greetings of the season

Well another year passes by and it ends on a strong note... I only have promises and intuition to base this on but 2008 feels like it's going to be a strong contender for year of the year.

Best wishes to everyone and happy shopping

ingredients of a great brand licensing consultancy

15% advertising agency
10% design agency
15% sales team
10% retail sales team
5% law firm
10% brand consultancy
5% strategic consultancy
5% accountancy firm
25% licensing agency

a long term waiting game

Waiting to finalise an agency agreement is a test of nerve. Whilst the work has been done and the business case is proven, there's always time for the lawyers to make a mess of things. Better to hang the 'gone fishing' sign on the door and wait until someone notices you're not there than go mad jumping up and down with impatience. From now on, there's going to be an unappointed fee and an appointed fee, and you can guess which one will be higher.

call centre website loop

When websites stop working they refer you to the call centre they replaced which start with a telephone message referring you to the website... does this just happen in order to upset me?

from the internet to the smarternet

So, i'm trying to buy a train ticket from Paddington to Bracknell and the consumer experience is kind of bleuch. There's no help line any more because they want me to use their on-line system, but the on-line system is kind of rubbish. It's slow, i can buy but i have to enter my details, remember login, push the buttons and what am i, some kind of administrator? Sure, the internet means i don't have to talk to anyone who might be inefficient, but what if i'm busy, do i have to pay someone to do this for me?

Given the fact that updating a website is expensive, i can see the case for a smart piece of software that stores all my online requests and carries them out for me - i'd like to say to my computer - book me a theatre ticket next Thursday and have it come back to me with availability and booking times so that all i have to do is make the decision. Basically i want the internet to be more and more like a concierge service rather than something where i have to do all the work.... and i can see that being the future because more and more purchasing is coming online and whilst there might be some excitement left for the huge swathe of late adopters, the rest of us are bored watching little blue circles rotate and questioning the speed of broadband.

My experience with software generally is that anything that works is pushed to the limit and anything that doesn't is seen as redundant and abused. There's zero consumer satisfaction. So why not develop a user interface that does the searching and purchasing for you from a local level... you could even charge participating services a fee for the privilege - in fact with affiliate marketing, the business model already exists....

Watch your PC - i would expect it to be ready to take vague orders within about 6 months....

another great quote

Was re-reading Strategic Brand Management by Jean Noel-Kapferer - favourite quote so far:

“the order in which intermediate extensions are made affects consumer reaction to the final extension.”

old and new media

When you look at websites like lastfm.com which allows sharing of opinions and the ability to load a playlist that is increasingly personalised, it’s clear that music and indeed all media is becoming ‘pull’ rather than ‘push’.

At the moment we can segment our media choices by choosing a channel that reflects our demographic and lifestyle. However, given the wide range of choices and pre-recorded media, it’s often hard to know what to watch / listen to. The next generation will be amazed that we turn on the radio / television and listen to whatever is on at the time, rather than something that is specifically personalised just for us.

This need for personalisation is leading to the development of pre-personalised content. Amazon and lastfm.com’s content offer you a – ‘people who liked that, also like this’ model but how long will it be before media adopts the same model as products, matching the content to the usage occasion so that digital music becomes the very real personalised soundtrack to your life.

I can see banner advertisements being used to sell music download and other media very shortly.

preview of latest article

Whose brand is it anyway?
How the struggle for control of innovation can cause brand-damaging extensions

Before retailer consolidation and media fragmentation, manufacturers had the luxury of launching a new brand when they wanted to test an innovation. With the cost of launching new brands now virtually prohibitive, innovations are constantly being incorporated into ever-extending Superbrands. Whilst some brand extensions are brand-positive and others brand-negative, not extending is no longer an option. To protect their core revenue streams and expand into new markets, companies must ensure manufacturing and brand management teams work together to produce new products that enhance the brand, rather than simply trading on the brand’s reputation.

The core ingredients for successful brand extensions are generally agreed to be 'Fit' and 'Leverage' - fit being the appropriateness of the new category and leverage being the brand values applied to the new product[1]. In some cases though, the branding is the leverage. Some of the easiest brand extension opportunities can create successful brand extensions that trade solely on the brand, leading to the gradual (and in some cases sudden) degradation of the entire brand.

Brand extensions can be manufacturing-led: incorporating new features and inventions and adding them to the brand’s product range, or marketing-led: pivoting on one of the brand’s axes of authority and outsourcing some or all of the manufacturing, marketing and sales. Only clear communication and understanding between the teams responsible for product and brand innovation can ensure that new products deliver real added brand value, rather than the fool’s gold of brand damaging success.

More on this later.....

[1] Edward M.Tauber, Tauber Research, Brand Equity & Advertising, edited by David.A.Aaker & Alexanrder L.Biel Chapter 20, p313

ideas for articles that need writing

the contrast between brandowners and manufacturers?
key ingredients of a licensing programme?
what makes a brand licensable?

pouff.... another Porsche disappears from the driveway

There's nothing quite like sitting on a big licensing contract. The deal's done, the royalties are waiting to come in and everyone's looking forward to spending the money. The Porsche is on the driveway, the mortgage is paid off. Expensive holidays and a life of luxury are tantalisingly within reach. And then, pouff, with a phone call, the mirage turns into sand and 2 years of hard graft and nose-to-grindstone, hand-to-mouth existence reappear on the horizon, the Porsche turns into black plastic bin liners heaped on the driveway and the mortgage weighs heavily on your shoulders again.

latest brand extension

It's not all about being the middle-man, sometimes I even have time to create my own brand extensions... in this case little baby emma who was born in less time than it takes to negotiate and sign a pickle contract

big market opportunity - the www

Whereas the big opportunity in the 90's was the world wide web, the big opportunity in the 00's is the world wide waste

brand licensing show news

It's so easy to get caught up in the excitment of the brand licensing show. Last year it took me about 2 months to get back to work instead of wafting in the haze of imagined deals that might one day happen. this time it's back to the grindstone....but the show was fun with a feeling of knowing everyone who's anyone

ok then

Well, yes. Sometimes life in a brand licensing agency is just a seamless stream of meetings with multi-million pound brands.

half the job

half the job of any consultant is to figure out why he was appointed in the first place....

when it all goes right

I guess it's only when things go right that you find out what you're made of, how solid your foundations are, and if you've really learnt anything useful. We're at that stage now and it's the shallow breathing, palpitating heart moments that make life frightening / exciting.... don't look down...

well here we go....

Just booked the brand licensing show for the second year running... now the serious work begins...

http://www.brandlicensingexpo.com/brandlicensing/v42/index.cvn

you'll find me on stand 642 but don't expect me to have any hair left...

top 10 learnings in business

1) you will have good years and bad years, over time you will learn the difference
2) get paid
3) when things are going well, it's time to invest to avoid competition
4) take time to consider, especially when you're in a hurry
5) don't sent emails that you spend more than 1 hour composing until the next day
6) get paid
7) put money aside for a rainy day
8) build up passive income
9) turn your tacit learnings into explicit learnings
10) celebrate your wins

why licensing is like sex

Yes, licensing is like sex. Honestly. Here's the latest article on the subject as published in brand licensing sports book... also check out Brand channel from 13/08 for paper of the week on Branding 2.0

the last post

How long does it take to get a licensing contract signed?

well that depends where you start from? If you have the approval of the board, a suitable licensee, agreed heads of terms and the outline of a standard contract you'll be lucky if you can do it in less than 3 months.

'3 months!' I hear you exclaim...' even after all the preparation'. Yes that's right, a minimum of 3 months. In fact this is the most tortuous process known to man. It's like playing volleyball on a huge court. the ball comes to your side, you look at it, pass it to the lawyer, he looks at it, passes it back to you, you look at his look at it, pass it back to him, he looks at your look at his look passes it back to you and then eventually, you pass it back to the other side who go through the whole thing on their side.... ultimately it becomes a waitathon with both sides trying to outdo each other in affecting to care as little as possible to not give away their negotiating position over points so moot you could bury them in a time capsule under the new channel tunnel station at Kings Cross.

Then, if by some miracle both sides ever ultimately agree you can bet your bottom dollar the post will take another 2 weeks before someone somewhere actually has both sides signed in their hands... then the work starts. Meanwhile everyone's been paid - the lawyers, the negotiators, everyone - oh except for the licensing consultancy, did i forget to mention them?

another quote, another book

"Brand innovation is brand management. The brand is only as good as its last three or four ideas. All of brand marketing should be treated as an innovation project. Forget the brand 'essence' - in a few years' time it may be different as a result of these new innovations. A brand is like a person it needs to evolve to stay interesting. It should be coherent - each new idea should make sense and be brilliant in its own terms - but not consistent (in the sense of endless dull repetition of the same old formula). "
John Grant - The Brand Innovation Manifesto

born in the UK

Within Europe, the UK is the most suitable country in which to commence a sequential rollout strategy for major new product introductions. In the UK, the segment of innovators (early adopters) is 24% compared with only 15% in France and 9% in Spain. Among all large European countries, the UK is the only country that is not hurt by the fact that the product has not been introduced elsewhere.
Private Label Strategy, How to Meet the Store Brand Strategy
Harvard Business School Press

when to call a licensing consultancy

a) after you've just signed away the rights to your brand?
b) before doing any licensing?
c) when you think you might have the opportunity to do some licensing?

big news on the way

Frustratingly still waiting for contracts to be signed before i can officially announce the conclusion of some fairly major licensing activity over the past 6 months - at the moment this blog is like watching ink dry

are my products underwater?

No, this is not an allegorical question, flooding in the North East means there's a very real chance that there's a warehouse somewhere with some very expensive licensed products bobbing around

my favourite new quote

"Far too many marketing people confuse brand share with brand loyalty. And far too many assume they are managing an enduring classic when actually they are presiding over an accident waiting to happen. This is a mistake that is all too easily exposed when somebody else does the brand innovation your category had been crying out for and leaves you for dust"
John Grant
Brand Innovation Manifesto

These St. Luke's guys are really fascinating!!!

emotionally drained

Suffering from completion-of-protracted-negotiation-syndrome. What am I going to worry about for the next 6 months!

statistic of the day

"Product innovation is perhaps the most obvious way companies try to stay 'ever new'. The importance of product innovation is paramount. In categories where there is a less product innovation, private label penetration is typically 56% higher than those categories where there is more active product innovation. "
Michele Blake
Winning Strategies for Brand Loyalty

website rewrite

Have spent the past 2 days working to upgrade the Golden Goose website - mostly textual changes. Amazing how much has happened since the text was last rewritten. Any comments welcome: www.goldengoose.uk.com

paper on brand loyalty

There's probably an article in 'how brand licensing increases brand loyalty', just haven't had time to write it yet. In the meantime here are some conclusions from an excellent paper on the subject by Michele Blake:

Brand loyalty is increasingly earned by building intensity of desire.

Some industry commentators propose that there is only one measure really worth tracking and that is – how many of a company’s customers would actively recommend their products to others.

True loyalty increasingly requires companies to think about creating desire and involving emotion. But consumers are increasingly uninterested in developing relationships with brands.

Today, in developed markets at least, consumers are quite literally spoilt for choice, leading to “choice paralysis,” and making people less satisfied with the choices they do eventually make. Also consumers feel stressed trying to regain control over their schedules: they just have less time for brands.

In addition, they are generally more resistant to marketing and advertising. This is partly a protective response to the sheer volume of advertising messages to whichthey are exposed and partly due to their increasing cynicism about those messages.They trust less, having had that trust abused in the past.

Income polarization is contributing to polarization in shopping habits, causing brands to lose out to more premium options on the one hand and consumers’ price shopping on the other.

Private label also threatens loyalty as consumers are tempted away from branded products to private label equivalents with their price competitiveness, improved quality, increased innovation, and shelf space advantages.

Consumers are also increasingly substituting takeaway meals and eating out for food and drink bought in supermarkets and prepared at home.

Finally, the retail environment is now a key arena for brand and promotional messages delivered to consumers at the crucial moment at shelf-front when the final brand choice is made, meaning loyalty is in the balance until the very last moment a shopper puts an item in their basket.

Building loyalty is also about innovations in marketing. One trend is streamlined portfolios, where often it is the umbrella brands, rather than the individual products that are promoted – often via a ‘lighthouse’ idea, making the brand stand for something above and beyond product. For example, successful brands are taking positions reflecting current trends for increased corporate responsibility (e.g.Fairtrade, organic production, health and wellness and so on).

Canned, frozen and chilled foods suffer the lowest consumer loyalty.

Private label is the greatest threat to loyalty, followed by unplanned shopping as consumers are tempted away by lower price private label alternatives and/ or are influenced to buy another brand (or private label) at the shelf front. Loyalty towards private label economy and standard ranges will slip in the future.

66.0% and 58.3% of respondents rate innovation and premiumization respectively,as ‘very good for’ or ‘best for’ brand loyalty, whilst improving product experienceand generating positive word-of-mouth are the most effective strategies inpromoting brand loyalty.

It is true today and will continue to be true that customers will only remain loyal to brands – assuming they have more than one available choice – if those brands continue to meet their expectations, their needs and wants. Increasingly aware of their greater range of options and better informed about those options, customers are becoming more demanding and generally less loyal, so companies have to work harder than ever to achieve even the same levels of loyalty.

The most successful companies focus on that brand or those brands where the company has the best chance for success, fully committing the organization – from the most senior levels down – to the chosen brand(s) and their customers.

To engender greater loyalty, companies will want to explore how they could more holistically solve the customer’s ‘problem’ through innovation. The most successful brands go beyond practical benefits to deliver an idea that the customer can buy into.

See the full paper here

valuable quote

The mechanics for a successful launch are simple, but often forgotten, says Dave Woodward, ex-P&G now head of Heinz UK & Ireland - "You need to gain distribution, stimulate trial, stimulate repeat purchasing and finally encourage multi-purchases and long-term loyalty"

Why Brand Licensing is like sex.

Licensing is like sex. With good sex, all the effort leads to deep satisfaction with both sides enjoying the moment. Bad sex leaves one side feeling dominant and the other feeling cheap, dirty and used. Ugly sex, on the other hand, leaves both sides mystified why it happened with noone wanting to talk about it any more.

Whilst there are plenty of guides to sex, there aren’t that many devoted to licensing. In fact in the guides to marketing and branding I’ve come across there’s usually several chapters about brand extension but rarely more than a cursory paragraph or two about licensing as a way of executing a brand extension. Licensing seems to generally be considered by marketing gurus as either a low-key, unimportant activity or a dirty little secret.

To read the rest of this article, you'll have to wait until the September edition of the Brand & Sport Licensing source book...

intriguing signage

Have to admit to being a bit of an addict when it comes to weird public information signage and couldn't resist taking a picture of this one. Whilst travelling recently I came across this one which begs the question: How many people were alarmed by noisy flushing before the need to print this became a priority?

holiday blues

As I predicted to the wife on the return from holiday, Tuesday is the cruellest day after the excitement of being back at the desk is over and the afternoon is the time when the blues are most likely to strike.

So here's the news of the blues most definitely arriving, there's a lovely sunny day outside though - perhaps that's the antidote....

latest brand licensing newsletter

Yes, once again a quarter comes to an end queuing up another flurry of royalty reminders and reports. For the latest exciting brand extensions, see the newsletter

negotiation workshops

Note: If you're about to go on a negotiation workshop, do not read this.


The red black game that all negotiation workshops use involves splitting the group into two teams, and getting both sides to try and achieve the maximum score by having them announce a vote of red or black. If one team votes red and the other one black then the red team wins 5 points and the black team 0, but if both teams vote red, then they both get 10 points. So after 10 rounds the score is announced and one team usually wins. At this point the facilitator will announce that both sides have lost because the aim was to achieve the maximum score which would have meant both teams voting red consistently.

As the dust settles, and the 'yes buts' get aired, it gradually dawns on the group that the purpose of negotiation is to work towards a common goal rather than get one up on an opponent.

been a while

Been a while since the last post. Mainly because i've been flat out whilst also having the entire house virtually knocked down and rebuilt. The cost of the building work is far outweighed by the inconvenience. Having nowhere to live and feeling like a refugee is uncomfortable enough for one person, never mind a family of four.

Delighted by my first legitimate comment after 4 years of blogging - a true reward for all the hard work.

Am about to launch Harry Ramsden's Deep Fat Fryers - with the Oil, Batter Mix and baking tray you may never need a fish and chip shop again.

The other hot topic is Heston Blumenthal who i met for the first time on Friday. Very modest and unassuming, almost bashful actually.

More to come no doubt....

Product is go....

Well, this is it. After 3 years of hard slog and continually raised and dashed hopes it all comes down to about 6 skus in Tesco. Ironic that after all the blood, sweat and tears my first mainstream product is an anti-perspirant.

spring fair news

back from Springfair and finally after several years of doing this job it was gratifying to actually see some products on display that i'd had a hand in over the years. Not only that but a positive response to new client - jean-pierre got.

The only downside of spring fair was the fact that they'd moved all the halls around. While I was running from one side of the show to the other for a meeting - a quick 10 minutes hike - i happened to glance the front page of show daily which read 'new layout a success'.

Considering everyone looked completely lost and most of the exhibitors i spoke to were severely pee'd off, I'd have to say that they were taking a small liberty with the truth.

Back and in the thick of it now....

had a meeting in town on day of snow and three of us arrived at 9.00 sharp - client never showed up!!!

it's a number game

Licensing can occasionally be like prospecting for gold. If you know where to look, and you're very lucky, you might just find the motherlode.....just don't forget to stake your claim in all the excitement....

strange old start to the year

Well it's definitely 2007 and if i had to guess i'd say this is going to be a really weird and off the wall year. Whilst it seems ominously calm and i'm doing my best not to agonise whilst, once again, waiting for more tectonic plates to roll into gear. Business is firmly established now (four years in and counting) and so the thinking is more mature, and yet at the same time i'm sure the next barrier is the biggest one yet - yes it's time to take on the animal that is the retail buyer.

Up till now my only experience has convinced me that these people were best avoided... but now i'm afraid the time has come to take on this next challenge.... wish me luck...