While Batman may not appear to be getting older, marketers behind the Caped Crusader’s licensing machine are getting wiser.

New York City-based DC Comics is making a superhero-sized push this year to keep its characters fresh with alternative projects, new partnerships that cover entire marketing mixes, and leveraged deals spread across sister units (including Warner Bros., print magazines, and America Online) within the newly consolidated AOL Time Warner conglomerate.

DC is changing the way it constructs licensing deals, helping to expand how partners activate licensed equity, and along the way setting the stage for continued success in the new century. “Marketing changes. The landscape changes. It’s inevitable,” says Joel Ehrlich, DC senior vp-advertising and promotion. “You have to change with it.”

DC Comics isn’t alone. Shifts in the world of licensing are influencing how licensing houses operate. They’re finding new ways of doing business via alternative deals, unique and deeper partnerships, and different ways of lending equity.

“The lifecycle of licensing deals is being extended,” says Charles Riotto, executive director of New York City-based Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association. “New things are starting to happen.”

Moving Forward

The changes may be applauded by licensors, but licensees need to realize the bar is raised for them, too. Marketing clutter is growing, and promotional tie-ins need to cut through and reach consumers. There are now more properties available to brands in more channels, and licensing houses need to do whatever it takes to keep revenues flowing for both new and evergreen properties.

Blockbuster entertainment fare was leaner than a Healthy Choice hot dog in 2000. Many “guaranteed hits” proved misses, making hordes of marketers skittish about sinking their teeth into anything. “There was a time when big blockbusters were the way to go,” says Rebecca Clyma, director of licensing with Kansas City, MO-based licensor Andrews McMeel Universal, which has ties to such evergreen properties as Ziggy and Doonesbury. “But consumers burn out when there’s too much, too quick.”

Here are five ways licensees can take advantage of licensors’ new attitude:

Go for the partnership

Tie-in deals are becoming deeper partnerships that span entire marketing mixes — think Olympics, without the $40 million fee.

Make your property tie-in more than a one-hit wonder. The gold standard is McDonald’s and Disney’s 10-year alliance. Starting this fall, watch how Atlanta-based Coca-Cola will leverage Warner Bros.’s Harry Potter over the next few years (see Breaking News, pg. 8).

Smaller deals can have broad reach, too. Detroit-based General Motors’ On Star division is working on ways for Batman to fight crime across its branding portfolio. The automotive communications arm first used the superhero for a 1999 TV spot but has since expanded its relationship with DC Comics through ads, an online effort, and other projects set to break later this year.

Talk to the licensor about long-term strategic packages. Many will extend deals without upping the costs, trading added property exposure for extended equity usage.

Leverage the umbrella

Consolidation in the corporate world has led to new opportunities for licensees. Many a property house is now embedded inside a large corporation (such as News Corp. or Viacom), allowing brands to harness the power of the entire conglomerate. A Viacom licensee can set up activation that spans Paramount, Nickelodeon, and MTV, for instance. Ehrlich calls GM’s On Star deal “as much about Batman as it is about working with other AOL Time Warner divisions. I have a bigger playing field these days, and as a result I have to look beyond near-term goals.”

Get a breakdown of a licensor’s parent company and look for synergies corporate-wide. Other divisions may be just as interested in getting involved as the licensor.

Stay alternative

Plus-up your existing promo schedule with alternative licensing deals. Property holders like getting into new places, such as ‘N SYNC lip gloss in packs of candy, Charlie’s Angels condoms, or a parade of Snoopy statues around St. Paul, MN. “We’re out there looking for non-traditional relationships that are demographically compatible,” says Russ Brown, senior vp-consumer products, promotions, and media sales with New York City’s Marvel Entertainment, and the man who got Spider-Man his own professional monster truck last winter.

“These days, we’re more open to talking about new and innovative uses for rights,” echoes McMeel’s Clyma, currently busy releasing Ziggy (who turns 30 this year) to the marketing collective. “Licensees are looking for new ways to do business. So they want new ways to use the rights.”

There are alternative properties as well. Food & Wine magazine has a budding line of tableware items. DaimlerChrysler’s Jeep sells branded radios and baby strollers. Even Popsicle recently launched an apparel line.

Try for exclusivity

Can you be the one and only? It could bring consumers straight to you. Retailers continue to crave exclusive merchandise deals. Toys “R” Us, Paramus, NJ, signed on as the only place kids can get Animal Planet toys (via Discovery Communications, Bethesda, MD). Merchandise licensees often get better marketing pushes from retailers scoring exclusive engagements.

In many cases, retailers themselves are turning into licensees. Target, Sears, and Wal-Mart have cut out middlemen and developed their own merchandise lines, “which obviously allows for higher margins,” says LIMA’s Riotto. (Of course, if a property goes south, a chain is stuck with piles of overstock.)

Work together

Licensees that team up for joint promos maximize their reach with no added cost. Sears, Roebuck & Co. shares in-store programs with independent Sears Portrait Studios. This summer, fashion brand Christian Dior and retailer Bloomingdale’s, both New York City, unite on the set of Twentieth Century Fox’s Moulin Rouge. Bloomie’s turns cosmetics departments into mock Rouge sets with velvet chairs, special lighting, can-can girls giving makeovers, and banners promoting the film. (Los Angeles-based Fox handles in-house.)

Obviously, getting a property that fits your marketing objectives is still top priority. But knowing what licensors are thinking gives licensees greater leverage to negotiate deals and execute campaigns. After all, you might as well get wiser as you get older.

In the Front Row

America Online uses Madonna to boost sign-ups.

Vienna, VA-based America Online last month announced a global sponsorship of Madonna’s upcoming Drowned Out Tour — the pop icon’s first concert tour in eight years — and quickly began leveraging the relationship in a customer-acquisition effort.

New AOL subscribers (who must stay for at least three months) were able to buy two tickets to one of Madonna’s U.S. concerts by calling a toll-free number after they registered. Existing members were given limited access to the ticket pool prior to the general public sale at the end of May.

This isn’t the first time advanced tickets have been used to beef up a customer base. In 1999, Kansas City, MO-based Sprint gave new customers first dibs on tickets for the Rolling Stones’ Bridges to Babylon tour to generate long distance sign-ups.

AOL set up the Madonna sponsorship via sister company Warner Music Group, which distributes the Material Girl’s Maverick record label. The online service provider will link its sponsorship to content through fall. Members get exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the tour via chats, backstage Web cams, and other features. Expect the usual plethora of signage and direct-mail bill-stuffers to support, as well as other interactive elements under development at press time.

At a media conference held last month in New York City, AOL Time Warner ceo Gerald Levin said the activation strategy is a look into the future of marketing. “It’s a clever thing if you think about what we are trying to do,” he said. “Only small parts of the package are traditional advertising.”

The ticket promotion was put together through tour promoter SFX, Inc., and TicketMaster, both New York City, and touring company Bhakti Tours, Los Angeles. Madonna debuts in Cologne, Germany, then plays 17 dates in Europe before heading to the U.S. late next month.

While Batman may not appear to be getting older, marketers behind the Caped Crusader’s licensing machine are getting wiser.

New York City-based DC Comics is making a superhero-sized push this year to keep its characters fresh with alternative projects, new partnerships that cover entire marketing mixes, and leveraged deals spread across sister units (including Warner Bros., print magazines, and America Online) within the newly consolidated AOL Time Warner conglomerate.

DC is changing the way it constructs licensing deals, helping to expand how partners activate licensed equity, and along the way setting the stage for continued success in the new century. “Marketing changes. The landscape changes. It’s inevitable,” says Joel Ehrlich, DC senior vp-advertising and promotion. “You have to change with it.”

DC Comics isn’t alone. Shifts in the world of licensing are influencing how licensing houses operate. They’re finding new ways of doing business via alternative deals, unique and deeper partnerships, and different ways of lending equity.

“The lifecycle of licensing deals is being extended,” says Charles Riotto, executive director of New York City-based Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association. “New things are starting to happen.”

Moving Forward

The changes may be applauded by licensors, but licensees need to realize the bar is raised for them, too. Marketing clutter is growing, and promotional tie-ins need to cut through and reach consumers. There are now more properties available to brands in more channels, and licensing houses need to do whatever it takes to keep revenues flowing for both new and evergreen properties.

Blockbuster entertainment fare was leaner than a Healthy Choice hot dog in 2000. Many “guaranteed hits” proved misses, making hordes of marketers skittish about sinking their teeth into anything. “There was a time when big blockbusters were the way to go,” says Rebecca Clyma, director of licensing with Kansas City, MO-based licensor Andrews McMeel Universal, which has ties to such evergreen properties as Ziggy and Doonesbury. “But consumers burn out when there’s too much, too quick.”

Here are five ways licensees can take advantage of licensors’ new attitude:

Go for the partnership

Tie-in deals are becoming deeper partnerships that span entire marketing mixes — think Olympics, without the $40 million fee.

Make your property tie-in more than a one-hit wonder. The gold standard is McDonald’s and Disney’s 10-year alliance. Starting this fall, watch how Atlanta-based Coca-Cola will leverage Warner Bros.’s Harry Potter over the next few years (see Breaking News, pg. 8).

Smaller deals can have broad reach, too. Detroit-based General Motors’ On Star division is working on ways for Batman to fight crime across its branding portfolio. The automotive communications arm first used the superhero for a 1999 TV spot but has since expanded its relationship with DC Comics through ads, an online effort, and other projects set to break later this year.

Talk to the licensor about long-term strategic packages. Many will extend deals without upping the costs, trading added property exposure for extended equity usage.

Leverage the umbrella

Consolidation in the corporate world has led to new opportunities for licensees. Many a property house is now embedded inside a large corporation (such as News Corp. or Viacom), allowing brands to harness the power of the entire conglomerate. A Viacom licensee can set up activation that spans Paramount, Nickelodeon, and MTV, for instance. Ehrlich calls GM’s On Star deal “as much about Batman as it is about working with other AOL Time Warner divisions. I have a bigger playing field these days, and as a result I have to look beyond near-term goals.”

Get a breakdown of a licensor’s parent company and look for synergies corporate-wide. Other divisions may be just as interested in getting involved as the licensor.

Stay alternative

Plus-up your existing promo schedule with alternative licensing deals. Property holders like getting into new places, such as ‘N SYNC lip gloss in packs of candy, Charlie’s Angels condoms, or a parade of Snoopy statues around St. Paul, MN. “We’re out there looking for non-traditional relationships that are demographically compatible,” says Russ Brown, senior vp-consumer products, promotions, and media sales with New York City’s Marvel Entertainment, and the man who got Spider-Man his own professional monster truck last winter.

“These days, we’re more open to talking about new and innovative uses for rights,” echoes McMeel’s Clyma, currently busy releasing Ziggy (who turns 30 this year) to the marketing collective. “Licensees are looking for new ways to do business. So they want new ways to use the rights.”

There are alternative properties as well. Food & Wine magazine has a budding line of tableware items. DaimlerChrysler’s Jeep sells branded radios and baby strollers. Even Popsicle recently launched an apparel line.

Try for exclusivity

Can you be the one and only? It could bring consumers straight to you. Retailers continue to crave exclusive merchandise deals. Toys “R” Us, Paramus, NJ, signed on as the only place kids can get Animal Planet toys (via Discovery Communications, Bethesda, MD). Merchandise licensees often get better marketing pushes from retailers scoring exclusive engagements.

In many cases, retailers themselves are turning into licensees. Target, Sears, and Wal-Mart have cut out middlemen and developed their own merchandise lines, “which obviously allows for higher margins,” says LIMA’s Riotto. (Of course, if a property goes south, a chain is stuck with piles of overstock.)

Work together

Licensees that team up for joint promos maximize their reach with no added cost. Sears, Roebuck & Co. shares in-store programs with independent Sears Portrait Studios. This summer, fashion brand Christian Dior and retailer Bloomingdale’s, both New York City, unite on the set of Twentieth Century Fox’s Moulin Rouge. Bloomie’s turns cosmetics departments into mock Rouge sets with velvet chairs, special lighting, can-can girls giving makeovers, and banners promoting the film. (Los Angeles-based Fox handles in-house.)

Obviously, getting a property that fits your marketing objectives is still top priority. But knowing what licensors are thinking gives licensees greater leverage to negotiate deals and execute campaigns. After all, you might as well get wiser as you get older.

In the Front Row

America Online uses Madonna to boost sign-ups.

Vienna, VA-based America Online last month announced a global sponsorship of Madonna’s upcoming Drowned Out Tour — the pop icon’s first concert tour in eight years — and quickly began leveraging the relationship in a customer-acquisition effort.

New AOL subscribers (who must stay for at least three months) were able to buy two tickets to one of Madonna’s U.S. concerts by calling a toll-free number after they registered. Existing members were given limited access to the ticket pool prior to the general public sale at the end of May.

This isn’t the first time advanced tickets have been used to beef up a customer base. In 1999, Kansas City, MO-based Sprint gave new customers first dibs on tickets for the Rolling Stones’ Bridges to Babylon tour to generate long distance sign-ups.

AOL set up the Madonna sponsorship via sister company Warner Music Group, which distributes the Material Girl’s Maverick record label. The online service provider will link its sponsorship to content through fall. Members get exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the tour via chats, backstage Web cams, and other features. Expect the usual plethora of signage and direct-mail bill-stuffers to support, as well as other interactive elements under development at press time.

At a media conference held last month in New York City, AOL Time Warner ceo Gerald Levin said the activation strategy is a look into the future of marketing. “It’s a clever thing if you think about what we are trying to do,” he said. “Only small parts of the package are traditional advertising.”

The ticket promotion was put together through tour promoter SFX, Inc., and TicketMaster, both New York City, and touring company Bhakti Tours, Los Angeles. Madonna debuts in Cologne, Germany, then plays 17 dates in Europe before heading to the U.S. late next month.