A number of high profile licensing industry executives have come together to form a new collective called The Licensing Insiders.
The collective describes itself as ‘a disruptive, novel and flexible solution’ to the challenges facing the industry, such as speed to market, the war for talent and costs being under scrutiny.
A collective of multi-faceted consumer products and senior brand building experts, The Licensing Insiders work with all consumer segments, from entertainment studios, gaming, fashion and lifestyle brands, to publishing, sports, collegiate and corporate, bringing fractional expertise that hits the ground running.
The Licensing Insiders can be deployed for any period of time, for any size and scale of business, eliminating the expense of recruitment, the cost of full-time heads, benefits and onboarding.
Simon Waters, former divisional head of Hasbro’s Consumer Products & Entertainment Division and one of seven inaugural partners, explained: “All of us have seen brands commit random acts of marketing, launch programmes shotgun in the hope they’d stick, or hire teams before they knew what was needed. I would have loved fractional expertise that I could deploy to make an impact fast without the need for full time overhead.”
As well as Hasbro, the seven founding partners have worked at the likes of Universal, DreamWorks, Marvel and LucasFilm, as well as brands such as Nike and retailers including Target and Walmart.
Marc Low, former global head of Universal’s Lifestyle Division and partner, continued: “The world of licensing is highly dynamic, creating a myriad of new possibilities for emerging and established IP alike. Calling on the Licensing Insiders helps businesses fast track their growth plans by maximising opportunities while avoiding the pitfalls of trial and error.”
Adding to the collective of diverse industry talent is Ann Buckingham, former chief commercialisation and strategy officer for Create Me; Eva Steortz, executive coach and former svp of brand development for 20th Century Fox; Darren Phillipson, former vp of global product design for Alpha Group; Vince Brick, former senior director for customer strategic marketing at Hasbro; and Maria Ancieta-Risher, former vp of NBCUniversal Consumer Products.
Maria commented: “The globalisation of content now readily available at our fingertips through streaming, online and linear creates opportunities for brand building faster and on a global scale. Being able to leverage our collective global expertise for market expansions and international activations in the US and North America, Latin America, EMEA and Asia are proven strengths that our clients can tap into instantly.”
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