Gift Focus - Nov/Dec 2019 (Issue 116)

93 HOT PROPERTY Hot pr operty Catch up with all the latest from the world of licensing MAD BEAUTY IS STAYING AHEAD OF THE GAME WITH A HUGE EXPANSION INTO EMEA WITH AN EXTENDED DISNEY LICENSE. London-based Mad Beauty has taken the UK market by storm with its award- winning, design-led, beauty products. The company has seen a dramatic UK growth in the last two years, partly due to the Never Too Old™ ranges of licensed products including Disney – with products aimed at the teen and adult markets primarily. Seeing huge growth over the last few years and the quality of the product design in the UK has resulted in Disney agreeing to extend its license. This will allow expansion from the UK to Europe, the Middle East, Israel Eastern Europe and Africa. Disney’s Samar Selby says, “Mad Beauty has been a pleasure to work within the UK. They’ve collaboratively grown our licensed business within the teen and adult consumer segment and continue to bring fun, creativity and innovation to the category for Disney. We’re so excited to be able to expand that now across the globe, where a clear demand for this product also exists.” This is extremely exciting for the UK based Mad Beauty team who have worked so hard in establishing this range. Trevor Cash, managing director says, “Our Never Too Old range for Disney has been a huge success in the UK with listings in most of the main high street and online retailers. As a result, we’re delighted that Disney has recognised that our designs will have a much broader appeal so they extended our contract to include the whole EMEA region.” An awful pun I know but it seems that the use of licensing in the garden sector is growing. The recent Glee show for the this trade provided ample evidence of this, gardening is a popular hobby which also lends itself to gifting. Beyond plants and flowers, garden- related products such as accessories are relatively safe bets gift wise. Whilst garden centres are natural homes for outdoor related products there are clear opportunities for gift retailers and department stores to get involved. Suppliers like Primus, Apta and Burgon & Ball have broad ranges to choose from and carry a depth of products that make retail buying straightforward. The Royal Horticultural Society (The RHS) has done a great job in building a brand licensing programme in the category using its brand name, expertise and archive. For example, Apta has developed branded planters whilst Burgon & Ball has a full range of accessories such as gardening gloves. Part of the RHS’ success can be attributed to its status in the market but it has also proactively managed things and refreshed design regularly – making great use of its design archive. Glee saw some examples of character licensing coming into play in the category. Primus added a Gromit metal garden statue to its existing Shaun the Sheep and Timmy products whilst Apta launched a full range of Shaun the Sheep and Wallace & Gromit resin statues. In both cases, the companies feel that using well-known characters will develop new trade sales for them but also attract new consumers to their category. Indeed, Primus also launched a range of Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB) garden bird ornaments. A clever way of developing a perennially favourite theme in an original way whilst tapping into the goodwill that the RSPB enjoys. It was also good to see a relatively new company Jardinopia add a licensed range to its offer. The company launched a Wallace & Gromit ‘Potty Feet’ range at Glee building on the success of its generic ranges and made pot feet giftable by design and packaging enhancements. Gardening as a theme and a licensing opportunity also works well in categories like greetings cards, it’s worth thinking about building a gardening range. It’s clear that garden gifting is in a healthy state and it’s good to see licensing playing its part in helping business bloom.  For more information visit the twitter page @startlicensing Ian Downes Start Licensing