VALUE OF BRANDS

Mobile is the last media channel and it has adopted famous brands far more quickly than any preceding channel.

Television, radio, cinema and the internet all have two characteristics that limit them compared to mobile phones: none of them is personal to the user and none of them is mainly intended for inter-personal communication.

Each person’s mobile phone is theirs alone, therefore we all want to use ours to personalise and interact in our own way.

One way to exhibit our personal preferences is through our favourite brands. Favourite football team, music, movie, fashion, videogame, comic, TV show, consumer product, celebrity and book.

Looking at games, as just one type of wireless content, reveals these brands and many others being brought to mobile phones: FIFA, Tiger Woods, The Weakest Link, Fox Sports, Lord Of the Rings, Star Wars, 50 Cent, Scooby Doo, Spider-man, Looney Tunes, UPA Pool, Tomb Raider, Winnie The Pooh, Space Invaders and Harry Potter.

Licensing is the principal method by which famous brands travel from their original category into other categories.

Licensing is defined as the granting of rights, in return for remuneration, for intellectual property owned by one party to another party, in order to gain audience awareness, effect market positioning and add value to commercial products and services through association.

In 2003, the worldwide licensing industry was worth approximately $170 billion at consumer prices.

The largest categories for licensed goods were clothing (34%) and toys (11%). Mobile handsets and wireless content are included within the broad categories of Electronics and Software, together accounting for 8% of the retail value at $15 billion. (Sources: License! and LIMA.)

How is this achieved? Which companies take part in the value chain? How do they benefit? How are deals structured? How can your company keep ahead of the competition?