Start Licensing’s Ian Downes takes a look at how Halloween and Christmas ranges are fighting it out for shelf space at retail.
Last weekend I visited the National Trust’s Winkworth Arboretum. I was tempted in by the promise of seeing the ‘Autumn Colour’. This is a sure sign that the seasons are changing in nature and judging by a few recent retail visits the seasons are changing in shopping as well at the moment.
The Autumn Colour wasn’t fully out at Winkworth and at retail the seasons haven’t fully changed yet either – Halloween and Christmas ranges in particular are fighting for space.
Halloween as a retail and licensing theme seems to have gained even more momentum in recent years. I can still remember when it was a very small opportunity and seen as a new business opportunity for licensing. Now it seems to be firmly fixed in the retail and licensing calendars.
The vast majority of retailers seem to be building their ranges around generic product with a sprinkling of licensed lines, but it is clear that in categories like confectionery, dress-up and partyware there is a role being played by licensing. My highlight to date has been a shopping bag in Tesco featuring Snoopy in a cloak with the slogan ‘Spooky’.
Simple but effective and a reminder how existing artwork can be re-purposed to fit specific occasions and, of course, this can be bolstered by commissioning bespoke art packs tailored to particular themes.
As noted in previous Lookouts, licensing has got much better at developing artwork to suit specific opportunities and retail gaps.
Another interesting Halloween development I have seen this week is the development of specific Halloween themed books such as the one I saw featuring Bluey in a Let’s Get Spooky activity book.
Christmas-wise retailers are starting to roll out their Christmas ranges including specific categories such as composite gifting. Boots is a retailer that supports composite gifting in particular. Indeed, it invests in a printed catalogue which is now available in-store. The gift guide is titled Give Joy and highlights product ranges in categories such as beauty, gadgets, toys, home and children’s products. Licensing and licensed brands feature throughout. A big category for Boots is advent calendars. Within this category there are Thomas, Hot Wheels and Barbie toy lead calendars – these are not necessarily licensed products, but are good indicators of how well known brands are important for retailers like Boots.
At first glance it doesn’t seem that there are as many ranges showcased ‘in depth’ in Boots’ Christmas catalogue this year, rather it is highlighting specific products. Examples of licensed products in the catalogue include a MasterChef apron and PlayStation bookends. Delicious Art – a food gifting range built around the National Gallery licence – features again and this seems to be a very well established range, having been in Boots for sometime now – a good example of taking a long-term approach to product development and retail relationships.
Other food brands featured include Nando’s with products such as gift sets of sauces. One feature of the catalogue is listing gifts by price, for example Gifts Under £30, helping consumers shop on and within a budget. While it isn’t always clear, I think it is fair to imagine that a number of the ranges in categories like fragrances and beauty operate under some kind of licensing arrangement.
Boots has a number of ‘exclusive’ products and ranges in operation as well. Returning to food gifting, other featured brands include TGI Fridays with products like cocktail sets, BBC Good Food with products such as Loaves and Bakes sets and more from MasterChef. One range that is highlighted in detail in the brochure is a Disney food gifting range using festive Mickey Mouse imagery presented with a classic feel to the design. The range includes hot chocolate gift sets, festive biscuits and baking sets. It is all presented in a Christmas themed design and works well as a range ‘off the page’.
Christmas product is starting to appear on shelf in Boots as well – for example in the Waterloo station store, it has a Christmas Gifting section on the upper level which includes ranges from the likes of Joules and Superdry in the personal gift category with gift sets across a number of price points.
In other retailers, Christmas is also coming with retailers like Tesco bringing in food and drink gift sets. In this category they lean on high profile brands that bring an audience and also are very ‘giftable’. The gift giver needs to recognise the brand as one that will be well received by the gift recipient and is built around a trusted brand. Examples include gift sets featuring Baileys, Famous Grouse, Jack Daniels and Guinness. The quality of product and design in this category has definitely improved in recent years.
Further to this, the product mix has also become more varied. It is no longer just focused on glassware, but is embracing a range of product categories for example one of the Guinness gift sets featured a Guinness bobble hat.
Outside of Christmas and Halloween one other thing I noticed this week is how retailers and brands are working with charities on cause related campaigns. It seems that brands and retailers are engaging with cause related marketing more frequently now and are more comfortable about promoting these campaigns. I noticed McVitie’s biscuits has partnered with Mind in Tesco stores to raise £50,000 for the charity around the mechanic of gifting a free pack linked to the campaign message ‘Because we all deserve a break’.
Another example is Pret a Manger supporting World Homeless Day by donating 20% of savings made this week by Club Pret members to those facing homelessness. This was promoted by signage outside store.
It is definitely an area where there is more activity and partnerships in place these days. It will be interesting to see if these partnerships lead onto other activities such as licensed product ranges. Indeed it will be interesting to see if in the Christmas product and gift set sector whether charities start to play a part of this adding a new twist to the ‘gift of giving’ mantra.
Ian Downes runs Start Licensing, an independent brand licensing agency. His Twitter handle is @startlicensing – he would welcome your suggestions for what to look out for.
