says. “It provided something we didn’t already have.” In both cases, they’re building on
a brand that already has plenty of loyal followers. With Cheezburger, “you’ve got automatic credibility and recognition if you’re at a store and you see a brand that you check out online every day,” Dikeakos says.
c . r . g ibson
A built-in audience Some of the best partnerships bring a brand into the retail world for the first time, or into an area it’s never been in before. Take the case of I Can Has Cheezburger?, a wildly popular blog of funny animal photos with clever captions, which The Madison Park Group has partnered with to create greeting cards, magnets, travel mugs, sticky notes, coasters, air fresheners, and more. After Cheezburger fans vote for their favorite photo/verse combinations online, some of the
Fanfare One major component of the licensed products industry is sports items (sports and collegiate licensing is a $27.1 billion business worldwide, according to The Licensing Letter), as dedicated fans will often clamor for anything of quality with their team’s logo emblazoned on it. Emerson Street Clothing Co.
s ub- u rb A n
has harnessed this loyalty, adding collegiate logos to their apparel, which includes nightshirts, dresses, tees, tunics, hoodies, tanks, and more. “For a small company like us to bring on college licenses, all of a sudden you have the power of the
most popular find their way to the various items for sale. “If you’re able to have a product in your store that
people will automatically recognize, that’s better than any marketing or advertising you can really do,” says Katherine Dikeakos, marketing manager at The Madison Park Group. “There’s that built-in recognition.” The Madison Park Group has nine partner companies
118
under its umbrella, and all vary enough that they don’t compete with each other. “When we consider bringing on a new license, we find that it’s important to look at each individually and not have a ‘this is exactly what we’ll do,’” Dikeakos says. While they decided to make Cheezburger its own line, other times they roll in products with their Madison Park Greetings line. That’s the case with SnorgTees, an apparel company whose graphics now appear on the company’s cards. “With the Snorg line, they have great brand recognition and a built-in audience; we thought the best way to start would be to incorporate them into the Madison Park Greetings line, our house line,” Dikeakos GIFT SHOP n Winter 2013
brand,” says Rotar. Even gift stores that haven’t traditionally sold apparel
have done well with the line. One card shop in Alabama sold nearly 200 pullover hoodies at $59 a piece, and reorders have built. “We’re selling to gift stores, and we may be the first time they’ve carried any kind of apparel,” Rotar says. “The excitement on buyers’ faces when they start selling product has been fun.” The company has tested plus sizes and plans to offer a
full line of plus-size collegiate clothing in 2013. They’re also working on getting the NFL license to replicate what they’ve done for college with the football teams. Enthusiasm for the home team (or any team) goes well
beyond college loyalties. One of the most popular items in Bergino Baseball Clubhouse, a shop in New York’s Greenwich Village devoted to all things baseball, is a line of vintage-style T-shirts with major league logos on them. They’re displayed on a vintage baseball-pitching machine, with the arm becoming a display rack.
GiftShopMag.com
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