Licensing Executives Discuss What's Next for Their Industry
When a popular, but trademarked, cartoon character appears on a stylish T-shirt, we have the licensing business to thank, and licensing has become big fashion business. It is an estimated $9.61 billion industry, according to the New York–based International Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association (LIMA). However, the weak economy has made the licensing business a tougher place to make a dollar.
The tough economy and what is next for the licensing industry were the subjects of a lively, informal speakers’ panel produced Jan. 29 by LIMA at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel’s Breeze Restaurant in Los Angeles.
Titled “Panel on Four Perspectives: An Inside Look at the Industry from Licensing Professionals,” it was moderated by Sid Kaufman, a senior vice president of Los Angeles–based marketing and branding company Brand Sense Partners. The panelists were Lorne Bloch, licensing director for Los Angeles–based fashion company Mighty Fine; Jennifer Richmond, senior vice president of licensing and media for toy company JAKKS Pacific Inc.; Maureen Ferguson Lewis, a divisional merchandise manager for Virgin Megastores; and Jamie Warner, a business development executive with New York–based Mada Design Inc.
The weak economy has forced licensing companies, as it has many other industries, to change the way they do business. Businesspeople who license properties ranging from sponges to football teams have been scrambling to figure out new ways to appeal to retailers, Bloch said. Many times, a slick new graphic won’t seal a deal. Licensors also sometimes must develop fashion with price points that will appeal to recession-shocked retailers.
Retailers also are not impressed with the sales pitch that a certain property’s cachet is skyrocketing, said Kaufman, the panel moderator. They expect data that a certain license is selling well, something that can be confirmed with the retailer’s point-of-sales systems.
Climbing up the corporate ladder in licensing might be tougher. Companies are increasingly looking to hire licensing executives with advanced business degrees, Richmond said.
Kaufman emphasized the field can still be lucrative, but licensors must be ready to seek opportunities. “When you acquire rights, you want to be really comfortable that you can sell 10 to 15 deals in categories and generate in the gross royalties of $1 million between those 10 deals,” Kaufman said.
The licensing field remains good for people with a creative spark—in good economic times and bad, Richmond said. “We look at properties and see the products that could come from it,” she said. —Andrew Asch
