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