It’s not a good thing. Martha Stewart Living Omnipedia Inc. reported a 49% loss in revenue ($17.1 million) for the first quarter. The losses, which weren’t entirely unexpected, were largely the result of lost advertising and subscription revenue on flagship Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Weddings brands, which the company licensed to Meredith Corp. last year…
Trademarks/Brands
From Brand to Art Work
May 18, 2015
Playboy’s teaming with Blitzway for a limited edition collection of art figurines designed by global artists featuring iconic Playboy images like the “Bunny” is the latest example of corporate brands being licensed to artists for art work. At $160 a pop, the Playboy deal is more about marketing than profit…
Restaurants
Margaritaville Coming to HSN
May 18, 2015
HSN is teaming with Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Enterprises to bring a line of new Margaritaville-inspired cooking, home, electronics, beauty and apparel products to HSN and HSN Inc. Cornerstone division brands, Frontgate and Travelsmith…
Health & Beauty
Beauty is in the Brand Valuation
May 4, 2015
L’Oréal Paris tops the list of Brand Finance Cosmetics 50 most valuable beauty brands in the world with a value of $11.21 billion for 2015. Procter & Gamble, which is rumored to be seeking to sell off some of its beauty brands, owns the most listed brands, including Gillette, Pantene and Olay…
Pet Products
Martha Goes to the Dogs
April 6, 2015
Martha Stewart Living Omnipedia released a new line of natural dog treats exclusively at Petsmart. The Martha Stewart Pets Treat shop line is available in five flavors and was supposedly inspired by the biscuits the duchess of the domestic makes for her own pooches…
Single-Serving Products Make Coffee Rich Ground for Licensing
March 16, 2015
Two decades ago, Keurig Green Mountain introduced the world to its patented K-cup single brewing system. Coffee consumption would never be the same. Soon “K-cup” had become a generic term, and the communal pot of coffee for office or home consumption became an endangered species—at least in wealthy parts of the world like North America and Europe where consumers could afford and didn’t mind spending extra for the convenience of single-cup consumption. According to reports, in 2014, Americans spent $2.83 billion on single-serving coffee. That’s an increase of 280% since 2011, and sales are expected to exceed $5 billion by 2016. K-cup devices have become an everyday kitchen appliance with more than 1 in 5 American homes containing single-serving coffee systems. And single-cup coffee consumption in Europe is more than… . . . read more
Restaurants
Restaurants Put Licensing on Menu
March 2, 2015
A number of restaurant companies have brought in new executives to expand licensing revenues. Examples:…
Nokia Licensing ‘Other Devices’
December 1, 2014
Nokia is making its brand name available for licensing of tech devices and other products except for handsets, including a tablet made by Foxconn. As for phone handsets, while Microsoft has just introduced a new handset without the Nokia name, Microsoft’s license to use the name runs through 2016…
Food & Beverages
QSRs Embrace Licensing
December 1, 2014
“There was a time when chains feared that offering their food in supermarkets would keep consumers away from the restaurants,” notes QSR Magazine. “But that archaic notion has gone by the wayside as quick-service brands are increasingly finding a great deal of success offering some of their products at retail”…
Consumer Electronics
How Sharp is Best Buy?
December 1, 2014
Sharp is licensing its name to Best Buy for a direct-to-retail exclusive line of LED TVs. That’s not all that unusual, except that Sharp’s core business is manufacturing TVs, and the brand has its own Sharp Aquos brand of LED TVs…