10 Minutes With … LMCA on How it is Establishing a Larger European Presence

License Global: Can you give us a brief overview of some of the latest news from your slate of clients?

Andrew Hodgson: Since we were last at Brand Licensing Europe, our LMCA Europe office has been very busy. As you know, LMCA is headquartered in the U.S., but many of our major clients – Electrolux, Castrol, Philips – have home offices in Europe, which is part of the reason we were so keen to establish a larger European presence. Over the last year, the LMCA Europe team has been focusing on executing strategy rollouts for our global clients. And, in certain cases, we are positioning ourselves as the first market for global rollouts, leveraging European countries as a sort of launchpad for new programs.

So, in terms of what exciting things you’ll see from our clients, there is an overarching theme of building out that global brand presence through licensing. Electrolux’s Frigidaire is a multi-billion-dollar brand in the U.S. – high awareness, high sentiment, highly competitive. Get ready, because this is news we haven’t shared with the world yet – a License Global exclusive. In Q4, we’re bringing the Frigidaire brand to the European market with an exclusive collaboration with a leading retailer for major appliances. From this launchpad, we’ll continue to bring it to other markets, but we’re starting in Europe and are anticipating a very positive response.

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Castrol, one of the world’s leading lubricants brands, has partnered with a leading apparel designer and manufacturer on a line of streetwear-inspired apparel that launched earlier this year to a tremendous reception. The retailers we secured were incredible – Pull & Bear, River Island, Next; the list goes on. Obviously, this program is going to be replicated in other markets, but the U.K. was the kickoff.

LMCA is also helping Castrol launch automotive filters globally – starting with select European countries in Q4 this year and then rolling out to China, North America and LATAM. I could go on, but the exciting message is that our global clients are launching massive rollouts and Europe is at the heart of the execution of many of those strategies.

Andrew Hodgson, LMCA

What is trending in the corporate brand category now?
I’m sure you’ve seen the IYKYK (if you know, you know) trend on social; it creates that special feeling of exclusivity; you know something that others aren’t up on yet. We’re seeing a take on the virality of that trend in the corporate brand space. There’s this feeling of exclusivity and uniqueness to knowing about a best-kept-secret brand that has a huge following amongst specialists, professionals, artisans, etc.
A great example is our client, Wurlitzer, made famous with their iconic jukeboxes and musical instruments. Well, Wurlitzer has been around since the 1800s and is, by far, one of the most respected brands in the music industry. In fact, what’s crazy is the Wurli electric piano stopped being manufactured in the 1980s, but that versatile, bell-like sound has such a fan base. Back in the day, it was used by Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder … but you look around now and you’ll see these huge names in the industry – FINNEAS, Jon Batiste, Bruno Mars – all playing refurbished Wurlis. And if you go to Radio City Music Hall in New York City – the largest indoor theater in the world – what do they have right there on either side of the stage when you go to see the Rockettes? These huge, iconic Wurlitzer organs.

Wurlitzer has incredible equity amongst professionals and audiophiles and it’s a no-brainer that this corporate brand is ripe for extension for music enthusiasts who want the quality, the authenticity, of a brand like Wurlitzer. We just relaunched the new licensed jukebox earlier this year and you will see more coming from the brand in the coming months.   

LMCA represents brands across multiple different sectors and geographies. As an agency, how do you keep on top of what’s trending to find the best partners for your clients?

This is such a great question. We see the trends building across different markets and have a deep cultural awareness because we are a global agency with teams on the ground worldwide.  
The three things we prioritize are:

At the end of the day, finding the best partners is a little like being a matchmaker. We spend a lot of time understanding our client’s culture and the brand’s equity and then we spend an equal amount of time making sure we have the right partners to match that. Our focus on partnership longevity is the reason LMCA has programs that are in market 20-25+ years.

What properties/products will you be highlighting and showcasing at your booth at BLE this year?

So many! AEG, Castrol, Compaq, Electrolux, Flymo, Frigidaire, HP, Kodak, Philips. We’re excited to showcase the diversity of our portfolio at Brand Licensing Europe, meet potential clients seeking representation and get retailers excited about some of our upcoming launches.

Castrol t-shirt

At Licensing Expo, you spoke to License Global about “project crossover,” where you are trying to broaden the horizons of your clients in different territories. Can you provide us with an update on this and do you have any specific examples of deals you have released in Europe as part of this project?

Absolutely. project crossover is really focused on replicating a brand’s success in one market to another. And there are so many reasons behind a brand’s success, we’ve been very thoughtful with choosing which brands to target. The partnership I mentioned earlier for Frigidaire is a perfect example. Electrolux has this hugely successful brand in the U.S. with Frigidaire. Why is it so successful? With Frigidaire, it’s tied to the positioning, the price point, the quality … and then you ask yourself where else would these traits play well based on market dynamics and target-consumer similarities. We’re expecting this brand to do very well in Europe and that will be the stepping-stone to continued expansion into even more markets. We have many more projects in the offing but, for now, I’m afraid they’re strictly confidential.

Watch: Ciarán Coyle, president and chief executive officer, LMCA – Brand Licensing Specialists, chats with Patricia DeLuca, senior managing editor, License Global, about what to expect in the licensing business, both through LMCA and through the industry as a whole.

This year BLE celebrates its 25th anniversary. What is your first memory of the show? Do you have any highlights from over the years? Are there any significant deals that came about because of conversations at BLE or licensing programs that you have launched at BLE over the years?

Ah, happy anniversary! I will give you my first memory of the show and a highlight. It was meeting Michael Knight from Knight Rider. Better known in our New York office as Mitch Buchanan from Baywatch. Some people in Germany like to call him their favorite pop singer, David Hasselhoff. Either way, great guy.
Seriously, BLE is the show to attend in Europe in our industry. I always enjoy the buzz and conversations and look forward to celebrating the 25-year milestone with you in September.

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