A License to Sell

Novelist Philip Roth once noted, "To become a celebrity is to become a brand name." Those wanting proof need only walk the aisles of any supermarket, mass merchant or drugstore. Marketers are integrating celebrities and licensed properties into merchandising materials like never before. The goal is simple: Transfer some of the equity of the licensed property to the product.P-O-P materials featuring licensed properties are often among the biggest guns in product marketers' merchandising war chests. And they're not just for the top brands with huge marketing budgets. Some companies are forming relationships with licensed properties as a means of competing against huge advertising campaigns."Because we don't have the extensive media budget that our competition has, in terms of having a lot of TV and print advertising, we have to make our in-store merchandising work that much harder," says Larry Baer, manager of consumer promotions for Rayovac Corp., Madison, Wis.But building good relationships with licensors isn't necessarily easy or quick. It takes a great deal of communication, understanding and patience. Working with licensed properties means adding an array of new people and opinions into the display design process, as well as layers of approvals from managers, agents, studio executives, producers and, finally, the celebrity or sports personality.Because of the nature of celebrity, images are protected like a highly valued trademark. Sometimes this means working with special photographers. Other times it means consulting with studio executives to match the exact color of an animated character. Regardless, all of this adds additional time to the production process."When working with any licensed properties, you have to automatically build in another four to six weeks because you know that you are going to have to go back and forth a couple of times to get approvals, and each round can take a couple of weeks," concurs Baer.In spite of the added time, Baer says celebrities add instant credibility to point-of-purchase materials. In 1997, Rayovac relaunched its Maximum Alkaline battery brand. Marketers felt they needed a celebrity to make a bigger impact at retail. The result was a display featuring basketball star Michael Jordan. "By having Michael Jordan on a display at the time that he was at the top of the resurgence of his career, we really got the attention of a lot of retailers," he says. "It helped us sell in additional displays just because his image was complementing our brand image."Licensor InvolvementJust how involved are licensors in the design process? The answer varies greatly. "Some are very involved and others are not so involved," says Jenny Enochson, a spokesperson for Kellogg Co., Battle Creek, Mich. "The approval process -- layouts, keylines and proofs -- also varies based on the partner."New York-based Cartoon Network is very involved in developing P-O-P with brand marketers. The company owns a vast library of classic characters that are highly sought after by brand marketers, including Scooby-Doo, the Flintstones, the Jetsons and Tom and Jerry. In addition, the network has a growing list of new, original properties like "The Powerpuff Girls," "Dexter's Laboratory" and "Johnny Bravo.""We sit down with them and listen to what a client's particular marketing and sales objectives are," explains Phyllis Ehrlich, senior vice president of promotions marketing for the network. "We learn a lot about their business so we can understand what it's like to be in their shoes. Then we brainstorm creative ideas for how to find the right marriage and the right fit."The network's Trade Creative Services Group based in Atlanta often works with product marketers to design promotional items. "We are involved in the approval process every step of the way," says Ehrlich. "Every piece of artwork, every premium, all point-of-sale materials are thoroughly approved by our creative team."Jill Luciani, product manager for The Gillette Co.'s Oral-B Stages line of toothbrushes, knows what it's like to work with licensed characters. The Boston-based company works closely with Disney and Pixar and features a variety of well-known characters, including Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White and Buzz Lightyear, on its displays.Luciani says marketers must take time to understand the licensed properties and the way that the licensors value the characters. Sometimes this requires adhering to strict guidelines."For example, Buzz Lightyear can't be touching our product in any way," explains Luciani. "You can't have a picture of Buzz brushing his teeth either. That is outside the realm of possibility."Additionally, characters from different "worlds" cannot fraternize with one another on promotional materials. This means Winnie the Pooh can't interact with Snow White since they both live in different imaginary worlds."It doesn't mean they can't be on the same piece of P-O-P or the same display," says Luciani. "There just needs to be enough definition around the characters so that they can live in their own worlds."In general, Baer says most licensed properties are open to being featured on any kind of P-O-P provided no contractual restrictions are in place. For example, some sports figures will license out the rights to standees to a particular company. That aside, anything is a possibility.Kurt Witzel, senior manager of retail marketing for Anheuser-Busch Inc., agrees. "Generally, they aren't that concerned about what items are produced. They are much more concerned with how they are portrayed on the piece and about their image."From Music to SportsWitzel breaks down the St. Louis-based company's licensing projects into three categories: celebrities, sports affiliations and others. He notes that working with each requires special considerations.The celebrity category, including singers, musicians and entertainers, often presents timing challenges since many stars insist on using their own photographers. Additionally, musicians often like to schedule their photo shoots to coincide with the release of a new CD, and they expect P-O-P to feature similar images used to promote the release.Witzel says these scheduling issues are especially challenging since he must also promote upcoming sales vehicles to wholesalers well in advance of the actual printing of the piece. For example, A-B's ordering window for the first trimester runs from Sept. 1 to Sept. 30."If they don't happen to have a photo shoot scheduled sometime in July, then it makes it hard for us to offer the point-of-sale with an accurate image of what the piece will look like," says Witzel.Managing A-B's sports affiliations is tricky as well, Witzel notes. It's no secret that sports and beer go hand in hand, and A-B has agreements with virtually every professional sporting league, including Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association and the National Football League. Each league has different standards to safeguard its image. Recently, though, arranging marketing programs with the NFL has become significantly more involved and complicated."In the past, the NFL's licensing and trademark utilization for the teams was signed off on by the NFL," Witzel explains. "Now, that has changed. For the coming season and henceforth, they have allowed the individual teams to market their own trademarks. Before you could negotiate with the league and get the whole deal done at once. Now you have to go to each of the teams and negotiate your own deal, team by team."As might be expected, each team has different opinions, which drastically complicates the approval process. If multiple teams are to be featured on a display, Witzel has to take the designs to every team represented on the P-O-P. "If one team wants to change the look of something, then you have to go back to all of the other teams who already approved things," he says. "It's a big process."Football isn't the only tricky sport. Working with race car drivers can also be a challenge. "Even family members sometimes get involved," says Witzel. "Husbands and wives often get involved because they are very protective about what the driver looks like and how they are portrayed."Though difficult, these challenges are minor when compared to the excitement that licensed properties can add to a promotional program, says Witzel. "The associations that we have with our different licensors are very important to us, so it is well worth working it out and taking the time to satisfy everybody involved," he says. "It just takes a lot of time."Witzel's third category, which he calls "all others," includes other trademarked brands, such as Frito-Lay and KC Masterpiece barbecue sauce. Their licensors are the easiest to work with, he says, because they grasp the nature of P-O-P. "Those kinds of deals are a little easier because they understand how the point-of-sale market works," he says. "They understand what works well on a counter card or a pole sign. A lot of sporting teams and celebrities don't relate much to point-of-sale."Play BallChicago-based Wilson Sporting Goods features the Major League Baseball logo on all of its baseball glove displays. "We are definitely trying to synchronize the relationship between Major League Baseball and Wilson Sporting Goods and to establish our product as the premium product in the marketplace," says Brian Sullivano, business manager, ball gloves.Sullivano says the league doesn't get too involved in the design process and usually only approves designs toward the end of the production cycle. "We've been working with them for several years now," he says. "They have a lot of trust in us and we have a lot of trust in them. We pretty much know what we are able to do and what we are not able to do. The key for us is just to put something out there that is a great promotional piece for both Wilson and for Major League Baseball."Cheryl Guerin, director of global promotions for Purchase, N.Y.-based Mastercard, also works closely with Major League Baseball. A current national promotion called "Memorable Moments" ties into MLB's initiative to ask fans about their most memorable baseball moments. A selection of memorable moments, which were chosen by baseball historians and experts, appears on ballots that can be found at various locations. "What Mastercard did was add a layer to the sweepstakes so that people who use their cards from July 9 (the All-Star Game) through Sept. 20 are being entered to win a trip to game four of The World Series where the Memorable Moments are going to be unveiled."Various counter cards touting the program were placed in more than 300,000 stores. Several chains received customized materials, and that's where the process got challenging. Under the agreement with MLB, Mastercard must appear as the primary focus of the display piece, not the retailer."It cannot be perceived that the member or merchant is a sponsor of Major League Baseball," says Guerin. "It has to be clear that Mastercard is the official sponsor and that it is the preferred card of Major League Baseball." Celebrity SnaresSuccessfully incorporating licensed properties into in-store materials requires avoiding a number of potential pitfalls. For example, finding the right visual balance between the promoted product and the licensed property can be a challenge, and there is always the risk of overshadowing the product with a high-profile property.When Oral-B launched the Stages line of toothbrushes and pastes, Luciani wanted to make sure consumers understood that the products had a distinct value proposition that was separate from the Disney characters used on the P-O-P. "During the launch year, the brushes had to be established as unique unto themselves, without regard to the characters," she says. "We tried to educate consumers about the benefits of the pastes and brushes so that if we were to recycle different characters, consumers would still have a loyalty to the brush regardless of the character."Rayovac's Baer says licensors often want to play up the license, as opposed to the product. He tries to manage the display process so the mix is evenhanded and his product and message don't get lost. "We always want to make sure that the brand message is first and foremost and that the licensed property is the exclamation point," he says. "It's a matter of balance."Not all marketers are worried about being overshadowed. When Skechers USA Inc. decided to produce a new line of skates called 4Wheelers, it not only wanted to use pop star Britney Spears to promote the brand, it wanted her to be the brand. "The logic is that we are really promoting her as the brand," says John Quinn, chief strategy officer for the Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based shoe company. "What we're doing is establishing a new category called 4Wheelers. We are using her identification to promote this activity, which benefits us in the long run. It's as much a Britney promotion as it is a Skechers promotion."To get the right look on the displays, Skechers hired a creative director who had worked with Spears in the past. "He did a terrific job so she was very happy with the end result," says Quinn. "She has a team of stylists and design people who are very involved in her image. She herself has some clear opinions about what she likes and doesn't like. And she has surrounded herself with people who understand her sensibility."Mastercard isn't worried about being eclipsed by Major League Baseball on its P-O-P either. The baseball theme is played up big and the hope is that consumers already have an understanding of the Mastercard/MLB relationship."We have been very careful to make sure that the baseball component of the sweepstakes is very prominent," says Guerin. "The first thing that you see on the point-of-sale materials is the chance to win your very own memorable moment. What we're hoping is that the theme of baseball is broad enough and exciting enough that it draws you in rather than distracts from Mastercard."With A-B's sports-theme materials, Witzel usually plays up the beer logos. However, with celebrities he often tones down the branding. "The celebrity is giving an endorsement, but it isn't a billboard. It might just be Tim McGraw standing with a guitar and a Bud Light bottle will be sitting on the chair next to him. That would be the extent of the brand ID. Sometimes, it's better to be subtle."From Aisle Four to EbayOne unique aspect of working with licensed properties is accounting for the reactions of aggressive fans. Well-designed promotional materials featuring a popular celebrity can quickly become a collector's item for fans."Ebay is very interesting because a lot of times we can ship a standee one week and then go to Ebay the next week and see it there for the highest bidder," says A-B's Witzel. "A lot of that stuff is very appealing, and it walks away from our retail accounts as soon as it gets up. But there isn't a lot you can do about that. It's always interesting to see how valuable a consumer considers them to be."Rayovac's Baer says the theft of popular standees will always be a problem, but good communication with chain and store-level management can minimize that. For example, if a store manager has been told that a particular standee or display is being delivered and is expected to be placed, then it usually makes its way to store floors.The value of the displays as merchandising vehicles isn't lost on many retailers, Witzel adds. "From their standpoint, it is more valuable for them to keep these items in stores for as long as possible," he says.In the end, a successful blending of a licensed property into P-O-P is a matter of communication. "We just have to be smart in how we design things," says Baer. "That comes down to good communication with the brand assurance people at the licensor. You have to understand from the get-go what they think is acceptable and what they will approve."Adds Cartoon Network's Ehrlich: "If we take one of our properties that is the right fit for their product and come up with great creative ideas, that is going to help to sell more product. When a promotion is a win-win, it can deliver excellent marketing value for them and for us."

A License to Sell

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

Related Images

Business Topic

Company

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

Related Images

Related Articles

Business Topic

Company