A shopper is spoilt for choice today! Any category that you can think of today has umpteen players vying for the shopper’s attention. The USPs that they offer to compete includes variation in price or perhaps the customer service that they extend. More or less, otherwise it is a similar story everywhere. But one way of standing out of the crowd with your brand is by means of opting for ‘brand licensing’. This not only multiplies the appeal value of the product multi-fold but also attracts the right kind of target audience that you have in mind. Jiggy George, founder and chief executive officer, Dream Theatre Pvt Ltd.simplifies the business of brand licensing for us and also takes us through his entrepreneurial journey into the business.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Let’s begin with understanding what ‘brand licensing’ implies. Licensing is the process of leasing the rights to a trademark or copyrighted entity. The entiry- known as the property-could be a name, likeness, a logo, a saying or a combination of these elements. The rights are given for a purpose (usually to be sold at retail stores) for a limited time, in return for a negotiated payment- as explained in the licensing handbook by Karen Raugust<\/p>\n
Globally, the licensing industry is worth $ 200 odd billion at retail and character license comprising T.V. and theatrical properties forms practically half of the pie. The rest of prominent licensing forms include – Corporate, Sports and Fashion Licensing. In India the licensing business is approximately is just over US$ 400 million dollars\u00a0 at retail with character licensing contributing to about 200 million dollars. Character, Sports, Art, Fashion Music are some of the leading categories in licensing. Licensing provides a great opportunity \u2013 both in the form of products and services – for connect with consumers and for extending their reach into new product categories, territories and distribution channels. Not only does it provide touch points for a consumer to actually experience the brand in its glory, it also generates revenues in billions of dollars worldwide.<\/p>\n Scope of Licensing Industry in India: One of the most critical pre-requisites that is unfortunately missing in India is the penetration of organized retail. The single largest differentiating factor in India and developed licensing market is retail and the opportunities it holds for exponential growth of the licensing business.<\/p>\n Television is the key driver of character licensing and has driven short-term phenomenon like Beyblade to the longer sustainable ones like Tom and Jerry, the Disney properties, Power Rangers, Ben 10 and WWE. Another trend is an acceptance of consumers of Indian content. Chotta Bheem leads the way and has a robust consumer products program. A phenomenon in recent times is Angry Birds. In a very short time, Angry Birds has become a leading licensing programme is India as well, with popularity cutting across age groups and products across categories.<\/p>\n Another trend is licensed merchandise for theatrical releases. Marvel with Spiderman, Kung Fu Panda with DreamWorks and Disney Cars are good examples.Two new forms of licensing that are emerging are sports licensing and fashion \/ lifestyle licensing. IPL, EPL, the Grand Prix have fueled interest across cities and so to with the fashion weeks, which are creating the base for the emergence of fashion licensing in the near future.<\/p>\n Theatrical releases have seen limited success in India and have are driven largely by toys and apparel even with large franchises like Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Hulk etc.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>The vast majority of licensing programs in this sector emanate from major films, television shows and classic characters. However, as the digital world becomes more a central part of consumers’ everyday lives \u2013 and a vital part of popular culture \u2013 there is a notable rise in the number of licensing programs being built on the intellectual property contained in apps, online worlds, videogames and social games. Angry Birds for example derives 30 per cent of its revenues from licensing! Toys are the largest licensed category of products for children followed by apparel and back to school supplies and food.<\/p>\n
\nCharacter licensing leads the way in India. Though licensing business in its embryonic stage\u00a0\u00a0 (approximately US$ 400 million at retail.) It still is a huge opportunity as India has a vibrant entertainment market and a captive consuming class, which consumes the brands via television, theatricals and events.<\/p>\n