LOUISVILLE, KY – IMC Licensing, the nation’s leading full-service licensing agency specializing in consumer product brands, announced today that its co-founders have been selected to moderate a seminar during the annual SymphonyIRI Group Summit 2011 to be held March 28 – 30, 2011 in Miami Beach, Florida.
IMC Licensing Co-Founder and President Cara Bernosky and Co-Founder and CEO Stephen Reily will present a workshop as part of the “Winning at Retail: How to Compete More Strategically” track entitled “An Appetite for Licensing:  Food, Beverage and Restaurant Brand Activity,” tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, March 30 at 3:15 pm.
Food and beverage products remain the largest segment of brand licensing, and food and beverage brands are among the world’s biggest licensors and licensees. Recently, as more and more consumers dined at home during the recession, restaurant brands have begun to make a meaningful contribution to licensing activity in this sector, both in hopes of driving in-restaurant traffic as the economy rebounds but also to supplement revenue in otherwise lean times. This session will present a comprehensive overview of the food and beverage sector’s robust licensing activity, including what is happening in private label, and will explore licensing trends relevant to both retailers and manufacturers. Learn how licensing can help grow brands and support core business objectives, how to evaluate licensing options and identify potential partners, and why experts believe this sector will continue to grow in the years to come.
No other licensing agency had focused more exclusively on consumer product brands than IMC Licensing where Ms. Bernosky is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the organization. Since co-founding IMC in 1997, she has developed wide-ranging portfolios of licensed products for several clients and has led the process by which IMC develops its own portfolio of new clients. Ms. Bernosky works intimately with clients and internal staff on strategy and the plan by which IMC will develop licensing portfolios. She has published articles in The Licensing Journal and brandchannel.com among others, and has been a featured speaker at leading industry events including Licensing University and LINK. She currently serves on the strategic planning committee for LIMA, the trade organization of the licensing industry. Before joining IMC, Ms. Bernosky worked for International Sports Marketing, Inc. where she represented professional athletes in licensing and other transactions, for Network International and for the Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Club. She received a B.A. in Communication from Chatham College.
At IMC, Mr. Reily is responsible for overseeing licensing strategy and relationships with clients as well as business development and marketing efforts within the licensing industry. Mr. Reily serves on the Advisory Board of the Licensing Journal, where for three years he wrote a monthly column on corporate trademark licensing. He serves on the Education Committee and is a past officer of LIMA, and is a member of the International Trademark Association (INTA) and the Licensing Executives Society (LES). In addition, Mr. Reily has published articles in BRANDWEEK, brandchannel.com among others, and has been a featured speaker at leading industry events including Licensing University, LINK and The Licensing Letter Symposium. A former corporate attorney, Mr. Reily graduated from Yale College, summa cum laude, and from Stanford Law School, after which he clerked for Justice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court.
ABOUT IMC LICENSING
IMC Licensing leads the industry with its focused approach to brand-building through licensing. We help brand owners and manufacturers turn the world’s best consumer product brands into great new consumer products.
IMC Licensing has worked with companies like Sunkist, TABASCO, Valvoline, General Mills, Butterball and Borghese. For more information, please visit www.imclicensing.com.
ABOUT SYMPHONYIRI GROUP SUMMIT 2011
In CPG, retail and healthcare, everyone is talking about the need for competitive advantage and innovation. The annual SymphonyIRI Group Summit will deliver strategies to create competitive advantage by using shopper-centric insights and an advanced knowledge of today’s shoppers. For more information, please visit http://sigsIMCummit.com. 
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