march 2020 heritage insight 2020 - licenseglobal.com · 2020. 4. 14. · accessories market was...

Heritage insight2020

March 2020

An Introduction to Heritage Licensing

LIcENSING IN ThE heritage vertical was one of the wider consumer trends that defined the licensed product landscape in 2019. From the industry-acclaimed Farrow & Ball paints based on Werner’s Nomenclature of Colour with the Natural History Museum, to Pull & Bear’s UCLA collegiate fashion pop-up, the

global opportunities presented by non-profit, heritage and collegiate licensing have become more creative than ever before. License Global looks at the key trendsetters that helped carve a new name for heritage licensing in 2019 and considers the factors that will con-tinue the growth of the vertical in 2020.

hErITaGE INSIGhT 2020

2 March 2020 WWW.LICENSEGLOBAL.COM

Our aim is simple: to create product ranges that are every bit as diverse and inspiring as

the vast array of specimens on display at the Museum.”

MaXINE LISTEr, Natural history Museum


WWW.LICENSEGLOBAL.COM March 2020 3

So

urc

es

: L

I.a

r;

UN

ES

cO

; G

ran

d V

iew

re

se

arc

h a

nd

GQ

Heritage Trends

Global GDP one-in-ten jobs come

from heritage/non-profit travel and

tourism in the U.K.

Global home décor market value was $661.3 billion in 2018, a natural

growth vertical for heritage brands.

Industry growth rate in 2019 for the footwear and accessories

market was 3.7%, a proven growth area for heritage.

10% $661.3 3.7%

america, U.K., Japan, china and australia

are the biggest consumers of non-

profit goods.

$1.170 billion total of non-profit licensed goods sold at retail made up just .4% of the global licensing

value in 2018.

$300 million-$1 billion is the value range for

the secondary sneaker market in 2020.

ThE UNITS OF goods sold at retail, the cre-ativity behind each product and the demand from consumers have made the heritage, non-profit and collegiate licensing industry one of the most exciting markets to watch. Brands in Europe such as Le Louvre and Van Gogh Museum, or U.K.-based heritage brands such as Natural History Museum, V&A, MoMA and University of Oxford offer a combined millennia of history and creative inspiration, while U.S. non-profit and colle-giate brands such as the US Army, Univer-sity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) or the Guggenheim add an exciting edge to prod-ucts entering the consumer market. The heritage licensing market settled in 2018 after a significant 21.6 percent year-on-year rise between 2016-17, meaning the heritage and non-profit market saw an explosion in

demand due to the interests of younger gen-erations, and in 2018, stabilized itself as a legitimate interest for the consumer market. While the “what’s old is new” trend plays well for the U.K. and U.S. markets, global consumers are huge fans of non-domestic collegiate brands, with Germany, France, Brazil, Mexico and the UAE all placing a combined $551 million into the market at retail. Asia is also a major importer and con-sumer of heritage and collegiate products, with a strong connection to both U.S. and U.K. universities for the younger genera-tion of consumers in China individuals and the V&A Museum, for example, exporting its brand via experience-based pop-ups in East Asia. With countless extensions tailored to each brand in the heritage industry, there’s more to explore than just the gift store.



University of Oxford:

Established 1921a caSE STUDY

TraNSFOrMING MOrE ThaN 900 years of heritage into a distinctive brand iden-tity through licensing, the University of Oxford explains how to create first-class fashion with historic significance.

As the oldest university in the English-speaking world, the University of Oxford is a unique and historic institution of global renown. With no clear date of founda-tion, but documents outlining the teach-ings of Oxford dating back to 1096, the Uni-versity has grown and created some of the world’s most respected alumni and has been

named first in Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2017 and 2018.

Developing not only heritage but also tradition language, architecture and pres-tige over centuries, licensees have been cre-ating products with Oxford Limited, the wholly owned subsidiary company for the University of Oxford, for years. One of the rapidly rising areas of Oxford Lim-ited’s focus today is the world of fashion.

“The University of Oxford licens-ing program is well established and over the years, we have collaborated with



fashion brands such as Henry Cottons (Italy); Yamato (Japan); Bean Pole (S. Korea); Madura Fashion & Life-style (India); M&S, PINK, Celio (France); andBauhaus (HK/China/Taiwan),” says Hannah Aspey, head, brand, Oxford Limited. “Traditionally, licensees are attracted to Oxford’s heritage, the shield-shaped heraldic crests of the colleges and variety of sport club insignia they can choose from. The dark navy of Oxford blue – Pantone 282 – serves as the perfect backdrop for collegiate designs, but fashion palettes work equally well, incorporating the stripes of the college scarves or the laurel leaves and ini-tials of sports club crests or even quotes of famous alumni.”

Drawn to the intellectual and prestigious heritage of the brand, collaborators, partners and licensees have helped Oxford establish a bold visual identity, worn world-wide. Speaking with Oxford Limited’s licensing agents at

Brandgenuity, License Global gains insight into how col-legiate licensing and brands like Oxford have spawned fashion trends and continue to keep them alive today.

“Many classic styles are rooted in university culture – the college scarf, the repp tie, the rugby shirt,” says Teri Niadna, managing director, Europe, Brandgenuity. “Colle-giate brands like Oxford offer a rich repository of authen-tic elements: crests and stripes from storied colleges like Christ Church and Magdalen, to legendary sports teams and their insignia, to world famous institutions like the Bodleian Libraries. The diversity of assets means that the brand can be interpreted across the spectrum, from formal to athletic, all while providing real heritage and a proven, quintessentially British style perspective.”

In addition to the trusted brand identity of Oxford Uni-versity, licensees are also privy to style guides and heri-tage archives which tap into more than 900 years of librar-ies, sports clubs, coats of arms and crests, botanic gardens and museums. This, after all, is a place of exceptional intellectual significance and a place where some of the world’s most fascinating discoveries have been made.

“Working collaboratively with internal and exter-nal stakeholders has produced a strong collection of themes, designs and supporting assets, that are relevant to Oxford as well as licensees and retailers looking for a col-legiate brand with global reputation and appeal,” adds Aspey. “It’s very much the licensee’s responsibility to be cre-ative and bring us fresh new design work, using the style guide as inspiration to help shape their product devel-opment. The supporting artwork assets can of course be used ‘off the shelf’ on apparel, but the style guide as a docu-ment is designed to offer creative choice and opportunity.”

In line with the notion of discovery, opportunity and innovation, one key area the University of Oxford is invest-ing significant energy, particularly in apparel licensing, is sustainability. The University openly recognizes that environmental sustainability is one of the most impor-tant and urgent issues facing society. Its True Planet ini-tiative focuses on how the world is changing and Oxford researchers are at the forefront of trying to better under-stand the reasons for global temperature and sea level increases, extreme weather events, plastic waste prolif-eration and threats to biodiversity. In turn, the Universi-ty’s licensing program aligns with these concerns and has introduced sustainability due diligence into the registra-tion process to establish and verify that licensees manufac-ture product ethically and work with partners committed to reducing their environmental impact. The University of Oxford is a brand that not only performs well with con-sumers globally but provides heritage licensees with a viable option for robust style and creativity, progressive products as well as decades of academic breakthroughs.



No School Like the Old School:

Collegiate Brands in Fashion

IT’S NO SEcrET that the fashion market was a creative escape for brands across all verti-cals in 2019, allowing brand directors behind everything from character, retro, corporate and collegiate company identities to connect and engage with exciting new markets.

Powered by the long-standing trend of nostalgia in consumerism, collegiate brands like UCLA and Oxford University saw the opportunity to make their mark on the fashion world by, quite simply, doing it well. Teaming up with Inditex brand Pull & Bear, UCLA – the first American university to have an official trademarked brand-driven licens-ing program – brought a new and exclusive UCLA x Pull & Bear collection to the global market at the close of 2019. A new line that breathed new life into the UCLA brand, the launch was joined by a collegiate pop-up on campus before heading to market globally.

“We are excited to not only bring this unique collection of UCLA-branded apparel to market, but to collaborate with Pull & Bear, who is aligned with our goal to add more sustainable practices in what we do” said Cindy Holmes, director, UCLA

Trademarks & Licensing during the launch. “This partnership gives ASUCLA more opportunities to bring thoughtful and fashionable gear to the Bruin Com-munity in Los Angeles and to friends, fans and new followers around the world.”

But what is it about the collegiate branding that works so well? Across the Atlantic, one of the oldest brands in collegiate licensing, Oxford University licenses over 900 years of cultural heritage in the form of fashion, con-sumables, back-to-school, home and life-style, gifting, stationery, toys and games. As the oldest university in the English-speak-ing world – estimated to be established before 1096 – Oxford leverages its ranking as one of the world’s finest universities to create a lifestyle around its unique brand.

Tapping Brandgenuity as licensing rep-resentatives at the dawn of 2019, the col-laborative efforts of agent and heritage brand has since brought three fashion lines to the market with Poetic Brands, Euro-prosem and Park Agencies in partner-ship with design agency Skew. Domes-tically, Oxford has around 20 licensees



that distribute to over 7 million annual visitors to Oxford through local retail and globally via mainstream retailers.

Thanks to the uptick in nostalgia marketing, licens-ing and consumer products, collegiate brands are no longer just for the alumni as markets across the world introduce universities into their lifestyle offering.

The academic institutions of the United Kingdom and America aren’t the only focus, as the fiercely loyal college sports following in the US has brought forward some excit-ing collaborations with the biggest brands in the world. IMG, a world-leading licensing agency, brokered a ten-year deal for the Florida Gators (University of Florida) in 2019 for a line of licensed goods and apparel to hit the market in 2020 with Fanatics; alongside the college’s ongoing deal with Nike’s Jordan brand for footwear and Top of the World for hats and headwear. Wearing school colors saw a big uptick in consumer demand in 2018 and 2019, which led to the revival of IMG and Learfield’s famed brand Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), which is widely considered the founders of collegiate licensing.

“CLC was the company that gave birth to the collegiate licensing industry in 1981 after a licensing agreement between legendary Alabama football coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant and orig-inal company founder Bill Battle,” says Greg Brown, presi-dent and chief executive officer, Learfield IMG College, parent company of CLC during its launch announcement. “Bill and CLC saw an opportunity in the marketplace and developed an innovative solution to meet that need, and we pledge to continue that type of visionary leadership and innovation.”

Asia is a market opportunity for collegiate brands in the UK and the US, as according to Jing Daily, the Chinese high-net-worth’s sending their children to international and highly acclaimed universities means a growth in the market of young Chinese people with a penchant for high-quality fashion and world-renowned labels showcasing their connec-tion with colleges and universities via social media. Whether it’s on the catwalk, on the rails in retail or on campus, the appeal of college licensing has gone from local pride to global market, and from college sports to national spotlight.



xx

xx

xx

x



WILDLY POPULar IN the Americas, Europe and the U.K., the passionate art and cul-tural significance that define Frida Kahlo’s brand has spawned countless iterations of new products in varying consumer verticals.

From new luxe décor textile options with Mirabello Carrara to a globally sought-after collaboration with Vans, the Frida Kahlo Corporation (FKC) places as much care into the curation of prod-ucts as the artist placed in her work.

The Art Ask Agency, a licensing brand that has represented the Frida Kahlo Cor-poration since 2010, brought Kahlo’s unique style to a long line of accessories by House of Disaster in 2019, with her like-ness and fondness for flora in full display.

“We love the design graphics of House of Disaster,” said Maria Strid, owner, Art Ask Agency, during the product launch. “The freedom to get creative and propose distinctive graphics for licensed products is one of the many plus points of the Frida Kahlo license.”

Among the accessories lines from House of Disaster was a new apparel collaboration in 2019 with Cortefiel and a range of Kidult jewelry for girls and women of all ages.

“We are excited and honored for this new exclusive collaboration,” says Fran-cesco Songa, chief executive officer and creative director, Mabina. “The official Frida Kahlo license significantly enriches our Life Collection. Kahlowas an extraor-dinary woman and has great affinity with the character of Kidult. Frida’s ideals are very current today and speak the same lan-guage that Kidult uses to inspire women.”

Frida Kahlo, after all, was an icon of femi-nism who defied stereotypes and inspired generations of admirers. This was picked

up by Mattel in 2018, which added Kahlo to its Barbie Inspiring Women line.

While this was originally met with some controversy due, in part, to rights holder disagreements, the doll, nonetheless, repre-sents the position of empowerment Kahlo offers young girls and women alike. U.S. cos-metics retailers Ulta Beauty also joined the line of licensees in 2019 to create and promote a line of makeup inspired by the late Mexican artist featuring an eyebrow palette “to embrace their own unique beauty,” with the FKC adding, “Kahlo was well-known for highlighting and embrac-ing what made her unique – inside and out.”

Kahlo’s art was the most revolutionary, vivid and characteristic brand asset outside of Kahlo herself, and the 2019 collaboration with Vans encapsulated both paintings and personality in a manner that spoke to all gen-erations and genders. A limited-edition Vans by Vault item made in collaboration with FKC and Banco de Mexico, the carefully con-sidered range of footwear was designed with artworks “Las Dos Fridas,” “Watermelon” and the world-renowned “Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird.”

Already generating a buzz on the sec-ondhand sneaker market after the July 2019 launch, the Vans x Frida Kahlo col-laboration reached global markets and left consumers wanting more. From beauty to toys and décor to fashion, Frida Kahlo is just one example of how brands with heritage and cultural significance lever-age the licensing and consumer market to bring the works of artists and icons into the modern world, add a new dimen-sion to classic works and engage with younger audiences through authentic, cre-ative and empowered consumer products.

How Frida Kahlo Broke ‘Off the Wall’ to Empower Consumers

a caSE STUDY



hErITaGE INSTITUTIONS cUraTE and maintain centuries of creativity, from archives of textiles and designs to indi-vidual artifacts, world landmarks, histori-cal milestones and iconic works of art.

Generating more than $1.17 billion in 2018, according to Licensing Inter-national’s annual survey, the heri-tage sector – which also includes not-for-profit organizations – stands as one of the most exciting and authen-tic sources of inspiration for licensees.

“Heritage brands are built on a strong and authentic history,” says Craig Bendle, manager, merchandising, licensing, The British Museum. “Of course, heritage licensing is not just about brand asso-ciation. There is also a strong asset base that can be drawn upon to support excit-ing licensing product development.”

This product development, and the trans-formation of both approach and product, has changed perceptions of the heritage

and not-for-profit vertical drastically, pro-viding what was once a traditional, gift-ori-ented industry with an entirely new edge.

This rapidly changing perception is what is bringing the heritage and not-for-profit market to new places, accord-ing to global licensing agency TSBA.

“The consumer market is moving faster than ever,” says Stephanie Freeman, global head, licensing, TSBA. “Having a familiar and loved brand is important to the mar-ketplace to allow the consumer to be daring and to give new brands space to flourish.”

While nostalgia and emotional drivers such as national identity or historical interest are important, the new range of products reaching new demograph-ics with an outside-the-box approach is helping promote a new perception.

“Heritage licensing has moved from being a literal representation of assets to ‘experiential licensing,’” adds Freeman.

“Carefully curated direction has helped

Curating Consumers:The European Market

a caSE STUDY



make what was once seen on product targeting an older demographic to now becoming fashionable and a life-style choice. Millennials are increasingly drawn to spend-ing on experiences rather than things. Working along-side our brands, the National Portrait Gallery has been engaged with broadening appeal and opening its archives to a younger audience through product and approach. A similar tactic has also been taken by Trans-port for London/London Underground, which was evident in the recent Adidas collaboration we managed.”

The TfL line of Adidas trainers ingeniously allows consumers to identify with lines on the under-ground map and allows Adidas to explore new lines of design with the iconic colors and names within it.

Another prime example of unexpected platform and category crossovers comes from the Science Museum Group, bringing historical assets to life through new collaborations such as video games and toys.

“The Science Museum Group’s key brands are the Science Museum and the Flying Scotsman,” says Zuzi Wojciechowska, senior account manager, brand licens-ing, Science Museum Group. “With the former, we license not just imagery, but also our knowledge and expertise as a center for STEM learning excellence. The Science Museum brand is all about getting kids and adults engaged with science, sparking curiosity and exploring your world. We’re very proud of the Flying Scotsman’s inclusion in the BAFTA-award winning Forza Horizon 4 from Microsoft. As part of the game, players could race against the locomotive in the British countryside. We love the fact that this type of part-nership brings the Scotsman to a whole new audience.”

But how does licensing with a charitable cause – another key part of the heritage, non-profit and colle-giate market – work in the retail landscape? The RSPCA has raised more than £1 million in the last four years through licensing programs and collaborations.

This revenue has helped the animal protection charity to recruit and train inspectors, feed animals and effectively run its four wildlife centers outside of traditional donations.

“The way that people wish to donate to charities is chang-ing, which means non-profits need to diversify and offer the public more innovative ways to support their chosen causes than simply transactional donations,” says Ellen Camillin, licensing manager, RSPCA. “When not-for-profit licensed products are done correctly, they can integrate the pub-lic’s desire to support their chosen cause with their every-day spending needs. For example, our partnership with the popular plush toy range Scruff-a-Luvs not only edu-cates young children on our key messages such as promot-ing empathy and compassion in children and choosing a pet based on their personality rather than just appearance.”

Together, heritage and not-for-profit hold one of the smallest market shares of licensed products sold across the globe in comparison to leading verti-cals such as entertainment, however, this statistic does not reflect the growth, creativity, market perception nor the huge upward trajectory of the vertical itself.

The evergreen nature of heritage, the centuries of archives and the new market perception, compara-tively, makes this vertical an untapped vein of inspi-ration of original work with an authentic story which, arguably, will continue to grow as time passes.



TOP

10Leading Product

CategoriesCollegiate and

Non-Profit Licensing

according to the latest Licensing International’s 2019 Global Licensing Industry Survey report which took an in-depth look into all retail revenues of licensed merchandise in 2018, the following are leading product types that drove an impressive $1.17 billion in revenue for heritage and non-profit, as well as collegiate licensing, a rapidly growing industry in its own right.

heritage and Non-Profit

raNK PrODUcT TYPE

1 Paper Products - 10.8% – $126 million

2 Fashion and accessories - 10.1% - $119 million

3 Toys - 9.8% – $114 million

4 Food and Beverage - 9.7% – $114 million

5 Video Games and apps - 9% – $105 million

6 home Décor - 7.5% - $88 million

7 apparel - 7.2% - $84 million

8 Gifts - 6.1% - $72 million

9 health and Beauty - 3.9% – $46 million

10 Footwear - 1.9% - $22 million

collegiate Licensing

raNK

1

PrODUcT TYPE

apparel – 23% - $1.38 billion

2 Fashion and accessories – 14% – $858 million

3 Video Games and apps – 12.6% - $771 million

4 Sports – 12.3% - $755 million

5 Infant – 9% - $554 million

6 Gifts – 7.8% - $479 million

7 Toys – 7.4% - $455 million

8 Lawn, Tools and hardware – 3.7% - $228 million

9 housewares – 3.3% - $202 million

10 home Décor – 2.8% - $174 million

*percentages based on product type contribution to global total



To learn more about global licensing opportunities and resources, visit

www.thegloballicensinggroup.comor call +1 (310) 857-7560

3708_LE_GLG19

OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONEVENT SPONSOR

Bringing Brands and Products Together



march 2020 heritage insight 2020 - licenseglobal.com · 2020. 4. 14. · accessories market was...

Documents