Licensing can be a revenue stream, it brings added brand exposure and impressions, and it enhances brand value and consumer relationships. It creates organic line extensions and has the potential to boost sales of the core brand products and services. Since its founding in 1977, The Licensing Letter (TLL) has provided the myriad industries involved in consumer product licensing with the yardsticks by which to measure this valuable business tool.
Over these years, TLL has refined a variety of these yardsticks to measure the size of the business—and its impact. These yardsticks aren’t—indeed can’t be—absolute science. Without representative piece counts across virtually every category of retail product and every type of retail outlet, it is literally impossible to develop a projectable sample. Similarly, neither those who own licenses nor those who manufacture products based on them, across all property types and product categories, can realistically be expected to provide the depth of information needed for a statistically valid sample.
That said, TLL continues to provide ongoing as well as historical data about licensing—benchmarks that are used by companies large and small to chart performance and to provide a sense of direction for the business, by sector. Each year we poll the industry. We analyze the numbers that are returned to us and develop a series of preliminary annual estimates. Those figures are then circulated to key players among property owners in all categories; among manufacturers of all manner of licensed products; among leading retailers at the mass and specialty levels for the most significant categories of merchandise; and among others who, through our year-round reporting for the newsletter, have demonstrated their acumen. Finally, we factor in those responses (and factor out non-licensed merchandise) and develop the consensus figures represented throughout our publications and online.
Together, our services provide unparalleled consistency, depth, history, independence and credibility. They are your guides to every aspect of the business of licensing. Our data are cited often throughout the various businesses involved in licensing, quoted by media ranging from The New York Times to CBS News. They are widely used by licensing professionals in due diligence research prior to initial public offerings; by private equity and venture capital firms and other financial institutions; and by owners of intellectual property as well as product manufacturers for planning, projecting and evaluating business opportunities, and for discerning trends.
Please let us know how we can continue to refine and build on our store of data to best meet your future needs.
TLL is published by Plain Language Media. PLM publishes newsletters, research studies and directories which focus on management, marketing, consumer and retail trends. The company also produces conferences, seminars and webinars.
TLL was founded in 1977 by the late Arnold Bolka. Ira Mayer served as publisher from 1990–2014, at which time the newsletter and its related publications were acquired by PLM.
TLL is an exclusive networking and information resource that unlocks vast opportunities in the $200 billion+ licensing business.