Martha Stewart Doesn't Own the Patent on Sheets & Towels
by Kim Lavine
A lot has been made of “licensing” lately—much of it mistakenly.
Product Licensing vs Brand Licensing
There are a lot of people who are presenting licensing as a shortcut to taking your product idea to market.
Taking products to market under a "Brand" like Martha Stewart is not the same as taking a single product without a "Brand" to market.
- You can license a single product, but it’s not a brand.
- On the other hand, if you create a successful brand, you can license hundreds, if not thousands of products, like Martha Stewart
The product isn’t as valuable as the brand
Here's the real facts on "Product Licensing."
- It's not easy.
- You're going to need a patent, NDA, and lawyers to help your protect your idea as your shop it to competitors with infinitiely more resources than you.
- You're going to have to demonstrate market traction to the people you want to license your PRODUCT to.
- You're going to have to negotiate hard to get a small royalty, then stay on top of accounting to make sure you get your money.
Even if you do successfully license your product, you are more than likely going to have to market it.
Brand? or Product?
Branding is the most powerful sales and marketing tool there is for products, and creating an effective branding strategy enables you to put it eventually on every consumer product under the sun, from underwear to lawnmowers, whether your company made it or not. Cha-ching!
The easiest way to consumer’s wallets is through their hearts, not their heads.
Brand as Story
Don’t ever underestimate the power of a good story, effectively communicated through branding. Everybody loves a good story, whether it’s told on TV or not. It creates emotional resonance with the consumer, which is important in distinguishing you from the millions of other products that are out there.
(An excerpt from MOMMY MILLIONAIRE on the elements of successful branding.)
Branding is the art of making something very big, very small.
There are a lot of moving parts that make up a brand. Putting them all together into a one simple picture is the art of branding.
Building a billion dollar brand is not easy, but it’s the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
An excerpt from the critically-acclaimed bestselling book Mommy Millionaire. CLICK HERE to read more or buy the newly-updated Platinum Edition.
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