A lot of you may be confused if we say that we at Dream Theatre are in the business of licensing and merchandising. What if we ask you- Have you heard of Angry Birds, Real Madrid football club, Pokemon, Smiley and it’s likely that you say ” Of course!”
If you see any products of these brands at retail- blame us for it! This is the business of licensing and merchandising.
What exactly is Licensing and what is merchandising and WHAT is THE BIG DEAL?
Licensing is akin to a rent agreement. The owner of the property (From licensing parlance, we call the owner a Licensor) leases the property to a Licensee for a designated time and for a fee. So, if you take the example of blockbuster brand like Angry Birds; Angry Birds is the property. The owner of the property: Rovio is the Licensor and the licensee can be a company that operates in a host of businesses e.g. footwear, apparel, stationery, back to school supplies etc.
So to begin with, we at Dream Theatre manages “PROPERTIES”. This may include properties in the Entertainment domain like Angry birds, Pokémon or the Sports domain like FIFA World Cup or Soccer Clubs like Real Madrid FC or then fashion brands like The Smiley Company or Paul Frank
Now, what does Dream Theatre have to do with this? . We are the Agents. We represent the interests of the owner i.e. the Licensor. As agents, our role is not just to connect two parties together
We work with the Licensor in building the strategy for the brand, we identify the key licensees, work to ensure the integrity of the brand is maintained; we help in marketing and retail development, and then collect royalties. Dream Theatre is the AGENTs for several such brands across the Indian subcontinent.
We marry the licensors brand value with manufacturers / retailers who have the ability to create fantastic product and who have distribution. So as Agents, we sign contracts with companies or retailers called LICENSEES. This is typically an agreement signed for a fixed period of time for a certain category of products where the LICENSEE can sell legitimate LICENSED Products (read here not FAKE or Look alike) of a certain Brand or Property.
This could have various forms: We could for example license the property to a T-shirt, toys, or home furnishing. “Product Licensing” deals. We could also lease the popularity of these characters to FMCG brands to run promotions. This is called a “Promotional Licensing” deal (e.g. a construct like buying an xyz chocolate and you get a free toy with )
Its our mandate and priority at Dream Theatre to ensure that standardized, high quality products are produced for the brands we represent. We have a large talented creative team that supports the licensee and ensures stringent quality control. We do a thorough ‘BRAND ASSURANCE” or a creative quality check to ensure that the designs logos etc. are all in keeping with the Brand mandate or guide for a certain property and there is control in pricing.
So the consumer benefits from a good quality genuine product is akin to watching a cheap pirated print of your favorite movie v/s a genuine print at a slightly higher price.
The process of Licensing is complicated only to the extent that all parties concerned are legally and financially bound by a mutually agreed upon legal terms. The rest of the process is wonderful as our creative team churns out some super designs on a varied range of products using the DNA and attributes of the brand characters.
We are the Theatre to your dreams and aspirations of “owning a piece “ of your favorite brand. The sky is the limit to create more fun with popular entertainment sports and fashion brands…at Dream Theatre Pvt. Ltd. …we are truly Dreaming for a Living!
For more questions and interest log on to www.dreamtheatre.co or write to us at jimmygeorge@dream-theatre.co.in