Building a Post-Pandemic Retail and Licensing Strategy

The keynote from day two of Brand Licensing Europe was ‘Building a Post-Pandemic Retail & Licensing Strategy.’ The panel, moderated by Ben Roberts, EMEA content director, License Global, brought together industry leaders who provided insight into accelerated trends, essential retail and licensing strategies and highlighted the new opportunities arising from the turbulent waters of modern times. 

Panellists included Marianne James, vice president EMEA and Asia licensed consumer products, Hasbro, Jalil Rahman, director, brand partnerships & licensing, Liberty, Daniel Avener, chief executive officer, MDR Brand Management and Jeremy Orriss, director, licensing, Difuzed, discussed the trends that have been accelerated by the pandemic, how to stay competitive and remain ahead of trends and the new opportunities emerging for the licensing industry.

“For a long period, we've looked at the ‘sweet spot’, of 16- to 25-year-olds, when, actually, the retail train has many different sweet spots,” says Orris. “The data is saying it’s not about price, but value. Value is a key trend, so it’s important to understand how to interpret that value. Going into the next period, people are not looking for throwaway items, they are looking for items that have value. We're looking for things that we feel comfortable with, so we may go through a more evolution than revolution.”

When asked how to describe the current environment we find ourselves in, the panel thought that the unpredictable nature could be the hardest thing to navigate.

“This year, leading into 2023 is going to be hard," says James. “We’ve got to consolidate as an industry and communication is going to be important. We need to ensure our brands are fully accessible and think about how we're bringing those products into the marketplace.”

Roberts posed the question of how we can act as leaders to strategize change in this industry.

“I have three personal strategies that I use for my projects for the future,” says Rahman. “The first is an honest appraisal of what we're making and what we're doing. The second is understand the culture and the third is having integrity.”