The Brand Radar: Lillet, Emily in Paris and licensing’s love affair with the food and drink sector

This summer has been a busy and bountiful time in the world of FMCG when it comes to licensing and partnership activity.

Brand owners in the FMCG sector seem to be more ready to explore the licensing model and to make their brands available for licensing. Some do this directly, while others work with licensing agents.

Licensing agent Pink Key announced that they would be representing the Tiptree jam brand. Pink Key has a proven track record in working with FMCG brands and brand owners; their clients include Kellogg’s, Pringles and Vimto. The upside for brands like Tiptree licensing-wise can be considerable. Licensing partnerships can unlock new distribution, open up fresh opportunities in product development and help create new opportunities in categories they want to explore.

One area of licensing that seems particularly successful for these types of brands is apparel. Retailers like Primark are giving a lot of space to apparel collections built around FMCG brands. A recent store visit to Primark’s Basingstoke branch underpinned this with brands like Heinz, Chupa Chups and Coca Cola all heavily featured in store.

In this context, having a range of apparel in the market is probably attractive to brand owners because it creates a marketing moment for them in a high traffic retailer – and also stimulates social media sharing. For many brand owners, licensing is not first and foremost about revenue generation… It’s more about building consumer relationships, adding personality to their brand and extending the brand experience.

Schwartz announced a new range of Nadiya Hussain branded spices, wet sauces and meal kits. The range – which is being marketed under the Travel through Flavour banner – focuses on curries of the world. The range includes flavour combinations such as Katsu and Lime, and follows on from Schwartz’s initial Nadiya Hussain launch last year. This latest line has been launched initially in Tesco but will roll out to more retailers in the near future.

The Schwartz Nadiya range won a BELLAs award earlier this year for the best brand licensing product in the food and drink category. It has been created with the full involvement of Nadiya Hussain, who worked with Schwartz’s development teams to create the range from scratch. It’s a good example of how celebrity-led licensing in the FMCG category works best when there is this hands on approach to product development.

Schwartz have worked with Nadiya to create social media assets linked to the product range and also focusing on practical advice for consumers to help inspire their cooking. One driver for this range is to help consumers add variety to their mealtime choices.

Schwartz have been particularly busy as they also announced a new partnership with casual dining brand Pizza Express. Schwartz have launched three new recipe mixes developed with the popular restaurant brand – garlic and basil, spicy beef and pepper, plus tomato and herb. All are inspired by signature Pizza Express pizzas and pastas: Pollo Pesto, Sloppy Giuseppe and Margherita.

“Food and drink is a category that’s receptive to new product development and open to innovation.”

This new restaurant collaboration builds on a range launched last year by Schwartz which featured other restaurant brands. The new Pizza Express products are available initially in Morrisons. Restaurant brands have a long track record of working in licensing, with brands such as Nando’s having a strong presence on supermarket shelves. Licensing helps restaurant brands extend their reach, while also acting as a bridge to build new consumer relationships from.

KP Snacks’ crisp brand Tyrrell’s have a long history of developing interesting and novel flavour combinations for their crisps. Their packaging and advertising is also well known for its cheeky personality, fun approach and originality. With this in mind, it’s no surprise to see them working with Aardman and their brand Wallace & Gromit.

Tyrrell’s have developed a special edition flavour Wensleydale and Cranberry, which features Wallace & Gromit on pack. The sharing pack format was launched as an exclusive with the Co-Op. Wensleydale is a cheese intrinsically linked to Wallace & Gromit and the partnership builds on Tyrell’s commitment to creating intriguing flavours, fitting well with their brand personality.

It’s also another example of how retailers are increasingly receptive to exclusive products. These sorts of launches help retailers stand out in the market and move the retail dial away from price. The product really stands out on shelf and creates a point of difference in a competitive category. The partnership also allows Tyrrell’s to tell a brand story. The product has been promoted in a variety of ways, including across social media, which has included film clips sourced from Aardman.

Staying in the world of film and television, confectionery brand Maynards have announced a promotion and special edition pack in tandem with the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice movie. The film is in cinemas now and the promotion is part of a series of licensing-led activations. Maynards have developed a special edition pack of Spooky Gums and are also running a Beetlejuice promotion, which includes the opportunity for shoppers to win a spooky trip.

FMCG brands have often tapped up movie promotions to drive interest and engagement. Conversely, for movie companies, working with FMCG companies can create a valuable billboard for them to promote their films from. In the context of promotions like this, the commercial aspect of the deal tends to focus more on marketing and media spend than just the licensing revenues earned.

Film companies are looking for novel ways to promote their films and to create consumer engagement; on pack and in store promotions in the FMCG sector represent an attractive opportunity. Indeed, to emphasise this point, soft drinks brand Fanta has also teamed up with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to create a limited-edition apple flavoured soda.

Another noteworthy example of this kind of partnership is wine brand Lillet launching a limited-edition rosé wine in association with the Netflix series, Emily in Paris. Given Emily in Paris is entering its fourth season, commercial partners can feel confident about the popularity of the series and its place in Netflix’s portfolio.

Furthermore, the attraction of partnerships like this one is that it’s possible for brands like Lillet to work with programmes that fit with them from a thematic point of view – and they can choose shows that fit well with their target audience. Generally, television and film companies are able to provide commercial partners with good insights into their audiences, which is useful for brands when planning out their marketing campaigns.

Flavour, taste and brand identity are often key attributes for success in licensing in the FMCG category. A new launch announced by Muller Yogurt and Desserts speaks well to this point. Muller has launched Cadbury Creamy Chocolate and Cadbury Creamy Chocolate Caramel milkshakes in ready to drink formats targeted at the convenience and wholesale channels.

The flavoured milk category is reported to be worth £700m annually, with convenience store sector contributing significantly to the market value. Muller has an ongoing licensing deal with Cadbury’s brand owner Mondelez. In the context of convenience and wholesale, Cadbury’s is a brand with a high trust level from retailers and is one that consumers recognise.

The use of a trusted brand can persuade retailers to support a new product launch and help drive category innovation. It is acknowledged that it can be challenging to gain new listings in grocery. Leveraging a brand with the pedigree of Cadbury’s through a licensing deal can accelerate things.

Retailer WH Smith launched its first branded cafe recently with Smith’s Kitchen in Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton. This development follows on from WH Smith’s expansion into own brand food lines like sandwiches.

WH Smith is increasingly active in the food and drink category, supporting new launches, start up brands and promotions. While their cafe operates under their direct control and is not a licensing deal per se, it does illustrate the point that retailers are increasingly looking at new ways of using their retail space and seeking out new opportunities.

Food and drink is a category that’s receptive to new product development and open to innovation. With this in mind, there is cause for optimism that licensing can make an ever-increasing contribution to the category. Indeed, WH Smith’s move into cafe culture may encourage other retailers to think along similar lines – not least as Primark has developed in store cafes in association with brands like Friends which seem to have been well received.

Finally, and fittingly returning to the importance of flavour, World of Sweets announced a number of new gifting and sharing products from confectionery brand Anthon Berg – aimed at the Christmas sales period. World of Sweets distribute the Danish brand in the UK.

Anthon Berg have collaborated with liquor brand Bailey’s to create a range of chocolate products; milk chocolate covered marzipan treats. The gift orientated product includes eight individually wrapped marzipan rounds covered in milk chocolate and decorated with dark chocolate. The rounds are also flavoured with Bailey’s.

Bailey’s is a great example of a brand with a distinctive flavour and taste profile that has applied itself successfully to the licensing market across categories like cream, desserts, ice cream and confectionery.

Flavour and taste are crucial of course in the category, but the value of a premium brand in the marker cannot be underestimated – especially at a time where consumers are seeking out treat products and prepared to trade up spend-wise.