Lisle Licensing founder, Francesca Lisle, discusses working with Tetris – and linking to gameplay

Francesca, thanks for coming back! When we first spoke with you, you told us an awful lot about how you work with the Tetris brand. People can catch up with that here… I wanted to start by picking up on something you said in that piece, if that’s okay?
Sure!

You mentioned that the Tetris style guide is extremely strong, and that buyers and licensees are always blown away with the brand’s endless possibilities. That being the case, how do you sort the wheat from the chaff? How do you know when a proposition is worth investigating?
The great thing about Tetris is the variety of the artwork enabling it to be applied to a diverse range of products and categories. That said, we will always do a careful review into any opportunity to make sure it fits.

And to what areas are you paying particular attention?
The gaming category is competitive so it’s all about a) does the proposition lend itself to the brand and b) – most importantly – would the Tetris fan buy this product?

In terms of keeping the brand’s needs to the fore, what advice would you give to those hoping to develop a product for Tetris?
I would suggest always trying to link as close to the gameplay as possible. We know that innovative and quirky products have always done well for Tetris.

Can you give us a couple of examples?
The Tetris Waffle Maker from Fizz Creations, the Tetris lighting, and the John Adams range of games.

Excellent. Thank you! And right now, the range of Tetris products you’ve helped bring to market includes stationery, homewares, apparel, greeting cards, puzzle books, tech, novelties, gifts and games. As I recall, you also want to explore food gifting and health and beauty. What kinds of things?
We’re looking into all sorts of areas! Food gifting in general is vast and a category that’s on the up and up. One area we are looking into is frozen foods… Watch this space!

Beauty has already been done in the USA with the likes of NYX Loreal and also IPSY with a collection of eye shadows, lip colours, etc. They were absolutely fab, so we’re looking to replicate that over here.

Oh, yes – I can see that being fantastic! Imagining that someone has an idea for something that might work for a partnership with Tetris. What’s the best way to approach you?
Give me a call! I’m always open to listening to new ideas!

Brilliant. Thanks, Francesca. Finally, as you know better than most, Tetris is celebrating its 40th anniversary next year… That being the case, what fun fact can you share that readers may not know about the brand?
I’m often looked at in a strange way when I use the term Tetrimino – which is the word for the shapes that make up the Tetris game. Also, each Tetrimino shape is linked to a specific colour – obviously, this is part and parcel as to what makes the IP unique vs just generic shapes/colours.

Fantastic! Thank you, Francesca; always lovely to hear what you’ve been up to.