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."

Picture This: GE Digital Cameras

To woo a new generation of loyal buyers, General Electric is lending its name to a variety of youth-oriented consumer electronics products

BusinessWeek, February 15, 2007 — General Electric wants to bring more good things to life. The company known for washing machines, wind turbines, and jet engines is putting its name on a line of digital cameras and photo printers.

Burger King Sets High Score with Its Adver-games†

Case Study: Looking at the ROI on the Fast-Feeders X-Box Offerings

Advertising Age, January 8, 2007 — The King has conquered yet another realm: adver-games. Burger King's 'Sneak King' video game for Xbox may not have won rave reviews, but gamers still bought more than 2 million copies.

Taking Brands To The Bank

BusinessWeek, September 4, 2006 — Why Bob D'Loren is stitching together a patchwork of consumer trademarks