Brand Names Live After Stores Close

New York Times, April 13, 2009 — In the last year or so, a string of retailers have gone into bankruptcy — Sharper Image, Linens ’n Things, Circuit City and Fortunoff among them. But while the stores have disappeared, their names live on. And the companies that have breathed new life into these brand names are, paradoxically, some of the same ones that had led the stores through their dying days — the liquidators.

Bravo Shows Move Further Into Licensing Products

If you have ever dreamed of dressing like a reality-show contestant, your moment has arrived

New York Times, April 12, 2009 — Bravo is developing products based on its popular programs, including the “Real Housewives” franchise and “Top Chef,” that will be promoted on the air and sold on Bravo’s Web site. The network will earn licensing fees or take a cut of sales

'Whassup' Comes Out for Obama†

Creator of Popular Budweiser Campaign Unleashes a Parody on Web to Court Voters

Wall Street Journal, October 29, 2008 — The well-known catchphrase "Whassup" helped sell countless cases of Budweiser. Can it help sell a presidential candidate?

The characters that starred in the hit Budweiser ad campaign, which debuted in 1999, are back on video again, but this time they aren't peddling beer. Instead, the characters are hawking Barack Obama.

The parody is raising eyebrows in ad circles, partly because Budweiser's maker, Anheuser-Busch, can't do much to stop it.

Sharper Image Lives -- as a Brand†

Wall Street Journal, June 26, 2008 — Retailer Sharper Image was left for dead in February. Now, four months later, the bankrupt purveyor of air purifiers and nose-hair clippers is coming back to life.

This time, though, it won't have stores with $5,000 massage chairs where customers can relax. Instead, Sharper Image will live on as a virtual brand name, its moniker rented to other retailers that want to spruce up the appeal of a vacuum cleaner, pet robot or pair of sunglasses.

How Licensing Helped an Artist Pull a Rabbit out of His Hat†

Wall Street Journal, June 19, 2007 — It's Happy Bunny, in true rabbit fashion, has multiplied quickly.

Thousands of products feature the rude cartoon. His quips have slipped onto socks ("I just realized I don't care"), wafted onto air fresheners ("Let's focus on me"), and slid onto key rings ("It's cute how stupid you are"). The bunny — and his creator — have hippity-hopped into licensing lore.

RC2’s Train Wreck

The company that recalled Thomas the Tank Engine wooden trains, which were contaminated with paint containing lead, is learning about crisis management.

New York Times, June 19, 2007 — In the toy business, RC2 was the little company that could.

Though much smaller and less prominent than Mattel and Hasbro, RC2 has grown steadily and its stock price has soared over the last five years, thanks largely to a strategy of sewing up licensing deals with big-name brands like Sesame Street, Winnie the Pooh, Disney, Nickelodeon, and Thomas & Friends.

Latest 'Indiana Jones' Film Digs Up More Products†

Wall Street Journal, June 18, 2007 — When Harrison Ford returns as Indiana Jones next year, he will have more accessories than just a rumpled fedora and leather whip. For the first time, the action-adventure archaeologist will carry a plethora of products, from Lego sets to special packages of M&M's.

Soda Giants Expand Beyond the Fizz Biz†

Needing Revenue Boost, Cadbury and Pepsi Begin to License Brand Names

Advertising Age, June 4, 2007 — Dr pepper barbeque sauce. 7Up Bundt cakes. Mountain Dew lip balm.

While primarily small soft-drink players such as Jones Soda Co. have for a long time licensed their brand names for products such as candy, the soda giants are increasingly breaking out of the beverage

ESPN, EA Sports add life to games

Injuries, weather and other real-time information to be integrated into video games, but some caution mixing reality with fantasy

Chicago Tribune, May 28, 2007 — The line between real and fantasy sports is about to become a little more blurred.

A partnership with ESPN is allowing video gamemaker Electronic Arts Inc. to dramatically increase real-time content in sports-themed video games.

General Mills Seeks Help From Iron Chef†

Batali's Frozen Pasta Will Appear in Aisles of Warehouse Retailers

Wall Street Journal, April 4, 2007 — General Mills Inc., maker of Hamburger Helper, is trying to find some extra help in the kitchen. For starters, it has turned to celebrity chef Mario Batali. Like other consumer-products companies such as Procter & Gamble Co. and Kraft Foods Inc., General Mills is craving fresh ideas from outside its own research-and-development group. Two years ago, General Mills began forming a world-wide "innovation network."