Jarden Sports Licensing (JSL) is showing off its latest TLG8 brand and product offerings in a unique campaign that’s bringing the brand to five top collegiate stadiums across the country in search of the ultimate tailgaters and “failgaters.” The tour wraps up at Ohio State’s “Horseshoe” stadium for the Penn State vs. Ohio State game on November 19, and the ultimate tailgaters will win a full suite of licensed TLG8 gear.
This year marks Coca-Cola’s 125th year of business and The Cola-Cola Company is celebrating its heritage in style with design collaborations that are leveraging the brand at retail on an international scale.
Focus Brands is the parent company of Cinnabon, Schlotzsky’s, and Moe’s Southwest Grill, among many others. Cinnabon, which is popular in many malls across the U.S., has a robust licensing program. However, there is still room for growth in the U.S. market. Interestingly, Cinnabon has even more brand recognition in the Middle East, yet licensing in that part of the world is in its infancy.
The recently launched Liebmann Licensing has signed Stefan Richter, a cheftestant from season five of Top Chef. He has opened numerous highly acclaimed restaurants and is now being pitched to networks for his own series. Caryl Liebmann, CEO of Liebmann Licensing, talks about his approach to cooking and how she plans to develop him into a brand.
In the early days of Disney’s tween programming, fashion merely served as the backdrop for the characters when it came to licensed merchandise. But now, it’s become the cornerstone to Disney’s tween licensing strategy. The bi-annual Disney D23 Expo, held this past August in Anaheim, Calif., featured the event’s first-ever fashion show highlighting the latest styles from its tween-targeted fashion line D-Signed. Stephen Teglas, senior vice-president of fashion and home at Disney Consumer Products, discusses its tween strategy.
Zing Toys, Inc., has an extensive product line designed to get kids to step away from their screens. The company known for its outdoor and novelty items is now finding success with a new novelty item ICKEE Stikeez.
Swarovski has 14 licensed boutiques in the United States, with more than 70 percent of the locations in casino environments. The company plans to have 30 licensed boutiques by the end of 2012, half of which will be located in casinos, according to Swarovski. The rest will be in other high traffic areas such as airports. Calabrini, LLC operates the licensed locations while Swarovski has its own network of nearly 300 retail stores in North America. Globally there are more than 2,000 retail stores.
My1story is a kid-friendly adaptation of the world’s most renowned characters and stories such as Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Humpty Dumpty. It will be developed into a comprehensive licensing program, animation, and website. Its founders are part of Snap Global Solutions, which is a design and manufacturing company with offices in the U.S., Hong Kong, and Vietnam.
T.G.I. Friday’s recently announced plans to expand its licensed retail business by targeting new licensees in the food, beverage, and home goods categories. The brand currently has more than 50 million product units in stores with partners such as Heinz, Inventure, and Diageo, resulting in more than $400 million in sales annually, according to the company.
T.G.I. Friday’s recently announced that it has secured Brand Squared Licensing, a division of Peppercom, to seek new licensees. Brian Kuterbach, director of licensing for T.G.I. Friday’s, explains the plans.