“We have had to be more proactive than ever”

Little Brother Books’ Matt Reynolds on keeping relationships going with virtual meetings with licensors and retailers.

The traditional start to the year is looking significantly different in 2021, with none of the usual trade shows – including London’s Toy Fair, Nuremberg and Spring Fair – going ahead in-person.

So, what are licensees across a range of categories doing to fill the gap?

LicensingSource.net catches up with a selection to find out their plans and why it’s key for the industry to make the most of Q1 despite the calendar changes.

Today: Matt Reynolds, md, Little Brother Books

“Without trade shows, we have had to be more proactive than ever to arrange face to face virtual meetings with all our licensors, as well as ad hoc calls to our retail buyers and fellow licensees (in non-competitive areas) to better understand their views on each brand.

This is something we did anyway, but without the structure of meetings and presentations at trade shows, as well as the ‘general banter’ that happens there, we need to make a conscious effort to do it nowadays.

I am also an avid reader of all trade publications, press and newsfeeds, so these are more important than ever. We as a company have also been more proactive than ever in trade and consumer PR over the last 12 months, working with Grapevine Global.”

This feature originally appeared in the spring 2021 edition of Licensing Source Book. To read the full publication, click on this link.

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