Celebrity Licensing

Licensing keeps the name ‘Marilyn Monroe’ Alive

Be it a Harbhajan Singh mug or a Michael Jackson t-shirt, there is a lot that is happening when it comes to celebrity licensing around the world. Celebrity licensing is set to rule the next era of marketing concept in India because of its enormous potential to serve as the most effective tool for connecting with the customers.

Vrinda Oberai

A personality who enjoys a certain level of fame and has a considerable number of followers when associates its name with merchandising, the salability of the product rises. It’s a convenient method to connect a brand with the affection and devotion shown to an idol, thereby, presenting the merchandise, which is capable to elicit the same emotion, to the customers. In this case, the brand is identified by a celebrity, who is the major customer puller. The other way round, it’s another channel for the celebrity to evoke the love of his/her fans outside his/her familiar domain of activity, associating itself to the corporate world and leveraging the power of his/her name, thereby adopting it as another source of income.

The way, when a celebrity endorses a brand, consumers instantly connect to it, similarly by associating the name of a celebrity a product can become an instant hit among the consumers. If we look at the famous cosmetics brand, Chanel, they do have an impressive celebrity licensing tradition.

Foreign deal: Bradford plans for the current year

Bradford Licensing LLC, established in 1986 is a global licensing firm partnering with some of the world's best-known logos and trademarks. The firm which is the exclusive licensing agent for Shaw Family Archives, a collection of hundreds of iconic and rare images of Marilyn Monroe has recently reviewed its ever expanding licensing program.

Given the success the Shaw Family licensees have achieved, there have been extensions in the contracts like those of Trends International for calendars and posters, Spoontiques for accessory items, and GNJ Manufacturing for MP3 players. A highlight renewal is with H&M stores worldwide – sell-through of the Marilyn tops has been such a success that the store has signed up for another year.

There has also been a rush of new partners within the program in a number of categories. Leap Year Publishing has inked a deal to manufacture and distribute calendars and stationery featuring imagery of Marilyn by Sam Shaw. For the apparel and accessories there are three new partners, which have joined the portfolio. In Gear Fashions will develop a full range of swimwear and cover-ups for all females looking to bring back the Marilyn style, M&A Imports will focus on sundresses and casual dresses for the feminine women of the world, PS Brands/Planet Sox will complete the looks with sunglasses and flip-flops for the summer time and socks and hosiery for nights out! The 2010 year plans to bring exciting new looks to the US marketplace.

The other focus areas remain to be Italy, Spain, France, South America and South Africa. In Spain, Bradford’s current partner Giepool has renewed their contract to continue with fashionable sandals, shoes, and footwear utilising imagery of Marilyn from Sam Shaw. In France, ATM has renewed its deal for umbrellas, Ravensburger for puzzles, Gade for cosmetics, Tropico for all room and home décor, and Editions Du Desastre for collectible, high quality postcards.

Back home

License India has initiated licensing properties in the name of Shiv Khera and Harbhajan Singh in the recent past. Besides creating awareness about the celebrity licensing in the country, the move will definitely inspire others to cash in on the opportunity.