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MAY 2013 VOLUME 16 NUMBER 2

■ Licensing Expo Preview

■ What’s Appetizing in Food

■ Saban’s New Division

Plus:

Gwyneth Paltrow and Tracy Anderson,

co-founders of the Tracy Anderson

brand, are teaming up to build a

comprehensive licensing program that

includes consumables, apparel and

lifestyle products.

Exclusive: Top 150 Global Licensors

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72 www.licensemag.com May 2013

By Tony Lisanti

Mobile, social media

and brand licensing

were among key retail

trends discussed at the

annual Global Retailing

Conference, ‘Accelerate

Your Brand–Get Ahead

of Your Shopper,’

sponsored by the

University of Arizona.

Whether it was the brand

management focus of Iconix

Brand Group, the resurgence of

the Polaroid brand, the big box success of

Costco or the mobile strategy of One King’s

Lane, the critical factors in retailing that were

identified by speakers at the 17th annual

Global Retailing Conference, produced by the

University of Arizona, were the importance

of social media, e-commerce, customer

engagement, brands and licensing.

Brand licensing was a key topic in several

presentations at the annual event, held last

month. Among the sponsors for the event

were License! Global, Iconix Brand Group

and Saban Brands, as well as major retailers

including Macy’s, Walmart, Dick’s Sporting

Goods, J.C. Penney and Home Depot.

Neil Cole, president and chief executive

officer, Iconix Brand Group, discussed the

recent addition of three properties to its brand

portfolio, international expansion and how the

direct-to-retail model will continue to grow

and be a key merchandising strategy for major

retailers worldwide.

Cole told attendees that he’s “sleeping pretty

well these days” after the recent acquisitions

of Buffalo, Lee Cooper and Umbro. He also

explained the importance of international

expansion and how it has grown to represent

more than 30 percent of the company’s

revenue. He projects that number will increase

to 40 percent over the next few years.

Iconix is ranked as the world’s second

largest licensor (behind Disney Consumer

Products) with $13 billion in retail sales of

licensed merchandise, according to License!

Global’s Top 150 Global Licensors report.

Scott Hardy, president and chief executive

officer, Polaroid, told attendees how the Above: Terry J. Lundgren, Macy’s

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76 www.licensemag.com May 2013

licensing model has re-established the

Polaroid brand, which is celebrating its 75th

anniversary. Over the past several years,

Polaroid has expanded its business to include

instant and digital cameras, high-definition

camcorders, mobile printers, tablets and TVs.

According to Hardy, the Polaroid television is

Walmart’s exclusive brand.

Hardy also discussed the brand’s extension

to retail stores, called Polaroid Fotobars, where

consumers custom print and frame photos.

The first store opened in March in Del Ray

Beach, Florida, and 10 more stores are being

developed in markets including New York, Las

Vegas and Boston.

Guest speaker Tory Burch, who has built a

luxury lifestyle brand, outlined the history of

her company. Founded in 2004, she now has

more than 80 freestanding stores worldwide.

The brand is also merchandised in more than

1,000 department stores. Burch says that

the brand is expanding its licensing strategy

in various categories including a recent

partnership with Fossil for timepieces, Estée

Lauder for a fragrance and cosmetics line and

with Luxottica for eyewear.

“The Global Retailing Conference at the

University of Arizona is curated each year

to engage the audience on the most current

retailing trends and access to C-suite talent

in the most intimate setting possible. It’s

particularly important for brand owners and

licensors to learn from the big picture thinkers

and consider the economic and technological

developments driving retail in real time. This

is even more critical as lines by sales channel

blur and as the customer experience trumps

all,” explains Martha Van Gelder, director,

Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing,

PetSmart professor of practice, University of

Arizona.

The opening keynote, delivered by Terry

J. Lundgren, chairman, president and chief

executive officer, Macy’s, focused on the

importance of omni-channel retailing, or

mobile retailing. He believes the retailer is

addressing the mobile challenge with the My

Macy’s strategy, which launched several years

ago to address consumer needs on a local store

basis.

Lundgren says his biggest “changer” is

“inventory optimization.” He explains that this

means having the ability to fulfill online orders

in Macy’s stores.

Several retail presentations emphasized

the importance of e-commerce from the big

box warehouse club, Costco, to the upstart

e-retailer One Kings Lane.

Jim Sinegal, co-founder and former chief

executive officer, Costco, explains the evolution

of the company and how the club store

truly has never wavered from the original

philosophy of being a price-driven, treasure-

hunt destination. Yet, as much as Costco has

stayed true to the “old” mindset, it has very

much embraced and emphasized the new with

improvements in mobile apps and e-commerce.

Sinegal points out that the company currently

generates about $2.5 billion in sales from its

online business and that will continue to grow

in the future.

Doug Mack, chief executive officer, One

Kings Lane, stresses the importance of mobile

apps, pointing out that almost 30 percent

of the e-retailer’s sales can be attributed to

mobile, and that eventually mobile will surpass

desktop sales. He says that tablets account for

60 percent and smartphones for 40 percent of

that number.

Yet, while Mack emphasizes the importance

of technology, he also points out that finding

unique products and providing service are also

critical for the new home furnishings retailer

that was launched just four years ago. It is now

among the fastest growing online retailers.

While Walmart’s longstanding commitment

to its customers is widely known, the retailer’s

initiatives with social media and Facebook

might not be as top of mind.

Wanda Young, vice president, media and

digital, Walmart, discussed how the retailer is

using Facebook to connect with customers, a

strategy that underscores the importance and

integration of social media and retail.

Young says that Walmart has the largest fan

base in the U.S., with more than 28 million

fans, and that there is a Facebook page for

every Walmart store in the U.S.

Young says that every person in the U.S. is

connected to one fan of Walmart. ©

Neil Cole, Iconix

Tory Burch, Tory Burch

Scott Hardy, Polaroid

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