Michael Jackson Brand to Expand Globally

Michael Jackson's estate continues to grow. The estate has just partnered with ABG who also represents Muhammad Ali, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, and Prince. Details of the new partnership are spelled out in Michael Jackson Estate Partners With ABG To Expand The Brand Of The King Of Pop. ABG intends to extend Michael Jackson's brand across key markets around the world.

Nokia Pursues Brand Licensing Strategy

The article Nokia Focuses on Brand-Licensing Rather than Smartphone Business discusses how Nokia intends to take advantage of its brand-name and current patents by pursuing brand licensing as a business strategy. An example of this approach is the Nokia N1 Android table that is produced by Taiwan-based Foxconn. Kodak and Polaroid are two other companies with a similar business strategy.

'Star Wars' to Shine at Christmas

The newest Star Wars movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, will be released Dec. 18th. Disney acquired Star Wars maker Lucasfilm in 2012 for over $4 billion. Preparations for the movie's release are detailed in New ‘Star Wars’ merchandise will spark ‘major bonanza’ for collectors. Disney and its merchandise partners may well dominate the holiday market with Star Wars products.

Celebrities Hit Paydirt by Becoming a Brand

Celebrities have discovered that becoming a brand can lead to a higher income than from any other source. Some who have succeeded in this venture are revealed in Stars repackage themselves as brands. Oprah Winfrey is an obvious example with her multibillion-dollar media empire. Others cited with great success include: Martha Stewart, Tyra Banks, Miley Cyrus, Paris Hilton, Donald Trump, David Beckham. and Tiger Woods.

DC Super Hero Girls to Tackle Baddies

This week, DC Entertainment announced a new consumer products line call DC Super Hero Girls. DC Entertainment is partnering with Mattel, Random House, and Lego to create product for girls ages 6-12. Details of the new initiative are reported in The Significance and Possibilities of the ‘DC Super Hero Girls’ Line. The article's author, Janelle Asselin, believes "This is a big deal not just in terms of comics, but in terms of licensed products for kids".

Black Widow Makes Her Mark

Several licensed products celebrate the female superhero Black Widow from the Avengers movie. A list is contained in 13 Badass Pieces Of ‘Avengers’ Swag That Give Black Widow Her Due. The author of the article, Victoria McNally, reports that in the past female superheros have been almost entirely ignored. She regards these new products as a step in the right direction.

Dinosaurs Help Hasbro Sales

As reported in Fossil Fuel: Hasbro Gets Sales Boost From ‘Jurassic World’ , the fourth Jurassic World movie is expected to lead to a surge in sales of Hasbro Inc's licensed toys. Last quarter, sales at Hasbro's boy division increased 10 percent partly due to movie merchandise. A second dinosaur movie, The Good Dinosaur, could also produce substantial toy sales. Hasbro had an overall sales gain of 5 percent to $713.5 million in the first quarter.

Companies Increase Their Sales Through Licensing Innovation

Licensing Innovation is one of Three Innovations That Will Increase Your Sales. The article discusses the impact that licensing innovation can have on a company's bottom-line. The author asserts that "You can piggyback onto the strength and brand recognition of more established organizations by licensing their name, intellectual property, cartoon characters, images, etc. and connect them to your products." The Del Sol company is cited as a firm that has successfully employed licensing innovation.

Angry Birds Taking Flight

The article The Angry Birds movie will cost $185 million outlines Rovio's plans for resurrecting Angry Birds. Rovio seeks to overcome Angry Birds much publicized decline with the help of a  $100 million marketing campaign. Rovio seeks to expand Angry Birds licensing even though Angry Birds is already found on a myriad of licensed products from clothing to electronics to food.

Listening a Key to Lego's Success

Lego rose from the brink of bankruptcy to become the world's largest toymaker. The intriguing article Well played – How Lego rebuilt its brand brick by brick  reveals how they did it. A key to their success was focusing on listening to its customers. As Conny Kalcher, vice-president of marketing and consumer experiences, explains, "We are a manufacturing company so we were driven by engineers - we had to move the company to become much more consumer-focused". "If you want to be a premium brand you have to keep demonstrating that your are listening." says Kalcher.

Disney's Movie Success Spurs Growth in Theme Parks

Disney's movie success is spelled out in 4 Billion-Dollar Movie Franchises Set to Deliver Big Wins at Disney Parks. Although Disney's movie revenue accounted for only 15% of revenue, it helped spur an additional 31% of sales at Disney theme parks. In addition licensed merchandise movie-related sales enjoyed enormous success. Frozen, Star Wars, Avatar and Marvel merchandise propelled the company's consumer products segment to 22% growth year over year.

MLB Emphasizes Sales to Women

As reported in  Tigers winning with female fans in retail sales, all sports apparel generated $30 billion in sales last year, and about 30 percent of that was bought by women. The percentage has been rising, and apparently will continue to do so. The Detroit Tigers' D Shop retail store at Comerica Park is filled with jerseys, hoodies and T-shirts designed specifically for women. Baseball has struck deals in the past couple of years with female merchandise makers such as Los Angeles-based nail polish brand OPI Products, Tokyo-based Sanrio Inc.'s Hello Kitty brand, and Victoria's Secret's "Pink" line.

Warner Bros. and Lego to Bring "Toys-to-Life"

Toys-to-life is a new booming entertainment area where physical toys can interact with video game characters. The entry of Warner Bros. and Lego into this market is revealed in Warner Bros. and Lego Enter Market Where Toys and Gaming Meet. Lego will sell collectible movie-character mini-figures incorporating a Lego sensor base. The figures will be able to be brought to life in a Warner-published video game. As a category, "toys to life" sales in the United States totaled $671.3 million last year, a 64 percent increase from 2013.

"Disney Does Not Care about Marvel’s Female Market"

The author of the article Invisible Women: Why Marvel’s Gamora & Black Widow Were Missing From Merchandise, And What We Can Do About It maintains that "Disney does not care about Marvel’s female market".  She argues that since Disney already has the female market locked up with Disney Princess purchases, they are not interested in Marvel female superheroes. The author argues that change will only come through contacting Marvel's licensees, or by creating your own company and getting a licensing contract.

Sequential Brands Acquires Jessica Simpson Collection

As reported in Jessica Simpson Selects Sequential Brands Group as Partner for the Jessica Simpson Collection, Sequential Brands announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority interest in the Jessica Simpson brand. Jessica Simpson will continue to own the balance of the equity. The Jessica Simpson Collection is inspired by and designed in collaboration with Jessica Simpson. The growing brand offers 31 product categories including footwear, apparel, fragrance, fashion accessories, maternity apparel, girls clothing and a home line.

Kentucky's Loss Hits the Pocketbook

The article Kentucky Loses As Much As $1.5M In Royalties, Retailers $15M Due To Defeat reports that Kentucky's loss to Wisconsin also resulted in substantial financial losses.  Had Kentucky went on to win the NCAA title with a 40-0 record, licensed sales would have been unprecedented. Glenn Campbell, the founder of Lids, states "The other three teams' title gear combined wouldn't hold a candle to what Kentucky would have generated. This would have had legs for the next 12 months. Actually, judging from Indiana, it might have lasted for 50 years".

10 Inch Plush Iron Man Available Soon

Plush figures for Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man have been announced by Bleacher Creatures. Details are found in The Avengers and Ant-Man get the plush treatment courtesy of Bleacher Creatures. Bleacher Creatures known for its true-to-life plush figures of pro-sports and comic characters, will launch the brand-new line of Marvel plush figures in May. Characters that will receive the Bleacher Creatures plush treatment will include Thor, Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America and Hawkeye.

Polaroid Becomes Licensing Company

Polaroid went through two bankruptcies between 2001 and 2009, six CEOs between 2005 and 2009, and a complete reversal of its business strategy beginning in 2008. As revealed in Polaroid is ready for its closeup: how the iconic company is remaking itself for the 21st Century, Polaroid is now starting to thrive. According to investment banker, Jim D'Aquila, Polaroid has "No manufacturing, warehouses, inventory management, receivables, payables - the things that have buried so many companies, including Polaroid previously. It's just collecting licensing fees and paying payroll".

Bethany Mota to Deliver Licensing Expo 15 Keynote Address

Wikipedia describes Bethany Mota  as "an American video blogger from Los Banos, California. Starting with her YouTube channel, Macbarbie07, created in 2009, she rose to fame for her haul videos, in which she shows her fashion purchases via the internet." Today, Bethany's YouTube channel has over 8 million subscribers, and her videos have been viewed over 800 million times. As reported in Licensing Expo Presents 'The Big Interview' With Bethany Mota, Bethany will deliver 'The Big Interview' keynote address in conjunction with the inaugural Digital Media Licensing Summit at the 2015 Expo.

Hello Kitty Scores with Soccer

A co-branding agreement revealed in Sanrio's Hello Kitty Will Debut New Exclusive Collection With AC Milan has been reached between Sanrio's Hello Kitty and the professional Italian football club AC Milan. The agreement will create a retail collection with sports clothing and accevssories. The collection will launch in mid-April at AC Milan’s home stadium. It is rumored that Hello Kitty herself will be swinging around stadium. Are more sports co-branding agreements in the offing? Seems like endless opportunities.