They fed coins into arcade machines. They queued around the block for home console launches. They stayed up until 2AM navigating pixelated worlds their parents didn’t understand. And now – 40-something years later, financially established and deeply nostalgic – they’re one of the most commercially interesting demographics in consumer products licensing. The question is whether the industry is ready to meet them…

The Original Gamer Demographic
Speak to any consumer products partner active in the category and they’ll quickly tell you the same thing: nostalgia sells particularly well during periods of geopolitical uncertainty and gaming is proving to be a rich vein to tap. Nintendo, SEGA, PAC-MAN, Atari and Tetris, to name just a few, all maintain robust consumer products programmes

“For too long, gaming IP has been treated as a subsection of entertainment – junior to film and TV, useful but not essential.”

By tapping into the ‘Original Gamer’ demographic – the first generation to grow up with arcade machines and home consoles – brands have unlocked creative applications across the Home and Gift categories. Replica arcade machines, desk toys, whisky decanters, tableware and ambient lighting now grace the homes and offices of fans worldwide. In many ways, these products function less like toys and more like cultural artefacts – physical expressions of a formative experience.

Matt Precious from pop culture licensee Rubber Road explains: “The key is giving fans new ways to celebrate those properties beyond simply replaying the games. Collectability and authenticity are major drivers for this audience. At Numskull Designs we’ve leaned into that with ranges like TUBBZ, which reimagines iconic gaming characters as collectible rubber ducks, and Quarter Arcades, which faithfully recreates classic arcade machines at ¼ scale. Both ranges tap directly into the nostalgia and display culture around retro gaming, allowing fans to celebrate the franchises they love in a way that fits modern collector culture.”

So, What’s Holding it Back?
When you consider the combined weight of classic and modern gaming IP, a question quickly emerges: is the video games genre getting its fair share of licensed revenue compared with the entertainment powerhouses of film and TV? The simple answer is probably not.

Jen Donahoe, Chief Strategist at Jade Inferno Consulting, identifies the structural challenge clearly, telling me: “One of the difficulties with video game IP in consumer products is audience fragmentation. Many core titles skew male, 18 to 35 – older than traditional toy and gift demographics. Regional variation adds another layer of complexity – League of Legends commands vastly different cultural weight in Asia versus North America. Where kid-oriented IP like Mario crosses over cleanly, you see real licensing momentum. The broader opportunity, though, lies in understanding that gaming audiences don’t just want to replay their favourite titles. They want to own a piece of them.”

That last point is key. For many video game publishers, licensing revenues represent a drop in the ocean compared with the billions generated by game sales, digital distribution and live-service ecosystems. The core business dominates the conversation, and consumer products rarely make it to the top of the agenda.

But when executed thoughtfully, consumer products licensing provides an opportunity to engage fan communities in deeper and more meaningful ways, protect trademarks through active product ranges, and generate healthy downstream revenues. In its absence, those revenues risk being redirected toward unofficial fan-created products on platforms such as Etsy, Temu and AliExpress.

The smarter gaming rights holders are already adapting. Emmanuelle Cadet, Head of Brand Licensing EMEA for SEGA, outlines their approach: “At SEGA, we have adopted a transmedia approach, redefining the possibilities of video game franchises in the broader entertainment spectrum. We have brought beloved IP like Sonic the Hedgehog to new audiences through a variety of formats and platforms – films, animation, live experiences, merchandise and collaborations with brands and creators. To engage new fans without alienating our core, we create a very different range of products, content and experiences – while holding in common the storytelling, innovation and community engagement that defines the franchise.”

That transmedia thinking – storytelling at the centre, products and experiences radiating outward – is exactly the model that has driven the most successful entertainment licensing programmes of the last three decades. The question is how quickly the rest of the industry catches up.

For too long, gaming IP has been treated as a subsection of entertainment – junior to film and TV, useful but not essential. That’s the wrong frame entirely. The first generation raised on video games isn’t consuming gaming nostalgia passively. They’re furnishing their homes with it, collecting it, and handing it to their children. The IP they grew up with isn’t retro. To them, it’s foundational.

The businesses that figure that out first won’t just be riding a nostalgia wave. They’ll be building the next major licensing category from the ground up. The original gamers aren’t coming. They’re already here. The only question is whether the industry is ready to meet them on their terms and expectations.

The post The ‘Original Gamers’ are coming of age… Is the licensing industry ready to play? appeared first on Brands Untapped.

During his time at Lucasfilm and as President of Lucas Licensing, Howard helped transform Star Wars from a successful film franchise into a global cultural and commercial phenomenon. Through a deep understanding of storytelling, fans and long-term brand stewardship, he pioneered many of the strategies that now underpin franchise management across film, publishing, gaming and consumer products.

In this conversation with Paul Bufton – Founder of Licensed Ltd and a long-time licensing executive who has worked across franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Jurassic and Minions – Howard reflects on his remarkable journey from young attorney to one of the most influential figures in the history of licensing. He shares insights on fandom, creativity and the delicate balance between commercial opportunity and protecting the integrity of an iconic brand.

Paul Bufton, Founder, Licensed Ltd: Howard, it’s great to be able to catch up with you for this. The work that you and George Lucas did effectively brought licensing as we know it into the modern era – and delivered it at a scale that was unforeseen at the time. How did you first come into contact with George – and how did that relationship evolve to you working together?
Howard Roffman, Former President of Lucas Licensing: I was a young attorney practicing at a big law firm in Washington, D.C. I’d been there for two years, and I wasn’t very happy. It just wasn’t the life for me. Fortunately, I’d made a number of friends in Washington and one of them, Lester Hyman, was a very well-connected attorney. A year earlier in 1979, a good friend of his had been hired as the general counsel at Lucasfilm – which was still a very young company – and she was looking for an associate. She wanted somebody who didn’t have an entertainment law background, who could bring a fresh perspective, and she asked Lester for recommendations. He recommended me.

And were you aware of George at that time?
Yes, I was familiar with George from American Graffiti and Star Wars. Remember, this was a couple months before Empire Strikes Back came out. It’s funny because a lot of my friends – and my father – were saying: “How do you know this movie’s not going to bomb? Why would you leave a good job at a law firm and go do a cockamamie thing like this?” But all my instincts told me to take the job. So I did. I started the week that the Empire Strikes Back came out. Luckily it wasn’t a bomb!

What were those first few months like at Lucasfilm?
Well, Empire came out at the end of May, and by December George had decided to fire the president and consolidate everything up where he had his production base in Northern California. Before that our corporate offices were in L.A., where I worked.  George told the new president to eliminate as much redundancy as he could in the consolidation, which ultimately meant cutting about half the L.A. staff. My boss was one of the ones cut, so I got pulled into the transition team as the last in-house lawyer standing, which meant I was suddenly integrated into the senior management of the company.

That gave me a lot of exposure to George, and we just formed a friendship and a bond. Not that long after that, I became general counsel – which I was vastly under-qualified to do. It was an exciting time, but after a few years, I realised I didn’t want to stay in the law forever. I really wanted to be running a business. I made that known to George and the company president and actually went about hiring my successor in the hope that eventually they could move me somewhere else.

And this paved the way to you entering licensing?

Yes. If you remember, after Return of the Jedi, sales of Star Wars merchandise went into a pretty severe decline. George tried to prop things up with a couple of animated series for ABC Morning TV but that didn’t work. The writing was on the wall in terms of the business being in the distress and, sadly, it reached the point where we had to lay off pretty much our entire licensing team – including the Head of Licensing.

And that was exactly the moment when our president came to me and said: “How would you like to run licensing?” Some timing, huh? It was another one of those moments where a lot of people were telling me: “Don’t do it! The business is in trouble! They’re setting you up!” I’m a realist, but I’m an optimist too. I usually don’t like taking advice from cynical people and, luckily, I didn’t in this case. I felt this was the opportunity I’d been waiting for, so I took it.

Amazing. And was it as much of a challenge as they warned you it’d be?
It was a real struggle in the beginning. I didn’t have a huge amount of experience in consumer products, and the industry was not looking favourably on Star Wars at that point. In their minds, it had its moment in the sun and everyone had moved on to the next thing.

Were there any licensing programmes you looked up to or admired back then?
Disney was a very important model, though not a perfect one for Star Wars. Another model that influenced me a lot was Looney Tunes, which had grown long in the tooth before Warner Brothers hired Dan Romanelli to come in and breathe a whole new life into the franchise. Dan made it much more contemporary while still leaning into its iconic nature. He allowed a lot of different design modifications and made Looney Tunes cool again. I paid attention to what Dan and Disney were doing and found them both very inspiring.

What strategies did you deploy to breathe life back into the Star Wars licensing programme?
Well, at first there was a little bit of gobbling up the low-hanging fruit. We had never done a role-playing game. It was obvious that we didn’t need new entertainment to sustain that, so we went out to a lot of the role-playing game companies and wound up giving the licence to a smaller one, but who we thought would really give it their all. And they did! West End Games did a great job with it.

Beyond that, my initial instinct was to just go out and sell the crap out of Star Wars and hope I could get at least some products back on the shelves. It wasn’t terribly strategic, but I wanted to deliver quick results. I wanted to show George the money, as they say.  And I couldn’t have been more wrong. I did a lot of surveying, talking to retailers, former licensees, taking the temperature – and it was a pretty bleak picture, to be honest. They all told me, in one way or another, that Star Wars was dead.

Oh!
That was the message I had to take back to George. I thought he was going to fire me on the spot! But he didn’t.  I had a great conversation with him where he basically said: “It’s not dead, it’s just sleeping – and it’s okay to let it rest because there’s still a future for it.” He always held out the prospect that he would make more movies, but he wasn’t committed to it at that point. He was still kind of recovering from the first trilogy and what that did to his life. He said: “Look at Disney. They reissue their classic films every seven years and that works great for them. We can probably do something like that with Star Wars.” That was the paradigm shift for me. He was essentially telling me I needed to start thinking more long-term. I needed to convince people to see Star Wars as more of a ‘day in, day out’ brand. But, clearly, that wasn’t going to happen overnight. First, it had to start proving itself in different areas.

And which area did you tackle first?
Publishing. I didn’t have the power to go out and make another movie. Only George could do that. I couldn’t make a TV series either.  So what could I do? And that’s when I started thinking: All the new kids don’t really know Star Wars. They’re watching Masters of the Universe.  But the kids that grew up with the first trilogy aren’t kids anymore. They’re at a different point in their life. What might interest them?  And I got to thinking: Star Wars was a saga – a sprawling, mythological story. And there were clearly many, many more stories yet to be told.

So we thought: what if we got great science fiction writers to write new fiction in the Star Wars universe? We could do that for minimal investment and see if there’s an appetite for it. So I went to George to see how he felt about the idea. Now, George is very much a ‘show me’ kind of guy, and he was appropriately sceptical. “You can try it,” he said, “but it’s probably not going to work. The first one will sell like hot cakes because everybody’s going to think that it’s the next Star Wars movie… But when they realise it’s not, then who knows!” Luckily, he gave me enough rope to go out there and do it!

And what was your brief to the writers?
Well, we agreed to some ground rules. George was okay with setting the new stories after Return of the Jedi, but anything before A New Hope was off limits. He said: “You cannot tell the story of the prequels because if I make more movies, that’s where I’m gonna go.” He also told us not to kill off any of the main characters. But that was it, because at that point, he was focused on other things. He made Willow and Tucker and was off doing his own thing, with the prequels ruminating in his head.

So off we went to find a publisher. It was really interesting. Ballantine Books had a deep legacy with the franchise and a right of first negotiation on any spin-off books, but thanks to a nasty personality clash inside the company at the time, they turned down the opportunity. We were pretty surprised because it meant they lost their lock on future Star Wars rights.

We wound up making a deal with Bantam Books, thanks to the tenacity and vision of a really wonderful guy there named Lou Aronica. And boy did he deliver! Lou brought in Timothy Zahn, which lead to Heir to the Empire and the first ever Star Wars trilogy told through books.  To our very pleasant surprise, Heir to the Empire hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list. We’d been cautiously hoping that it might sell well for a science fiction book, but here it was, performing like popular fiction.

I remember the launch, Howard. It was incredible.
You were still a child, right?

Barely!
Had you graduated high school yet?

I had and was already at university – it seemed as if every bookstore window was dedicated to Heir of the Empire. Did George read the first draft and provide notes?
No, he did not want to get in the weeds on that. He trusted me. As long as we stuck to the rules he laid down, he was okay with it. Obviously, none of us knew how big it was going to get at that point. Once we saw there was really a market for this, then we started calling it ‘the expanded universe’ and laid down a real set of rules so there would be continuity. And those rules would be sacrosanct across all the different things we did in the expanded universe – comics, video games, all the various forms of storytelling. They all had to have an internal integrity, because without that it was just going to fall apart and wouldn’t be respected by fans.

If we look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe or The Wizarding World of Harry Potter… I wonder if Star Wars was really the first iteration of a major movie franchise that had an expanded universe?
The only thing I’m aware of that is analogous, although not perfectly analogous, is Star Trek. Star Trek had a series of spin-off novels. Obviously, Star Trek wasn’t really driven by films, and it wasn’t a consumer products franchise in the way of Star Wars. It was much more esoteric. And a lot less focused on continuity.

Let’s talk fans! You have a clear understanding, affinity and respect for fans. How did you establish a way to listen to fans and to take on board their feedback?
Look, when it comes to fans, one of the biggest mistakes people make – and I’ve seen this over and over again with Star Wars, especially in the modern day – is to lump all fans in together as if they are some sort of monolithic entity and you’re either pleasing them or displeasing them. That’s simply not true. Fandom is like a pyramid. At the base – the broadest part – are people that have a fairly casual connection to the property. As you go up in terms of fanaticism, which is where the word “fan” derives from, it gets narrower and narrower.

The tip – core fans –  are a fairly small group. They’re people who obsess over the minutia. They can tell you everything that happened in every book and TV episode and video game. And, if you’re trying to make those guys happy with everything you do, you’re in for trouble. They’re very opinionated, they don’t all agree with each other, and you cannot take direction from them. Yes, it’s really important to understand their headspace and to communicate with them. They’re critically important members of the whole Star Wars ecosystem. But if you see yourself as beholden to them, you’ll be paralyzed.

From your experience, and looking at other franchises, do you think it’s possible to lose the trust of fans? And if so, do you think it is possible to regain the trust of fans by course correcting within a major franchise?
One of the things that’s important about major franchises is that they’re long-term. The more generation-spanning they are, the broader the fandom and the more entry points you have. The generation that came in with the original trilogy grew up in a particular moment in history that has its own set of realities and assumptions. Their children came in at a different point – the prequels – and they related to those films differently than a lot of people from that original Star Wars generation.  That’s part of what a long-term relationship entails, and I would submit that gaining, losing and regaining trust in long-term relationships is always possible.

With Star Wars, there were some key moments that – from a fan trust point of view – were fraught. One of those was the transition from the first trilogy to the second trilogy. There’s a generation that fell in love with Star Wars because of what that first trilogy was. That story and those characters became so familiar and comforting to them. It was almost sacred in a lot of ways. George then waited more than a decade before setting out to make a new trilogy set a generation before the first trilogy.

That presented him with a fundamental issue. Everything about the first trilogy was unique to the story that he was telling in those films and the period of time that he was covering in Star Wars history. It had its own shop-worn world. When you go 30 years before that, you’re not the same period of history. The context is different, the vehicles are different, the buildings are different, the clothes are different.  Things have to look and feel different and that freaked out a lot of the people who had these warm and fuzzy associations with the original trilogy. ‘Where are my X-Wings? Where are my TIE Fighters?’

You could argue that the creative choices George made for the prequels broke trust with some of the original fans, but the reality is that George had a very good reason for what he was doing. He knew exactly the story he wanted to tell and why. He knew the emotions he wanted to tap and the lessons he wanted to impart. Even if you quibble with how good the prequels were from a filmmaking point of view, the fact is they told a coherent and powerful story that fit beautifully into the broader Star Wars Saga and captured the hearts and minds of the generation that was growing up at that point.

Absolutely, which brings us to the recent trilogy and questions of how the modern audience connected with that.
Let’s be honest, Paul. It’s still too early to know who really got captured by this last trilogy, let alone how deeply, and how that connection, however strong or weak it is, will stand the test of time. Obviously, it’s been pretty universally criticized for not telling a coherent, well-thought-through story. I think it also stands as an example of why pleasing ‘the fans’ can be a very fraught proposition.

George always said: ‘The fans aren’t making these movies. I’m making them.’ He did that because he had a clear vision and the creative integrity to stay the course. In 2012 he sells the company to Disney and relinquishes creative control. It passes to a corporation – a great company, mind you, but lacking that unique vision, insight and chutzpa of George Lucas. Their executives all hailed from the original generation, so, not surprisingly, their strategy was essentially to give ‘the fans’ something they believed those ‘fans’ wanted – something familiar, something that felt like the originals.

And there you run the risk of the recent trilogy being too derivative of the classic trilogy.
Oh, you think those movies were derivative?

Ha! And sticking with fandom, when you were doing the role, were you a Star Wars fan – and did that matter?
THX 1138 didn’t register with me at the time, but I was a huge fan of American Graffiti. I saw that movie and it touched me pretty deeply, so I knew straight away George Lucas was a very special filmmaker. When I went to see Star Wars for the first time, it was the worst experience! We got there late for the matinee, thinking the theatre would be empty – but it was packed with kids and we had to sit in the first row. It was like looking up the side of a huge building! And the kids did not stop screaming from the first frame of that movie, so I really didn’t know what the hell was going on!

It wasn’t until Empire that I got the message. The premiere was a benefit for the Special Olympics and I was lucky enough to attend. I watched that movie and it just blew me away. It was so smart and moving and deep. When I started work a couple of week later, I realized we had a screening room and I said: “I’ve got to see the first Star Wars again.” They screened the movie for me and – finally! – I got it.

My love for Star Wars was there, but it wasn’t born from fanaticism. Star Wars just resonated with me and I cared deeply about it. Honestly, I don’t see how you can do the job I did without having a deep connection to and understanding of the IP that you’re representing. If you don’t have that, then you have no business being in that role. But on the other side of that coin, if you’re so fanatical that you lose perspective or objectivity, then you’re equally dangerous.

Was there a moment during your time working on Star Wars when protecting the brand meant turning down a very large commercial opportunity?
We were approached all the time by liquor companies, but we knew we weren’t going to license that. For a long time, gambling was off the table too, but by the mid-200’s, we decided that was okay to do because adults would understand and enjoy the connection and it would be inaccessible to kids. So we briefly had Star Wars slot machines that were quite successful. That all got swept away once we were acquired by Disney because Disney was not having any of it!

Going back to George, was there anything about being around someone like him that rubbed off on you in terms of your creativity?
Tons of things. He was and is a very inspiring guy. He’s values-driven, in the sense of promoting human values and a value system. He thinks very seriously about the messages his films convey. He has an enormous intellectual curiosity and a real love of history, which drove him to look at things like mythology and real historical events to inform what he was doing in Star Wars. He’s always been a compulsive documentary watcher. He was fascinated by World War II and the rise of authoritarian regimes. He knew that one of the ways to make Star Wars believable was to ground it in what we have seen time and again through human history about how dictators come into power – and what it takes to bring about their downfall. And that’s why it resonates.

Last question! Throughout your career with Lucasfilm, what was the one thing you’re most proud of?
There are many things I’m proud of, happy with or honoured to have been a part of. In terms of my licensing achievements, the proudest achievement was forging the LEGO Star Wars partnership. That was something I’d wanted to do for a long time – and for a long time it was the impossible dream, because LEGO was so conservative. Their whole philosophy was about generic real-life themes like cities and firemen. The idea of licensing felt risky and short term and they weren’t about that. But there came a point where the old model wasn’t serving them too well and their American management began trying to persuade their colleagues in Billund that it was time to dip a toe into licensing.

That push came at a good time – a couple of years before the launch of the prequels – and LEGO identified two brands that could potentially work for them because of their longevity: Star Wars and Disney. Putting Star Wars and LEGO together turned out to be beyond anybody’s expectations – it was just magical. And the good news was that both companies understood how to manage it, understood the unique personality of each brand and what that looked like when both were combined. It was like mixing chocolate and peanut butter; two things that are great in their own, but when you put them together, it’s also great, but in its own unique way. It took a certain sensibility to do that and I’m really happy with the way it turned out.

Howard, this has been great. A huge thanks again for taking the time to chat.

The post Guardian of the Galaxy: Howard Roffman on George Lucas, Star Wars and the art of protecting a franchise appeared first on Brands Untapped.

Since the dawn of modern fandom, licensing and merchandising have evolved from pure revenue drivers into fully-fledged engagement ecosystems. The model – often visualised as concentric circles radiating from the passionate superfan at the centre – reminds IP owners that nurturing the core keeps the whole community alive. Take care of your superfans, and the rest will follow, as each layer aspires to that ambassadorial status.

But superfans aren’t just consumers; they’re collaborators. As active participants in a franchise’s trajectory, they help sustain enthusiasm across the wider fanbase through their creative output, shared expertise and social energy.

Creative output is the purest expression of fandom. Visit any convention and you’ll find artists and custom action-figure makers selling their creations to fellow fans. Fan fiction, meanwhile, has long expanded fictional universes and given a voice to under-represented communities. This creative output naturally leads to commercial expression – the moment when fandom and entrepreneurship collide.

“As fandom fragments into smaller, more passionate factions, products and experiences become ever more powerful touchpoints.”

Pivot to the live-music scene and you’ll find a parallel story. Driven by rising ticket prices and reduced accessibility, tribute bands have never been more popular – and many even sell their own increasingly sophisticated merch at gigs.

Which raises an important question: how can fan creators generate revenue from their passion, while respecting and protecting the IP of brand owners? Some entertainment companies already manage this balance carefully.

Within the Star Wars universe, Lucasfilm and Disney have established clear guidelines to support fans while maintaining control of their IP and trademarks. Fan films, videos, and artwork are permitted provided they are non-commercial and clearly marked as ‘fan-made.’ Logos, character likenesses, or anything implying official endorsement remain strictly off-limits. Cosplay communities are likewise encouraged to thrive – so long as they stay true to these same guardrails.

Few have embraced fan-driven commerce more wholeheartedly than The Grateful Dead. Since the 1960s, fans have travelled with the band on tour by creating and selling handmade merchandise. Today, that grassroots spirit lives on through Shakedown Street – an organised marketplace at every show – where some vendors have even become official licensees, gaining the benefits of formal brand association.

As fandom fragments into smaller, more passionate factions, products and experiences become ever more powerful touchpoints. Here’s how rights owners can support fan commerce while protecting their IP:

• Enable micro-licensing: Allow limited fan production (up to X units) under clear rules to unleash creativity and extend reach with minimal risk.
• Publish transparent guidelines: Make fan-merch rules public to avoid ambiguity and build trust.
• Protect brand integrity: Enforce caps, disclaimers and design standards so fan products complement rather than compete.
• Leverage community energy: Empower fans as micro-licensees and advocates – building authenticity, loyalty and long-term engagement.
• Introduce tiered models: Offer a step-up path from non-commercial fan creation to formal licensing as projects scale.

Ignoring or policing the issue isn’t a solution. The future of brand engagement will be defined by a simple truth: by the fans, for the fans.

The post By the Fans, For the Fans… appeared first on Brands Untapped.

I’d visited once before, back in 2007 – a fleeting trip with an apparel licensee, whizzing through Shenzhen to the outskirts of Guangzhou to inspect factories. It was thrilling to cross the land border and pass from a small cluster of skyscrapers into the countryside, but I was struck by the chaotic rural life and the casual approach to worker health and safety.

Fast-forward to 2025 and my earlier impressions now feel like snapshots from another era. In many ways, that experience symbolises how dramatically China has evolved – moving swiftly from market imitation to category innovation, and now to the threshold of global leadership.

Before fully appreciating everything China has become, I first had to unlearn the biases – both conscious and unconscious – shaped by headlines portraying it as a geopolitical threat.

From the outside, China is viewed through a prism of admiration and anxiety: an awe-inspiring economic powerhouse that simultaneously challenges Western ideas about democracy, privacy and progress.

Headlines celebrate its speed and scale – the AI breakthroughs, the EV revolution, the seamless digital ecosystems – but they’re often tempered by caveats about surveillance, state control or rivalry. It’s a narrative of power and caution in equal measure.

What’s missing from those narratives is the nuance – the quiet coexistence of old and new, of heritage and high tech, that you feel so powerfully when you’re there. The temples beside data centres. The visitors to the Forbidden City dressed in imperial cosplay. The belief that progress and tradition don’t compete – they complete each other.

Symbolised by the dragon and phoenix, by yin and yang, it’s this ability to embrace contradictions comfortably that makes China so compelling – and so difficult to define through a Western lens that seeks to compartmentalise.

For those of us in branding, retail and consumer insight, understanding that duality is essential. Because the future of global markets may well be written in the same language: a fusion of culture, technology, and emotion.

China’s Culture of Comfortable Contradiction
One of the most striking takeaways from my recent trip was how effortlessly China embraces contradiction.

You see it everywhere: cutting-edge AI powering hyper-efficient cities just streets away from temples where incense burns as it has for centuries. A generation fluent in Douyin – the local version of TikTok – still gathers with family at tiny restaurants tucked away in Beijing’s hutongs.

Rather than seeing these contrasts as tension, China treats them as harmony – an ecosystem where tradition and innovation co-exist and strengthen each other. It arguably even fuels the country’s relentless 9-9-6 work ethic – 9am to 9pm, six days a week.

Colour and symbolism are everywhere, offering outsiders a glimpse into the cultural code. Red signifies luck; yellow, imperial power; blue, heaven. A square represents the Earth, a circle the sky. Centrality equates to prosperity – a concept that resonates when governing 1.4 billion people. Even the iconic lion embodies this duality – its open mouth attracts fortune, while its rounded form retains wealth.

“Across culture, technology, and retail, one theme runs through everything I saw in China: integration.”

In youth culture, Beijing and Shenzhen buzz with energy – young people defining their own subcultures. Western influences are evident in fashion, music and media. Luxury brands abound, Wednesday-inspired goth fashion has a following, and while tattoos and piercings are less common than in the West, some embrace edgier styles.

Yet what’s most striking is that, unlike in many other markets, Chinese youth aren’t rejecting their parents’ values. They’re blending modern expression with deep-rooted respect – for elders, for study and for success.

For brands, it’s a powerful reminder: the future of relevance isn’t about choosing between old and new – it’s about finding meaning in both. On the final day of my trip, as I shared reflections on Chinese culture, one of our wonderful hosts leaned in and said: “I’m fascinated by what fascinates you about us.”

Groundbreaking High Tech
If there’s one word that defines China’s relationship with technology, it’s acceleration.

The central focus of our trip was to witness first-hand the rapid deployment of high tech across every sector. ‘Technology is the answer’ was a recurring theme from the executives we met – whether in the development of humanoid robotics to address an ageing population, the infusion of AI to improve convenience and reduce congestion, or – more surprisingly, given Western media narratives – the green revolution and electrification of transport. The impact is visible and tangible in daily life.

Robots in manufacturing and service industries aren’t unique to China, but the nation’s push into humanoid robotics is starting to pay off. According to the team at Astribot, widespread deployment remains a few years away – likely around 2030 – as the processing power and actuators required for natural human movement near readiness.

Equally striking was the rapid electrification of China’s roads. Supported by strong government incentives, the automotive industry has produced an unprecedented wave of electric vehicles. Unlike many overseas competitors, Chinese EVs combine digital lifestyle integration, premiumisation, and affordability – appealing even to the most sceptical petrolheads.

The specs of Xiaomi’s new SU7 Ultra are astonishing: 0 to 100 km/h in 1.98 seconds, 1,548 bhp, a 620 km range, and a 15-minute full charge – all at the price of a standard European model. It’s no wonder BYD is now the fastest-growing car brand in the UK.

Meanwhile, progress in Low Altitude Mobility – once pure science fiction – is fast becoming reality. Our visit to eHang showcased the future of autonomous passenger drones. Imagine skipping the Uber from Heathrow to central London and gliding above the traffic instead. The Chinese Civil Aviation Authority and eHang are already rewriting the rulebook to bring this vision to life for both people and cargo.

And then there’s AI – the great enabler of this high-tech revolution. Across China, AI isn’t futuristic; it’s everyday. Palm payments, AI customer service agents, autonomous delivery vehicles – all operating at scale, not in pilot mode. AI teaching assistants mark homework and identify classroom-wide learning gaps. Smart traffic systems anticipate congestion after major public events. Financial services giant Ping An uses AI agents in human form to process car insurance claims – reducing average payout times to just 25 minutes.

What stood out most wasn’t just the pace of adoption, but the mindset behind it. Innovation isn’t seen as disruption – it’s progress through integration, designed for the betterment of society. Data, design, and decision-making operate in harmony, powered by a national ambition to lead, not follow.

For brands, it’s a glimpse of the future: a market where consumers expect technology to anticipate their needs, personalise their experiences, and remove friction from everyday life. It left me wondering – how long before this becomes the global standard for convenience and connection?

Hyper-Consumer-Centric Retail: Where Data Meets Desire
If technology is China’s engine, the consumer is its compass. Every interaction – online, in-store, or in the metaverse – is shaped around the individual. The integration between physical and digital retail isn’t a buzzword here; it’s reality. From flagship stores in Beijing to the street markets of Shenzhen, service and convenience are the twin pillars of this market economy.

Take, for example, the beautiful and deliberate emptiness of the Canada Goose and Gentle Monster stores. Their museum-like interiors and attentive service elevate status to experience. At Canada Goose, customers can even test new coats inside a sub-zero snow room to feel the performance first-hand.

Every brand-worthy store extends its experience into café culture – a coffee, tea, or juice bar attached to the retail space. You want to wear the brand and also eat and drink it too. This segues perfectly into the world of collaborations.

China feels like the epicentre of brands and experiences colliding. Local brands team up with Western partners (Expensive Taste × Saucony); fashion retailers link with bars and restaurants (Bape × Commune); and digital-only Luckin Coffee celebrates Tencent’s Honor of Kings – the world’s highest-grossing mobile game – with a limited-edition release.

These collaborations are part of a relentless experimentation cycle designed to surprise and delight consumers in the never-ending quest to cut through the noise.

China’s mobile commerce ecosystem is dominated by two super apps – Alipay (Alibaba) and WeChat (Tencent) – enabling an almost cashless existence. Within them, mini-apps power everything: transport, translation, loans, utilities, groceries and food delivery – a one-stop digital life.

My personal highlight was experiencing drone delivery in Shenzhen via Meituan. With a tap, I ordered food that was airlifted from the store and delivered to a nearby kiosk within minutes. The drone landed on the roof, unloaded my order, and I retrieved it by scanning a code. A modern marvel – convenience literally taking flight.

The lesson for global brands? Convenience alone isn’t enough. Consumers want relevance, recognition, and reward – all in real time.

China shows how insight-led design and agile retail ecosystems can transform data into desire. It’s both inspiring – and a little humbling – to see how far ahead some of these models already are.

The Future in Balance
Across culture, technology, and retail, one theme runs through everything I saw in China: integration. Tradition with innovation. Data with emotion. Speed with purpose.

It’s easy to view China through the lens of rivalry or difference, but spending time there changes that perspective. What emerges is a vision of progress that isn’t about competing systems – it’s about complementary strengths.

China shows what’s possible when ambition and scale align. The West brings creativity, ethics and open debate. If those forces ever truly met – speed with safeguards, pragmatism with principles – the outcome wouldn’t just be better business. It would be a better world.

Because the future doesn’t belong to one culture or another – it belongs to collaboration.

The post Harmony in motion: China and the future of innovation appeared first on Brands Untapped.

We’ve seen some interesting collabs this year in the sports nutrition space, like Deadpool x Myprotein and Optimum Nutrition’s relationship with Lauren James of Chelsea and England fame. It’s clear this will continue to evolve and grow with increased participation in sport and more education about nutrition and its long-term benefits.

From a mental health point of view, Calm has been groundbreaking in their approach to partnerships thanks to the positive influence of its founder Michael Acton-Smith and the recent on-boarding of industry legend Joe Lawson. One of my favourite activations was the partnership with Mars on their pet food brands, reinforcing the connection between good mental health and pet ownership.

In terms of the future, and as I gaze into my crystal ball, I’m getting a sense that wellness will also extend into a more spiritual place. There’s an increasing interest – especially in the younger generations – in crystal healing, sound baths, tarot and manifesting one’s destiny… It’s only a matter of time before this becomes more of a mainstream trend and you heard it first from Psychic Paul!

Ian Downes, Director, Start Licensing
I think there’s a growing movement towards authenticity in licensing generally and design. There’s greater recognition that products and design that are closely aligned to the featured IP will perform better. This manifests in a range of ways, including use of specific design assets and images, right through to companies researching brands more forensically to identify details that make a finished product more authentic. This all plays into a recognition that licensed products can help tell brand stories and enhance the fan experience.

And looking at Q4, I would highlight the food and drink category. There are seemingly more interesting licensing-led collaborations in the sector and Christmas is always important for the composite gift category, where brands like Costa Coffee feature. There’s also a boost for classic products like chocolate advent calendars – this year M&S launched a Wallace & Gromit Advent Calendar for example.

Beyond this, we’re increasingly seeing engaging FMCG products forged from a licensing starting point. A good example of this is the recent partnership between drinks brand Bailey’s and Terry’s Chocolate Orange – the resulting product seems to be a most apt one for seasonal celebrations. One of the explanations for the increase in licensing ‘collabs’ in FMCG is that they deliver quicker NPD and innovation, plus provide lots of ammunition for engaging social media content.

Tim Collins, MD, The Brand Director
This year, I loved the LEGO Botanicals range. It’s a complete contrast to their more typical product themes and something that taps into a largely adult female customer group that would probably not buy into their usual fare.

Trend-wise, I also see the onward growth of motorsports licensing, especially in F1. McLaren have done a great job with their collaborations with the likes of Puma, Reiss and Levi’s, and Williams have done well with fashion and LEGO products. This shows the sport leaning into fashion, rather than the more typical teamwear products.

Looking ahead to Q4, I’d spotlight seasonal and fun products. Life is challenging for most of us and we all need cheering up at an accessible price point. Primark seem to be really good at this. Halloween also still appears to be massive and I think licensors need to be more creative with designs that maximise those social media moments.

Ben Townsend, Product Development Executive, Aardman
There are a few trends that come to mind, but the one that really stands out to me is the reimagining of classic brands to reach entirely new audiences.

While in Florida for my honeymoon this year, I was struck by how many vintage – and often quite niche – Disney characters had been revived through bold, distinctive design choices. It felt like a renaissance for these legacy IPs, transforming them from ‘vintage’ into modern pop-culture icons. The styling was so strong that I found myself buying shirts featuring characters I didn’t even recognise, simply because the designs were fun, fresh and visually compelling. This trend speaks to the power of design in reshaping perception and focusing on the emotional engagement. It’s not just about nostalgia anymore – it’s about reinvention and image for a whole new audience.

2025 has also marked a cultural high point for Asian-led consumer products – both in terms of distinctive style and the variety of offerings. Labubu continues to thrive, and I believe plush keyrings will be Q4’s standout seller. The trend has swept the market, with many brands attempting to emulate Labubu’s success, and there’s strong potential for festive season sales to surge.

Building on this momentum, blind boxes are another format gaining lots of traction across multiple retailers in the UK. They tap into the excitement of collectability and mystery, which resonates strongly with today’s consumers.

Lastly, in the context of the cost-of-living crisis, we’re seeing a renewed appetite for nostalgia and comfort. Classic brands are being reinterpreted as pop culture icons, reaching new audiences and offering a sense of familiarity in uncertain times.

The post Talking Brands: Industry figures discuss 2025 trends and Q4 predictions appeared first on Brands Untapped.

All in all, it was a great show, and you can cover a lot of ground in a short period of time. The attendance was high, but most importantly the calibre of attendee was strong. Maybe it’s a side effect of the overall global economy as everyone I spoke to was clear about their goals for the show. They knew who they wanted to connect with and why. Now Licensing Expo has never been a trade show in the traditional sense – products displayed, customers shopping, orders being written, etc – but this year deals were getting done because everyone valued the time and financials commitments of exhibitors and attendees alike.

So, as I walked the show and caught up with colleagues, collaborators, and clients I always asked the same three questions:
A. How are you?
B. How’s business?
C. And, what have you seen that’s really interesting…?

Based on feedback from these conversations my own observations, here are a few of my takeaways.

Firstly, don’t pay any heed to the doomsayers, the licensing industry is booming! The show was busy, busy, busy and the showcases from the major studios were packed to the rafters. (One small note to my friends and former colleagues studio-side – please… a) don’t hold back your really good stuff until right before the end, because b) folks are going to leave 30 mins before the next showcase starts to get in line. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is…).

And while I can’t talk to the content of the showcases (all attendees are under an iron-clad NDA) it’s interesting to note the variability in terms of the timelines presented. One of the inherent challenges of the licensing game is time. Put plainly, from the point of view of a prospective licensee, if you can’t give them a long enough lead time for your plans, you’re significantly limiting the opportunity. That said, the showcases are also intended to reinforce confidence and strength – and considering the high production values and calibre of presenters, the studios are feeling bullish!

Changing gear to trends, both Cute Core and Horror Core are popping crossover genres. Everyone I spoke to was buzzing about Labubu – and you just have to read the headlines to see the craze that’s sweeping the world. Relatedly, I also shopped the new collection from Hazbin Hotel in Hot Topic. It highlights a coming of age for licensing in general. Kids and family have always been the drivers, but older teen and adult are catching up fast.

Speaking of which, ‘Newstalgia’ is here to stay as rights owners and content houses double down. Mattel was showcasing the new He-Man movie for 2026 and MGA’s Bratz has launched a teen collection in Hot Topic featuring classic artwork of the girls with a passion for fashion. Again, this just reinforces the relevance of classic IPs finding lucrative consumers who remember them first time around – but also a younger audience fascinated by irony and the discovery of kitsch!

High on the news agenda is the endless rollercoaster ride of rounds and rounds of tariffs. That said, surprisingly tariff-talk was fairly low key – in hindsight maybe everyone just needed some time out. Yes, it’s disruptive and unpredictable to price against, but I was deeply impressed by the agility and solution-based thinking of most domestic licensees I spoke to. No doubt about it, print-on-demand is going to play a key role in the domestic supply chain moving forwards and technology will accelerate to catch up and service more and more categories in the future.

It doesn’t take a genius to conclude that the videogames genre is smashing it in licensing across all demos and has so much more potential. Vast fanbases, deep narratives, relatable characters and endless universes all lend themselves to product innovation and global engagement. The only limiting factor is our own creativity and super-serving fans with products they really want to buy – not just giving them stuff we think they want…

Speaking of growth areas in licensing, sports, music, literary and art are also on the ascendancy. While not as obviously visible at the Expo as other genres, that doesn’t mean the conversations weren’t as meaningful. The players I spoke to in these spaces are re-writing the rule book by investing in tech platforms, experiential retail, on-site event activations and partnerships at a rapidly increasing rate. The quality of partnerships from institutions like The Met and MoMA is defined by their ground-breaking innovation. Couple that with the incredible tech being deployed by teams like Seminal and it’s clear to see art has a very meaningful future in licensing.

Music feels as if it’s also about to finally break-frame with some fantastic new partnerships that defy the expected – think KISS x Dsquared2 – and it also goes to show that persistence pays off in the case of Sleep Token who were the subject of many ‘on the radar’ conversations.

But, of course, none of this would have been possible without the relentless co-ordination and dedication of the teams from Licensing International and Informa Markets. Licensing Expo is the mothership for anyone involved or interested in consumer products – and despite the grumbles about the price of F&B (not sure how much they can influence that) – the show was a roaring success.

One particular shout-out has to go to them for the programme of events showcasing learning and sharing. I managed to squeeze in a couple of sessions, and I was impressed to see full houses on both occasions demonstrating there’s clearly a demand for learning. We’re an industry that thrives on our openness and willingness to educate others and bring them into the fold. Their success is our success after all.

If you attended the show, I hope it was a trip well-made, and you established some fantastic new connections. The follow up list might feel daunting but just remember we do this for a living! By the time we’ve all recovered from the whirlwind of Licensing Expo it will be almost time to step through the doors of Excel for BLE!

The post ‘Newstalgia’, gaming and Labubu… Licensed Ltd’s Paul Bufton shares his Licensing Expo takeaways appeared first on Brands Untapped.

Paul Bufton,

The abundance of brands to license is driven by two factors: a direct response to an overall lack of confidence and slowdown of the powerhouse franchises in recent years, and massive shifts in consumer behaviour and trends.

In the absence of commercial certainty, it’s become clear that licensees and retailers are open to exploring smaller or less established IPs. They’re happy to move out of their traditional entertainment ‘swim lane’ and experiment with increasingly popular areas, like food brands, celebrity, music, sports and video games.

Likewise, consumers are less likely to fall into one of two camps (the age-old Star Wars versus Star Trek debate) and more open to being fans of an entire genre. In doing so, they’re happy to explore increasingly niche aspects that make them feel hyper-connected with a specific IP or community.

From a creative point of view, it’s also worth noting that even with the powerhouse franchises, the output to support licensed partners is changing too. Long gone are the tome-like style guides of the past as licensors develop a more agile strategy driven by seasonality and more regular drops of new material. This, in turn, benefits smaller IP owners as their pipeline produces a more frequent and relevant ‘look and feel’.

That said, one aspect that remains unchanged is demand creation and ensuring that licensees, retailers and consumers want to buy into your property. The delivery methods may have massively diversified, but the impact is still crucial and cut through becomes harder and harder in a noisy marketplace – with multiple IPs vying for attention. This is where innovation plays a key role for brand owners to keep ahead of the pack. Luckily, we have more and more data-driven tools and almost instantaneous feedback from fans that help to guide those rights owners willing to listen.

Gary Pope,
Co-Founder, Kids Industries

I can only really come at this from the position of family-focused entertainment brand, so… It’s never been easier to get your content on a screen, and yet it’s never been harder to acquire an audience – so, yes, there are too many brands available to license.

And because it’s never been easier to get your content on a screen, the world and their partner have piled in and think they might just have the next Bluey. But a few AI-generated videos and a cobbled-together style guide a franchise do not make… Especially in a market as tough as it’s ever been, and one that’s getting tougher each and every day. So yes, there are some brands – most I will say – that aren’t match fit for licensing.

Not every brand is built for licensing, and that’s ok. Some brands are just good stories – and if their creators are paid fairly for their work, that’s all good. The difficult thing is, of course, that increasingly they are not.

But being ‘match fit’ requires more than a good idea and a passable style guide. It means knowing your fandom – who they are, what they want and why they want it. And then it means going beyond those expectations.

What’s needed is more strategic thinking and better nurturing. Sometimes the best opportunities come from identifying the right fit – whether that’s a brand with untapped potential, a specific demographic sweet spot, or assets that naturally lend themselves to product extension. Licensing discipline. Easy to write. Hard to do.

If we want long-term success, the industry needs to be more disciplined. Fewer, better, stronger brands. I guess this is what we call capitalism.

Nic Davies,
Creative Director & Founder, Smart Design Studio

Are there too many brands available to license? Possibly. We’re in an age where just about everything could be a brand. From nostalgic TV shows to novelty condiments, there’s no shortage of logos ready to appear on lunchboxes.

The upside? More creativity, more choice and the chance for unexpected brilliance. The downside? It can start to feel a little crowded. Not every brand is built with long-term licensing in mind, and when too many jump in at once, it can get a bit noisy. That said, it’s not necessarily about quantity – it’s about clarity. The brands that cut through are the ones with a distinct voice, a loyal audience and a clear sense of who they are and what they stand for.

Some brand absolutely aren’t ‘match fit’ for licensing – but that’s not always a criticism.
Some brands are great at being what they are – TV shows, digital content, cult products – but that doesn’t always translate straight into licensed merchandise.

Being ‘match fit’ means having a recognisable tone of voice, knowing your audience and having the kind of storytelling or design language that can live and breathe beyond the core brand. And to be fair, some brands have real potential, they just need a little shaping. With the right creative thinking, the right partners and a clear strategy, they can get there.

Heather Watherston,
Founder & Creative Director, Whiz Kid Games

There are undoubtedly far more brands in the marketplace in 2025 than there were 25 years ago, when I first started exploring licensing during my time at Lagoon. But does more choice always mean better outcomes? Or have we reached a point of diminishing returns? Are all these options making it easier to find something that perfectly suits our needs and preferences – or just adding to the noise, leading to choice overload and even decision paralysis?

From a licensee’s perspective, I don’t believe there are too many brands vying for a slice of the licensing pie. In fact, I believe diversity is a good thing, because everyone approaches licensing with different goals in mind. The variety creates space and choice for everyone.

In the toy market, powerhouse brands like Bluey, Paw Patrol, Lilo & Stitch, major sporting names like UEFA, or blockbuster franchises like Marvel, Star Wars and Disney can dramatically boost sales and command premium pricing. I’ve no doubt, for example, that a partnership between Manchester United and Whiz Kid Games would lead to a significant spike in sales of our Go Genius Football board game. But you don’t have to partner a top-dollar brand to succeed with licensing. Many companies pursue licensing for reasons beyond immediate sales.

At Lagoon, we used licensing to expand our presence in different retail sectors. By launching Roald Dahl and David Walliams game ranges, we tapped into the traditional book market and significantly grew our turnover.

Nostalgia is another powerful tool. Licensing heritage brands, like the Imperial War Museums or Natural History Museum, can reinvigorate existing products. Sometimes, a license simply breathes new life into a product line. Even when I worked at Green Board Games, a company not historically known for licensing, the directors opted for a Disney licence to boost the company’s profile ahead of a sale – positioning themselves alongside the industry’s heavyweights.

But whatever the reason behind it, for a licensing partnership between a manufacturer and brand or IP to truly succeed, the brand must be match-fit. This means finding a brand that aligns well with your existing product range, target audience and overall brand identity. A recognisable name and a slick style guide aren’t enough. A strong licensing deal is built on mutual benefit – shared goals and values between licensor and licensee, whether those are financial, ecological or technological.

So yes, more choice in licensing is welcome, but success lies in strategic alignment. A great licensing deal isn’t just about the logo, it’s about synergy.

The post Talking Brands: Are there too many brands available to license? Are some not ‘match fit’ for licensing? appeared first on Brands Untapped.

Steve McInerny

I loved to get immersed in the whole Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 universe as a kid/teenager. My dad used to take my brother and me to Games Workshop, I’m sure for his own enjoyment as much as ours.

Games Workshop and Warhammer has explored many brand extensions, from vaguely disturbing death metal records to American football for orcs. So, what to suggest? A Farrow and Ball/Citadel Paints interiors paint range containing Orruk Flesh green and Inkubi Darkness? A special edition of Vanish stain remover to get rid of the stains from said Citadel paints and bloodstains from scalpel mishaps when assembling and painting the figures?

I would argue that Warhammer can be inaccessible to younger players because of the high cost of the miniatures, the patience needed to paint them all and then plan your army before a game – not to mention that it can all be a bit serious at times. My suggestion is a simpler version of Warhammer for younger or more casual players, which is faster to pick up but still contains the freedom and detailed world-building of the original. I would replace the custom miniatures with another range of miniatures which most households already have – LEGO minifigures.

This would be a great chance to give that unloved astronaut minifigure a glow up and turn her into a Space Marine, or that Ninjago Warrior into a Daughter of Khaine. I had a look online and see I’m not the first to suggest a Warhammer LEGO range, though as far as I know it’s yet to materialise into any products… While it may have limited commercial benefits initially for Games Workshop as they wouldn’t be making the figures, it’s a step I’d love to see them take to expand their future audience.

Kelly Gunstone,
Licensing & US Business Development Manager, Winning Moves

At Top Trumps, we thrive on epic clashes and trying to beat your opponents in the ultimate battle – no universe delivers battle on a grander scale than Warhammer 40,000. If we had access to the Games Workshop license, we could develop a Warhammer 40,000: Top Trumps Ultimate Battles series… An immersive, collectible range bringing the grim, darkness of the far future to the fast-paced, strategic gameplay of Top Trumps.

Each deck could focus on key factions, including the Imperium of Man, Chaos, Xenos and War Machines, featuring legendary heroes, monstrous warlords and devastating vehicles. Players would compare unique stats such as Battle Prowess, Psychic Might, Firepower, and Tactical Influence, making every matchup feel like a true Warhammer 40K skirmish.

We know that Warhammer fans are dedicated, and special collectible editions could enhance collectability. We could use special foil and limited-edition cards featuring Primarchs, Titans and characters like Abaddon and Guilliman. Expanding on Top Trumps’ classic format, we’d also incorporate Faction Abilities, giving certain cards powerful effects, mirroring their tabletop strengths.

This feels like a perfect gateway product, appealing to both Warhammer veterans and newcomers. It taps into the hobbyist mindset – collecting, comparing and strategising – while offering an accessible, quick-play format. Plus, its impulse-buy appeal makes it ideal for gaming stores, bookstores and major retailers.

Paul Bufton,
Founder & MD, Licensed Ltd

We’re a Games Workshop family – both of my sons played and painted when they were younger. My eldest (now an adult) regularly plays the current video game and recently bought some figures to build and paint as he likes the mindfulness aspect of the activity. I’ve always been in admiration of Games Workshop as not only are they a home-grown success story with a fantastic business model, but they also drive creativity and community through their fanbase.

If I had the opportunity to license their IP, I’d take the success of the current video game – Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 – to the next level with an immersive location-based VR combat gaming experience. It would be a seamless brand journey from marketing and ticketing all the way through to the location itself. You could play as groups of friends or team up with others (very much like you do in the online game).

Once you’ve completed your quest, there would be time to hang out afterwards to play some table-top Warhammer, or check out the latest products in the state-of-the-art retail outlet – or grab something to eat or drink in a fully themed restaurant. It’s a pretty edgy title aimed at teens and adults, so not really suited to younger players, but there’s a big enough fanbase to make this kind of unique destination a success.

Corinne Duckworth,
Commercial Executive, Dreamtex

The Games Workshop license holds so much opportunity to develop into so many different licensing categories. Virtual games have been developed already, but I think there is an opportunity to expand that further into the virtual reality world, where players can interact with other players on a platform which immerses them directly into the game. As this game is based around the imagination, it would be amazing to bring the worlds to life using state of the art technology such as headsets with built in sound systems and reactive controllers.

Building on this, I think there is a real opportunity to bring the Games Workshop license into the real world and have an interactive attraction based around the most popular worlds in the games. Licensed attractions are a hub for fans to experience what, up until that point, they have only imagined. With licenses built on fantasy, in-person attractions are an opportunity to showcase the amazing games and stories within play.

Matthew Garnerbundy-Higgs,
Sales Account Manager, Pawprint Family

While I may never have been a regular haunter of games such as Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer, I am a proud, self-proclaimed Stranger Things geek. Having heard of D&D pre-Stranger Things, and knowing people who had always played it, and similarly Warhammer, the intrigue was always there. Until the day came that I was invited to a small, independent “geek” collectors’ shop in Blackburn, had a look at all the mini-figurine creatures wondering where I fit into this completely new realm… I was then taken through a curtain and into a backroom where I was greeted by many excited people of all ages and a large table replica of a mythical world. I quite literally thought to myself: “This must be where the magic happens.” As the three-hour long game commenced – and having a theatre and performance background – I instantly loved watching these complete strangers immerse themselves into a world created by their own imagination. I now understood!

While I am aware there is already an extensive range of Warhammer micro-collectibles out there, I do feel there is space for a range of “mini” arm backpacks, clipped around players’ wrists for them to safely transport their character pieces around when travelling to their next Warhammer meeting. How cool to be able to sit down to a game, both hands on the table because you mean business, unzip from your wrist, and unleash your chosen army! Think Pikachu coming out of his Poke-ball. The range would include more than one size to tailor for small armies through to larger ones. I’m now beginning to wonder where my nearest ‘Geek Retreat’ is… It might just finally be time for my next game!

The post Talking Brands: From Top Trumps to VR experiences… Where could Warhammer’s licensing journey go next? appeared first on Brands Untapped.

Historically consumer products were viewed opportunistically as a part of the downstream revenue mix, but more recently that has pivoted to consumer products representing a meaningful component of the franchise ‘layer cake’. As a part of that evolution, a deeper appreciation for giving consumers a product offering they want has now transitioned to understanding what being a ‘fan’ really means – and how we service the different fanbases, from micro communities to huge global movements.

I feel passionately that the productisation or commercialisation of IP can deliver against those fan expectations with the right insights, instincts, expertise and relationships – and those are the founding principles of Licensed Ltd.

“We’ve witnessed a real shift in how IPs connect with their audiences.”

Fantastic. You’ve worked in licensing for a number of years, with some of the industry’s biggest brands. How do you think the licensing model has changed during your career?
The business has become so much more scientific in its approach to getting the right product offering to fans. We have a far deeper appreciation for demand creation through content distribution, product development that remains true to the core DNA of an IP, and transparent, longer-term retail plans that help buyers make good decisions.

You have worked on brands that have well established and engaged fan bases like Harry Potter and Star Wars. What have you learnt about fandom from those experiences ?
The most enduring and robust franchises operate on multiple levels and when it comes to demand creation, they engage with fans by seamlessly handing them over the storytelling baton from one aspect to another. Some great examples are Harry Potter and Star Wars who have distinct but interwoven stories through movies, TV, live experiences and video games. In a nutshell though, it’s the eternal power of storytelling that transcends everything!

Do you think licensing treats fans well? How could we improve the fan experience in licensing?
It might sound over simple but listening to and engaging with fans is key. At the end of the day, they are your greatest ambassadors and potential source of new ideas. Rights owners are understandably protective of their IP, but as AI gathers more and more momentum, there will be a need to create a sandbox for fans to be able to experiment and have fun with the franchises they know and love.

On that, one area of growth in licensing at the moment is ‘live licensing’ with theatre shows, escape rooms and exhibitions leading the way. Why do you think this area is so buoyant?
If it’s done well and the experience remains true to the authenticity of the IP, it’s the perfect counterbalance to so much of our lives becoming digitised and intangible. Star Wars Celebration is an incredible example of how this can be done so well. Not only does it bring a whole new dimension to being a Star Wars fan, but it also builds community and creativity.

Good example. Turning to design and design trends in licensing, what do you think the licensing community should be looking out for?
Going back to my earlier comment about AI, I think it’s vital that the industry equips itself with a more informed understanding and embraces the opportunity to enhance creativity versus restricting the technology. The genie is well and truly out of the bottle and we should seize the opportunity.

On another note, it’s heartening to see so much progress on sustainability within our business. There’s a long way to go but I’ve seen some wonderful examples recently that use sustainable materials for products and even packaging as storytelling and dual-purpose storage. We must be hypersensitive to the pitfalls of ‘green washing’ and also keep ahead of legislation that will force everyone’s hands eventually.

“Fans are your greatest ambassadors and potential source of new ideas.”

Staying with design, what do you think makes a good style guide these days?
Honestly, I think less is more in terms of the specific elements created – but licensors are far better placed investing their time and money in concept creation and examples of ranges and retail executions… Really bringing the product story to life will help licensed partners with a more effective sell-in.

Thinking about retail, how would you sell the benefits of licensing to retailers considering stocking licensed products?
In these uncertain and challenging economic times, licensed products can bring a real point of difference through entertainment – whether that’s through character, brand or celebrity. They add a whole new dimension to the shopping experience and can add a marketing overlay to bring shoppers into stores looking for newness. Everyone loves to discover the unexpected – even if it’s a novel interpretation of a well-known classic.

Delving into that a little further, what do you think makes a good retail experience?
I always have a browse – and sometimes a sneaky purchase – at the latest offerings in the fast-fashion retailers, like Primark, H&M and Zara. For toys it has to be The Entertainer and Smyths – I love talking with the shop staff. I’m also a bit of a supermarket geek, especially the larger format stores. That said, my new favourite – and hat’s off to Gary and the team there – is HMV and their new pop-culture stores. It’s rare I come away empty handed!

“With AI, the genie is well and truly out of the bottle.”

If I have some time and particularly if I’m in a new town or city, I also love exploring vintage clothes stores. They tend to be in the most interesting parts of town and the really good ones have the most incredible merchandising. And needless to say Amazon is my one-stop shop, especially if it’s urgent or I’m short on time.

Paul, this has been great. I have one final question… Reflecting on your career to date, can you pick your top three products or experiences you have been involved in?
Oh wow, that’s like asking which is my favourite son! An impossible question to answer, but if my life depended on it I’d have to say in no particular order:

The Harry Potter Monster Book of Monsters with TOMY. It was a real delight to work with a team that truly believed in the power of the IP and moved heaven and earth to hit the right price point without compromising on the product experience. I still have mine and it works!

Next would be the Harry Potter Shop at Platform 9 ¾. Even though the original team have now moved on to bigger and more exciting things, I still pop in to take a look when I’m at Kings Cross and it fills me with pride. It was a challenging journey at times but feeling the love from the fans when you’re there means everything.

Finally, I’d go with The Art of Star Wars Exhibition at the Barbican Centre. It brought artistry, creativity and the craft of filmmaking to the forefront and celebrated the team behind the scenes of arguably the world’s biggest franchise. We had access to everything from storyboards, costumes, models, concept art and visual effects, direct from the Lucasfilm archive on Skywalker Ranch. It was groundbreaking and toured the world afterwards.

It’s one of my proudest achievements as I contacted the Barbican with the idea through a former colleague of my Dad – John Tusa – and incredibly he agreed to take the meeting. The rest, as they say, is history…

Great picks. Thanks again Paul.

The post Licensing Ltd’s Paul Bufton on fandom, storytelling and AI opportunities appeared first on Brands Untapped.

Have these brands been the focus of your licensing efforts in recent years?
Yes. We’ve always got lots of exciting things on for the Universal Monsters. M3GAN has been huge on TikTok and is doing phenomenally well for us. Chucky is doing well too; it has that nostalgia pull with audiences familiar with the original movies, but the show is bringing him to new audiences too.

On M3GAN, it felt from the very first trailer that it was destined to become a cult hit. Why do you think it has resonated in such a strong way? And was licensing always in its future?
Nothing’s ever a sure thing, but M3GAN is so original and feels very contemporary, so we were excited that it resonated with audiences – but you can never take these things for granted.

“M3GAN feels unlike any other character out there – she had a unique appeal from the get-go.”

If I was to put my finger on why it’s blown up, I think the TikTok dance trend has a lot to do with it. Also, M3GAN feels unlike any other character out there, so she had a unique appeal that was proprietary from the get-go. She’s a bit like Chucky in that regard. But when the film came out, it felt like a cultural moment. Then we saw lots of people were searching online for M3GAN products, and that’s when we started to expand the licensing programme!

Going back to the Universal Monsters. Why do these characters still resonate when it comes to consumer products?
With these classic characters, there’s a familiarity. They’re so recognisable and synonymous with Universal as a studio. Nostalgia also plays a big part, but we’re really stretching that here if you think about how far back these movies actually came out. It comes down to how we can make these characters work in certain categories, and while costumes and fashion was the first foray into consumer products for this brand, we’ve expanded into beauty, home, collectibles, publishing and much more.

We’re lucky because we have some really talented in-house creatives and designers that love these characters too. They apply their talents to both current and future trends and it’s been incredible to see it come to life.

They’re almost literally icons; they’ll be consumers that don’t know the films but will recognise the lightning bolt streak in the hair of Bride of Frankenstein, or Boris Karloff’s version of Frankenstein.
Absolutely. And they’re all representative of fundamental human conditions – the misfit, the outsider, the misunderstood. That plays into it and why they’re so easily accessible.

Fast-forwarding to the modern day, Universal has produced plenty of well-received horror movies, but not all of them get the licensing treatment. What dictates when and why one of your new horror films makes the leap to become ‘a brand’?
Oh gosh – that’s a really good question! Firstly, it has to have built an audience and a track record. Look at films from Blumhouse or Monkeypaw; they’ve built a remarkable reputation for quality, thought-provoking horror. That’s important. These movies also have a distinct look and feel. It means there’s an audience expectation – a positive one – and that’s useful when it comes to licensing and making sure we have the appropriate categories at the retail offerings.

Part of the challenge for us is how we respond to a hit. We, as a consumer products business, need to consider timelines around going from concept to market. Certain categories are faster than others, like fashion. There’s capacity in the UK to turn around apparel for surprise hits really quickly – and that’s with major retail partners.

Beyond fashion, categories like homewares have significantly longer lead-times. That’s when it becomes about working with properties that have a track-record and an audience excitement around them. It’s a bit of an inexact science!

With that in mind, is it the case that licensees can come to you with ideas around brands that perhaps aren’t one of the ‘pillars’, but have that following and fan-connection?
We’re always happy to have a conversation. It’s also where our approach to horror has really started to crystalise. We look at ‘Horror’ as a broad collection of different IPs, filmmakers and content. And within that, we have IP that come and go based on seasonality, market trends, fan interest, etc. It’s also great to have a variety of partners and retailers who have different interests and might want to create something bespoke or see potential in an IP.

“If someone comes to us with a brilliant idea, we’ll listen…”

At the end of the day, we love making cool product that gets fans excited. If someone comes to us with a brilliant idea, we’ll listen… And some of the crazier ideas that have come our way have gone on to be wildly successful.

On that, could you give us some examples of product that highlights how creative your licensees can be with your horror IPs?
A lot of it falls with the fashion category actually. We did a Universal Monsters programme with Prada a few years back. It was stunning and had a bit of a trickle-down effect for the brand in terms of licensing activity.

We’ve since had some fabulous design-driven collections with H&M and ASOS. It speaks to a broad audience that might be hardcore horror fans, or more casual fans that love the characters or the colourways they represent.

Away from product, let’s talk about licensed experiences. Your Halloween Horror Nights at the Universal theme parks have a great reputation.
They run from September to early November now because demand has gone through the roof. It’s a celebration of horror and it’s really experiential… Maybe I haven’t got the right disposition for it but I found it utterly terrifying at times! There’s merch, experiences, costumed characters… But the real draw is the houses. You walk around these things and have the living daylights scared out of you! They’re brilliantly done.

Do you think we’ll see more these sorts of things – be they horror-themed mazes or immersive retail experiences – popping up here in the UK?
Never say never. The first port of call for us here is definitely the retail experiences. We want to dial up horror as a key genre at retail. And horror isn’t just for Halloween – these movies get released all year round now. That’s part of the retail opportunity. We’ve just showcased some fun experience-led retail concepts at BLE and that went down really well.

It looked fantastic – and was usually swamped by people taking photos.
Well, it’s also one of the interesting creative challenges for us; that evolution from Instagram to TikTok. Insta is still perceived as a static photo opp, but for TikTok it has to work as a short video piece.

You mentioned earlier that horror isn’t just for Halloween. Is that reflected by your licensees? Are they excited about launching product for these brands throughout the year, as opposed to just in the build-up to Halloween?
Yes, and it’s down to us having conversations up front with them about what’s coming up on the release slate. We can also give them current data and insights about our brands. We need to give them enough information to feel confident about backing these brands at different points across the year.

Looking ahead, what new film launches will we see having a licensing push – or licensing potential?
There’s a lot to come for The Exorcist: Believer, and more around movies from Blumhouse and Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw. We also think there’s real board game potential with Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s, which hits cinemas and Peacock later this month.

There’s also lots more to do in tabletop gaming. And broadly speaking, there’s more to be done with horror brands and video games – we see huge potential with our horror brands in that space for sure.

Paul, this has been great. I have one final question! What’s your favourite scary movie?
It’s a tough one because it’s such a broad genre… One man’s thriller is another man’s horror! I’d have to say Creature from the Black Lagoon. It’s always resonated, and I love that you can visit the original lake on the studio tour.

Good pick! Let’s tie-in again soon Paul.

The post From Universal Monsters to M3GAN: Paul Bufton on the year-round appeal of Universal’s horror portfolio appeared first on Brands Untapped.