By Karina Masolova, karina@plainlanguagemedia.com While Korean food (K-food) is just a small part of the speciality foods industry, it's the touchpoint for many questions about branding, such as: What does it take to market an entire industry? A country? American retail sales of specialty foods reached $99 billion in 2016, and make up 15% of all retail food sales, according … [Read more...] about Spotlight: K-Food in America
Trademarks/Brands
To Join, or Not to Join: Amazon’s Retail Takeover
While some brands are embracing the Amazon marketplace, others are waging war against the ecommerce giant. Brands must make a choice: Deal with the black and/or grey markets, or else become part of the white market. Online/ecommerce grew in distribution channel share by three-tenths of a percentage point last year to reach 11.7% of all licensed sales in the U.S./Canada—or … [Read more...] about To Join, or Not to Join: Amazon’s Retail Takeover
Roundup: Promotional Partnerships
Real Madrid's official console partner is Xbox. To celebrate, Xbox will host a series of events at Microsoft Stores throughout the U.S. during Real Madrid’s U.S. Summer Tour. Betty Boop is the new face of Foulbi Co., Ltd.'s J-esthetic—over 100 esthetic salons and day spas. The campaign includes a commercial as well as print and digital ads. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. … [Read more...] about Roundup: Promotional Partnerships
What’s So Special About Food?
By Karina Masolova The Summer Fancy Food Show at New York City's Jacob Javits welcomed 2,600 exhibitors from around the world last month. While Turkey was the partner country this year, the floor welcomed exhibitors ranging from classic importers like Italy, France, and Greece to Asian countries like Japan, Korea, and India to smaller countries like Costa Rica and Latvia … [Read more...] about What’s So Special About Food?
Experiential Roundup
Nickelodeon and Spin Master take Paw Patrol to Visionworks locations as part of a back-to-school initiative. Kids who have completed their annual eye exam get a free gift, which includes a Paw Patrol activity sheet, crayons, stickers, and a character mask. Beginning this July, the retailer will also debut it first-ever kids’ line of Paw Patrol frames, designed and distributed … [Read more...] about Experiential Roundup
Snacking on Branding
Fans will be able to snack on Shopkins macarons, enjoy a Shopkins manicure, play with their favourite characters, check out the full European line in Shopkins World Vacation, enjoy photo opportunities, and more. The Parisian-themed, limited-time pop-up shop—Shopkins Macaron Café—opens in New York City from June 17–19. Moose Toys will be there to celebrate the collectibles … [Read more...] about Snacking on Branding
Licensing Litigation
Hollywood Reporter reports that Disney "narrowly preserved" a win against author Royce Mathew in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals over its Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The legal battle has been on-and-off for over a decade, but the current controversy centers around a release Mathew signed when he withdrew a 2005 complaint alleging that Disney had used his work. Mathew … [Read more...] about Licensing Litigation
TLL’s Guide to Trademark/Brand-based Properties
The range of corporate brands with licensing programs is enormous. We break out some of the larger sub-groups, including automotive/vehicle, food/beverage, restaurants, sporting goods, hardware/appliance/tool, home-related, electronics/technology, and electronic media. Retail brands, diet/health brands, luggage brands, and additional brand-based properties are aggregated under … [Read more...] about TLL’s Guide to Trademark/Brand-based Properties
L’Oreal Ranks as Top Beauty Company of 2016
The top beauty company grew its sales 2.3% to reach $28.60 billion worldwide, according to a ranking by WWD. Unilever was No. 2 at $20.52, while Proctor & Gamble slid in at No. 3 despite a 12.5% drop in sales. To put the numbers into context, retail sales of licensed health and beauty products in the U.S./Canada stayed flat at 0.1% growth in 2016 to reach almost $7.7 billion, … [Read more...] about L’Oreal Ranks as Top Beauty Company of 2016
Legal Updates
The sale of the Margaritaville Resort Casino in Bossier City might be in jeapordy after a federal court documents revealed an arbitation finding that current owner Bossier Casino Venture (BCV) is contractually obligated to use the Margaritaville brand through the end of its 40-year agreement—or the next 35 years—with licensor Margaritaville. Even if the casino is sold, BCV is … [Read more...] about Legal Updates