Encore: Food Licensing Tip #2: Is My Brand Ready For Licensing?

Food Licensing 101: How Do I Know If My Brand Is Ready for Licensing?

Yesterday we talked about the basics of food licensing. Today we'll explore the ways to find out if your brand is ready for licensing.

Determining if you're ready to launch a full-scale licensing program is not as easy as you might think.

• What do I need?
• When should I start?
• How much does it cost?

The answers depend on the strength of your brand, what we called the "licensed property" in the first part of this series. Brand strength is a function of consumer appeal, and it's crucial the brand have a good "fit" with the product. When our agency was representing a fabric softener with a cute symbol, they insisted we should look for an ice cream company because to them, the brand meant "family" and "home."

Well, to Good Humor-Breyers, one of our clients at the time, the brand meant "fabric softener," and that's a terrible association for a food product!

One of the best methods for determining the viability and potential of a licensing program for your brand is what's called a "licensing feasibility study." This is an analysis that determines whether licensing can meet key branding and revenue objectives. It includes a detailed assessment of the benefits, critical success factors, costs, and risks involved in developing a licensing program, and will inevitably reduce risk and expensive missteps. The objectives of the study include:

• Assessment of brand’s assets/intellectual property (e.g. brand, logo, tag-lines)
• Its relevance in marketplace
• Evaluation of product category opportunities at retail, including channels of distribution
• Analysis of the marketplace environment, including consumer and B2B trends meant to assess the brand's potentail acceptance in the licensing arena
• Identification of resource requirements (financial, time & labor)
• Evaluation of brand’s level of support
• Current core brand marketing strategy
• Analysis of the costs to implement and maintain a licensing program

In order to ensure the most accurate results, it is imperative that any feasibility study be conducted by a person/group with a solid licensing background and high level of licensing expertise. While ad agencies, pr firms and branding consultants often include "licensing" in their list of capabilities, you'll notice no licensing agencies claim they can design and place ads or get your products on "Oprah." Incorrect data & methodology in a feasibility study can potentially lead to disastrous results, not only for the licensing program but also for the brand as a whole.

(this article prepared with the assistance of Danielle Foley)

Tomorrow I'll be talking about Licensing vs. Promotions

For information about licensing, contact Broad Street Licensing Group (tel. 973-655-0598)

Excerpted from BSLG's weekly subscription news reader service Food Business News. To subscribe or for information about licensing, contact Broad Street Licensing Group (tel. 973-655-0598)