LIMA Report Discloses Over $100 Billion in Retail Sales of Character and Entertainment Licensed Products

LIMA recently released their latest report on the licensing industry. The article ‘Frozen’ A Mixed Blessing For Licensed Merchandise As Business Changes – Report highlights many sales figures from the report including the $107.2 billion in retail sales from Entertainment and Characters. Disney's Frozen generated enormously successful sales of licensed merchandise. However, Frozen was so successful that it “was viewed as ‘freezing out’ other attractive licenses.”

Ugly Doll to Be Offered in 4000 KFC China Stores

Uglydoll has partnered with KFC China as revealed in Uglydoll secures KFC China kids' meal promotion . Various products will be offered through the restaurant's kids' meals. The Uglydoll brand was first introduced to the Chinese market in 2013. David Horvath, creator of Uglydoll, states "The promotion with KFC in China is a tremendous promotional opportunity to generate brand awareness for Uglydoll throughout the region."

Kate Spade Wants It All

Kate Spade is rapidly expanding its range of products through several licensing deals. Details are contained in Kate Spade brand wants it all: kids, home, cupcakes, PJs  New products that will soon appear include: athleisure apparel; a children's collection; sleepwear; kitchen accessories; bakery accessories, and; assorted home merchandise. Licensing partners involved are: Beyond Yoga; Tawil Associates; Carole Hochman; Lenox; Magnolia Bakery; E.J. Victor; Kravet, and; Jaipur.

Batman in 3D

The first officially licensed 3D printed Batman figures are now available in Europe as revealed in Launzer and DC Comics unveil the first officially licensed 3D printed Batman. The figurines are being produced by i.Materialise, an online 3D printing service.  More DC Comics superhero and villain figurines are on the horizon, as Launzer has secured a deal with Warner Bros. .

Unique Licensed Items For Sale on Etsy

Wikipedia describes Etsy as "a peer-to-peer e-commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items and supplies, as well as unique factory-manufactured items". In a new twist, Etsy is exploring expansion into licensed products as detailed in Etsy Runs Pilot Program to Test Licensed Merchandise. Etsy has been conducting a pilot program with Lionsgate since late last year. Sellers create and sell officially authorized and licensed items for the science fiction film The Divergent Series: Insurgent. The items can be seen here: The Divergent Series: Insurgent Fan Art.

When You Think Caterpillar, Think Smartphone

The Commodore Pet was one of the first personal computers introduced in 1977. Kodak was one of world's largest photography companies. The Commodore Pet has long since disappeared from the market. And Kodak has fallen on hard times, filing for bankruptcy protection in 2012. Now both brands are releasing an Android smartphone as reported in What’s Old Is New as Commodore, Kodak Brands Re-Emerge on Android Devices. Not to be outdone, the successful Caterpillar company also has a ruggedized smartphone under the Cat licensed brand.

Rebuilding the Dior Brand

The successes and failures in building the Dior brand are discussed in  Dior Beauty Exec Talks Modern Day Brand Building. One of the problems the Dior brand encountered was it had both a beauty brand and a fashion brand. They were in totally different offices, and not speaking to one another. The result was brand confusion. Another problem was that the Dior brand expanded to include over 500 licensees. This destroyed the Dior brand identity. The past six or seven years Dior has been repairing these problems and has successfully rebuilt the brand.