When brand owners sit down with prospective licensees, much of the conversation naturally centers around business. Categories. Territories. Distribution. Retail relationships. Royalties. Minimum guarantees.
But there’s another part of that conversation that I believe deserves a seat at the table.
Design.
A well-developed licensing style guide establishes a distinctive design aesthetic that’s ownable to the brand and can extend consistently across an entire consumer products program. For prospective licensees, that’s important. It demonstrates that their products won’t enter the marketplace as isolated expressions of the property. They’ll become part of a larger visual family, connected by a common thread that consumers can recognize, whether consciously or subliminally, across multiple product categories.
That’s one of the reasons I’ve always viewed design as much more than something that happens after a licensing agreement is signed. Used strategically, it can help brand owners communicate the strength, potential and readiness of a licensing program while they’re still sitting at the negotiating table.
A distinctive design aesthetic builds confidence in the licensing program
Think about what a prospective licensee is actually evaluating.
Obviously, they’re considering the popularity of the property, audience demographics, retail opportunities and financial potential. But they’re also deciding whether they can create compelling products that will stand out in the marketplace and feel connected to the larger brand.
A strong design aesthetic helps answer that question.
When a style guide establishes a recognizable visual language through typography, color, character art, patterns, icons, graphic compositions and other assets, prospective partners can see how their products will become part of something bigger.
That’s especially important in licensing because consumers don’t experience brands one licensee at a time. They may encounter the same property in toys, apparel, publishing, home goods and food, often within the same shopping trip. A distinctive aesthetic creates continuity across those encounters.
For a prospective licensee, that means they’re not being asked to create brand recognition entirely on their own. They’re joining a program designed to create it collectively.
Product applications help licensees visualize the opportunity
Once you’ve established the visual language of the licensing program, product applications can demonstrate what that language is capable of doing.
I’ve always considered product applications one of the most valuable components of a licensing program’s style guide. I’ve written on multiple occasions about my belief that a property’s style guide could become a powerful sales tool for onboarding partners. Product applications are the primary reason why.
Well-conceived product applications should inspire a licensee rather than prescribe exactly what finished products should look like. They might demonstrate an unexpected use of a pattern, show how character artwork can interact with a product’s form, or suggest how several design elements can be combined to create a compelling collection.
Those examples can become especially valuable during licensing negotiations because they allow brand owners to tailor the conversation to the prospect sitting across the table.
If you’re speaking with an apparel company, show them how the property might translate onto apparel within their category. If you’re pursuing a housewares partner, help them visualize the brand in that environment.
Don’t make prospective partners do all the creative work in their heads. Give them something to react to.
Design demonstrates the creative depth of the brand
Another consideration for prospective licensees is longevity.
A property may look terrific on one product. But is there enough creative depth to support an entire collection? Another season? A broader product line? This is where the breadth of a licensing program’s design assets becomes strategically important.
A thoughtfully developed library of design elements can demonstrate that the property has enough visual range to support continued product development. Patterns, icons, badges, editorial phrases, character poses, borders and other assets provide licensees with different ways to express the brand without repeatedly relying on the same handful of graphics. Themes can extend that creative range even further.
For a prospective partner, this begins to answer an important question before the agreement is signed: Will we have enough to work with? A strong guide should make the answer obvious.
Design can reveal opportunities in new product categories
Some of the most interesting licensing opportunities aren’t necessarily the most obvious ones.
A property may already have an established presence in toys, apparel and publishing while having considerable potential in home, beauty, food or another category that hasn’t yet been explored.
Sometimes the barrier isn’t consumer relevance. It’s imagination. It’s difficult for a prospective partner to see a brand in an unfamiliar category when every existing example reinforces where the brand already lives.
Design can help change that.
Strategically developed concepts can stretch the visual language of a property into new territory and demonstrate that the brand has permission to exist there. That doesn’t mean forcing a property into categories where it doesn’t belong. It means using design to uncover credible opportunities that might otherwise be overlooked. When that happens, design isn’t simply supporting a licensing opportunity. It can help create one.
A strong style guide shows that the brand is ready
Experienced licensees know that signing the agreement is only the beginning. Then comes product development, design, approvals, revisions, manufacturing and ultimately getting product to market. A great licensing opportunity can become far less attractive if the infrastructure behind it isn’t prepared to support that process.
A comprehensive style guide sends a very different message. It tells prospective partners that the brand owner has already invested in defining the visual language of the program. The assets are developed. The creative parameters are established. There are resources available to help licensees begin designing rather than figuring out what the brand should look like.
That preparedness can facilitate a much smoother onboarding process once the agreement is signed. But it also has value before the agreement. It gives prospective licensees confidence that they’re entering a professionally managed program with the creative resources necessary to support them.
Design helps establish creative alignment early
Not every successful licensing partnership begins with both sides having exactly the same creative vision. That’s precisely why design can be so valuable during the negotiation process.
Showing prospective partners the visual direction of the licensing program creates an opportunity to discuss expectations before product development begins. What resonates with them? Which aspects of the aesthetic feel particularly relevant to their category? Where do they see opportunities? Are there assets they would need that don’t currently exist?
These conversations can reveal a great deal. They can identify areas where additional creative development might strengthen the partnership. They can also expose significant differences in expectations before either side has invested heavily in the relationship.
Business terms tell both parties how the partnership will operate. Design helps them understand what they’re trying to create together.
Style guide design can help sell the licensing opportunity
I’ve never believed a licensing program’s style guide should simply sit on a server waiting for a licensee to request artwork. It should work much harder than that.
A strategically developed style guide establishes a distinctive aesthetic that connects licensed products across categories. It demonstrates the creative depth of the brand, helps prospective partners visualize opportunities, reveals possibilities for category expansion and shows that the licensing program is prepared to support licensees once they come aboard.
In other words, it doesn’t just guide the work that happens after the deal is signed. It can help make the deal more compelling in the first place.
If you’re developing a new licensing program, refreshing an existing one or looking for ways to make your brand more compelling to prospective licensees, we’d welcome the opportunity to discuss how a more strategic approach to style guide design can strengthen both your brand and your licensing program.
