By Alicia Rosa Brand Central Insights Consumers are starting to see the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel. This new vaccinated world will be a testing ground to see if the pandemic-driven trends and habits will stay. At Brand Central Insights we’ve been able to look at the trends from the last year at a bird’s-eye view to see what’s going to stick around for the long haul and what will join the graveyard of TikTok fads. As we get closer to a post-COVID world, consumers will be looking to reclaim the time spent inside and celebrate extravagantly, but won’t want to lose the conveniences, communities, or creative hobbies they discovered in quarantine. E-Commerce & DTC Online shopping and e-commerce habits will likely continue post-COVID, despite the excitement… . . . read more
Fanatics Partners With NFL and Amazon In Major Strategic Shift
By Gary Symons TLL Editor in Chief Amazon is the dominant force in the Western world when it comes to ecommerce, with the one exception of pro-sports branded sports gear and memorabilia, and that’s because the market is largely cornered by Fanatics. Now, that may be changing due to a game changing new partnership between the National Football League, Fanatics, and Amazon. The NFL is now bringing thousands of its officially licensed products to the ecommerce site in a move that could permanently transform the market for sports fan products. The partnership does not exclude Fanatics, which is part of the three-way collaboration that will see Fanatics opening an NFL Shop storefront on Amazon’s website. Starting on Wednesday, March 31, the NFL will bring the first of thousands of branded… . . . read more
Forbidden Planet Releasing New Merch Based on Classic Paramount Films
Forbidden Planet, a pop culture product developer, has partnered with ViacomCBS to release new merchandise featuring several of Paramount Pictures classic films, including Forrest Gump, Top Gun, and the hilarious cult classic Galaxy Quest. In total seven Paramount films are included in the new range of apparel and giftware that will be released through Forbidden Planet’s online retail portal. Those include: The Godfather, Top Gun, Top Gun: Maverick, Forrest Gump, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Anchorman, Sleepy Hollow, and Galaxy Quest. “I’m genuinely thrilled to be working on the Paramount Films library,” said Anthony Garnon, licensing and special projects manager at Forbidden Planet, “These are some of the most well known and beloved films of all time. Because of its ties to the world of Sci Fi and science fiction fan culture,… . . . read more
Toys R Us Is Back in Business … Again
Big news for those in the toy and toy licensing industry, as brand management company WHP Global announced Monday it has acquired the controlling interest in Tru Kids, the parent company of Toys R Us, Babies R Us and the Geoffrey the Giraffe brand. Toys R Us has struggled to survive in a world beset by a rapid shift to e-commerce, and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2017. The company was purchased by Ares Management, but was unable to emerge from bankruptcy on its own after an unsuccessful Christmas season that same year, and was pushed into liquidation. Parent company Tru Kids continued to push the brand forward with an attempt to open pop-up stores in shopping malls, and selling more toys online, first via a site powered by Target, and… . . . read more
Twin Studies Predict Strong Recovery For Licensing and Retail
By Gary Symons TLL Editor in Chief Two key reports released over the past two weeks illustrate the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the licensing and retail industries … but they also paint an encouraging picture for the economic recovery of both sectors as vaccination programs roll out in America and around the world. License Global released its report—COVID-19: What Happens Next—on the impact of COVID-19 on the licensing industry, with survey respondents showing the industry as a whole suffered declining revenues and layoffs. The good news, says the License Global report, “Industry professionals on average expect business to stabilize and return to broadly pre-COVID-19 levels by December 2021. Most notably, 45 percent of respondents anticipate a rise in annual revenue, while 28 percent anticipate an increase in headcount and… . . . read more
Discounters, Specialty Channels Drive Licensed Entertainment/Character Sales in 2019
Brick-and-mortar channels fielded 81.2% of all licensed entertainment- and character-based sales in 2019, according to TLL’s Annual Licensing Business Survey. Physical retail’s share of U.S. and Canadian sales has decreased…
Fashion, Corporate Trademarks Drive Licensed Sales through Ecommerce Channels in 2018
In 2018, licensed retail sales through online/ecommerce channels reached $13.7 billion in the U.S. and Canada, up 4.7% from the previous year. In comparison, sales through brick and mortar channels were up just 0.8% compared to the previous year…