By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
The brand licensing agency The Point.1888 was founded in 2014, just one decade ago, but there’s a good argument to be made that it has the longest history in the entire industry.
In fact, the numerals ‘1888’ refer to that history, as the original company was founded that year in the outskirts of London.
“My great great grandfather Joseph Miller started his company in October, 1888 in Borough, London,” explains The Point.1888 CEO Will Stewart. “There was a jam factory over the road where all the workers were having to use sacks to cover their suits when unpacking the fruit. You always wore a suit in those days even if you worked in a factory. He decided he could make aprons for them, so went over the road and spoke to the owner. They shook hands and off he went to make the aprons.”
After Miller helped his neighbors out of a jam, so to speak, Miller’s business continued to grow over the decades, and eventually it began working with the film industry.
Will Stewart later founded The Point.1888 based on the business principles of his great great grandfather Joseph Miller.
“The business evolved hugely over the following 130 years but always stayed close to the protective clothing and footwear market, with manufacturing facilities in Borough until the 1980s,” Stewart says. “They supplied the Ministry of Defence, numerous movie studios and most famously made the gauntlet worn in the first Robocop movies.”
While the family company wasn’t involved in licensing, the people running it had acquired a vast amount of experience in branding, marketing, and getting products to retail. That experience was a great boon to Stewart when he founded The Point.1888, a move so successful that it led to a consolidation of the family business.
“The Point.1888 was named in honor of the heritage and family values that existed then,” Stewart explains. “I founded my business in 2014 as a retail-focused brand extension agency, and then in 2018, on the 130th anniversary, we decided to merge the businesses and focus further on the strategic and consultancy part of the industry to better inform the brand extension programs we were running.
“Today we deliver strategy and advisory work for new IP owners looking to enter the brand licensing industry, but we also use our wisdom, knowledge, experience and perspective to build long term, sustainable revenue streams for our represented clients.”
As one gets to know Will Stewart, one learns he is a firm believer that everyone should do what they’re best at, which is also very often what they love doing the most.
So The Point.1888 has charted a very different course than other brand licensing agencies, in order to provide a broader range of important services to their clients.
The entire operation operates under a parent company called True Purpose Enterprises. The company says that True Purpose is “passionate about businesses being a force for good, through humans starting and growing true purpose-driven businesses, and using purpose as a central mission to disrupt big industries.”
Beneath the parent there is the original licensing agency The Point.1888, but there are also three other companies, each specializing in its own area.
“We have always been very adaptable, and the new businesses were all driven by the needs of the consumer and the clients,” Stewart says. “The world is a strange place and there’s nothing more front end of marketing than brand extension. We build strong relationships with our clients, we have an outstanding reputation and we are noisy on LinkedIn, so we have constantly been asked to provide additional services over the years.”
The different divisions or companies include a retail consultancy called Spotlight.1888, which was founded in 2022; Story.1888, a creative marketing agency; and Eighty Ate, a brand licensing agency that focuses specifically on the food and beverage sector, and which was just founded in 2023.
“Story.1888 is our creative marketing agency, and it came about because we were always asked if we could help with Style Guides, assets, social media marketing, launch plans, campaigns and beyond,” Stewart says. “I have always followed the Richard Branson principal that, if you are asked if you can do something in business, then always say yes and work out how to do it later. I always said yes!!!
“Story.1888 has been a huge rollercoaster, running a huge campaign for Tourettes Action, to partnering the much loved M&S Percy Pig sweet with Nails Inc.”
“Our licensing division (The Point.1888 and Eighty Ate) remains our core offering and biggest division, but it is driven by retail demand delivered by our retail consultancy (Spotlight.1888),” Stewart explains. “We were constantly being asked by retailers to help them understand the licensing market better and also were approached by IP owners and inventors who wanted us to help them get listings at major retailers.
“So, we formalized Spotlight.1888 as a retail consultancy in 2022. Launching at BLE post-COVID was huge, and it has grown to be such an impressive business in its own right. Hannah Redler (co-founder of Spotlight.1888) and I have been so proud to see this new business flourish.”
Story.1888 also plays a central role in the company’s overall methodology, as Stewart says many new products fail for a lack of consumer awareness, so he decided to “make his own noise.”
“Creating and crafting a single brand licensing agreement is incredibly difficult, it takes a huge amount of time and has thousands of other challenges along the way,” he points out. “Once something is actually launching, it always amazed me how little noise was made about this quite incredible, sometimes up to 18-month journey, so we decided to make our own noise.
“This is how Story unfolded and its journey has been so far reaching since then. Getting any marketing budget for anything out of anyone these days is very difficult. That’s because the market is tough and marketing budgets are so easy to cut first, but beware of not being noisy. It catches up with us all.
“When you go on the Tube in London, look at the brands that are consistently advertising on there — Coca Cola, British Airways, Jack Daniels —you’d think they wouldn’t need to advertise but they always do.”
Stewart says each of the companies has its own specialty, but they also work together in a synergistic manner, in the best interests of the client.
“The businesses perfectly complement each other and fit neatly together as our unique methodology,” he explains. “Strategically Informed – True Purpose – Retail Focused – Brand Extension. We are officially launching our new methodology at BLE this year.”
While the methodology may be new, the principles behind it go back to the company formed by his great great grandfather more than a century ago, which is the need to meet retail demand. Often, Stewart says, companies create a product for which there is no demonstrated retail demand, but like his ancestor, Stewart says customer demand
has to come first, just like when Joseph Miller realized his neighbors needed specialized gear to protect their suits at the jam factory.
“We were founded as a retail focused brand extension agency,” Stewart notes. “Every agent needs to focus on demand (retail) not supply (brands) to build long- term sustainable partnerships.
“Retail is incredibly competitive,” he adds. “It always has been, but today it’s remarkable. We’ve never seen anything like it.
“Buyers have more choice than ever before, with practically every IP owner on the planet waking up to the power of brand licensing. We used to say you need to get something off the shelf to get something on it, but now we say you need to get two products and a supplier off the shelf to get something listed.
“It’s been a very difficult four years for retail, so being a trusted partner to explore new ideas with is vital for our group of businesses.”
Speaking of difficult years, Stewart is frank in describing the environment for retail and licensing since the COVID-19 pandemic caused the global economy to go off the rails, followed by the war in Ukraine, rising inflation and crashing consumer confidence, and the recession in the UK and parts of Europe.
“The economy is super tough,” Stewart admits. “Everything that has contributed to the current state of consumer products is a list as depressing as you could possibly read, and on the back of the COVID years it has made everything difficult.
“The reality is we are all in the same boat and we are all helping each other sail through to 2025,” he adds. “That said, 2025 looks very encouraging, and like most founders I am extremely optimistic. Seriously, 2024 is tough, H2 (second half) will be much, much better, and 2025 we can all hopefully enjoy ourselves again!”
Despite the ravaged economy, particularly in Europe, where companies are dealing with the fallout from the war on their eastern borders, The Point.1888 has actually continued to expand.
Stewart says the main reason was that he was lucky enough to find extremely talented people to join him at The Point.1888, and to help run the new divisions at Spotlight and Story.
“I like to think we have a great reputation in the industry, and often people tell me how brilliant they think my team is, which is always very heart warming,” he says. “In fact it’s my favorite thing about running a business. Your reputation is defined by the people you work with, and in these difficult times, being able to call on recommendations and reputation to attract clients is extremely useful.”
But Stewart is quick to share credit with other agencies and companies who work in the licensing industry, whose imagination and drive are constantly creating something new and interesting. He says the people he meets, even if they’re competitors, are a major reason he loves working in licensing.
“The variety of the people in the licensing industry is something we should all be extremely proud of,” Stewart says. “It’s the ultimate inclusive industry. We have a job for everyone and we welcome everyone into our world. It’s a wonderful industry to work in with such supportive partners to work with.
“Variety is the spice of life,” he adds. “So, to get to work on flavor sachets in the morning and dildos in the afternoon is exactly the type of job I like!”
The other part he likes is, in a word, LEGO, which Stewart credits with playing a major part in his decision to go into the licensing industry in the first place.
LEGO is such a favorite of mine, anything LEGO really,” he says. “The entire Star Wars LEGO program is probably why I wanted to get into the industry in the first place! I love their Indiana Jones and the Harry Potter ones too. The kids get expensive presents every birthday!
Team GB and The Point.1888 Sign New Licensees for Olympic Games
“I also love trainers, so I love a trainer collab, and I love a bit of Adidas gear too, so LEGO x Adidas is right up my alleyway.”
TLL also asked Stewart for his advice to clients going into a new program or market. He says the key is to find either an agency or licensing executives who truly understand all the aspects of taking a product to market, and who know that retail is key.
“We are retail demand led,” Stewart notes. “Our licensing agreements are signed to fulfill demand that we have created for our brand owners with retail buyers.
“Spotlight.1888 talks to over 50 retailers every month, so we are constantly aware of what is going on in retail,” he adds. “We are always discussing partnerships with retailers to unlock new branded ranges for our wide range of represented brands and advisory clients.”