As I explore in our “Experiential Licensing: Consumer Fundamentals Falling into Place” Global Briefing, today’s consumers are increasingly redefining their values and priorities, leading to the birth of a new consumerism. “Experiencing is everything” phenomenon is driving growth in sports/music licensing and theme parks/themed travel. Thus, themed flights/holidays, themed hotels and cruises enjoy growing popularity. This trend also presents many opportunities across a wide range of industries including, Travel, Apparel and Footwear, Toys and Games, Consumer Electronics, Personal Accessories and, Home and Garden.
Key findings:
New consumerism fuels “experiencing is everything” phenomenon
Today’s consumers are redefining their values and priorities, leading to the birth of a “newconsumerism”, while time has become a luxury in our connected world. The experience trend is impacting across many areas from sports and music licensing to licensed themed travel and theme parks while consumers increasingly seek to “do something different” searching for unique, often personalised experiences.
US dominates sports licensing and licensed music merchandise sales
Globally, sports licensing has registered steady 5% year-on-year growth in the last few years driven largely by licensed sports apparel merchandise sales. Sports licensing is largely constant and does not tend to fluctuate from year to year. The US is by far the world’s biggest market in sportslicensing and the business is driven largely by major sports leagues.
Wide range of cross-industry opportunities for licensing
Apparel (menswear, womenswear, childrenswear, accessories) and Footwear, Video Games, Consumer Electronics (headphones/earphones, wireless speakers), Traditional Toys and Games, Personal Accessories (jewellery, bags and luggage, pens), Home and Garden (bed textiles, dinnerwear) are some of the major industries and categories that would benefit further fromexperiential licensing.
Millennials: A key segment for licensing
Millennials - defined as consumers aged 25-34 years - is a sizeable demographic, ranging from 11% of the population in ageing Japan, to 18% in more youthful markets such as Vietnam. It is a key consumer segment for licensing businesses globally and travel is an important area for them. The Millennials group is projected to record the fastest growth in world travellers as this number is forecast to increase by 69.7 million over 2015-2020.
Licensing to theme parks brings revenue and brand exposure
Theme parks themselves have become an increasingly important component of many brandlicensing strategies in recent years, as licensors search for innovative ways to leverage their property, enhance brand awareness and connect with fans.
Worldwide sales of theme parks stood at US$30.9 billion in 2015 registering a 1.6% drop on the previous year. However, steady growth is expected as the category is projected to record a value CAGR of 10% over 2015-2020 making it the second most dynamic behind national parks in overall attractions.
New consumerism drives themed travel
Themed travel is part of a phenomenon that is no longer about a property targeting just commercial movie screens or TV series which now includes anything related to the concept of fan engagement from licensed themed flights and holidays to licensed themed hotels and cruises. The underlying trend that has given birth to the integration of various aspects of travel is the connection of entertainment, lifestyle and sports which are heavily influenced by celebrities and global brands.