We need shorter routes to market for longer lead time products, says Mothercare’s Barbara Robinson.
So, Licensing Expo has come round again… I can’t believe it’s a year since the last one. Preparing for the show, I have been thinking about the industry and where the shows fit in.
I was out of the industry for a couple of years, and since re-entering at the beginning of last year, it’s clear that the landscape has shifted considerably. Inextricably linked to retail as licensing is, it is also constantly having to evolve to respond to customers’ shopping patterns. Customers, as we all know (we are, after all customers too!) are developing greater expectations of service, speed and innovation. Licensed character product should be at the forefront of this.
Sitting in the retail camp, I am conscious of the criticisms that frequently come our way around not trying out new properties. We are not necessarily risk aversive, but our seniors are! It’s difficult to run an effective succession plan with small quantity buys. As trade becomes more digitally led, we need the flexibility to place smaller orders but with wider reach to successfully trial new product. The current licensing model does not support this and as an industry we need to think about how we can better facilitate this to meet the demands of future customers.
We are all aware of the shopping habits of millennials, and know that they are increasingly demanding. They want to see new and exciting product, and to survive in an increasingly competitive market, retailers need to have a point of difference to stand out. At the moment, there is very little difference between offers across the mass market retailers; we all follow each other. For customers, this is not very interesting.
Inevitably, in an environment where everyone is ranging the same product, with little variation in design, price becomes the biggest factor and erodes everyone’s profits as we all fight to stay competitive.
This affects licensees and licensors, too. The pressure on both licensors and licensees to deliver the biggest return on investment forces the push for bigger and bigger royalty deals that depend on high volume orders to just break even. This is not conducive to small order quantities, effective succession planning and greater variety in the market.
We need to find shorter routes to market for the longer lead time products and also get smarter at trying out properties in complementary product categories where we can learn lessons in time to place bigger orders.
Character is no different to fashion in that respect – you have to read the market and respond to emerging trends. Some will be around for a few seasons, some will come and go very quickly. For the latter, we need a faster, more responsive market to tap into passing trends profitably.
It’s time to think again about how we all operate within this exciting and vibrant industry. We will all need to work together to do this.
This will be top of mind for me as I attend Licensing Expo in a couple of weeks’ time and see all the fantastic new and existing properties on offer and wonder how I can integrate the most appropriate into Mothercare/ELC.
Barbara Robinson is head of licensing and character at Mothercare Group.
