Powerful and effective translation

Ms. Rebecca Pearson

Founded in 1995, The Extreme Sports Company is an innovative licensing company that owns the Extreme brand, one of the world’s leading youth sports brands. Over the past few months, The Extreme Sports Company has been scouting for exciting opportunities, having signed license agreements with Palphot for Back to School Products, Hometex for Homeware, Happy Day Ltd for men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, 2Feet for footwear.

In a candid chat, Rebecca Pearson, Licensing Manager, The Extreme Sports Company, we reveals that the company is actively looking for global licensees to work with and much more….

Vrinda Oberai (VO): Please give a brief overview of the licensing activities that you’ve been pursuing?
Rebecca Pearson (RP): We operate in consumer products, experiences and media. Over the past 18 months, we have been focusing on the categories we can work in and the effective translation of the brands into this space. Moreover, due to unique nature of the brand we are approached daily with new and exciting ideas and concepts, and part of our work is to sift through all of these and determine which are the most commercial, the most unique, the most inspiring and which our consumers are most interested in.

VO: For how long your company has been into licensing?
RP: We’ve had licensing and brand management as our core business for the last 18 months or so, but we have been licensing the brand to the Television Channel since 2006 when we sold it.

VO: Will you share the details about your different product licensing programmes and the markets where you are present currently?
RP: As we are a pan European brand and the TV channel is broadcast into 62 countries, our focus is on international long term licensing partnerships. Our target categories in the Consumer Products division include: Apparel and Footwear, Personal Care, Cars, Electronics and Mobile Phone Handsets. Our target categories in the Experiences division: Hotels, Destination Co-Branding, Motorsports Experiences, and Mobile Networks. Even though we don’t have brand reach through The Extreme Sports Channel in North America, we do have a licensing partner for Extreme Drinks there. Other licensing partners exist in Israel, Spain, Portugal, The Middle East and Cyprus and we have signed Heads of Terms for partners across many other countries including Russia, Hungary, France, UK and Montenegro.

VO: What kind of market research do you indulge in while zeroing in on a potential market and product categories?
RP: We have a careful process that we go through before focusing on any particular category. It starts with ensuring that the category fits logically with our brand, that there is a gap in the market and that we can derive and deliver a differentiated consumer proposition. Once we have the vision for how our brand can be translated into this space and a well thought out consumer proposition, we carry out different types of market research depending upon the category that can range from focus groups with Extreme Sports athletes, to engaging in conversations with our consumers around the proposition.

VO: How mature is the licensing market in Israel? What do you seek to accomplish two years down the line?
RP: Israel is a really interesting market and we are enjoying working there. There seems to be a great appetite for this brand from both licensees and consumers. Within the next 2 years, we want to continue to understand our Israeli consumers and deliver differentiated products and services for them and continue to work with and find new strategic long term licensing partners across all the different categories that we are working in.

VO: Are you on constant lookout for potential licensees? Which are the markets which you aim to approach in the times to come?
RP: We are constantly on the lookout for leading licensees. For the majority of the categories we are working, we are looking for pan European licensees. Our target markets are Europe, Scandinavia and the Middle East as our brand is incredibly strong in these regions and it makes sense as a logical first step.

VO: What is the criterion that you look at while zeroing in on a potential licensee? What has been your experience till date when it comes to having explored opportunities in the licensing space?
RP: A licensee must have shown experience and success within the category we are looking to work in with them. Because of the long term nature of our licensing partnerships, it is essential that we make the right decisions and pick the right licensee. They must have design, manufacturing and distribution expertise as well as willingness to invest in the brand and build it together with us within their specific category. In some cases, we are working with companies that don’t traditionally license brands and this is an interesting and strategic route for them to take.

VO: What has been your marketing strategy to pursue your licensing initiatives and how has licensing helped you to build your brand and extend it to a larger audience?
RP: We have a huge competitive advantage over other licensors because we have The Extreme Sports Channel which acts as a massive marketing platform launching our brand in to the homes of millions of people every day, 24X7. Moreover, we and the licensee work together to determine the licensing plan and bring both Central Brand Marketing as well as specific product / experience marketing to ensure we are communicating and resonating with the right consumers in the right way. Licensing is the perfect way for us to take advantage of the strength and reach of our brand. By finding outstanding licensees in each of the categories, we are ensuring that our brand is translated powerfully and effectively which enables us to touch and engage new consumers.

Interviewed by Vrinda Oberai