Brand Licensing Europe

Ok so appointments coming in thick and fast for brand licensing. If you're coming and would be interested in meeting one of us please do make an appointment in advance if possible.

Alternatively if you're interested in finding out more about Golden Goose then you might like to come to our talk: Power up your licensing, 5 tell tales signs of a successful licensing programme. We're talking at 3.30 on Tuesday 15th at the Brand Experience Theatre.

More information here: http://www.brandlicensing.eu/brand-licensing-europe/content/brand-experience-seminar-theatre

Please visit us at Brand Licensing

Golden Goose appointed by Flymo

28/08/13, for immediate release

Flymo appoint Golden Goose to develop licensing programme Husqvarna Group, the owners of gardening brand Flymo, has appointed brand licensing consultancy, Golden Goose as their exclusive UK agency to develop a successful brand licensing programme for Flymo. Since inventing the hover mower more than 50 years ago, Flymo has become a market leader in unique and innovative gardening tools that make work in the garden easier. Flymo has appointed Golden Goose to develop licensed products that complement the brand’s current market offering. Flymo’s UK Sales and Marketing Director, John Thomson, is confident that there are plenty of opportunities to explore: “Flymo is a household brand with 97% brand awareness and we are looking to licensing as a way for us to deliver more products that are ‘easier by design’ ” Golden Goose Director, Adam Bass, said: “Flymo is a fantastic, innovative brand within instant brand awareness. We are very excited to be working with them to put a new licensing programme in place.” Initial product categories that are being considered include pressure washers and garden heating products. Golden Goose Account Director, Martin Clark said: “Golden Goose is looking forward to working with the Flymo brand to realise the exciting deals we already have in the pipeline and develop more retailer and manufacturer partnerships. This, in turn, means we will all be working towards helping Flymo consolidate their market leading positioning” According to the 2012 Keynote market report into garden equipment, the total garden equipment market was worth £890m at retail in 2011 Ends

Golden Goose appointed by Maison Blanc

20/08/13, for immediate release

Golden Goose to develop licensing programme for French bakery Maison Blanc Brand licensing consultancy, Golden Goose, has been appointed by French bakery Maison Blanc, as their exclusive licensing agency for the UK. Maison Blanc is a French patisserie and boulangerie originally created in 1981 by chef Raymond Blanc that has won awards for their authentic French breads, patisserie, cakes and seasonal specials. Apart from supplying the 14 retail outlets that serve a million customers a year the company’s wholesale division also produces cakes for Waitrose under the Maison Blanc brand selling between 40-60,000 cakes per month. According to a recent Mintel survey, 72% of UK consumers (but 83% of AB1s) would like to visit a French restaurant or have done so in the past weeks. Rebecca Rose, Head of Marketing for KFG the owner of Maison Blanc brand said “Maison Blanc has an established reputation for sourcing and making high quality products inspired by French bakery. With their understanding of brands, strategic approach and experience in food licensing we are confident that Golden Goose will quickly establish a significant licensing programme for the Maison Blanc brand.”  Golden Goose Managing Director, Adam Bass, said: “For consumers, Maison Blanc delivers outstanding taste and authentic French flavours. We’re very excited about developing licensed products that communicate the brand’s joie de vivre.” New products planned in January 2014 include a range of gourmet sandwiches, kitchen gifting and ceramics with further products based around the brand’s expertise in chocolate also in the pipeline. Ends

Men's Health Magazine

Golden Goose to work with Men’s Health magazine to develop European licensing programme

Brand licensing consultancy, Golden Goose, has been appointed by leading magazine brand Men’s Health, as their exclusive licensing agency for Europe.

Men’s Health is the world’s largest men’s magazine with 40 editions in 45 countries making it the number 1 source of information for and about men. With 16 European editions reaching a monthly readership of over 8M, Men’s Health outsells GQ and Esquire magazine combined in the UK. In addition the Men’s Health website achieves 42M page views a month.

The typical Men’s Health reader is 32 with a high powered job and single, making them an aspirational, health conscious audience looking for advice on fitness, nutrition, technology,fashion and grooming. Rob Novick, Senior Vice President, International at Rodale Inc. the owner of Men’s Health said “Men’s Health is an international publishing phenomenon and we are confident that, with their understanding of brands, very strategic approach and experience in fitness, nutrition and health, Golden Goose will quickly establish a significant licensing programme for the Men’s Health brand across our strongest European markets.” 

Golden Goose Managing Director, Adam Bass, said: “Health and fitness are going to be even higher on the agenda in the next few years, and these Men’s Health licensed products will provide fitness and health conscious men with the tools they need to look and feel better about themselves.”

New products planned in January 2014 include a complete range of fitness equipment and nutritional products, with a broader range of products in development thereafter.

Golden Goose Account Director, Antonia Habdank said “We are committed to working very closely with the local publishing & editorial teams in each European market as this will be crucial in developing the right product for the right consumer”.  Account Director, Martin Clark added “We have several exciting deals in the pipeline and retailer initiatives in development, which will be enhanced and maximised through strategic editorial support”

RSPB features on 100 pics

New image based quiz app 100 pics features 100 pictures of British birds

Link to RSPB on 100 pics

New RSPB advertising

If you haven't already seen it. Here's the RSPB advertising campaign
Giving Nature a Home TV ad from The RSPB on Vimeo.

Tea AND cake anyone?

Look out for these special Tetley promotional bins with a joint offer on tea and cake. Never has licensing looked so tasty.

State of Nature

According to the RSPB's State of Nature report,  a stocktake of UK nature suggests 60% of animal and plant species studied have declined in the past 50 years.

The State of Nature report, compiled by 25 wildlife organisations - from the RSPB to the British Lichen Society - collates assessments of 3,148 species.

Conservationists hope it will offer clues to the fate of the UK's 59,000 species.

Beetles and wildlfowers are among the most vulnerable species.

According to the document, reasons for the decline are "many and varied" but include rising temperatures and habitat degradation.

Species requiring specific habitats have fared particularly poorly compared to the generalists able to adapt to the country's changing environment.

Tetley cake, looking good

Cup of tea and piece of cake anyone????

Introduction to new article

If you make a branded product and sell it into retail the current economic climate might make you feel a little bit like a polar bear hunting on thin ice: Just as you’re about to pounce on a juicy order from a retailer they break up, sink and disappear without trace. In the same way that household brands are facing pressure from cheaper unbranded imports, established retailers are facing lost sales to the more efficient, more convenient on-line channel.

With retail in apparent meltdown, how do brandowners survive the: New Retail Ecology 

 In 2012 total UK retail sales were over £311 billion but the number of retail outlets fell by 573, “a record drop” according to the British Retail Consortium’s Director General, Helen Dickinson. In the first quarter of 2013 well publicised retailers hitting the wall included HMV, Jessops and Blockbusters, joining the famous casualties of 2012 (Comet, Clintons, JJB Sports). The good news story of 2012 was on-line retail with a record 17.8% increase to £29 billion. Shoppers are using smartphones and tablets to buy from ever improving websites and ‘click-and-collect’ services. Peter Fitzgerald, Retail Director for Google announced that “online retail really came of age this Christmas. It’s playing an increasingly significant role at every stage of the customer journey.”

 Full article available here: http://www.innovaanalysis.com/

Tetley Cake in Tesco

Tetley Cake

Look out for this delicious Tetley cake launching in Tesco from Monday. Tealicious!

RSPB

We are delighted to announce that Golden Goose have been appointed by RSPB to build on their successful licensing programme. For more information please visit: http://www.goldengoose.uk.com/clients/RSPB

Matt Roberts on-line shop now open

Visit www.MattRoberts.co.uk for more information

Tetley Scones in Tesco

Matt on This Morning: http://www.itv.com/thismorning/health/downsize-the-family/back-to-school/

Get the Matt Roberts range of fitness equipment at Argos, now available.

new Tetley ad

Matt Roberts promotion for January feature in today's Times

Some of the trade fairs we will be attending

Hi,

here's a list of some of the trade fair's Golden Goose will be attending in 2013. Please get in touch to arrange a time to meet for a coffee or something stronger:

Event	Location	Dates
Top Drawer	Earls Court	13-15th January
Toy Fair	Olympia	22nd-24th January
Spring Fair	NEC	4th Feb – 7th Feb
London Book Fair	Earls Court	15th-17th April
Pulse	Earls Courts	12th-14th May
Bird Fair	Rutland Water	17th-19th August
Autumn Fair	NEC	1st-4th September
Glee	NEC	15th-17th September
Top Drawer	Earls Court	15th-17th September
Brand Licensing Show	Olympia	15th-17th October

Only slightly painful to watch video about a licensing agreement:


4:10 "we're really pleased and excited about the relationship"

Good looking products though

The publishing business....

In the publishing business the readers are the product, and the customers are the advertisers.

Reader HAS attention WANTS salience

Publisher HAS salience WANTS money
Advertiser HAS money WANTS attention

what not to drink?

So, Coca Cola has generated a workitout calculator (http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/health/work-it-out-calculator.html) so that you can figure out how much exercise you have to do in order to drink their products. This is great, now i just have to not drink their products and I feel fitter.

YES, it's an Angry Birds, Star Wars mash up!!!!

 Our stand at brand licensing - come and see us from Tomorrow to Thursday at Olympia.

Brand Licensing Show

Look forward to seeing you at the brand licensing show. If you're coming tell us why 

Branding lessons from the Olympics

Now that London 2012 is over, what implications does the event's sporting and organisational success have for branding in the UK? Here are 5 thoughts:

1) Incremental Effort
There were no quick wins for our Olympians. The pain of endless training was etched on their faces down the home straight. Brands need to show their commitment to sustained excellence and have no fear of showing the sweat and tears involved.

2) Great Britain
Unashamed British pride emotionally expressed has no hint of jingoistic overtones any more. Pride in a multi-cultural flag has been long overdue. Just don't forget the hint of modesty and understatement.

3) Brilliant Youth
Redemption is coming for hoodies with talent. Hope has been restored in a generation that badly damaged their prospects with the 2011 riots. Brands need to offer positive activities for youth to engage with.

4) Uncompromising Determination
Steel willed positivity. A new ruthlessness. Visible rejection of the mediocre. These are now attractive qualities who's human side can be revealed occasionally.

5) Joy in Performance
Pleasure from performing to millions as an act of self-fulfillment has never been so clearly endorsed as a valuable activity. Joy in realisation of a personal ambition has been portrayed as selfless. Instead of feeding a ravenous hunger for approval, it has been shown as an act of cameraderie. Brands that flaunt it should share the love

New products coming soon

Matt Roberts products to launch in Argos in January 2013.

Kingfisher Collections launches

PRESS RELEASE 26/07/12, for immediate release

New service launched by Golden Goose and Fisher Forensic Kingfisher Collections will manage royalty admin for agencies and licensors. Boutique brand licensing consultancy Golden Goose has partnered with forensic accountants Fisher Forensic to develop a royalty administration service for busy licensors and agencies. Called Kingfisher Collections, the new service offers to manage the chasing and collation of royalty reports and payments so that brands can focus on their licensing programme without losing control of their revenue collections. “Kingfisher Collections provides a seamless, professional point of contact so that licensors and agencies can concentrate on sourcing licensees, developing new products and marketing their brand to retailers without worrying about how royalties are collected,” said Adam Bass, Director of Golden Goose who has helped develop the service. Licensors and agencies using Kingfisher Collections will have the convenience and focus of a trusted accountancy firm handling the entire royalty collection process: from issuing invoices and chasing for statements and payments to generating financial and performance reports. “It’s very easy for licensors and agencies to lose track of the royalties and for the reporting to get out of kilter with the original licensing agreement,“ explained Rafi Saville from Fisher Forensic. “This can lead to licensors collecting the wrong amounts and store up potentially nasty surprises for a royalty audit.” “Most licensing departments are surprisingly small,” Added Bass, “and Kingfisher Collections will offer a seamless service so that licensees don’t even know they are talking to a firm of forensic accountants.” For more information about the service please visit www.kingfishercollections.co.uk Ends

Surely this Angry Birds licensing programme has gone too far...

RACstorage.co.uk

Check out this great new range of RAC garage storage products..

.

http://www.racstorage.co.uk/productone.html

Licensing is a “quick- quick, slow-slow business”. You need to be ready to move fast, and be patient when nothing’s happening. If you’ve achieved strong licensing success you’ll recognise this timeline of hard work, blood sweat and tears, if you’re at the beginning of your licensing journey, you may want to look away now. 

CLAPS: A five year plan for a successful licensing programme.

Read more here... 

Dunelm Mills Stocks Tetley Homewares

An aggregated world of brands

Never before were so many owned by so few

New scones coming to Asda and Morrisons soon...

mmmmm - lovely new scones....

Tetley Scones - new variants

RAC Publications....

RAC Books at today's London Book Fair

new article - introduction, all comments welcome

Whilst Napoleon once famously described the UK as a nation of shopkeepers, these days it’s not so much a nation as four major players that dominate the retail landscape. With many manufacturers losing their shirts - and their souls – when negotiating with big retail why are more and more brands;

Dealing directly with the devil

Stroll innocently down the aisles of any large high street retailer and your gaze is constantly being tugged at. Enticing special offers at knee height - the most common in-store eye-level – tempt you with seductive discounts. Stop to peruse a shelving unit and an intuitive understanding of the “good, better, best” ranging of products will gradually dawn upon you: Prices rise with their height on the fixture. Reach out to select a product (conveniently located at shoulder height) and it will inevitably be better than the cheapest equivalent and cheaper than the most expensive offering. As you drop the item into your basket you congratulate yourself on the successful selection of the best value product, blissfully unaware of the years of consumer research; the intense negotiation over positioning, promotions, cost and margin; and the many arguments over delivery and logistics that have gone into helping you make your informed choice.

If you see someone suspicious muttering to themselves and maybe taking discreet pictures on their mobile in the middle of the supermarket the chances are that person works in licensing. Unless they’re on discount, licensed products will generally be in the middle of the ‘better’ section, at shoulder height, where the bulk of the sales and the margin are. If your muttering stranger is a real licensing maven they will even be able to tell you if the branded products are licensed directly by the retailer and therefore not available elsewhere.

new group on linkedin

Have just launched a new group on Linkedin called Royalty Collections. If your work involves the collection of royalties you're welcome to join.

see if you can spot the licensed product....

Here's the RAC stand at Spring Fair. We're already looking into next year....

RAC at Spring Fair

Matt Roberts in the Daily Telegraph

read more about Matt Roberts special supplements in the Telegraph....

Matt Roberts in yesterday's evening standard

"Cameron's personal trainer Matt Roberts says working out on the morning of a speech can calm a speaker down. "It burns away a bit of energy and gets the oxygen into the bloodstream and the brain, which gives you calmer thinking," says Roberts. "I know people who do stretches before they walk on to get their diaphragm going and become a bit more mobile. They are generally things like reaching up above your head or doing the palm position."

Tetley Tea Folk Biscuits

Tetley Tea Folk launch biscuits. These new biscuits are great for dunking. But never mind what we think, it's the 200,000 facebook fans that really count.

You can read a case study about the Tetley licensing programme here..

RAC at Spring Fair

New tetley mug in Tesco

Get yourself a gaffer shaped mug before they sell out... go on you know you want to.

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.213-2760.aspx

our stand at brand licensing

This is a picture of our stand at Brand Licensing this year... on the 'brand' side of the hall....already rebooked for next year. It was a very busy show which, personally, I find encouraging as British Industry starts looking for ways to actively get out of the downturn rather than just batten down the hatches....

We'll be exhibiting at Brand Licensing, stand B058, please get in touch to make an appointment

Picture of Tetley Scones

Here's a picture of the Tetley scones

whoops...

New range of Tetley Tea Folk Scones launching this week in Asda

Read more here

New Tetley Products

Eyup, fancy a cuppa.....

Brand and Sport Licensing Year Book

New article about What Can Go Wrong with Licensing Programmes, page 12-15

on-line accounting software

Very excited to be able to recommend some brilliant on-line accounting software:

http://www.freeagentcentral.com/?referrer=418ghwkj

It has the potential to make accounting fun!

Golden Goose appointed by Tetley

We are delighted to announce today that Golden Goose will represent Tetley Tea’s much loved brand ambassadors, the Tea Folk, for an exclusive 3 year licensing deal covering the UK.

Launched in 1973 the Tea Folk have appeared in 67 advertisements generating over 30 million pieces of memorabilia in their first three decades. Their return as part of a multimillion pound advertising campaign reached over 42 million viewers and was voted one of the top 10 marketing events of 2010. The Tetley Tea Folk campaign helped to reaffirm Tetley’s position as one of the UK’s best loved brands and with 38% of British households considered Tetley Tea drinkers, this very British love affair shows no sign of cooling off.

http://www.talkingretail.com/products/product-news/tetley-launches-tea-folk-products

Martin Sorrel backs licensing....

In an article published today Martin Sorrell, chief executive officer of WPP, says: "More than ever, licensing is emerging as one of the new creative ways of developing brands and sales. It is a capability we see as increasingly important to our clients. "

The smell of a cuppa

Tetley launch - Le Brew... Tea flavoured perfume...

RAC at Asia Pacific Sourcing, Cologne

new article now ready for peer review

Licensing is the Marketeer’s ultimate fantasy – a too-good-to-be-true, budget-generating marketing campaign that extends the brand into new categories. As they might say in America:

Licensing: What’s not to like?

As the Marketing Director of a powerful brand with a sizeable advertising budget, you present your Commercial Director with a strategic licensing proposition including a selection of companies proposing to pay hard cash for the right to increase your brand’s profile. Despite his first thought - ‘what’s the catch?’ – you somehow manage to convince him to let you develop a licensing programme. There’s no shortage of potential partners to work with on exciting collaborations and the products you develop are bought in serious quantities by your passionate consumers. With success, bigger and bigger manufacturers make increasingly exciting offers to create better and better products. Fast forward several years, however, and the enthusiasm for licensing seems to have waned somewhat and you’re considering your career options. So where did it all go wrong?

Please email me if you'd like the full article....

more on Thomas Crapper on the BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00z9j0g/The_Boat_That_Guy_Built_A_Nice_Hot_Shower/

19.34 minutes in..."There really is only one place you can go for bathroom fittings"

RAC Recommended for best battery charger

Thomas Crapper on the One Show

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00zf1zw/The_One_Show_07_03_2011/

3 mins - 8 mins

some interesting marketing books

Hi,

here's a list of some of my most influential marketing books:

http://www.brandlicensing.co.uk/brand-books-to-read

Mamika to be in the Times this weekend

Look out for 5 pages about our favourite grandma in this Sunday's Times.

Mamika in the Guardian

Thomas Crapper at Spring Fair

Golden Goose launches Mamika at Spring Fair

Brand consultancy, Golden Goose has signed a deal to represent the humorous, eclectic Mamika photographic brand from award winning photographer Sacha Goldberger.

Mamika is Sacha’s collection of funny, ironic and eccentric photographs featuring his 91 year old Grandmother, Fredericka, in a variety of guises including super hero and hilariously absent-minded old lady.

Mamika has become a global internet phenomenon with a strong following on Facebook and the first Mamika book has sold over 14,000 since its French release 4 months ago. Other books by Sacha have sold over 145,000 copies worldwide. Mamika photos have also featured in numerous newspaper and magazine articles from Sunday Times, Elle and Vanity Fair.

Now Golden Goose are looking for UK manufacturers and retailers to take the Mamika brand into calendars, stationery, giftsets and paper goods. With hundreds of high quality photographs in a variety of themes and locations, Mamika is ideal for these gifting categories.

Golden Goose Account Director Charlotte Hargreaves said: “Mamika’s outlandish and ironic view of life will appeal to students and gift-givers of all ages and naturally lends itself to a wide variety of products.”

Hargreaves adds, “Mamika is outlandish, kooky and guaranteed to make you smile, its broad appeal will attract licensees and retailers exhibiting and visiting Spring Fair.”

For more information, please contact: Charlotteh@goldengoose.uk.com

new rac products

Thomas Crapper and Half Moon Bay

Half Moon Bay to Launch Thomas Crapper Merchandise at Spring Fair

Historic bathroom brand launches fun gift range

Award-winning giftware company Half Moon Bay have signed a two year deal with Thomas Crapper & Co to launch a range of merchandise including toothbrush holders, mugs, and even an emergency plumbing kit (complete with rubber duck!) for the UK retail market.

The brand, launched by the eponymous plumber at the height of the British Empire in 1861, introduced plumbed bathrooms and luxury bathroom fittings to the world – and picked up a number of Royal Warrants along the way. It opened the first ever bathroom showroom, on King’s Road in Chelsea, and made sanitaryware fashionable and aspirational.

This new range of merchandise is both fun and practical with four ply toilet paper printed with humorous sayings one of the products expected to do well as consumers look for interesting and innovative gifts bearing the iconic Thomas Crapper logo.

Adam Bass, director of Golden Goose (Thomas Crapper’s licensing agency) said: “Thomas Crapper is a world renowned brand name that is ripe for development. The merchandise launch is the first step in the roll out of some very exciting plans for 2011.”

‘We are very excited to launch this new gift range, it truly offers something unique to the market. The history of the brand taps into the current demand for nostalgic yet fun gift products,’ said Ashley McCracken, Senior Product Manager for Half Moon Bay.

Thomas Crapper continued as a family business from its Victorian roots until the mid-1960s when it was taken over by a rival firm. Today, it is a privately owned, independent company producing the finest British Made authentic bathroom sanitaryware, fittings and accessories.

Branding 3.0

Hi and happy new year. 2010 was certainly interesting and, as in other years, I've taken the liberty of writing an article about new media's changes and their effects on branding, it's presumptuously called BRANDING 3.0.

Please let me know if you'd like a copy and I'll send you one. Otherwise it will be published in the latest edition of Innova

Great expectations...

Can't say too much but big announcement planned for Thomas Crapper day - January 27th 2011. Happy new year to everyone.

Watch a Typical Day in New York City.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyaj2P-dSi8&feature=player_embedded#

Interesting Licensing

http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/10/27/Zippo-Fragrance.aspx

Golden Goose Stand at the Brand Licensing Show 2010

Thank you to those of you who visited us.

The first registered trademark

Well with a name like mine, what else was i going to do?

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tm/t-find/t-find-number?detailsrequested=C&trademark=1

check out NYC video

1 minute 31 seconds - NYPD

1 minute 41 seconds - Taxi cab

Clearly, iconic images, 54 million views so far!

Start spreading the news...

http://www.licensing.biz/news/5616/Golden-Goose-takes-bite-out-of-Big-Apple

Ode to Italy

Italy is to England

what colour is to grey.

Suspicion, mistrust and inhibition

give way to passion, thunder, exotic emotions,

shoes, leather, luxury and lace.

A modest vulnerability

bursting buttons with pulchritude,

an epic conquering history

rich in Roman tragedy and gods,

bountifully spreading lore and progress

from delicacy laden sacks.

The peasant's simple fare

raw, authentic, uncultivated

the marching foundations

for this modern supremacy,

sustaining noble ideas

with rustic flavours and textures.

The taste of the street

history and hot dust combined

as the world flows past

pollinating the atmosphere

with a fine layer of flour.

new client coming soon

So good they named it twice....

Pizza and Pasta Research

This is what 6 hours of researching the pizza and pasta market looks like...

Gamechanger

Just thought i'd share a new word from the lexicon of management speak... i suppose you could call the Iphone a gamechanger in mobile communications...

the end of google?

Google has copied Bing... in a case of the tail wagging the dog, someone within Google has fearfully decided that they need a left hand nav, after the search results... single handedly undoing the founding principle of the company - don't clutter the screen... why copy your imitator unless you've run out of ideas...is this the beginning of the end?

licensing.biz profile

Nice profile on Licensing.biz....

lifespans and volcanos

The average ant lives for approximately 90 days. By my reckoning that makes a 4 hour picnic last about 0.18% of an ant's life. If you take the average human lifespan of 75 years and calculate the same percentage you come to around 49 days... by that reckoning, if the Volcano is to humans what a picnic is to ants, it should be safe to fly over Europe again by June 3rd

RAC Publishing

Veloce Publishing Ltd becomes RAC’s publishing partner

Leading British automotive publisher, Veloce Publishing, is delighted to announce that it has teamed up with one of Britain's oldest and most esteemed motoring organisations, RAC, to produce books carrying the RAC brand.

The first fruits of the new relationship will appear in the Summer of 2010 in the form of -

"Electric Cars - The future is now"
Are electric cars a feasible alternative to conventionally powered cars? Here's a comprehensive guide - aimed squarely at the man and woman in the street - to the cars you can buy now, and what the future holds, priced at £12.99

"The Efficient Driver's Handbook"
With fuel prices at record levels, here's a timely guide to fuel efficient driving techniques and car choice, priced at £9.99

"Roads with a view - - England's greatest views and how to find them by road"
A beautifully produced large format hardback featuring 44 breathtaking views, and how to get to them by road. Priced at £24.99

Many more books are in the pipeline, including technical books based on RAC's extensive automotive experience and data.

Rod Grainger, Publisher at Veloce, says: "This is a really exciting development for our company. It's a prestigious association with a hugely respected organisation which not only marks a coming of age for Veloce, but presents a huge range of potential publications which can be created in association with RAC

Article about licensing for leading brands

Have just finished an article about licensing for leading brands... please mail me if you'd like a copy.

Intro to latest article due for publication in October

With the world cup now over and the Olympics looming on the sporting horizon, perhaps it’s time to ask ourselves, “what’s the big deal about being number one?” Why the fascination with winning? Like a lot of British people I’ve got a soft spot for the underdog, the heroic failure who cares more about the taking part. And yet, from a straight licensing point of view, sales of the Eddie the Eagle T-shirts are unlikely to eclipse Bode Miller’s Alpine Skiing for PlayStation 2. So perhaps the reason for the obsession with winning is most obvious in the world of business – to the victor go the spoils.

In their legendary book ‘The 22 Immutable laws of marketing’ marketing legends Jack Trout and Al Ries explain that “The main rule is to be number one…the second [man to arrive on the moon] will not be remembered. Being number one is not always possible and certainly not always easy. Number one will need to look ahead to continue its strategy but will also have to look back, to verify what the followers will do. It is difficult to stay number one.”

For many brands leadership is a valuable positioning statement, and for good reason according to David Aaker in Brand Leadership: “Leadership… can inspire employees and partners by setting a high brand aspiration level… for many customers a leadership brand provides reassurance…implies quality...and/or innovation that translates into solid functional benefits.“

But the most direct relationship between leadership and the bottom line is indicated by a piece of research by British marketing scientist Andrew Ehrenberg which suggests that customer loyalty is proportional to market penetration. From this, Jean Noel Kapferer concludes that ‘it is difficult to generate increased loyalty in the long term without also increasing market penetration … the future of a brand thus depends on its … ongoing ability to attract new customers in order to increase its market penetration and in the meantime demonstrate its relevance to a changing world.“

Restating this in more simplistic terms, an increase in market penetration achieves a double whammy driving new customer acquisition and growing existing customer loyalty. Most licensors get very excited about the first part of this sentence - ‘wow’ they say, ‘New customers! New revenue! New business! New profit!’ failing to appreciate the importance of the second part.

For a leading brand licensing will only every generate a minute fraction of the value that would be achieved by a growth in market share, so why do it? what’s the attraction? You might as well ask Roger Federer what’s the appeal of winning another grand slam title? Surely you’ve won enough Roger, why keep doing the training, the work, the effort. After making the obligatory references to Switzerland his family, and his sponsors, Roger would probably reply – “I’ve made all the effort to get here, to be the best in the world, and now I want to make the most of it while I can, before my crown inevitably falls I want to win everything I can. And that’s the essence of my brand.”

Poor world cup licensees

One thought that occurred to me as I strolled the halls at Spring Fair last week was the unfortunate plight of any licensee selling World Cup Merchandise. Has the sudden change in England Captain destroyed the hopes of the calendar, tablecloth and flag manufacturers? Someone needs to send his agent a bill for lost earnings!

Tori Spelling and Thomas Crapper, an obvious connection

"Tori Spelling And Dean McDermott Celebrate Thomas Crapper Day" - now there's a headline I didn't think I'd ever see...other coverage was on Newsnight, Sunday Breakfast, Radio 2 drivetime & Radio 4.

Thomas Crapper Day

Yes, it's official, all over the world people are celebrating Thomas Crapper Dayhttp://news10now.com/cny-news-1013-content/top_stories/494419/corning-celebrates-thomas-crapper-day

New Apple on the branch?

really looking forward to the new Apple product coming out shortly... apparently retailers have them in store but aren't allowed to open the box on pain of being sued.... talk about tantalising....

http://www.macrumors.com/

Golden Goose takes on Crapper

Golden Goose takes on Crapper

Heritage bathroom brand Thomas Crapper set for category extension

Brand consultancy Golden Goose has signed heritage bathroom brand Thomas Crapper & Co for an exclusive 3 year licensing deal covering the UK, USA, and other International territories.

The brand, launched by the eponymous plumber at the height of the British Empire in 1861, introduced plumbed bathrooms and luxury bathroom fittings to the world – and picked up a number of Royal Warrants along the way. It opened the first ever bathroom showroom, on King’s Road in Chelsea, and made sanitaryware fashionable and aspirational.

Now Thomas Crapper is set to launch across a range of consumer products from toiletries and gifts to bathroom accessories and paper goods. The deal covers a range of IP assets including the brand’s decorative finishes archive, advertising archive as well as the iconic logo and registered trademark.

Golden Goose director Adam Bass said: “Thomas Crapper is a world renowned brand name that has very little presence outside of the sanitaryware business where it is sold through a small number of top end suppliers. The brand is ripe for development and we are already talking to a number of potential licensees.”

Bass says: “The brand name itself will enable us to come up with some great creative concepts that will be fun and firmly tongue in cheek.”

Thomas Crapper continued as a family business from its Victorian roots until the mid-1960s when it was taken over and later fell out of use. Today, it is owned by historian and collector of antique bathroom fittings Simon Kirby. The firm is now based in Stratford-upon-Avon from where it supplies its authentic heritage bathroom sanitaryware, fittings and accessories.

A tribute to Sir Thomas Crapper

A tribute to Sir Thomas Crapper

A sanitary saviour

His bowl shall never overflow

The empire’s gratitude

Is expressed in moments of relief.

A collective sigh of

Pleasure and comfort

On the great leveller

The throne of peasants

An unsavoury treat.

An engineering miracle

Makes inconvenience disappear

Leaving the unspoken unsmelt

Recycling in its purest sense

With a lavish flourish

And sleeves of running water.

A sudden change in history

An unacknowledged chapter

Unchampioned, uncelebrated

Relegated to a footnote

Of cataclysmic improvements

A daily ablution

Taken for granted

Like breathing

But its absence

Plunges civilisation

Back into the dark ages.

top 10 things i say in meetings

If you're in a meeting with me, please feel to play meeting bingo. Just shout bingo if you hear any five of the following phrases:

1) Any product consists of product, identity and distribution, but these are multiples so if you don't have distribution, you have nothing.

2) Any sales that are made by the brand are the icing on the cake

3) We're not looking to set royalty rates so high that the product doesn't sell

4) You have to offer value for royalty

5) Licensing is a quick quick, slow slow business

6) Licensing is another propeller in the water, just make sure it's facing the right way

7) The brand is the theme park, the product is the souvenir

8) Licensing is a win-win business

9) As an agency, we're like the first licensee

10) We like to put your entire licensing programme in a box that includes everything a licensee needs.