typical?

Typical virgin licensor behaviour is to welcome an approach from a brand licensing agency. It's flattering and intellectually stimulating to consider how their brand would appear in other sectors.

Then, when a large licensing deal hoves into view and people start to take a bit of an interest, the brand manager's attitude miraculously changes. At this point there's a sudden resentment that the agency should want such a large chunk of royalty - surprisingly sudden considering that up till that point it was a percentage of nothing - and every effort is made to avoid signing a long-term contract. Finally, after a protracted negotiation punctuated by long silences for various holidays and other more important work - a ridiculously low share of royalty might be agreed with a cap, no expenses and no fee. If this is agreed then suddenly the licensing agency has its work cut out to deliver huge royalties or be stripped of the account and have the whole thing managed in house.

I suppose the brand manager sees an upstart company with ideas above its station and wants to retain control, but even so the typical treatment of the licensing agency hardly augurs well for the typical treatment of new licensees.

Brand Licensing

Just been invited onto the advisory panel for this year's brand licensing conference so must be doing something right. A bit of a jolly and a free lunch. Went to see Pentland today, very impressive offices... table footballs, pool tables etc. The sort of place I can imagine people get very intense about the meaning of certain sports brands....

Last Minute Culture?

We live in a last minute, opt-out culture. Don't want to meet up with friends because you've got something better to do? Call and cancel, last minute. Leave all of your options open because something better might come along and when it does mass-communicate your change of heart in the blink of an eye.

Translate this to a professional setting and the pernicious effects of last minute culture translate into: noone listening at meetings because things will get mopped afterwards via email, a large number of first drafts sten-gunned out before any real thinking's been done, the finishing process getting later and later in the project development path.

Isn't it time for a 'First Time' movement featuring a manifesto of:

Thou shalt not send any internal emails
Thou shalt prepare a first draft that is as good as possible
Thou shalt schedule meetings and not cancel them
Thou shalt prepare project plans and carry them out

more to follow, this is only a first draft....