Strategy Session: Licensing-In Missing Resources

I often ask the question during my seminars "Does your business have all the resources it needs"?  99% of the time the answer is no.   Licensing can help a business  find the resources it needs - such as a known logo or formula or technology - to take its product or service to the next level.  This is known as licensing-in and it's a great strategy to use if you are missing some key resources. 

Suppose you want to tap into the multibillion dollar Hispanic market, but don't have any brand recognition among this consumer group.  Rather than spending millions to build a brand, you could license rights to a popular Hispanic TV show, website entertainment, or non-competitive Hispanic brand.  In the first case, it could be a popular TV personality, such as a talk show host, or weekly TV show broadcast over the major Hispanic TV networks (Telemundo or Univision). Entertainment online news media outlets are a favorite among Hispanic teens, and sites such as holamun2.com and terra.com feature a  mix of content including music, fashion and sports. Another licensing opportunity is popular Hispanic brands, such as Novamex and El Jimador, that can provide instant recognition among Hispanic consumers.

A couple of key attributes to consider when evaluating outside brands for licensing include customer trust, how they "fit" your product or service, does it sell into retailers, and most importantly, will it sell through to customers.

Leveraging IP: Celebrity Chef Branded Foods

The Celebrity Chef branded food market is growing.   It was the introduction of Food Network in 1993 that jump started the celebrity chef sensation.  This coincided with Wolfgang Puck becoming the first modern-day celebrity chef. 

With the surge in popularity of celebrity chefs and cooking shows, food and beverage brands continue to be among the fastest growing segments in licensing:

• Celebrity chefs are among the most active licensors.  National chefs appear on TV to promote cookbooks or cookware branded with their name.
• Well-known local chefs appear at charity events and festivals to publicize their restaurants.
• Live appearances from celebrity chefs are bringing culinary festivals into the national spotlight as well  (Uber-foodies and luxury travelers flock to events like Vegas Uncork'd, a four-day food and wine extravaganza in Nevada featuring celebrity chefs from around the globe).
• More culinary programming in popular media, more brand-building and licensing deals around chefs' names.
• Marketers are looking to capitalize on the growing prepared frozen food market with restaurant-themed options that simulate a meal out but that draw on the emotional benefits of getting the family around the table.

In celebrated hometown restaurants, big-ticket Vegas destinations, and on TV, consumers learn about the past, present and future of food from culinary superstars.  And that lifelong relationship with what we eat is what makes the celebrity chef trend so universally appealing.

Video Licensing Lesson - Characteristics of Good IP

Learn How to License Your Intellectual Property 

 

Learn how to develop the money-making "intellectual property mindset", how to find the right licensee for any kind of IP, inside marketing strategies that maximize money-making IP, how to find the most lucrative opportunities for an IP, and much more.  This special offer includes: 

Introduction to Licensing - Audio Workshop ($129 Value) 

Plus

5 Ways to License Your IP- Ebook ($29 Value) 

 

Ask Rand Brenner 

 

Got a question about licensing? Send an email to askrandbrenner@ licensing4profits.com.  You'll get an answer to your question which will be included in a future issue of this newsletter.