TOTAL LICENSING
a global perspective to licensees. Final- even more critical in a challenging eco- compelling enough to make a differ-
ly Harry Potter has to be the industry nomic environment”. ence in the marketplace.
phenomenon of the next three years: Maura Regan: “The reality is, con- The Tween phenomenon has been
with a movie every year, a theme park sumers’ needs are always changing and largely the result of a few great prop-
opening and a widely increasing fan therefore the industry must change to erties like Hannah Montana and High
base, it is has the ideal profile to see meet these needs. School Musical that brought new and
the industry through rough times”. As a licensor, our long term business exiting product to a group of consum-
strategy is to continue to work with ers who were not largely engaged in
Do you see the fundamental struc- partners and retailers to develop edu- our business before. There are signifi-
ture of the licensing industry chang- cational and engaging products that cant ebbs and flows of the pre-school
ing as we move forwards? Eg more are respected and trusted by parents. segment, but the category has been
or less direct to retail etc? It is important that Sesame Street very elastic and grows when a strong
Gustavo Antonioni: “Licensors products are available at all channels property emerges from the “sea of
need to continuously engage and of trade at all price points. We believe sameness” in the market”.
educate retailers as to the value of a that Sesame Street products like our Liz Kalodner: “I’m conflicted here as
brand both in terms of the types of content must be accessible to all fami- to whether or not retailers will want
audience it can bring into their store lies everywhere”. to diversify their risk profile by taking
and the returns they can expect on Travis Rutherford: “Direct to retail on more properties than usual in satu-
their bottom line. Direct to retail will will continue to flourish as the licens- rated segments or want to reduce the
always be a predominant way of creat- ing value chain is compressed and inventory risk involved in dealing with
ing an anchor category for a retailer margins are squeezed. Trademarks and multiple licensors and manufacturers
where they can increase their margins, corporate brands will no doubt be and consequently be more selective”.
but with the hard economic times we looking to identify incremental rev- Maura Regan: “While the preschool
face, enue sources, as core lines of business sector is said to be at its saturation
I do see retailers shying away from are flat to down and may decide to point, because we create new content
owning any inventory and the old clas- enter into new categories through li- every year, we feel we are uniquely
sic licensing model of having a licensee censing, or expnd their existing licens- positioned to create new and innova-
supply you products coming back. This ing initiatives significantly”. tive products that reflects our content
year the pendulum has also strongly Bruno Schwobthaler: “For EMEA, that are the ‘must have’ items for pre-
Al Kahn
4Kids Entertainment
swung in the direction of e-commerce we believe that the primary driver schoolers everywhere.
as the dominant force in retailing for will be the rationalisation of the We are working closely with our part-
the licensing industry and if you have number of properties in the market. ners to create engaging exciting prod-
not yet embraced these players as Each one will have to be able to jus- ucts at the right price points”.
part of your distribution strategy, you tify its role at retail and for consum- Travis Rutherford: “Only the core
must”. ers more than before: compelling and product categories will survive this
Jessica Dunne: “I don’t believe there relevant brand propositions together tough time.
will be a tremendous shift in the bal- with strong retail packages will be Kids still need fun toys and games to
ance of business models that currently more and more critical. DTR is one play with but the gatekeeper of the
exists in the market place. What I important component of the evolu- wallet will be much more discriminat-
do expect is that the industry has to tion of our industry but not the only ing in what and how much they spend
identify which retailers will be stable one”. on licensed merchandise. I predict a
and which will benefit most from con- return to classic or proven play pat-
sumers expecting good value for their Certain sectors are often quoted terns – those that parents remem-
money”. as being at saturation point, eg ber themselves as kids – getting back
Al Kahn: “I think we’re going to see preschool. How do you think the to the basics. The high-tech driven
more “direct-to-the consumer” as the downturn in consumer spending items/high price point products will
Web offers up a tremendous ability to and retail will affect this? no doubt be impacted the most as
offer digital products and services and Gustavo Antonioni: “Retailers and parents keep discretionary spending
Liz Kalodner
actual products direct to consumer… consumers are looking for added under control”.
CBS Consumer
and how much can be monetized. value propositions; I believe educa- Bruno Schwobthaler: “In EMEA
Products
Liz Kalodner: “While there may tional-entertainment and lifestyle-en- there has been a proliferation of prop-
be some shifts in financial models, I tertainment brands have the greatest erties rather than a sheer number of
don’t necessarily think the fundamen- potential to succeed over the next properties.
tal structure of licensing is going to few years”. It will be the lack of good consumer
change. Jessica Dunne: “I don’t believe that propositions and retail plans that will
That said, retail placement has been a there is a specific saturation point. I prune the market. Because of the
priority in the industry over the last think there may be an oversaturation decreasing number of children, pre-
many years and will probably become of properties that are not unique or school as a category may come under
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