Retail. It’s a hot button topic for a host of reasons – the supply chain challenges, shelf space, the brick-and-mortar vs e-commerce question – but to Marc Low, senior vice president and general manager, global lifestyle, Universal Brand Development, a division of NBCUniversal, it’s simply a wonderful stage as the studio powerhouse shows up at retail across its biggest categories, from apparel to accessories, home, food, beauty and more.

License Global: Retail is the theme of License Global’s December issue for good reason – ’tis the season! How is NBCUniversal tackling retail around the globe, and what channels are a focus, specifically for the different lifestyle categories?

Marc Low: Well, the short answer is all channels. We work in so many countries around the world that are in different stages of development – some are modernized and some are more traditional. Our goal is to ensure that our products are wherever our consumers shop, whether that’s online or brick-and-mortar. That said, I’d say there are three areas that we’re really focusing on. The first is online, and we are really developing our presence in that space, which, as I’m sure you’re aware, has only accelerated, especially on the apparel side of the business, where we’ve been beefing up our print-on-demand business. We’ve also been looking at some direct-to-consumer brands specifically that have no brick-and-mortar space and we’ve been partnering with some of them through licensees or through direct models. The crux of our business is still multi-channel retail. It allows us to cover everything from fashion and accessories to bedding and home products, food, beauty and care.

How do you see lifestyle categories evolving at retail in 2022? What trends are NBCUniversal adapting to at market?

If you look at what’s happening, there’s so much change right now, but in that change, there’s an incredible amount of opportunity that we’re really excited about. We’re seeing new trends emerging or accelerating, particularly for products that are sustainable…

Want to learn more? Check out the December issue of License Global, out now!