The advancement of digital printing technology has led to new opportunities for licensed art.

Print-on-demand (POD) licensed art deals that typically carry smaller quantities and lower inventories for licensees and also allow for greater personalization as consumers increasingly seek to put their stamp on products.

Broader Product Palette

Digital printing is also enabling licensees to easily extend their product lines. For example, calendar/stationery supplier Lang, while not using POD,  has has taken advantage of digital printing to introduce water bottles, leather accessories and gifts with licensed art.

POD hasn’t brought much change in the contract terms for art licensing, other than dropping requirements for minimum order quantities and inventory commitments, given the nature of the business, says Jewel Branding and Licensing President Ilana Wilensky. In fact, in many cases the lowered inventory risk allows artists to offer a broader range of designs, according to MHS Licensing CEO Marty Segelbaum.

“POD used to be an afterthought” for licensed art, but now “it’s an entire category and it is driving some of that self-expression and personalization,” said The Brand Liaison’s Steven Heller. “You now have an opportunity to offer a huge variety and you minimize inventory risk while maximizing the personalization. And there is a chance to capture the consumer at different places and moods and offer something they might buy on impulse.”

PODNow

The print-on-demand trend was on full display at this week’s NYNow/Surtex show in New York.

• Jewel Branding and Licensing recently signed an agreement with POD supplier Trevco for several of its artists including Jessi Raulet’s EttaVee brand, Valerie McKeehan’s Lily & Val and Rachel Hale. The agreement grew an earlier pact for giftware and jewelry with Graphics & More, which Trevco acquired last year.
• Brand Liaison has deals for several of its artists with ecommerce companies Personalization Mall and Custom Personalization Solutions.

Among our other observations at NYNow:

• Water bottle companies were out in full force. S’well took booth space for the first time, is readying its first licensed art collection, broadening a line that also includes internally-developed designs. Drinkwear supplier Tervis has developed a new collection featuring licensed art, broadening from its base in sports and entertainment licenses.
• Jewel Branding has launched Artonomo, a content management system designed to organize, manage and track digital collections ranging 500-30,000 images. The system, which Jewel uses for its business, initially is available to artists and will be extended to other licensing agencies, manufacturers and museums by June for a monthly fee.
• Picnic Time added The Mandalorian to its other Disney licenses, with beverage caddies and totes slated to launch next month. Disney became Picnic Time’s top-selling licensor in 2019, surpassing the NFL.
• CBD was everywhere, including such products as gummies (Joy Organics), creams and oils (Rock Flower Paper)and Royal Heritage Home’s CBD-infused pillowcases that launched last fall and are designed to withstand up to 18 washes. Cannabis and CBD accessory supplier Her Highness also was at the show seeking licenses to apply to its products, including a vaping kit that pairs a battery and cartridge with a matching “gold” charger.