For many, brands and IPs are as important as the product that gets emblazoned with them. Dan Snook finds out how it works.
LICENSING is big business. In 2013 alone, Microsoft made a billion dollars from just its Samsung Android patent licensing deal. Switzerland’s world’s largest food and beverage company, Nestlé, recently agreed to pay Starbucks US$7.15bn for exclusive rights to sell the US chain’s packaged coffees and teas around the world. Disney raked in $53bn in retail sales of licensed merchandise in 2017. They make more from licensed products than anyone else.
In our industry, the figures are somewhat more modest in comparison, but significant nonetheless. A circuit of any trade show on the calendar will reveal a horde of different licensed products and for good reason.
