Start Licensing’s Ian Downes reflects on how book publishers have added new formats to their publishing inventory, developed with the gift market in mind.
One significant change I have seen in my licensing career – thinking about gifting and retailing in particular – is how things are more fluid. Things used to be more defined years ago, with specific companies developing a set list of products and staying in their ‘product lane’. This often meant that a typical licensee list for a licensing programme was longer than perhaps they are today, as there were more specialist suppliers. Likewise, retailers tended to be more focused on specific products and offers.
Retailers today tend to take a more blended approach to their buying and increasingly stock products outside the product areas they are best known for. From a licensed gifting point of view this has probably helped spread the retail net, but this positive has to be viewed in the context of the loss of certain retailers – for example traditional high street gift retailers and larger players like Woolworth’s. It is easy to forget how important Woolworth’s was to the licensing industry at one stage.
This shift in the nature of suppliers and retailers was emphasised to me again recently at the London Book Fair. As the name suggests, this trade show focuses on the book trade, and the exhibitors are traditionally book publishers. One immediate observation I made at this year’s show, and in general, is how book publishers have added new formats to their publishing inventory. These formats have been developed with the gift market in mind. In broad terms, these are smaller format books, lower priced products or special editions. Publishers have recognised that gifting in the book world can boost their sales and distribution. This move has helped open up distribution into gift shops and other non traditional outlets, for example shops at heritage sites .
A good example of this trend was Helen Exley’s launch of a range of Molang gift books. These books mark a return to licensing for Helen Exley after quite a long absence. The small format books explore topics like happiness and friendship. The books were displayed in a retail friendly counter pack. A perfect format for gift shops but also for book retailers looking to diversify their offer. Interestingly, I believe Helen Exley’s last foray into licensing was when the company published a series of Forever Friends gift books.
It was also interesting to see specialist wholesaler Gardners reminding London Book Fair attendees that they supply gifts and stationery. Gardners had a banner on their stand that featured licensed products such as Shaun the Sheep plush from Aurora, Feathers pin badges from Paw Print Family and Top Trumps cards from Winning Moves. In fact, Gardners are a great conduit for gift companies seeking to supply the book trade. Gardners have recognised that book shops are interested in selling more than books, and that book shop consumers are looking to buy non-book products. A partial explanation for this move is that many consumers are now shopping as fans of particular franchises – a book purchase can lead onto buying other products from their particular fandom. Gardners were sharing that they carry ‘..over 24,000 different lines…” – making them a one stop shop for a lot of retailers and also very influential in the sector.
Further evidence in the blurring of the lines was that there were other non-book publishers exhibiting at the London Book Fair. Companies such as The Puppet Company have recognised that exhibiting at shows like The London Book Fair can help them delve deeper into a specialist category of retail but also broaden their international reach. Licensing highlights on their stand included a range of Padding hand puppets. The London Book Fair also brings in sales opportunities from schools, colleges, local authorities and libraries. The latter point is worth reflecting on. Licensed products companies seem to better tuned into new sales channels for their licensed products. Likewise, licensed products and well known brands are attractive to certain more specialist retailers and distributors as they bring a lot of equity with them.
Other companies such Paper Engine were at the London Book Fair too, in their case marketing their range of card construction kits which include Wallace & Gromit, Roald Dahl and The Snowman. These brands crossover well into the book sector giving retailers the chance to build islands of product. Likewise, companies such as Flametree Publishing recognise that the London Book Fair is a good way of marketing their ranges of calendars, notebooks, journals and jigsaw puzzles. Flametree feature a lot of licenses in their portfolio including a significant amount of products based on heritage licenses such as Shakespeare’s Globe and The Ashmolean. Judging by the amount of exhibitors drawn from outside publishing circles it would seem that there is still an increasing appetite from book focused retailers to sell gift products.
Beyond the London Book Fair, I noticed on a recent trip to Belfast how a well-chosen gift friendly licensed brand can make an impact in the visitor attraction, travel and airport retail channels. Gift supplier the Shamrock Gift Company have a license to produce Guinness branded merchandise and have done a great job of securing distribution for their gift range into a broad spectrum of retailers including visitor attractions like The Titanic Experience gift shop, Belfast International Airport gift shops and independent retailers in Belfast. This is a great example of how a well chosen license can help drive sales in the gift trade.
It was also worth noting that the Guinness gifting range was produced to a very high standard with no corners cut on product quality. It represented the brand well. It was also well merchandised on spinners and FSDUs with very strong use made of the iconic Guinness branding. As well as items like keychains, bottle openers and coasters it included items like Guinness flavoured fudge and chocolate. A further reminder that licensed gifts and giftings can travel across categories and retail channels.
For more about the growth of gift books in the gift retail space, click through to pages 38-39 in the March/April issue of Progressive Gifts & Home.
Ian Downes, Start Licensing
07776 228454 | twitter.com/StartLicensing
Top: Ian Downes runs Start Licensing, an independent brand licensing agency.
