensing

Anne Stokes - 12 years of Calendars Anne Stokes has been working with top calendar publishers, and has had licensed calendars on the market, worldwide, for over 10 years including Pyramid International since 2010, Athesia, Germany since 2014 and Flame Tree Publishing since 2018. For the 2021 edition, calendars are already laid out and ready for production which makes for 12

9 Fall 201

er/

Summ

years of calendars for this fantasy artist.

For this coming year’s 2020 calendars, Anne Stokes Collection has 6 calendars, all with different artworks, designs and themes; Gothic, Unicorns, Mystical Creatures, Dragons and more. One of them is an exclusive for Calendar Club in the UK. Products are available both online and in store across Europe,

USA and many other territories.

“I really like doing calendars as it’s a good way to introduce fantasy into people’s homes, throughout the year. I like to have lovethemed artwork for February and a gothic image for Halloween in October, for example.

The calendar that is nearest to my heart this year is the one on Dragons which are my favorite subject to paint.” commented Anne.

In October, Anne Stokes shared a video on Facebook, speaking about her calendars and how they are put together. Her weekly online video content postings Bringing Fantasy to Life explore how the artist uses fantasy myths and legends in her artwork.

The videos give some back story to the iconic artwork in the Anne Stokes Collection and an insight into the world of Fantasy Art. They also give some detail on how licensed products are developed from her artwork.

Fans are really engaging with the content and licensees benefit from their products being featured, alongside the artworks.

The Anne Stokes Collection covers a broad range of fantasy subjects including Unicorns, Enchanted Forests, Gothic themes and Dragons. Assets include main artworks, patterns, elements and logos and is updated regularly with new content.

Anne Stokes is represented worldwide by Art Ask Agency. an internationally established licensing agency based in Barcelona, Spain, offering a complete service to licensees and brand owners around the world.

TOTAL Art Licensing The next edition of Total Art Licensing will be published at the beginning of May. As always, the magazine will cover all aspects of art and design licensing, around the world.

This issue will enjoy bonus distribution at Blue Print in New York, Licensing Expo in Las Vegas, Autumn Fair in Birmingham and Brand Licensing Europe in London.

To reserve your space, or to find out more about this issue, please contact: Jerry Wooldridge (jerry@totallicensing.com) or Francesca Ash (francesca@totallicensing.com)

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Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture San Francisco, California May 1 - 3, 2020

BLUE PRINT AND *NOTED MAY 2020 The team at Blue Print were more than excited to be partnering and planning for a joint show with *Noted in San Francisco in May 2020.

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, it became unfeasible for Blue Print to continue to participate in this event as originally planned.

The *Noted team were most helpful with advice, support and encouragement as we looked for ways to make the event work for Blue Print, but in the end we had to withdraw from a joint show with *Noted. After all the time and energy put into the organisation and planning for the joint show in San Francisco, it really is a big disappointment not to be able to make Blue Print happen alongside *Noted in May 2020.

That having been said, we are planning to have a Blue Print Pavilion within the *Noted show in May 2020, and we are working on that now!

Watch this space!

For more information, go to https://www.notedexpo.org/noted20/Public/Enter.aspx

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It’s all about Beryl...

Beryl Cook, one of England’s best-known artists was born in Surrey in 1926. Her instantly recognisable paintings feature people whom she encountered in everyday life, from friends chatting in the street, girls out shopping and families picnicking in the park through to pub crawls and drag queen shows! Beryl also enjoyed painting her own family and pets that feature in many of the paintings.

Beryl didn’t actually pick up her first paintbrush until later in life. Having moved to London at the end of the war she tried working as a model and showgirl, later running a pub with her husband John in Suffolk. Their son John junior was born in 1950, and in 1956 they all left to live in South Rhodesia.

This would be where Beryl picked up her first paintbrush at the age of 37, Beryl and her son John attempted to copy a little Indian painting she had found, her first painting turned our well and she continued to experiment.

Beryl had always struggled with the rugged outdoors of Africa and in 1965 they returned to England to live in Looe in Cornwall. This is where Beryl discovered how much she enjoyed painting, she couldn’t stop. She painted on any surface she could find; scraps of wood, fire screens, old boxes and even a breadboard!

Her painting gained momentum, and once she had run out of driftwood she starting using plywood panels, which her husband

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would cut, and prime for her.

In 1968 the family moved to Plymouth and bought a guesthouse on the Hoe. In the summer Beryl would run the guesthouse and continue with her painting through the winter continuing to use her experiences and observations as subject matter. Beryl had her first exhibition in 1975 at the Plymouth Art Centre, which was a great success. Her artistic career quickly took off after this, as did her popularity. She gained celebrity fans around the world, illustrated a number of books and continued to hold many exhibitions. In 1994 Beryl received the Best Selling Published Artist Award and in 1995 was awarded an OBE. Fast forward to the present day and Beryl’s legacy continues with her granddaughter Sophie now managing her portfolio with licensing agent This Is Iris which sees a long list of beautiful products now available throughout the UK & Europe. It may be surprising to some that her licensing program is so strong with some lines remaining in the top ten properties sold within specific categories for the past 4 years running, beating celebrity based ranges and well known football clubs!

Beryl left a large number of sketchbooks filled not only her initial observations but also humorous notes on her thoughts at that precise moment, which have become inspiration to partners across the board. Half Moon Bay will launch a range of gift book sets titled Growing Old Disgracefully at Spring Fair, a theme that is being picked up by other partners with new lines launching throughout 2020.

Sophie’s husband Olly a successful artist and designer in his own right has developed a number of new collage based prints using original sketches, paintings and comments made by Beryl. This has lead to a fresh new take on the portfolio with licensees reporting a surge in sales for these fun filled images.

In 2017 a very successful exhibition was hosted by Plymouth museum, this was the first time a gift shop had been set up alongside an exhibition and the new merchandise was incredibly popular. The museum is currently

under a multi-million pound refurbishment and when is does reopen on 16 May 2020 it will not only be renamed as ‘The Box’ but it will also have a permanent Beryl Cook exhibition in place as well as a specific gift shop stocked with official licensed products, including greetings cards, calendars & diaries, gift sets, and ceramics as well as textiles, bags & cross stitch kits and much more, all celebrating Beryl’s wonderful legacy.

2020 will be an exciting time for all those involved with the Beryl Cook legacy, not only with the permanent exhibition opening but also through the exciting projects that are currently under development.

For an artist who began her career in the 90s it’s wonderful to see that Beryl is as loved now as she was then, some 30 years later.

For more information say hello@thisisiris.co.uk

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TOTAL Art Licensing

Frank Lloyd Wright Licensing Program grows with the launch of three new licensed product Lines The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has introduced over fifty new products in collaboration with three new licensees.

The collections are inspired not only by Wright’s architecture, but also his surface designs and his use of natural materials. Classic Rug Collection, Inc. have brought Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired rugs back to the marketplace for the first time in over 50 years.

Konzuk, creators of architecturally inspired handcrafted concrete jewelry, have introduced over thirty pieces of wearable architecture.

The ATOM Brick of Chicago, Illinois offers interconnecting building brick kits, allowing design enthusiasts to create miniature versions of Wright buildings.

Barbara Barran, President of Classic Rug Collection, Inc, has created rug collections at two price points.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Signature Series is comprised of fine, hand-knotted rugs from Nepal and hand-tufted rugs from Thailand.

This series will be marketed to the architecture and interior design community.

The moderately-priced Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian lines, named after Wright’s series of homes designed for middle income families in the 1930s, will feature American-made floor cloths, and cotton, hand-woven flat weaves made in India; this line will be sold at Wright venues and museum stores, through catalogs, and on classicrugcollection.com.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Signature Series rugs can be ordered in any size, to the inch, and in a variety of manufacturing techniques in custom colors. Classic Rug Collection, Inc. can also work with architects and designers to create custom rugs inspired by Wright’s designs.

“We are delighted to reintroduce rugs to our Frank Lloyd Wright licensed home goods program,” said Stuart Graff, President and

TOTAL BRAND LICENSING

CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. “When Wright launched his licensing program in 1955, rugs were a key component of the collection. With the 65th anniversary of our licensing program approaching in 2020, this is the perfect time to revisit his rug designs and introduce Wright’s reimagined rug designs to a new generation of design enthusiasts.”

Karen Konzuk, owner of Vancouver, British Columbia-based Konzuk, found inspiration in the foundational geometric forms and unembellished materials used in Wright’s architectural projects. The debut collection features necklaces, earrings, rings and cufflinks.

The items will be available at Wright venues, museum stores, and on konzukshop.com.

Former LEGO Master Builder Adam Reed Tucker recently debuted his company, The ATOM Brick of Chicago, Illinois, which offers a variety of educational souvenirs.

The first collection of Frank Lloyd Wright building kits include the Darwin D. Martin House, and two structures recently designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites: Taliesin West and Unity Temple.

The kits will ship in February 2020. A second collection is planned for Spring 2020 release, and will feature an additional five of Wright’s building designs, including several more of Wright’s UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, established by Wright in 1940, is dedicated to preserving Taliesin and Taliesin West (pictured) for future generations, and inspiring society through an understanding and experience of Frank Lloyd Wright’s ideas, architecture and design. Wright’s legacy, reflected in contemporary work around sustainable and affordable architecture and excellence in design, is of even greater importance today than in his own time.

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TOTAL Art Licensing

MHS introduce Bethany Joy MHS Licensing & Consulting introduced mixed media abstract painter Bethany Joy at the upcoming 2020 Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishings Market in January. Her vibrant and inspirational paintings will also be featured in the MHS booth (#3286) during 2020 Surtex taking place February 2-5, at the Javits Center in New York City.

“We are thrilled to begin the new year and decade introducing such a bright and colorful artist,” says Marty Segelbaum, President of MHS Licensing & Consulting. “We feel Bethany’s portfolio of fresh and trending abstract paintings will be a big hit with manufacturers at these all-important winter tradeshows.

Bethany Joy is a mixed media painter, who expresses joy through painting vibrant abstracts, flowers and inspirational quotes.

Bethany mainly creates with acrylic paint; however, she loves experimenting and intro-

ducing pastels, watercolors, oils, and other materials within her paintings to add different textures. The process of painting is very playful and spontaneous for her.

Bethany’s fresh and vibrant paintings have broad appeal and are available for licensing on greeting cards, stationery, home textiles, bath ensembles, bedding and more.

In addition to new artist Bethany Joy, MHS Licensing & Consulting will also be introducing new images from their already successful and highly sought-after artist brands at Atlanta Gift Market and Surtex.

Collectively their proven art properties generate over $122 million in annual sales through their licensee partners.

MHS Licensing & Consulting is one of the nation’s leading licensing and consulting agencies specializing in representing popular artists and advising manufacturers in the search, evaluation and acquisition of new properties and personalities.

EttaVee Collection launched by Jewel Branding Jewel Branding & Licensing report the launch of a full collection of products by renowned art influencer EttaVee, that debuted at Atlanta Gift & Home Furnishings Market at the AmericasMart in January. EttaVee founder, Jessi Raulet, attended the show to introduce her collections and meet with buyers.

EttaVee has partnered with popular bedding, home décor and accessory brand, carol & frank, to bring a new capsule collection of luxury bedding and accessories to be launched in Atlanta. The collection will be available in bedding and boutique stores nationwide directly following the product launch in January. Leading stationery and gift company,The Lang Companies, recently launched an Artisan by Lang leather bag and accessory collection including products with genuine leather material, premium cotton liners and recycled cotton papers. The product line launched January 1st, 2020, and has already generated significant buzz with consumers. In addition to bags and accessories.

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The Lang Companies, is introducing a luxury linen Rainbow Riviera stationery line, with linen embossed paper and rich gold foil adding a luminous shine.

The EttaVee brand will also be featuring a new collection with drinkware brand, Tervis, with products that include water bottles, coffee containers and wine tumblers featuring Raulet’s colorful designs A signature line of EttaVee coasters from housewares manufacturer, Conimar, also debuted at this year’s Atlanta Gift & Home Furnishings Market.

An assortment of over 20 EttaVee products including mugs, placemates, cutting boards and lazy susans were featured.

“We have been so thrilled with the positive reaction to EttaVee’s bright, beautiful designs,” said Julie Newman, CEO & Founder of Jewel Branding & Licensing, “We are excited that Jessi attended the Atlanta Gift & Home Furnishing Market to introduce this unique new collection.”

Categories available for licensing include home décor, stationery, gift, apparel, fashion

accessories, travel goods, gift and housewares.

About EttaVee EttaVee by Paris-based artist and social media influencer, Jessi Raulet, has quickly become a brand well known for distinct, hand-painted, colorful and bold designs. Raulet is inspired by life in France, travel adventures, tropical settings, colorful fruit and pop culture. She shares her art with her 65,000 followers on Instagram, and has been featured by Good Morning America, Dancing with the Stars, FabFitFun, Pantone, PopSugar and others.

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PROFILE

The National Gallery, London continues to develop licensing activity in China.

The National Gallery tells the story of European art from the late medieval period to the early twentieth century. From its home in London’s Trafalgar Square, the Gallery collects and cares for some of the world’s greatest paintings.

Founded in 1824, the collection has over 2,300 pictures. Its story spans 700 years, with paintings from Renaissance Italy and by the French Impressionists. The Gallery is home to Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, Monet’s The Water-Lily Pond, Van Eyck’s The Arnolfini Portrait, Velázquez’s The Rokeby Venus and Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire. The richness of the collection has caught the imagination of audiences in China.

The Gallery’s licensing story goes from strength to strength. Working closely with Alfilo Brands, the master licensee in China, the success of the partnership is down to a real understanding of the audiences in China and their appreciation of European art.

In 2018 the partnership was launched with a 30-metre-long ‘Cultural and art corridor’ in

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the Shanghai metro. Around 6 million commuters saw the advertising and merchandise campaign over 30 days. Later that year, the National Gallery opened their first experiential and interactive pop-up store in Asia’s largest retail mall in Guangzhou, attracting 150,000 customers over four days. The following year, a second pop-up shop, ‘National Gallery Store in the Sky’, opened on the 116th floor of the Shenzhen Pin An Financial Center, the fourth tallest building in the world.

In 2019, the National Gallery took part in China’s first ‘Global Museum Day’ on JD.com, the largest self-operated e-commerce platform in China, again in collaboration with Alfilo Brands. It was co-sponsored by the National Gallery, London, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the V&A, London, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, who developed bespoke products for the platform with various partners. The event generated 1 billion brand impressions in the Chinese market. The first National Gallery online store launched on TMall, operated by the Alibaba Group, and the Gallery also sold merchandise through the Museums and Galleries Collection store in

Shanghai.

In addition to developments in retail and merchandise, the National Gallery have also been bringing their art to the forefront of learning by running a series of workshops at the Liu Haisu Museum and at the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts.

‘We are delighted by the growth and success in China and our collaborative relationship with Alfilo Brands. One of our key aims is to raise awareness and expand our reach into new markets, and China has become one of our success stories. We have been able to launch new and innovative experiences and have tapped into modern museum retail in one of the most advanced digital buying markets globally. The Chinese audiences have a true appetite for learning and immersing themselves into European art and history, and we are delighted to be able to showcase that through unique and engaging approaches and bespoke product development.’ Judith Mather, National Gallery Company, Director of Buying and Brand Licensing.

For more information contact: licensing@nationalgallery.co.uk

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FEATURE

The Art Gallery of Ontario

Ruth Baker Design: Callalily Located in Toronto, Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) is one of the largest art museums in North America. The remarkable museum is home to over 100,000 works of art, from the vast body of signature Canadian and Indigenous works, and cutting edge contemporary art, to European Masters including Peter Paul Rubens’ masterpiece The Massacre of The Innocents. Their photography collection spans the history of the medium from the 1840’s to present day. In 2002, Ken Thomson’s generous gift of 2,000 remarkable works of Canadian and European art inspired Transformation AGO, an innovative architectural expansion by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry.

Traditionally, the focus for the AGO has largely been with regional and national licens-

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ing partners typical within the museum and heritage community in Canada. They are now working with clients to help them engage a global audience with iconic Canadian imagery as well as the international artists and art held in their Collection.

licensing trade shows is a significant change in how they do business as they expand theircollection and brand outside of Canada.

The past two years have been about building

Their institutional mission is bringing people together with art to see, experience and understand the world in new ways. With that as a guiding principle, they are modernizing their business to reach new audiences, expand product categories and territories, including the inspired by design category. They have been watching the success of British Museums; it’s really been inspiring for them as it demonstrates that the market is interested in culture and heritage. Access to art can happen in many different ways. Their presence at

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FEATURE

jardin du Petit Gennevilliers.

Commenting, Jeanne Lottie said, “When I saw the exciting news that AGO will have the beautiful painting of Iris, immediately we requested to have the image for a product line. Love the intensity of colors used and the painting speaks beauty of nature. You can almost smell the scent of Iris in the painter’s garden dated in 1890s. I love Gustave’s strokes, way of impressionist painting.”

Lake of Bays Brewing Company limited edition Black IPA beer was their first foray into inspired by design. The iconic image of Tom Thomson’s The West Wind is a natural pairing that celebrates the spirit of Canadians’ fascination with the north. AGO is looking forward to expanding further in the beverage category.

upon the foundation they have in heritage licensing. They are expanding the traditional product categories so that their art, artist and gallery become part of the everyday. They are excited about their contribution to an app, soon to be released, that provides digital access to art as a prescription. The app has gaming and puzzle features allowing the user to play, explore and read about art. What’s been exciting is the feedback regarding images in the test phase, with digital projects they can respond quickly to changing image selections. Using art as a solution for health has been particularly gratifying.

Their partnership with Ruth Baker Design (https://ruthbakerdesign.com) is a first for the AGO. Baker produces large format wall coverings that bring historical images into contemporary settings.

Each work of art has a story, a history, its provenance. Their audiences also bring their own narrative and personal experience when they visit and view works of art. Their licensing program is a way to extend that experience and also introduce the public to hidden gems that they have in the vaults.

The merging of art and design to create product for the everyday.

As a licensor and caretaker of their art colTOTAL BRAND LICENSING

lection, Liana Radvak, Registrar, Collection Information & Head of Licensing & Image Resources at AGO loves the notion of what she think of as a layered product benefit: association of place and pride of nation. For those outside of Canada, product becomes a starting point to discover their landscape, art and gallery, or just appreciate great design.

The collaboration with Jeanne Lottie exemplifies how art can be many things.

Jeanne Lottie on partnering with a museum like the AGO to create contemporary heritage products, said, “Most of our customers recognize Harris’s work and they are excited to see the image on bags and scarves. They are proud to show them off to their friends and relatives overseas. The collaboration creates mobile art. We are proud to be Canadians.”

Their exhibition program will help drive part of their licensing program overseas as they have key Canadian works travelling to venues in Europe, an opportunity for their current licensing partners to expand their business and add new licensing partners, as the world discovers iconic art held in the collection of the AGO. For more information, visit Ago Licensing at http://ago.ca/image-reproduction-licensing

Jeanne Lottie Lawren Harris Products

Liana Radvak is thrilled to continue their partnership with Jeanne Lottie and can announce a new collection coming this spring based on the Gustave Caillebot painting Iris bleus, PAGE 29

COVER STORY

On the cover...

A celebration of all things heritage Our front cover for this issue features some stunning images celebrating the many excellent heritage and museum brands that are seeing growth and strength.

Heritage licensing is an ever-increasing industry sector, offering brand extensions with authenticity and consumer trust. Global interest is also extremely strong, seeing history and tradition merging with some truly creative and inspired programmes

BRAND TOTAL

A TOTAL LICENSING GROUP PUBLICATION

LICENSING

WINTER / SPRING 2020

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University of Oxford

Historic Royal Palaces

Van Gogh Museum

The RHS

Science Museum

V&A

Infinite Source of Design Inspiration The award-winning licensing programme of the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum, London) offers an almost infinite source of design inspiration. The museum continues to grow its product offering and global reach with new activations with licensees and retailers in key territories.

Existing collaborations in the UK have gone from strength to strength. Wild & Wolf have introduced a beautiful new design by William Morris and expanded the range to include cosmetics and beauty accessories, alongside the popular garden tools and drinkware. KitchenCraft are expanding their popular Alice in Wonderland tableware range, as June sees the opening of Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition, an immersive and theatrical show charting the evolution of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland from manuscript to a global phenomenon beloved by all ages.

The museum is focusing on developing its programme in East Asia, adding ten new licensees in the past year. In China, collaborations include cosmetics, footwear, homeware, luggage, eyewear and a pop-up store with Tmall Club at the Life Experience Center at Shanghai K11.

In South Korea, new licensee LIDC launched a colourful range of apparel and worked with LG Electronics to offer a promotional V&A diary to LG loyalty customers, via Kakaotalk Store, the mobile shop linked with the biggest messenger platform.

2020 is set to be an exciting year for Japan and an upsurge in interest in Japanese culture.

Coinciding with that the V&A will launch TOTAL BRAND LICENSING

COVER STORY new exhibition Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk in February with current licensees Salonge and People Tree Japan releasing Spring collections inspired by traditional kimono.

In April, the V&A team will be exhibiting at the Licensing Japan Expo at Tokyo Big Sight, to continue the growth of the V&A’s already significant presence in the region. This follows two new Japanese licensees launching this spring: Aurora with a range of sumptuous silk scarves, featuring six designs beautifully combining botanical illustrations; and Texet with curtain fabric and voile, inspired by the museum’s Arts and Crafts patterns.

Beyond the Palaces Historic Royal Palaces is the charity that looks after the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Banqueting House, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace and Hillsborough Castle and Gardens. The charity strives to have an impact in the world beyond a visit to one of its palaces.

The licensing programme is key to this in offering innovative and skilfully designed products which stir every spirit and excite UK and international customers.

One of the most recent successes within the licensing programme is Historic Royal Palaces’ deal with The Royal Mint. The first licensed collection, which launched December 2018, reunited The Royal Mint with the Tower of

V&A

London, a relationship which first began in 1279 when all the coins of the realm were minted at the Tower. The collection featured Historic Royal Palaces

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4 coins: Ravens, The Crown Jewels, Yeoman Warders and the Ceremony of the Keys with a special Tower of London mint mark included on each design. The next collection will follow on from this with four brand new designs inspired by the stories and impressive architecture of the Tower.

Today the Royal Mint is based in Wales, distributing these coins not only in the UK but internationally to customers across Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Each of the four-coin designs are available in 7 specifications ranging from the Brilliant Uncirculated £5 denomination, through to Silver and Gold £5-coin varieties. The pinnacle of each design is a five-ounce Gold Proof coin!

Being able to work closely with The Royal Mint to create new marketing content was key to making an impactful and more personal campaign, they made very good use of the authenticity and support that the team of curators were able to provide by featuring in short

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COVER STORY video clips across The Royal Mint’s platforms.

Historic Royal Palaces’ long-standing partnership with jewellery partner Clogau has been boosted in the last year with pieces targeting the travel retail sector and sold across airlines and cruise ships including: Emirates, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, Vietnam Airlines, Tianjin Airlines (China), P&O Cruises, Cunard and more. Clogau are launching new designs in spring 2020 and will be working with us on an autumn range.

Flame Tree Publishing have been a welcome addition producing three calendars for 2020

which have sold in independent booksellers across the UK. The design team made excellent use of its licensed art-pack, 50 patterns for use across a range of products and packaging, inspired by key trends and palace themes relevant for 2020/21. Flame Tree will be producing three more calendars for 2021 utilising the archive of palace prints dating from the 17th century and extensive image library.

“We are innovative and always evolving to respond to the ever-changing world; the year ahead will focus on developing new avenues for growth as well as developing partnerships and expansion within the US and Asia - our royal brand is set to reach many new audiences,” commented Historic Royal Palaces.

A Hardy Perennial Longevity and strong public awareness are part of what makes the Royal Horticultural Society a popular heritage brand. But how did the RHS licensing team translate this into a successful – and lasting – licensing proposition?

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RHS

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) was first granted a royal charter in 1809. Today it is the UK’s leading gardening charity. Known in Britain and much of the world for the RHS Flower Shows and RHS Gardens, visited and supported by millions, the stated aim of the RHS is to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.

This has gained the RHS both support and goodwill, not to mention regular TV, magazine, online and radio coverage. But how does this positive response translate into a heritage licensing proposition, let alone a regular and growing source of licensing income?

Until 2015 the RHS licensing campaign had quietly generated a reasonable amount of income for the RHS for well over two decades. However, since 2015 the licensing operation has been ramped up, with extraordinary results. Today it can boast an annual income of over £1 million.

RHS This was partly down to a new

style guide, developed from a number of invaluable assets, notably those from the RHS Lindley Collections – a library of botanical artwork offering over 25,000 images from the past 500 years.

Beautiful, diverse and arresting images of flowers, foliage, fruit, vegetables, birds, animals and insects, along with patterns and diagrams, have inspired some amazing (and, before 2015, fairly unlikely) products like

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COVER STORY even gin!

Today its appeal to diverse licensees – in gardening but also in many other categories – makes this exceptionally well-managed heritage brand a year-round licensing proposition – a sort of hardy perennial, perhaps. However, the team behind this success never forget that this is not just a heritage brand but the UK’s leading gardening charity. As RHS licensing manager Cathy Snow puts it: “Ours is an approach that develops and expands the licensing offer without ever undermining the brand identity or, importantly, the RHS mission and aims.”

RHS

women’s occasionwear from Coast, women’s shoes and sandals from Hotter, toiletries and accessories from Heathcote & Ivory, gift and fashion items from Shruti and fragranced candles and diffusers from Wax Lyrical.

But maintaining brand awareness also means not resting on your laurels. The style guide is regularly updated or new ones with very specific focuses are developed. One such was the very successful RHS Licensing Geometric Style Guide 2018; this uses garden design styles dating from the 1600s and 1700s to reflect the trend for geometric designs.

Even more of a statement of intent came at BLE 2019 with the launch of the new RHS licensing style guide for children’s products. The charity plans to address this growing young audience through a strong focus on children’s products in the coming months.

But – and this is a major selling point of a respected heritage brand – the RHS logo itself also gives a major boost to products, especially those closely related to its core competence: gardening. And there are a lot of these. Greenhouses, pots, planters, gardening gloves, wooden arches, flower and vegetable seeds, garden benches, tools, gardening boots… All benefit both from the endorsement of the RHS and, importantly, its reputation for only choosing high-quality partners that share its values.

The RHS also makes a point of endorsing UK craft businesses – an important and positive

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association for the brand, and one that extends from purpose-built shepherd’s huts and high-quality wooden sheds to art pottery and

A Busy Year for Science Science Museum Group Enterprises looks after the licensing programme for the Science Museum, the National Railway Museum and the Flying Scotsman. Each programme closely reflects the organisation’s brand values and royalties from products sold help to directly fund and support the museums.

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COVER STORY

2019 was a busy year for Science Museum Group, with new signings, events and new product categories launching throughout the year.

The Science Museum brand saw growth in the apparel, stationery and construction toy categories. This included a collaboration with Fat Face, massive growth of the Technologic line with Clementoni, and a stationery range in John Lewis & Partners. The History Heroes Science Museum game was highly commended at Gift of the Year 2019.

Brand-new ranges included Action/Reaction from Clementoni, a successful line both in wider retail and the Science Museum shop.

A highlight was a series of events in the lead-up to Christmas at London department store Selfridges. The Museum’s outreach team wowed shoppers with experiments and demonstrations, creating exciting in-store theatre as only the Science Museum can!

Science Museum PAGE 34

University of Oxford

The focus for 2020 is holding onto the enviable position of leading scientific toy brand with more innovation and expansion of successful lines. New categories will include food and collectibles.

The National Railway Museum’s partnership with Hornby goes from strength to strength.

The key items for Hornby this year are Stephenson’s Rocket, the new packaging for the Flying Scotsman Set and the three individual NRM special locos, ‘Oliver Cromwell’, ‘Lode Star’ and the LSWR T9.

Stephenson’s Rocket is the latest model from Hornby, who are celebrating their Centenary this year. The model employs the very finest of design, tooling and assembly technology with the result that the model is as true a ‘00’ scale model of Stephenson’s masterpiece that is currently possible. This special edition second is presented in a ‘Rocket’ branded style pack as outlined in the ‘Rocket’ guidelines, featuring not only feature the ‘Rocket’ but also three 1st Class carriages.

2023 will see the centenary of the Flying Scotsman. The Scotsman is the world’s most famous locomotive, the first steam locomotive to travel non-stop from London to Edinburgh and the first to achieve an authenticated 100mph in the UK. The programme for Flying Scotsman has always been incredibly strong, and the lead up to the centenary is generating a lot of interest. Science Museum Group are working on some new assets, photography and events for this momentous anniversary.

Momentum and Sustainability for 2020 and Beyond The licensing program for the University of Oxford, the world’s number one university for a fourth consecutive year, has gathered strong momentum which London based licensing agency, Brandgenuity will be looking to build on in 2020. With three new apparel partners, a toy licensee and specialist gifting licensee all on board, the brand is beginning to acquire a strong portfolio of licensed products with disTOTAL BRAND LICENSING

COVER STORY

tribution covering global markets. With trade shows fast approaching, everybody involved in the management of the licensing program will be looking to establish new relationships and utilise existing ones to help build the program further in 2020.

The recent development of fresh new creative materials will enable new and existing licensees to develop creative, aspirational products that capture Oxford’s unique British sensibility. The lifestyle guide features five design directions - Rebel Genius, Twist on Tradition, The Sporting Club, New Hybrids and New Take on Ornate - all of which are supported by content from the archives and collections of the University’s Libraries, Museums, Colleges, Sports Clubs and Botanic Garden. Key features of the guide include product mock-ups, compositions, colour palettes, typography and more. New innovations will be vibrant and TOTAL BRAND LICENSING

unique to Oxford, thanks to the new assets available to licensees.

“Working collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders has produced a strong collection of themes, designs and supporting assets, that are relevant to Oxford as well as licensees and retailers looking for brand authenticity and stand out.” - Hannah Aspey, Head of Brand at Oxford Limited.

“The guide is a celebration of the University, bringing to life all the things we know and love about Oxford. It also puts the University’s history and collections into context in a way that is contemporary and relevant across a range of lifestyle categories.” – Teri Niadna, Managing Director Europe, Brandgenuity.

Aside from creative development, another key area of focus for Oxford and Brandgenuity in 2020 will continue to be sustainability. The University recognises that environmental sustainability is one of the most important and urgent issues facing society. Its True Planet initiative focuses on how the world around us is changing and Oxford researchers are at the forefront of trying to better understand the reasons for global temperature and sea level increases, extreme weather events, plastic waste proliferation and threats to biodiversity.

Within the University, Oxford is committed to making more efficient use of resources and sourcing sustainable goods and services across the its departments including licensing. As part of the registration process, new licensees must go through a process of due diligence to establish and verify that they manufacture product ethically and work with partners committed to reducing their environmental impact.

University of Oxford

The World’s Most Extensive Collection The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, considered the global research centre for all things related to Vincent van Gogh, houses the world’s most extensive collection of paintings, drawings and sketches together with all of Vincent’s letters (an astonishing collection of 750 of them to family and friends). The paintings include many of his most famous and iconic works like The Sunflowers, Almond Blossom and The Bedroom. The Van Gogh Museum welcomed over 2.1 million visitors from 108 countries in 2019. It is a truly global institution.

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COVER STORY

The popularity of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is constantly growing, as well as the online community. At the start of 2019, The Van Gogh Museum became the first museum in the Netherlands to reach 1 million Instagram followers. Across all social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, the number of engagements doubled to more than 24 million against the previous year leading to The Van Gogh Museum taking the lead the most engaged fan base in the international cultural industry. This illustrates the appetite not only for Vincent Van Gogh’s work but also a desire to understand the man he was and the stories behind his PAGE 36

paintings.

Last year, there was tremendous interest in both the official ‘Meet Vincent van Gogh Experience’ in Port Vell, Barcelona’s old harbour attracting over 160,000 visitors and the ‘Meet Vincent van Gogh Experience’ in South Korea. This award-winning exhibition will launch at London’s South Bank for almost four months from 7th February to 21st May this year. The immersive experience offers visitors the opportunity to connect with Vincent Van Gogh’s story, paint like Vincent and be dropped as characters into his masterpieces as well as learn much more about the man himself and his art.

The licensing program has expanded with entries into

new categories. Beddinghouse launched a range of bedding materials, bedroom cushions, and inspired by Vincent van Gogh. BN International, the well respected and sought-after wall covering company has launched a new range of Van Gogh wallpapers, and we have created a Van Gogh Museum Monopoly Game, where people can enjoy the game and learn about Vincent van Gogh’s life and art at the same time. The museum’s most recent collaboration with Daily Paper, entering a fashion and lifestyle market, the collection is truly inspiring and available as of February this year.

In the United Kingdom, Licensing Link Europe has secured a raft of new licensees and product partners. The Collective has worked with ASOS on several successful apparel designs and are now expanding into other online fashion retailers. Ecoffee Cup, a leading supplier of reusable coffee cups, will launch a range of six designs featuring both iconic art and some lesser-known works and the Wooden Postcard Company are bringing wall art and postcards to retail. Additionally, there are key core categories being finalised and these will be announced in the coming weeks.

2020 is shaping up to be a very good year and should see inroads made into delivering the overall mission of The Van Gogh Museum “to make the life and work of Vincent van Gogh and his art accessible and to reach as many people as possible in order to enrich and inspire their lives.”

For more information…

Historic Royal Palaces www.hrp.org.uk University of Oxford www.oxfordlimited.co.uk Royal Horticultural Society www.rhs.org.uk Science Museum Group www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk The V&A www.vam.ac.uk The Van Gogh Museum www.vangoghmuseum.com TOTAL BRAND LICENSING

FEATURE

The House of PepsiCo

New apparel and accessory collections e-commerce site

PepsiCo touches the lives of individuals in more than 200 countries and territories with its 22 celebrated and iconic billion dollar global brands.

PepsiCo has hand their fingers on the pulse of fashion for years, and now they’ve created a home for it all.

Late last year, the brand announced the launch of brand new e-commerce site House of PepsiCo (www.houseofpepsico.com/), featuring their apparel and accessory collections and collaborations from around the world.

This next chapter for PepsiCo continues to take the brand beyond the bag and bottle and helps showcase their dedication to creativity and design while helping drive traffic and sales to their partners.

The platform gives fans access to all of their licensing endeavors, from the Mountain Dew x Girl Skateboard collection and upcom-

Matthieu Aquino, design vice-president of global beverage design and brand experience at PepsiCo.

PepsiCo Chief Design Officer, Mauro Porcini, commented, “The creation of House of PepsiCo is another indicator of our commitment to licensing as an extension of our brands’ equity and presents an opportunity to build stronger fan bases for our core products. The platform mirrors the lifestyle that

It has also been designed to offer added value to current and future fashion partners, said

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The e-commerce push is part of PepsiCo’s larger corporate plans. Recently, PepsiCo set an e-commerce sales goal of $2 billion for this year. Boosting its licensing deals with the new centralized House of PepsiCo site will, without doubt, help it reach that goal while drumming up some brand interest among fans.

The move centralizes what its subsidiary brands have already been doing. Cheetos recently ventured into fashionability with its House of Flamin’ Haute. Set during Fashion Week in New York City, the campaign featured a runway show, style bar and fans’ interpretations of Cheetos-inspired looks.

ing Q1 2020 Pepsi x DSquared2 capsule and even previous collaborations including designers and brands like Alexander Wang, Jeremy Scott, Puma, Burton, Bloomingdales, Colette, H & M, Liberty, Topshop and Zara.

The site was developed in a bid to shine a spotlight on PepsiCo’s licensing business by pulling together past and current collections into one cohesive hub.

House of PepsiCo site aims to strengthen the brand narratives around campaigns, increase visibility for the company’s brands and drive traffic to e-commerce partners.

has sprung up around our and creates an added value “click-to-buy” traffic driver for our retail and licensing partners in a design-forward, seamless format.”

PepsiCo is joining a mass of companies, including KFC and Taco Bell, that are repositioning to become lifestyle brands. The

The broader push of companies working to become lifestyle brands has grown in recent years, especially among QSR brands with large, loyal fan bases. Taco Bell teamed up with Forever 21 to offer brand-related tops, bodysuits, sweatsuits and jackets; KFC opened an e-commerce shop featuring shirts with the likeness of Colonel Sanders, and McDonalds created a collection of branded casual clothes.

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INFLUENCERS

Not working with influencers?

Maybe you should...

by Gordon Glenister, global head of Influencer marketing at the Branded Content Marketing Association

Influencer marketing is one of the fastest growing advertising media today with major brands like I Saw it First, Boohoo and Nike all embracing influencer strategies. Estee Lauder is set to spend 75% of its advertising budget in influencer marketing as it owns more than 30 skincare, hair and make-up brands.

According to surveys 90% of marketers now use some form of influencer marketing strategy and its seen by many as one of the best online acquisition methods.

The global industry is expected to top $10bn in 2020 in less than 10 years, although I think this is understated. We have seen a major shift in our society where social media influencers are the stars and have huge pulling power for brands. As publishers of content they can drive considerable sales for retailers and brands, often with original, authentic and engaging story telling. YouTube, Facebook and Instagram are the key channels for retailers now.

The BCMA, Branded Content Marketing Association launched a new Influence division in the summer to help promote the values of using and working with accredited influencers. This is an important move for brands to

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help them feel confident in working with the best influencer agencies and platforms as well as the individuals themselves.

The licensing industry is developing more ties with influencers but there is still considerable opportunity as was identified on a recent trip of mine to Brand Licensing Expo. Such is the success of the growth that the larger influencers as well as working with brands are also developing their own products and apparel ranges One individual who has embraced this is the CEO of Social Store, Ian Shepherd who was behind the successful launch of Hearts by Tiana. The 12-year-old YouTube sensation Tiana Wilson has a 16m following and a very engaged teenage audience. For a brand this is liquid gold. Her net worth is over £3m. Ian worked with her to create a range of apparel and merchandise which is now sold in over 1000 Asda stores and online. At a recent event in the Autumn, over 20,000 visitors came to the pop-up store in 2 days and with sales from £20 to a maximum of £344 and average a sale every 20 seconds. Hundreds queued for as much as 5 hours to meet their star even in the pouring rain.

Another specialist is Event Merchandising.

Event Merchandising has been involved with a number of influencers from DanTDM, Saccone Joly’s, Tomska, KSI, Dan and Phil creating a range of merchandise to be sold in various channels, including pop up shops, global tours and dedicated online stores.

DanTDM is one of the world’s biggest YouTubers, loved by kids and adults alike.

His positive and fun attitude have made his channels the place to hang out on YouTube with his 22 million subscribers and 15 billion views, testament to his popularity. DanTDM created a fantastic Arena tour showcasing specially created games, animations and stories

that were completely engaging and immersive for the fans.

Event Merchandising designed and created the Contest range featuring three different colour ranges of Tribes to be sold alongside the tour. KSI’s YouTube channel has accumulated over four billion video views and over 20 million subscribers and Event Merchandising created a range of product to be sold on his tour and online.

So how do you find the right influencer Authenticity is paramount. You want someone who has a passion for what they do and has a high engagement rate, this simply means that their followers are liking, commenting and sharing. Sometimes it’s easy to get hung up on the size of the follower base.

The more niche they are sometimes the better. A campaign last year for skincare brand Dermalogica partnered with Made in Chelsea star Georgia Toffolo. The reason, Georgia had herself battled with skin problems and the brand contacted her soon after she appeared on a TV programme sharing her issues. The campaign was filmed in her bathroom carrying out her skincare routine. The product sold out in all retailers within two weeks of the campaign launch. Year on year sales of the product increased by 94% and the campaign reached 5.4m of their target audience.

You want influencers to love your product, maybe they would buy it anyway. However, many influencers are very picky about the collaborations they work with as they need to make sure it resonates and reflects their audience.

You can of course try and find influencers yourself on Instagram or YouTube the main channels, but you might like to look at many of the influencer SAS platforms or work with a specialist agency that can help guide you through this. In fact, my advice is always to TOTAL BRAND LICENSING

INFLUENCERS consider this approach to start with. Campaigns only go wrong when the right process hasn’t been followed or the wrong influencers selected.

How long should a campaign last for Often influencers are brought into a campaign that involves a range of media, so typically they would last around 6 weeks, but they can vary. More and more brands are now investing in longer term partnerships like Ambassador programmes with a long-lasting impact.

Gifted or paid Influencers will work with all sorts of brand partnerships. Sometimes they will post about a restaurant or hotel and no payment would be made. However, content creators have to put a lot of time and effort into creating the right content and a lot more goes into this than many would realise. So many are paid.

You wouldn’t expect to get an advert in a magazine for free would you. There is no set fee for posts as this is often negotiated and a number of variables and relevance comes into play. Many start-ups and smaller businesses find influencer marketing a far greater return on their investment as they don’t have large marketing budgets.

What should be in the influencer contract It’s very important that the expectations are managed through a proper influencer contract but also it could create disastrous for a campaign if certain elements aren’t managed.

Contracts protect both parties and certainly if it will involve rights of intellectual property.

An example of when something can have dire consequences was with social media star Luka Sabbat neglected to fulfil a signed agreement for Snapchat without pre-approval and failed to get agreement on pre-approved Instagram stories. PR consulting Inc who represent Snapchat filed a public lawsuit against the actor.

1. Which parties are involved in the campaign including influencer, talent and any other that may have an impact on the campaign.

2. How long the agreement will last so will it be a single post or a series of activations across different media.

3. Territories – it’s important to be specific about this. Some influencers have strong folTOTAL BRAND LICENSING

lowing in certain countries, and this should always be considered during the selection process. It’s another reason to consider working with an influencer platform.

4. Format of content - Influencers understand their audience well and what type of content resonates with them. For example are they being required to do a series of live videos eg reviewing a new make-up line. The key here is the authenticity of the delivery and what works best is when brand and influencer decide on the format together.

5. Volume and frequency of content – This is one area that is clearly quantifiable and should be laid out explicitly from the start. If multiple pieces of content are required as part of the endorsement this needs to be stipulated. Allocating figures to each piece of activity ensures distinct KPIs are in place to measure the overall success of the campaign.

6. Supporting channels – With such a variety of social media platforms for influencers to create content it’s important to be specific and agree this in advance, so a video on YouTube and Snapchat. This is because they’re will be a different follower base in each of these.

7. Content reviews – Is approval required for branded posts before publication and which pieces. Then you can work backwards to allow enough time for the verification process.

8. Timeline – it’s one of the most important elements to include a timeline of activity and deadlines. The purpose of this is to ensure maximum impact and visibility on both sides. Its also designed to ensure that there is enough time for planning and scheduling 9. Key messaging – this is to ensure the correct tags are listed, calls to action, credits and relevant links. It’s important not to be so prescriptive as you want the authenticity of the post to come from the tone of voice from the influencer. It’s important to highlight here also the don’ts e.g. no profanity or other words that could be detrimental to the brand 10. Disclosure terms – the law requires that consumers must not be misled and therefore all branded posts should come with the appropriate #Ad. The agreement should also stipulate the importance of putting this at the start of the post and not buried in links 11. Image manipulation – if the brand pro-

How do you measure influencer marketing?

- Number of Twitter or Instagram followers - Engagement on content platforms such as personal blogs or LinkedIn Publishing - Number of Facebook fans - Content shares of their articles - Referral web clicks - Mentions - Votes on polling - Video views and dwell time - Pins – pinned tweets vides assets/logos or other, it must be made clear to what extent these can be altered.

Brands should steer clear of unnecessary cosmetic alterations or those that may that distort the integrity of the image 12 Exclusivity –stipulate any rules regarding activity with direct competitors and which types of brands are being referred to. This period of exclusivity may need to be expressly detailed.

13. Payment terms – this is one of the most important elements of the contract. Any agreement should outline within which time period payment should be made and in what form. It is also worth stating within the section why payment maybe withheld e.g. breach of contract.

14 Safeguarding and cancellation – an influencer contract should be mutually beneficial but in the brand perspective needs to keep a company protected in the eyes of the law should an influencer breach the terms. It should also be worth considering if the influencer becomes involved in media controversy to what extend may the brand break ties with them. An example of this would when Disney severed its relationship with Youtuber star PewDiePie following comments around anti-Semitic content.

For more information : The BCMA is the Branded Content Marketing Association and launched the first association for influencers, content creators and influencer platforms. www.thebcma.info References and images – The Social Store and Event Merchandising

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FEATURE

Host of new deals announced to celebrate

Rubik’s 40th Anniversary Rubik’s Cube celebrates its 40th anniversary since the Cube craze went global at retail, announcing a host of new partnerships that will extend Rubik’s brain-boosting credentials with market-leading partners.

First envisioned in 1974, Rubik’s Cube was only ever patented and packaged as the ‘Magic Cube’ for the Hungarian market. It wasn’t until a chance meeting between Erno Rubik and Tom Kremer at Nuremberg Toy Fair in 1979 that the global appeal of the Cube was truly unlocked. Kremer would go on to rename it the Rubik’s Cube and market it globally in 1980, where it found instant success becoming a pop culture phenomenon. The Rubik’s Cube has started its own art movement (Rubik Cubism), regularly featured in music videos, Hollywood movies, and is frequently seen being played by a cult celebrity following. It has even inspired a sport (Speedcubing), which is growing in popularity globally thanks to a long-term partnership with Red Bull. Rubik’s Cube has become more than just a puzzle; today, it’s used to teach engineering, mathematics, and highlight the interplay between design, engi-

neering, and creativity. Gaining a reputation amongst parents for helping to learn, boosting intelligence and memory, while giving kids a head start on STEM without a screen.

Thanks to its unique partnership with The Smiley Company, Rubik’s enters its anniversary year with a host of exciting new products and partnerships which have been co-created in Smiley Studio, and these are set to disrupt their respective markets in 2020. By extending Rubik’s brainboosting credentials, partnering with world-class companies, who share the goal of nurturing smarter future generations, The Smiley Company is helping to create a range of new products that will evolve Rubik’s STEM accreditation status, and compliment its cult following.

“This approach is ensuring Rubik’s stays relevant”, says Lori Heiss, VP Brand Strategy at The Smiley Company, “Our brand extension program will play a crucial part in futureproofing Rubik’s, as we find new ways of taking its iconic brain-challenging ethos to the next level. Our goal continues to be evolving Rubik’s through innovation, creating high quality products that tap into the brand’s rich architectural heritage and encourages kids and adults alike to ‘Play Smart.’ It’s all for us about finding the latest twists on the Cube!”

The team at Smiley has already brokered a range of new deals for Rubik’s anniversary in 2020, across a wide variety of categories.

These include: • A co-branded 3-D ball-ina-maze puzzle and labyrinth toy with Spin Master Corp.’s Perplexus Puzzle brand that sees you twisting and turning the Cube,

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manoeuvering a small steel ball through an intricate maze composed of many steps along narrow plastic tracks. The result creates the ultimate Rubik’s Cube puzzle and maze, adding in another level of fun and making the Cube even more challenging than ever before.

There’s also another confirmed partnership with Spin Master Corp., which will see a Rubik’s cobranded Etch A Sketch hit retail stores globally in Spring 2020, as part of both brands’ anniversary celebrations.

• A unique puzzle from TCG Toys where every piece is a square, referencing the individual Cubies that make up a Rubik’s Cube and is joined by squared-off interlocking connectors. Available in 200-pc and 300-pc sets with striking pixel-based imagery in trademark Rubik’s colours available in a variety of iconic images, including famous works of art and landscape photography • A set of Rubik’s Puzzle Cards and Puzzle Pads from Ginger Fox / Carlton Books with a selection of Rubik’s logic brainteasers and puzzles over varying degrees of difficulty. Following on from recent successes by Rubik’s in publishing, HEMMA, Egmont, Carlton Books, The Lagoon Group, and Solar, have sold over 300,000 books in recent times.

• Leading UK retailers, including Waitrose, Lakeland, Robert Dyas, Beales, Science Museum, and The Hut Group, will stock

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FEATURE

a new Rubik’s concept, Professor Rubik’s.

Developed by The Lagoon Group, and the brainchild of Smiley Company CEO Nicolas Loufrani, the range features wooden and wire puzzles that tap into the tactile, nostalgic semiotics of vintage games and the architectural heritage of the Rubik’s brand.

• There will also be a McDonald’s Happy Meal promotion and integrated campaign that sees the ever-popular Happy Meal Box transformed from its traditional tented house design into a Rubik’s Cube shape that features the brand’s iconic colours. This innovation will run through the duration of the campaign, alongside a range of in-store POS, including window stickers and posters. Rubik’s have also made significant in-roads into the apparel and accessories market thanks to its partnership with The Smiley Company, which the launch of an exciting new collaboration with sportswear giants Puma.

The collection includes vibrant footwear and clothing with graphic prints and fresh design elements, paying homage to the shape and mechanics of the Cube with playful visual executions.

Meantime Eastpak, the global explorer brand famed for its innovative solutions for urban mobility, will partner with Rubik’s on a collection of backpacks, mini bags, and wheeled luggage. The streetwear themed line features all over Cube prints and a selection of urban

graphic plays on Rubik’s timeless colourway, this is set to launch at retail in October 2020.

While Rubik’s shared anniversary mash-up with fellow retro gaming icon Pac-Man will celebrate both brands 40th anniversaries through a selection of limited-edition apparel and accessory releases at retail through licensees, including; B.M.Fashions, Brisco Apparel, and JCORP Inc. In addition, de•Kryptic are launching a collection of augmented reality Rubik’s X PACMAN apparel and accessories, which feature illustrative graphics and bold typography brought to life by the “Boosted Art” app.

There has even been time for Rubik’s to create a new brain-training video games/app with Microids that is all set for release in time for the winter holiday season in 2020.

Rubik’s will complement these launches with a global marketing program that already kicked off in London and will run throughout 2020. Recently the brand hosted a pop-up experience and store in the heart of London’s Covent Garden, featuring Rubik Cubism mosaic art, and workshops, performances, and masterclasses by speedcubing champions. The pop-up also wrote its way into the history books by hosting a successful Guinness World Record attempt for the most contributions to a Rubik’s cube mosaic. The mosaic, depicting a portrait of HRH Prince Harry, consisted of 1,620 Rubik’s Cubes and measured 2.56m X 2.05m. The world record

RUBIK’S FACTS • School program placing over 500k cubes to young people in 2018.

• Double-digit sales growth for five years in a row.

• Shipped over 20 million Rubik’s toys annually.

• 500 million Rubik’s Cubes sold worldwide.

• #10 most searched ‘how to…?’ on Google theme will continue throughout the year, with plans to set a new Guinness World Record every other month in 2020, showcasing new product launches and setting records that go beyond the typical speedcubing solves.

There will also be an impactful program of global mosaics that will leverage the growing trend for Rubik’s mosaic art, and react to newsworthy moments through Rubik’s guerilla art installations all over the world.

Rubik’s has also launched a new brand identity concept running through all packaging, POS, and In-store channels. While a renewed social strategy and global content calendar are supported by a $4m+ TV campaign across the UK & USA, there will also be a globally supported PR campaign and expansion of a global Influencer/Endorsements and Ambassador program. Rubik’s have already secured many leading names from sports through to the arts, including NFL star Calvin Anderson, Blueman Group Theatre Company, speedcuber George Scholey, and artist Gio Contardi amongst others.

Finally, Beyond Rubik’s Cube, the original and experiential Rubik’s museum exhibit will run at Liberty Science Center and boasts 7,000 sq ft of games, puzzles, history, art, and engineering, all inspired by Ernő Rubik’s best-selling masterpiece.

Rubik’s Cube will celebrate their anniversary with a 40th Birthday party on the 8th of November 2020, which will also mark the release of Erno Rubik’s autobiography.

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OPINION

resurrecting brands from the dead Gone but Not Forgotten: How, When and Why to Bring a Brand Back

By Michael Stone We can all recall brands that faded away and disappeared from the marketplace – brands we trusted, were emotionally attached to: Oldsmobile, Amoco, Blockbuster, Woolworth’s, among others.

While these brands may endure in our memories, most seem very clearly dead and gone.

But sometimes, when the conditions are right and it’s done correctly – as may be the case with the revived FAO Schwarz toy retailer – resurrecting a dead brand can be a smart business decision, and a shortcut to establish a lasting bond with consumers. Licensing can be a central strategy in those cases.

The topic of dead brands and whether there’s a second (or third) life for them is certainly timely, as so many retailers and brands are teetering: Forever 21, Barneys New York, Sears, Victoria’s Secret, Kodak – the list goes on and on in our highly disrupted global retail ecosystem.

At the same time, think about Polaroid, The Sharper Image and FAO Schwarz. Each was successfully brought back after going out of business and disappearing for years. FAO Schwarz was fading and finally closed its New York City flagship on Fifth Avenue in 2015.

But ThreeSixtyGroup bought the name and opened a new flagship nearby in Rockefeller Plaza in late 2018. And prospects may be good: There’s now an FAO store in Beijing, one recently opened in London inside Selfridges on Oxford Street, and another in Dublin in Arnotts department store on Henry Street.

The message here is that brands can easily fade from the marketplace, but not so easily from our memories, leaving us with a lasting emotional connection to the brand. The brands may be gone, but they leave strong equities behind. New owners of these brands can leverage that connection, those equities, and revive the brand, re-engaging with consumers.

What does it take to successfully bring back a dormant brand?

First, there must be substantial remnants of awareness, including emotional attachment and authenticity. FAO fulfills this requirement. Many consumers, across generations, warmly recall wondrous FAO experiences.

Second, there must be a market gap to fill.

The liquidation of retail giant Toys “R” Us (FAO’s former owner, actually) has left oodles Michael Stone is Chairman and Co-Founder of global brand licensing agency Beanstalk, part of Omnicom Group, and author of The Power of Licensing: Harnessing Brand Equity (Ankerwyck, 2018). The recipient of 23 LIMA International Licensing Awards and member of the Licensing Industry Hall of Fame, he was instrumental in driving the evolution of brand licensing as a marketing tool used by many Fortune 500 companies.

PAGE 42

of toy expenditures up for grabs. And while Walmart, Target and Amazon are eating up big pieces of the pie, there’s still plenty to go around for the FAO Schwarz brand to take a slice.

Third, a resurrected brand needs to be able to tell a good story. The Sharper Image, for instance, had so much to say about cool gizmos and gadgets. A strong story helps engender loyalty and trust with consumers that doesn’t disappear quickly. But to bring back a dead brand, the story also has to be updated.

Polaroid, for one, did just that – with its digital cameras, wireless devices, Smart TVs and a revival of some instant analog camera products that are hipster-cool.

Fourth, the mistakes that caused the demise of a brand must not be repeated by the new owner. The Sharper Image has been distancing itself from previous (failed) business strategies, and introducing new ones: Catalog sales are deemphasized, e-commerce is more fully utilized, all of the brick-and-mortar stores are closed and licensing is used to its full potential to avoid the cost challenges that contributed to the sinking of the original brand. Indeed, all of The Sharper Image Product are licensed. Ditto Polaroid.

Finally, fifth, to succeed in a brand revival, consumers need to “feel the power” of the brand. Otherwise, the revival won’t last – or might just limp along.

Many attempted brand revivals fail. Although consumers may have long memories and fond associations, it’s also true that they have moved on. Revived brands must win some of those consumers back – new ones too (as Polaroid has done), including some who never knew the brand before. Successful brand revival takes time, resources and commitment to prevent history from repeating itself.

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SHOW NEWS

New Licensing Fair for Shenzhen

Runs alongside Toy & Edu China and Baby & Stoller China

According to Licensing International’s Annual Global Licensing Industry Survey, global retail sales of licensed merchandise grew to USD 280.3 billion in 2018, with apparel and toys taking the largest market shares. The growth of global retail sales indicates the potential of licensed products, which are more recognisable to consumers and can command a greater premium, increasing the chance for profit.

In China, the demand for character merchandising is promising. With more animation series now available to Chinese consumers, the audience has become familiar with more characters. Younger generations of Chinese consumers tend to have higher levels of disposable income and are also more likely to purchase character merchandise, particularly those that crossover with fashion and lifestyle products.

Meanwhile, central government is investing more into their cultural and tourism industry, with an increasing number of theme parks, hotels and public installations offering new opportunities for licensed characters. LicensPAGE 44

ing is also recognised by Chinese manufacturers as a value-adding solution to transform their businesses. As they look to enter the domestic market with their own brands, recognisable characters can lend a sense of familiarity and trust to their products.

To further explore the potential of the IP licensing market and stimulate synergies between industries, the licensing product zone in Toy & Edu China has upgraded to become an individual fair, Licensing China, in 2020. It will be held concurrently with Toy

& Edu China and Baby & Stroller China at the new venue, the Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Center. The fairs will take place from 6 – 8 March 2020, an earlier date to capture the full potential of the main sourcing season in China, after the Chinese New Year holidays.

With more than 100 leading brand owners and agents representing over 500 properties, the fair will provide coverage across a comprehensive range of product groups: animation and character licensing, as well as Intellectual Property (IP) licensing for sports, brands, arts and culture. The trademarks are applicable to a wide range of industries, including toys and baby products. The fair will see licensed products from well-known domestic and overseas brands such as British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, B.Duck, DooroBear and more made available to consumers in China.

Apart from business exchanges, the 2020 fair will see a variety of fringe programme events, providing exhibitors and visitors alike with invaluable information about the market trends. These fringe events include a licensing forum, which brings together global licensing experts and industry players who have worked closely with licensors, to share the latest industry trends and essential tips on using licensing to upgrade businesses. A business matching session will also take place, lining up licensors with potential partners crossing different industries. www.licensing-china.com

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LIFE&STYLE

Life&Style Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart Meredith Corporation, the media and marketing company, with national brands serving 185 million Americans and 90 percent of U.S. female millennials—has announced an extension of its licensing agreement through mid-2024 for its successful line of Better Homes & Gardens-branded products at Walmart in the United States and Canada.

“At over 4,000 stores nationwide and increasingly online, Walmart shoppers continue to demonstrate their passion and loyalty for the style, quality and value of Better Homes & Gardens products,” said Thomas Witschi, President of Meredith Consumer Products.

“We’re enthusiastic about the expanded breadth and style appeal of our home and outdoor lines. We look forward to continuing our successful relationship with Walmart.”

The Better Homes & Gardens brand came to Walmart stores in

1998 and ten years later expanded its existing gardening product line into the broader home category. Since then, the number of items has increased six-fold from 500 to over 3,000 today.

Major product categories include sheets, comforters and quilts; dinnerware and kitchen textiles; bath hardware, towels and rugs; home décor, such as decorative pillows, window treatments, candles and furniture; outdoor furniture and accessories; and live plants.

“The home line at Walmart truly brings the Better Homes & Gardens brand to life,” said Stephen Orr, Editor-in-Chief, Better Homes & Gardens. “Consumers can express their own personal style with hundreds of on-trend options, all at the affordable prices for which Walmart is known. We’ve recently delved even deeper into these core categories, offering a broader range of styles to Walmart shoppers.”

Consumer research continually demonstrates that the Better Homes & Gardens audience, as well as the larger Meredith audience, are frequent Walmart shoppers.

Marie-Antoinette Heads to Italy Maurizio Distefano Licensing (MDL) has acquired the rights for the licensing programme in Italy for Marie-Antoinette, the brand based on the famous French sovereign, known as an icon of elegance and style.

The Marie-Antoinette brand, owned by pan-European company Tempting Brands is inspired by various representative elements of the iconic monarch’s life during her time at court. The logo used for the brand is taken from her monogram, which was found as a frieze on the walls of the Palace of Fontainebleau, residence of the French monarchs for generations. With its flavour of romance and history, the Marie-Antoinette brand is aimed at the sophisticated, strong, independent, elegant and style-conscious woman, using the inspiration of an iconic figure, famous for her lavish clothes and reputation as a queen of style. In order to help licensees with product development and design, the brand is supported by a comprehensive style guide offering 300 pages of artworks and product concepts. A variety of themes are incorporated into the guide, all inspired by the life of Marie-Antoinette, including the beautiful palace, musical instruments, gardens and flowers.

Created by Tempting Brands’ in-house design team, the style guide offers multiple opportunities for licensees. For example, in the fashion category the Marie-Antoinette brand is available for licensing for cosmetics, toiletry preparations, perfumery, apparel, shoes, accessories or bags. Other key categories, including stationery, home textiles or even home décor, are a great match for the brand.

Marie-Antoinette was a fashion influencer of her time and a strong woman with independent and sometimes avant-garde views.

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PAGE 45

DESIGN BRANDS

Taking Scandinavian Design to New Audiences Finlayson Is Bringing Scandinavian Design to the World

The Nordic design brand Finlayson announces four new agency agreements, just ahead of their 200th anniversary. These local agencies will establish the brand in Hong Kong, Greater China, Southeast Asia, Russia, the CIS countries, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and South Korea.

To celebrate the upcoming anniversary, Finlayson has closed new agreements between master agent 5th Wave Brands and four local agents. The new partners will bring the iconic Scandinavian design brand to life across various international territories.

In Hong Kong and Greater China, where Finlayson already operates through 18 retail outlets, Finlayson has partnered with Medialink Group Ltd. The goal is to expand the brand into new lifestyle products and promotional activities. Medialink has also been appointed to grow Finlayson’s brand business across Southeast Asia, where Finlayson sees great growth opportunities in the future.

Brand4Rent will take control of licensing PAGE 46

initiatives in Russia and CIS countries, where Finlayson has previously operated through local distributors. Halo Brands Group will handle deals across Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Infiniss Co Ltd has been appointed to oversee Finlayson’s licensing business in South Korea, where the brand has been

growing steadily over the past 5 years. Infiniss has already secured a licensing deal with the leading home textile company Homz Co Ltd, and is currently looking for expansion opportunities across lifestyle categories.

“We are thrilled to expand into new markets with these experienced local agencies”, said Tiina Mikkonen, Export Director of Finlayson. “We see a growing demand for Scandinavian design globally, and expanding our licensing program is a perfect way to salute our 200-year-old history.”

Established in 1820, Finlayson is a heritage brand and Finnish home textile market leader with roots in social responsibility, innovation, and striking design. In less than 5 years, Finlayson’s licensing program has expanded to cover over 30 licensees globally, within a variety of categories in home décor and lifestyle.

The brand’s design collection of Scandinavian prints is the largest in the world, with over 100,000 designs. www.finlaysonshop.com

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RESEARCH

The World’s most Valuable Brands Interbrand has been the world’s leading brand consultancy, for over 40 years - having pioneered iconic work and forged many of the brand building tools that are now commonplace. Each year, Interbrand produces an invaluable listing of the Best Global Brands, together with their brand value and changes from previous years. The 2019 edition has recently been made available - the top 50 are listed below.

Brand

01 Apple 02 Google 03 Amazon 04 Microsoft 05 Coca-Cola 06 Samsung 07 Toyota 08 Mercedes-Benz 09 McDonald’s 10 Disney 11 BMW 12 IBM 13 Intel 14 Facebook 15 Cisco 16 Nike 17 Louis Vuitton 18 Oracle 19 GE 20 SAP 21 Honda 22 Chanel 23 American Express 24 Pepsi 25 J.P. Morgan 26 IKEA 27 UPS 28 Hermès 29 Zara 30 H&M 31 Accenture 32 Budweiser 33 Gucci 34 Pampers 35 Ford 36 Hyundai 37 Gillette 38 NESCAFÉ 39 Adobe 40 Volkswagen 41 Citi 42 Audi

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Change in Brand Value +9% +8% +24% +17% -4% +2% +5% +5% +4% +11% +1% -6% -7% -12% +3% +7% +14% +1% -22% +10% +3% +11% +13% -1% +8% +5% +7% +9% -3% -3% +14% +3% +23% -5% +2% +5% -18% +4% +20% +6% +10% +4%

Brand Value 234,241 $m 167,713 $m 125,263 $m 108,847 $m 63,365 $m 61,098 $m 56,246 $m 50,832 $m 45,362 $m 44,352 $m 41,440 $m 40,381 $m 40,197 $m 39,857 $m 35,559 $m 32,376 $m 32,223 $m 26,288 $m 25,566 $m 25,092 $m 24,422 $m 22,134 $m 21,629 $m 20,488 $m 19,044 $m 18,407 $m 18,072 $m 17,920 $m 17,175 $m 16,345 $m 16,205 $m 16,018 $m 15,949 $m 15,773 $m 14,325 $m 14,156 $m 13,753 $m 13,605 $m 12,937 $m 12,921 $m 12,697 $m 12,689 $m

43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

Allianz eBay adidas AXA HSBC Starbucks Philips Porsche

+12% -8% +11% +6% +5% +23% -4% +9%

12,078 $m 12,010 $m 11,992 $m 11,830 $m 11,816 $m 11,798 $m 11,661 $m 11,652 $m

© 1974 - 2020 Interbrand. All Rights Reserved.

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IN REVIEW

In The Top Drawer Buyers and visitors found limitless inspiration at the January show

Top Drawer, the UK’s leading design-led trade show, opened its doors for the S/S20 edition in January, welcoming visitors to a showcase of products across the lifestyle spectrum from 1,500 hand-selected, worldclass brands.

Top Drawer gave leading retailers, interior designers and hospitality specialists a look at the products set to captivate their customers and clients ahead of the new season.

It is in the show’s curated sectors—home gift, wellbeing, greetings & stationery, play, fashion, craft, pulse | spotted, and food emporium - where visitors found the newest design-led products to tailor their offering and set them apart from the rest.

In addition to the array of established leading brands across the show, Top Drawer is also the perfect place for visitors to discover new names and emerging talent.

As the very best buyers continue to turn to Top Drawer as a source of inspiration and advice in addition to product insight, they also had access to not one but two free-to-attend seminar programmes. Across its two stages, RetailFest and Design Talk provided un-

missable original content specifically crafted to stimulate ideas and discussion, encourage growth and foster success from some of the best names in the business. The Retail Clinics also gave visitors access to expert advice and the latest product solutions.

Top Drawer has also partnered with global

cultural strategy agency, Flamingo, for the second season—whose insight strengthens and enrichens knowledge of developing trends.

Visitors were from across the retail and design spectrum, and included the likes of JoJo Maman Bébé, Selfridges, Royal Albert Hall, The Conran Shop, Urban Outfitters, TATE Enterprises, Debenhams, Fortnum & Mason, Warner Music Group, Harrods, John Lewis, The White Company, Arnotts, Fenwick, Tom Dixon, Disney, the V&A, Westmorland Family, Paperchase, Anthropologie, Oliver Bonas, Harrods, Petersham Nurseries, Rockett St George and Royal Academy of Arts.

There was also a strong international cohort, with visitors travelling to London for the show from across the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, the United States, Canada, UAE and South Africa. topdrawer.co.uk

PAGE 48

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SUSSEX ROYAL

Harry & Meghan: The Billion-Dollar Brand?

Unless you have been under the proverbial rock of late, you will probably have heard that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, made a formal announcement that they plan to ‘step back as senior’ members of the British Royal Family, splitting their time between the UK and Canada, and to become financially independent.

Innocuous words these might seem at first, but the global media furore that exploded imminently afterwards has been unprecedented.

After a much-publicised meeting between the Queen, her immediate heirs Princes Charles and William, and Prince Harry, the Queen made a rare first-person statement about the agreement reached, whereby the couple would no longer be working members of the royal family.

Intense scrutiny of the Royal family is nothing new, of course, and the analysis began immediately. Was Meghan the driving force behind the break? Or was Harry protecting his wife and son from the same press intrusion that befell his mother? Had Harry and William had a falling out? Who would pay for the Sussexes security? Would the British tax payer, already looking to be stuck with a hefty bill around Brexit, also be stung with paying for Megxit? Had the tabloid press, so scathing of Meghan Markle in the last few months, finally driven her out?

While interest in the Royal Family is not new, however, the way they connect with their – I suppose we should say fans and supporters, rather than humble servants, has changed.

There are now several verified Instagram TOTAL BRAND LICENSING

accounts for the Royals, and while perhaps the Queen is not personally tapping away on her iPhone every day, searching for the best Corgi-related hashtags, these have allowed a glimpse into the previously secretive world of the British Royals.

Prince Harry has for many years spoken of the effects of the press interest in their lives, and how it has affected his mental health, as it did that of the late Princess Diana. The Queen, always reticent on family matters, has hinted to difficulties (Prince Andrew and the current scandal surrounding him) and made the very personal statement regarding her support for her grandson.

While it is doubtful that Harry, Meghan and Archie will now lead a life of poverty, it was questioned how they would maintain their lifestyle and gain financial independence?

While clearly not short of a penny or two with their own personal net worth, just a few weeks ago it was announced that the couple filed for a trademark for ‘Sussex Royal’ on a range of items. A website was launched – www.sussexroyal.com – and analysts have estimated that the couple, using their brand power, could earn up to £500million ($650million) in their first year of independence – on a par with the Obamas and Bill Gates, who have launched similar foundations.

Andy Barr, retail expert at price tracker website Alertr.co.uk, commented: “They’re a huge brand and influencers in their own right.

They’re such a major brand already.

“They’re in a really fortunate position as they

won’t have to negotiate distribution deals and start from scratch because they’ll have people queuing up. From a retail respective, it’s a dream to be so well-known.

“I imagine they will lend their names to campaigns rather than products - the earning potential is larger as they will be given a large pot of gold just for putting their name to something.”

Royal merchandise in the past has often been understated, almost as if the royals themselves understand that to be seen capitalising on their ‘brand’ power might be portrayed as untoward – un-royal even. However, we live in a new era, where watching from afar does not satisfy the public need for knowledge of favourite celebrities, we need to read them on social media and buy products that they love in order to feel closer to them. The global appeal of the Sussex – not just in the UK and Europe but in the States, China, Asia, will potentially mean there is no limit to the earnings for their financial independence.

One has to wonder how Wallis Simpson might had fared, had she made a similar attempt.

“They’re such a major brand already...”

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INFORMATION

The Useful Page...

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS Blue Print ................................................................................................................... 15 Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards ............................................................................. 3 China Licensing Expo ................................................................................................. 13 Historic Royal Palaces ................................................................................................... 1 Howard Robinson ......................................................................................................... 7 Licensing China .......................................................................................................... 51 Licensing International ............................................................................................... 52 London Portfolio ........................................................................................................ 19 MGL ........................................................................................................................... 21 National Gallery ......................................................................................................... 27 Pink Key ....................................................................................................................... 5 Royal Horticultural Society .......................................................................................... 1 Science Museum ........................................................................................................... 1 Spring Fair .................................................................................................................. 43 This is Iris ................................................................................................................... 17 University of Oxford ..................................................................................................... 1 V&A .............................................................................................................................. 1 Van Gogh Museum ....................................................................................................... 1 West Ham FC ................................................................................................................ 9

UPCOMING SHOWS & EXHIBITIONS ISPO Munich January 26 - 29 www.ispo.com

Licensing Japan April 1 - 3 www.licensing-japan.jp

Ambiente 7 - 11 February www.ambiente.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt

Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards April 29 www.brandlicensingawards.co.uk

Nuremberg Toy Fair 29 Jan - 2 Feb www.spielwarenmesse.de

Blue Print May 19 - 21 www.blueprintshows.com

Magic 5 - 7 Feb www.ubmfashion.com Licensing World Russia 11 - 13 Feb www.licensingworld.ru

Licensing Expo May 19 - 21 www.licensingexpo.com

London Book Fair 10 - 12 March www.londonbookfair.co.uk

Progressive Greetings Live 2 - 3 June www.progressivegreetingslive.com

International Housewares & Homewares Show 14 - 17 March www.housewares.org/show

Pitti Immagine Uomo 16 - 19 June www.pittiimmagine.com

Bologna Licensing Trade Fair 30 - 31 March www.bolognalicensing.com

PAGE 50

Did you know…?

To go with our Art and Design feature, here are some little known facts...

Art used to be an Olympic event The Mona Lisa has her own mailbox in the Louvre because of all the love letters she receives Vincent van Gogh, the world’s most valued painter, sold only one painting in his entire life – to his brother who owned an art gallery.

Artist Willard Wigan once inhaled his own work Painting the Mona Lisa’s lips took Leonardo da Vinci 12 years! Only the lips!

Leonardo da Vinci was a vegetarian and also fought for animal rights. He bought caged birds and then set them free.

In 1565, the first pencil was invented in England.

Andy Brown, an English artist, stitched together 1000 used tea bags, to create a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Even though he was nominated for an Oscar in 2011, was named Person of the Year in 2014 no-one knows the real name of the world’s most famous graffiti artist, Banksy.

The small town depicted in Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night is Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in the south of France. Van Gogh was a psychiatric patient at a hospital in the town.

In 1961, Matisse’s Le Bateau hung upside-down for 2 months in the Museum of Modern Art, NY – none of the 116,000 visitors had noticed.

Rodin died of frostbite in 1917 when the French government refused him financial aid for a flat, yet they kept his statues warmly housed in museums.

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