M&S’ Pippa Smith says that Brand Licensing Europe initiative is “very beneficial”.
The Brand Licensing Europe Retail Mentoring Programme is continuing to add some big names to its line-up for this year, with Marks & Spencer returning to the initiative for the first time since 2014.
The Source caught up with Pippa Smith – childrenswear licensed character coordinator at the retailer – to find out why she believes the programme is so important and to unearth some snippets on the M&S licensing strategy.
Why has M&S decided to sign up again for the Retail Mentoring Programme?
We attended in 2014 and found the programme really insightful and useful as an introduction into licensing, but as teams change and evolve we now have some new colleagues that would find this course very beneficial.
What benefits did you feel you gained from being involved with the programme before?
The benefits gained included understanding the various terminology and what exactly these mean, the jobs roles within licensing from the licensor point of view and the licensees, and getting to meet some key guest speakers whom had a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the Industry. The buyer’s top tips was a particular favourite of mine.
How many members of the M&S team were involved?
I believe three of us completed the course in the end.
What parts did you find the most interesting?
I really enjoyed hearing from the key guest speakers. There was a session on the digital mind-set of children, which really makes you think outside the box when it comes to which licences to be looking at and what additional features and benefits you can offer to your customer. There was also a session from the retailer which I found most useful when it comes to filtering through the vast amounts of licences available, and trying to analyse what will be best for your customer.
What are you hoping to gain from being involved again this year?
This year the programme has been opened out to other areas of the business, so we are keen to have a representative from men’s, women’s, kid’s, beauty and home at this year’s event, including buying, merchandising and design. By giving our colleagues the necessary tools to better understand the licensing industry, we hope to build one key strategy that we can follow as a company, with the customer at the centre of all that we do.
What learnings did you take away from the programme and then use in your day to day roles and dealings with licensors/licensees?
One key learning I took away from the programme was to gather as much key information as possible, analyse and to have a clear strategy, whether this is for internal meetings, Vegas or BLE itself. By signing up to the various licensing emails, I am regularly in the loop with all of the latest licensing news and have a good understanding of what is the hottest thing of the moment. But one of the most valuable learnings is the importance of networking. By speaking to other professionals within the licensing industry you can understand what is working for other licensees and retailers, and what is not. This in turn has helped me to focus our strategy at M&S and also to plan my diary for licences to visit at Vegas and BLE.
How much has the M&S licensing business grown over the past year/18 months? You are obviously very strong in apparel, but are you also actively growing licensing in other categories, too?
Our licensing business is ever evolving, but one of our main focuses over the last 18 months has been to make our already strong offer, work together better as a collection. We now have consistent colour palettes and trends across each character, so the customer should be able to see stories across the sales floor and be able to buy coordinating products. Our aim was to build a really credible offer for the customer. We are also communicating regularly with areas such as Home, Beauty and Foods so that M&S has a consistent strategy when it comes to what licences to back.
Can you tell us about any of top performing licences for you?
Star Wars has been a great performer for us since the hype of the film launch in 2015 until now, and one we hope to continue through to the Rogue One film launch this winter.
This year’s Brand Licensing Europe runs from October 11-13 2016 at Olympia, London.
Visitor registration opens in May at www.brandlicensing.eu. You can find out more about the Retail Mentoring Programme by clicking on this link.
