The amount manufacturers spent in licensing royalties slipped slightly to $5.8 billion in 2003, a dip of 0.4% from 2002.
Entertainment and character licensing continues to rein as the largest category in the industry, with 43% of market share. However, the category showed a 3% decrease in licensing revenue to $2.520 billion from $2.580 billion, according to a study commissioned by the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA), released last week at the Licensing Show in New York.
The most significant trend in the entertainment category, which has $60.8 billion in worldwide retail sales, is franchise-building properties, where Hollywood studios develop properties with longevity that can sustain consumer attention in the way that TV and character properties can, LIMA said.
Look for such properties as Bewitched (Sony Pictures Consumer Products), Archie (Miramax), Shrek 2 and Wallace & Gromit (DreamWorks SKG), Pink Panther (MGM), Catwoman (Warner Bros.), King Kong and Curious George (Universal Studios) and Electra (Marvel) to appear in theaters later this year and to inspire consumer products and promotional tie-ins, LIMA said.
Trademarks and brands ranked second with 18% of market share and are one of five categories that showed growth. The category reported $1.060 billion in licensing revenue in 2003 compared to $1.040 billion in 2002. The other four categories that showed growth are sports at 5.8% or $807 million, collegiate at 11.5% or $203 million, art at 3.7% or $167 million and non-profit at 2.5% or $40 million.
Fashion ranked third at 14%, or $848 million, followed by sports at 13.9%, or $807 million, of the overall industry.
In addition to entertainment, categories that lost ground include fashion (4.9%), music (5%) and publishing (4.4%).
The study, the sixth annual, is conducted by the Yale School of Management and the Harvard Business School.
Network
