Category: general

WWD reports about Nicole Miller increasing the number of her licenses. Considering that every license, no matter how small or big, requires a minimum of attention, to us this rather sounds like handling a bag of fleas, then a profitable licensing portfolio.

“Now when Nicole Miller dresses her customers, she will do it from head to toe. The designer and president of the 23-year-old eponymous brand is rolling out footwear, handbags, belts and
jewelry for spring in a renewed accessories push that she and chief executive officer Bud Konheim anticipate will boost the $800 million the brand generates at retail by more than 25 percent.

The expansion into accessories will all be under license, increasing the brand’s partnerships with outside firms for accessories to seven from two. Nicole Miller has a deal for an assortment of sunglasses and a second for hosiery, both of which have been active for more than a decade.

Recent agreements include a license for luggage, one for women’s shoes, another for handbags and umbrellas and one for belts.

Last month, Nicole Miller rounded out the mix by entering into an agreement for a collection of necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings.

Nicole Miller counts 24 licenses for its brand, including 11 for its home collection distributed exclusively at Bed, Bath & Beyond, and the brand has had licenses for accessories in the past.

“We’ve learned a lot,” said Konheim. “When you hear about us in the past in terms of licensing, we made some mistakes and we had to switch. We had to learn every lesson in a painful way.”

Was eine großartige Einrichtung:

“Die BMW-Group hat am Donnerstag ihre Marken-Akademie der Öffentlichkeit vorgestellt.
Die vor drei Jahren gegründete Brand-Academy des Unternehmens soll das Verständnis für die drei Marken BMW, Mini und Rolls-Royce bei Mitarbeitern, Handelspartnern und Agenturen fördern.
In eintägigen Seminaren lernen Teilnehmer dort Grundwissen zu Marken im allgemeinen und die Ausrichtung der drei Unternehmensmarken kennen.

“Für den langfristigen Erfolg ist es unabdingbar, dass Mitarbeiter und Partner die unterschiedlichen Identitäten der Marken verstehen und die Differenzierungsmerkmale zum Wettbewerb kennen”, so BMW-Marketing- und Vertriebsvorstand Michael Ganal.

In dem firmeneigenen Institut im Norden Münchens werden jährlich etwa 2.500 Teilnehmer geschult. Der Großteil sind BMW-Führungskräfte.

Die BMW-Brand-Academy betreibt außerdem Grundlagenforschung und ist interner Dienstleister für die Marketingabteilungen des Automobilkonzerns.”

Nicht nur wird jeder Mitarbeiter auf die Marke(n) eingeschworen, jährlich verlassen 2.500 Botschafter der Marke das Institut.

WWD berichtet, zwei Mode Marken steigen in die Hotelerie ein: Missoni und Byblos.

Missoni, mit seiner erfolgreichen Heimtex Kollektion, vergab eine weltweite Lizenz an eine Belgische Hotelgruppe.

Geplant sind 30 kleine bis mittlere Hotels bis zum Jahr 2010 unter dem Namen Hotel Missoni.

Die ersten drei sollen bis 2007 eröffnet werden, unter anderem in Dubai und Edinborough.
Weitere Standorte sollen London, Paris, Amsterdam, St. Petersburg, Mailand und Istanbul sein.
Für 2010 erwartet Vittorio Missoni, der Marketing Manager von Missoni Umsätze in Höhe von $350 million.

Gleichzeitig eröffnete der Inhaber von Byblos ein 5 Sterne Hotel in Verona.

Missoni und Byblos folgen damit Armani, Versace, Ferragamo und Bulgari in den Markt der Luxushotels.

WWD Reports, two more fashion brands have jumped into the hotel business: Missoni and Byblos.

Missoni, which has a successful home furnishings collection, has signed a worldwide licensing agreement with a Belgian hotel chain. The plan is to develop and operate 30 small- to medium-sized venues called Hotel Missoni by 2010.

The first three Hotel Missonis are slated to open in 2007 and are expected to include units on Palm Island in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and in Edinburgh. Other target destinations include London, Paris, Amsterdam, St. Petersburg, Milan and Istanbul.

By 2010, Vittorio Missoni, the fashion house’s marketing manager, forecasts sales for the project to be more than $350 million.

“We were approached some time ago and jumped at the opportunity because the home collection, whose sales will exceed $23 million this year, is an important segment for the brand,” said Missoni. “We are protective of what our parents built and will never sacrifice the values of that business at the expense of short-term growth, but we found the right partners in Rezidor SAS.”

He added that hotels are a natural extension of Missoni’s core business and a perfect complement to its fashion, home collections and fragrances.

The interiors, naturally, will be decorated in colorful patterns similar to those that catapulted Missoni to fame. Rosita Missoni, co-founder of the colorful knits, with her husband, Tai Missoni,
designs Missoni Casa. Besides Rosita Missoni and Rezidor SAS, the design of the hotels will be developed with Studio Thun, the Milan-based design studio headed by Matteo Thun.

“Rosita is ecstatic about this project. She can’t wait to start designing more sheets and tabletops,” said Vittorio Missoni.

Meanwhile, Byblos owner Dino Facchini is going for the art of surprise with his new five-star Byblos Art Hotel Villa Amistà and Chenot spa, located on the hills surrounding Verona, Italy.

Missoni and Byblos enter the hotel industry following Armani, Versace, Ferragamo and Bulgari, all of whom have put their stamps on luxury hotels.

Heinz Baked Beanz has been named ‘the most desired brand’ in the UK, according to a new survey, as big brands score well.

Carried out by academics at the University of Bath and integrated agency Geronimo, those surveyed were ask to name their preferred brands and rank their level of disappointment, if they were not available when shopping.

According to Geronimo, the aim was not to chart the products that sell the most, but those that consumers feel most passionately about.

Other Heinz products also did well in the survey, with its tinned soup range being named the second most desirable product and its tomato ketchup coming in at eighth place.

The third place brand was Fairy washing-up liquid, followed by Kellogg’s cereal range in fourth, Nescafe coffee in fifth and Colgate toothpaste in sixth.

The rest of the top 10 is made up of seventh-placed Walker’s Crisps, Robinson’s squash in ninth and Andrex toilet paper in 10th place.

Bigger name brand such as Coca-Cola missed out on a top 10 placing, with the drinks brand ranked at 11th. Cadbury chocolate bars were ranked 20th and Hovis reached number 29.

Geronimo managing partner Andy Snuggs said: “From various data already available any marketer will know which FMCG brands sell the most. With this research, we have found out which grocery brands consumers feel closest to and feel most passionately about.”

Out of the 100 brands charted around half are owned by just five firms Unilever, P&G, Heinz, PepsiCo and Tesco, which had eight of its own-label brands such as its cheese included in the survey.

1. Heinz Baked Beans (49.5%)
2. Heinz tinned soup (42.2%)
3. Fairy washing up liquid (40.5%)
4. Kellogg’s Cereal (34.2%)
5. Nescafe coffee (33.3%)
6. Colgate toothpaste (32.6%)
7. Walker’s crisps and snacks (30.9%)
8. Heinz tomato ketchup (29.4%)
9. Robinson’s squash (25.0%)
10. Andrex Toilet paper (23.4%)