Who’s Your Daddy?

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The art director loves it, the review committee loves it, but when it comes time to sign a contract someone along the line does not understand the message and kills the project. In this business it is sometimes difficult to get a handle on who you are actually working to please, and this can definitely be one of the more confusing aspects of art licensing. The first answer many artists come to (or is it the last answer?) is that you are working for yourself. The idea is that you are a little business, an independent contractor, and everything you do builds your reputation, furthers your career and advances your brand. Another approach is to believe that you are working to connect with the end user – that consumer who finally buys the product, because if it doesn’t speak to them…no sales. Or could it be the art director who picks your design from the hundreds spread out on the workroom table? Or his/her boss? And then there is that retailer whose commitment will determine whether or not the project ever sees the light of day? Could it be them?
Identifying your final customer can be difficult. Think about this: you are not a customer of Facebook. Or Twitter. Or Google, Yahoo, Bing, or most anyone who offers you a free service. You are their PRODUCT, and their customers are the advertisers and marketers who pay them for your information. If you and I both call Google with a complaint they will likely address my concerns and ignore yours because I pay them every month to place my business info in front of…you. The social media companies have created free platforms for conversation and then have sold eavesdropping rights to marketers. They didn’t bother to ask your permission because – that’s right, you are not their customer. Or this: you design a really cool men’s gift item that will be a slam dunk with every guy who sees it. But it doesn’t sell because their wives and girlfriends don’t get it. Who are the customers for men’s gifts? Women.
It’s not that what WE believe about a design isn’t interesting and valuable, it’s just that what your customer thinks matters more. Understanding the whole picture is important, and there is a lot of time and energy expended toward doing just that. The marketing people at Disney can tell you the average age and gender of the buyers of a licensed product, and also the average age and gender of the final recipient. Worldwide. Try to become client focused and work on understanding who is making what decisions, and why – the ability to correctly identify your real customer is an essential skill that will serve you well in your career.

Say What?

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One of the nice things about being in this business is that art licensing, for the most part, is not a cutthroat business. If you have ever spent much time in other commercial disciplines you know exactly what I am talking about, and also know how rare this is. Yes, you have competition and it is silly to give away all of your hard earned knowledge to your competitors, but most people in this biz are quick to share enough advice to at least keep someone from stepping into quicksand. This “refined attitude” also extends into our relationships with our clients, making our interaction truly cooperative rather than adversarial – unfortunately not a universal situation in other types of business either. This has allowed us to make many good friends in the industry, to the point where we look forward to the shows not only to do great business but also as a chance to hang out with our pals.
 So where am I going with this? Well, we spend a lot of time with our clients both at the shows and after the shows, and there is nothing like good spirited cocktail conversation to find out what is really happening out there. We were chatting one recent evening at dinner and one of our art directors made this surprising comment:
“All of us manufacturers read the questions and comments in the art licensing groups, follow the tweets and listen to what is being said out there. It’s part of our job. None of us will ever openly comment because of the flood of artist inquiries that would follow, but these artists need to realize that what they say and do could determine whether or not I will be interested in working with them.“ She went on to say that someone who rants and raves or makes snotty comments on a thread (about manufacturers…?) gets their attention, and that there are people they will never work with because, based on what they have seen, they already know it would be difficult.
It is difficult in this business to separate the personal from the professional in our lives, and that is particularly true for artists. The move to a 24-hour social media driven world has only exacerbated that problem, so one must be doubly aware that you are going to be accountable for everything you say – just look at the Olympic athletes that are being bounced out of the games for inappropriate comments. You can get bounced too, the only difference is you will never know it.
Remember what Mom said…”If you have nothing nice to say…”

Tidbits 2012

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We’re just back from 5 days in Atlanta, a good trip even if the market traffic was a little down. The summer markets are never as well attended as the January show, but our clients were telling us that traffic was off a little more than normal, although most seemed happy about the business they were writing.
Lots of great tidbits were being tossed about during the Surtex/Licensing/Atlanta show trifecta, and of course I miss most of them when we are busy but managed to snag these:
“We post submission guidelines on the website for a reason – and you’re not special. Use them.”
– a manufacturer complaining about artists who contact the art director directly to submit.
“I think this is all the arty stuff, there’s nothing for us here” 
– overheard in our section at the Licensing Expo.
“We used to get six or seven years out of a design, now we’re lucky if it lasts two.”
– a needlework manufacturer.
“It’s an awesome way to make a life. Every morning you wake up and the possibilities are endless.”
– in conversation with Billy the Artist.
“If I can take 12 pages out of my magazine advertising I save 50 grand – and a job.”
– a giftware manufacturer discussing their cutbacks over the last few years.
“You have to have the attitude of ‘Hey, let’s run this up the flagpole – and if it doesn’t work, well, here’s another one for you’…”
– agent discussing exhibiting at shows
“I have been in this business for 40 years and absolutely nothing is the same as it used to be.”
– paper goods manufacturer
“You have to have something relevant to say or you are wasting everybody’s time.” – in a discussion about artists and social media.
“How about you just do something original instead?” – a comment about all the Kelly Rae imitators.
“At the end of the day your responsibility is to make a product that sells.” – an agent re: art licenisng.
“You can have the most fabulous art style in the world, but you’re dead in the water if it doesn’t speak to people.” – an agent in the same discussion.
“I’m starting to think collage is the choice for people that don’t know how to draw.” – an agent commenting on all the copycat products at the market.
These two (phone conversations) were also overheard at our booth at the Licensing Expo:
“I’m in Vegas at a show and my wife is worried sick about the fish, can you go over and check on them for us?”
and… “If you’re calling to bitch I’m not having any of it today, so don’t bother!”
Amen to that.

And Everything Else I Need To Know I Learned From The Pitch…

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I am not a fan of reality shows, in general I find their premise ridiculous. They want you to believe that people are in mortal danger, making important life decisions or having spontaneous heartfelt discussions (or meltdowns) all while under the watchful eye of production and camera crews… what nonsense. I have however made some room in my skepticism for a couple of shows – Shark Tank, which I mentioned previously (on 3-19-12), and our fairly recent discovery: The Pitch. We devoured the eight episodes of season 1 and are looking forward to season two. Each show closely follows two ad agencies as they compete and create their pitch to win the business from a national client.
The show is, among many other things, an exceptional demonstration of the art of creative brainstorming, of what happens when creative minds mash up against deadlines and competition. This is how the pros do it, in something they call tissue sessions – the good, the bad and the ugly. (Ronnie long ago worked in the ad dept of Dayton-Hudson, Target’s parent company, and they always referred to the agency people as the “screamers and hair pullers”…you can see why).  I always end up with a pad of paper in my hand when we watch the show…
“We’re in the business of selling ideas”
“We spend our time listening to the brand because it has to be about them, not us.”
“You need new clients coming in the front door faster than old ones are going out the back door.”
“All customer briefs (the project requests) are inherently different even though they may appear to be the same.”
“Anyone can come up with a great idea at any time – what’s hard is giving them ideas that are realistic and producible enough that they can actually be launched.”
These are some quotes that I have written down during different episodes. Compared to what we do in art licensing this is presentation on steroids, but the principles are the same. Listening to your customer and delivering fresh, workable ideas developed with a client focus – this is the difference between winning and losing. Sometimes you can just see them going wrong. Clarity is the name of the game – a single well developed and clear message generally wins out over a complex multi-faceted one.
I have saved one of the best quotes for last:
“So often Creative (dept) has an idea that is really cool, but that’s all it is – unfortunately beyond cool you need to have content and a strategy to make it work”

Ain’t it the truth…let’s watch and learn.

Licensing Expo – Out of the Desert

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We are bouncing around at 39,0000 feet as our plane scoots around some weather after having finished another Licensing Expo in Las Vegas (used to only be the Licensing Show…we’ve been upgraded to Expo now…). We’re happy to leave the desert behind us – get me some humidity, please! All in all, not a bad show but definitely not a record setting event. We had a very good first day, an OK second day and the third – well, we could have slept in and hit the pool instead. It was a bit of a reversal of the usual pattern, traditionally the first morning has been quiet while everyone checked out the spectacular booths offerings of the big exhibitors, but this year it started off with a bang.
Overall, traffic did seem to be down although it is always hard to accurately judge from what we see in our little section, and I have not heard any of the official reports yet. (Hmmm, do official attendance numbers ever show a decline?) We had some pretty good meetings from both appointments and walk-bys, and will certainly see results from them, but definitely would have liked more. One problem we have had at this show for the last oh, ten years or so, is that the Art and Design section is usually placed in the worst location possible, and when it appears that may not be the case they will move us just to make sure. Unfortunately art is the small fish in the big licensing pond, and the reality is that the majority of the attendees have no interest in our section. It’s frustrating but all we can do is make the best of it.
The art on the floor was good this year, only a couple of obvious clunkers, and I think most of the exhibitors did OK and at least a few had really good shows. There was a lot of concept and character based work, which is good because that is more appropriate for this venue rather than other shows like Surtex. As I have said before, my opinion is that Licensing is not a show for an inexperienced artist, particularly if you are a pattern based surface designer or you work in single designs and associated collections. It’s a show about big ideas.
There were a few artists and IP owners walking the show looking for information (the work we saw ranged from bad to wow), and a fair number of agents, some of whom used to exhibit but now are “freelancing” it and hoping to meet with the attendees coming to our section. Not as many as Surtex, but it’s even more difficult to justify at this show since virtually 100% of the exhibitors are licensors. (Unless you are doing some consulting work but I can assure you most of these are not.)
And then there were the pictures – not those being displayed but those being taken. The show had No Photography signs up but the camera in all its forms is now ubiquitous in our world, and everywhere you looked someone was taking a shot. Phones, I-pads, big and small digitals, they were everywhere. One girl walked right up and shot our booth while we were in a meeting and then hurried away – I chased her down and had her delete it but could see she had a camera full of booth images. I think by the end of the show most everybody had surrendered and pretty much ignored it. (Although we did hear that Disney made the attendees at their early unveiling put all their devices into sealed envelopes – but they can do that ‘cause they’re Disney…)

Just one more sign that we are making our way in a new world out there.

Surtex…Still…

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Surtex was a good show this year, and you likely have heard that by now because it seems to be trumpeted from every platform in the industry. I do not recall seeing this kind of buzz continue this long AFTER a show, and while it was a good one I am not sure that it was in the record setting category. But what the heck – we’ll take it. There has been some interesting back and forth on a couple of forums between newer exhibitors who are excited about the show results and some veterans who are suggesting that the real measure of the show won’t be apparent for months. As far as I’m concerned they are BOTH right, inasmuch as there is a right or wrong to it.
                                                                 
It’s becoming generally accepted that it takes 2 or 3 exhibit appearances at Surtex before you can accurately judge your results. I would agree, and also suggest that a vital part of this multi-year “seeding of the market” is the improvement and evolution of both the art and the “art of presenting” that occurs over those years. Art licensing, and particularly exhibiting, is a biz that is best learned experientially – there are skills and an awareness that come from experience and it is difficult to shortcut that. The artists who do well in this business are the ones who understand the need to take the long view and keep showing up with something new – every year, every show – and even if the work doesn’t fly it will continue to build their connection with the customer.  Ronnie first exhibited at the Licensing Show back in the mid-90’s (sharing with Cathy Heck), and we first exhibited at Surtex under the Two Town moniker in 2001. When we look back at pictures of those earlier booths we are not horrified because we did the best with what we knew back then, still managed to do some good business and built upon what we learned from every show. 
 
Licensing Show in 2000
Surtex in 2001
Whenever you build a business (which you are) one of the primary considerations has to be how you are going to acquire customers. This is paramount – no customers, no business. There are any number of theories and methods to accomplish it but basically all revolve around proceeding through the necessary steps: awareness, interest, deliberation of action, purchase, retention. This is a process, not an event, and it goes on for as long as you are in business. No one is exempt from the continuing need to build and nurture these relationships, and believing that you will be able to bypass it just by putting up a booth at a trade show is setting yourself for a disappointment. These shows are a great tool to concentrate a lot of customers in one place for a short time, they are fast paced and exciting but be aware that the excitement (on all sides) will cool rapidly in the weeks that follow. Stay with it, let the process work and just keep building.

Surtex: the Good, the Bad

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Another Surtex, another good show. Actually, a really good show.  We had a steady stream of attendees throughout the 3 days, although Monday was definitely the busiest, and we were still showing work at 6:15 on Tuesday as the place was being dismantled around us. I LOVE that. Traffic had the appearance of being down despite the fact that show management reported their registrations were up significantly over last year. One difference we did notice was that the clients were very focused, not many “looky-loos” this year. Almost everyone seemed to know what they wanted, what holes in their lines they needed to fill and what categories they wanted to expand upon. It was actually very refreshing – a yes or no answer is always better than a maybe.
We did not talk to many newbie artists this year, there were plenty in evidence but only a couple stopped by to ask about submitting, and as a group I have to say they were very respectful of the exhibitors. Kudos to you all.
I wish, however, I could say the same for some of the experienced ones.
It seems that a number of the artists and agents who have previously exhibited have arrived at the conclusion that, because of their many years of exhibiting, they now are entitled to walk the show and meet with the attendees. One even suggested to us they should be exempt from the fee charged to walk the show. Seriously? These are, mind you, the very same people who complained for years about the slew of artists who did exactly what they are doing before show mgmt finally made some effort to control it. Baffled only begins to tell you how I feel about this logic.
And then there was this: an artist (who has been in the business for 15 or 20 years but no longer exhibits) walks up to say hi to a client – who had just arrived at our booth  – then proceeded to park herself there and chat. Eventually our client ran out of time and had to move along, and to add insult to injury the artist offers to walk with the client and off they went. Our meeting? Didn’t happen. Hard to believe we’re seeing this from our “professionals”.
On another note, the decision was made last week to discontinue the License and Design section of the Atlanta gift market. The unfortunate reality is that the AmericasMart is just not set up to accommodate a show of this type without it being a five day location in the temps – and a show that long was an unacceptable option for most exhibitors. It is a shame since the timing and location in THE major gift market of the year had huge potential, but the showroom structure of the market just didn’t work.
All for now, I need to get through this big stack of work that comes with a great show – and it’s how many (how few actually…) weeks till Licensing?

How Difficult Could THAT Be?

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We were more than a little amused some time back when somebody asked in one of the art licensing forums if there was a course available on How To Be An Art Licensing Agent.
Seriously? You’re going to learn how from a book?
After paging through a few of the new licensing magazines that are just out, I am starting to wonder if maybe that course IS out there somewhere because I am amazed at the number of new agencies that are popping up. Seems that somewhere along the line it has been decided that, after trying their hand at art licensing, the next logical step is for an artist to become an agent. Certainly some of them are eminently qualified to do the job, and everybody has to start somewhere, but there is an underlying promise being made by any licensing, or branding, illustration, editorial, media, etc. agent: that they are qualified to perform in this role and have the market knowledge, experience and relationships IN PLACE to justify their cut of the royalties. It used to be that the main concern in selecting an agent was whether your styles (personal and artistic) matched up well enough so you could work together, however now I think you are better off starting with “are they qualified to do the job?”
I don’t want to say this is only artists, we are seeing brand agencies, former execs from big licensors/licensees, previous art directors and more deciding to represent art properties for licensing. I’m going to call it the Agency Bubble. Again, some are going be great at it and others will definitely be learning as they go. I am not completely sure there is a severe downside for a newbie artist signing up with a newly minted agency other than losing that time it takes, in years not months, for a new agent to build their business. (I prefer to believe that a person who feels qualified to act as an agent has accumulated enough experience so they will not be dispensing bad advice on contracts or markets. I would prefer to believe that…). I do realize how difficult it is for most artists to get an experienced agent to respond – we’re as guilty as the rest –  but you need to think long and hard about whether that justifies going with someone you are not sure of.  
Inexperienced people taking even less experienced people’s money is always cause for concern, so do me a favor and examine, carefully, the reasons you are signing with any agent.  

You want what when?

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It was a recipe for potential disaster with a client. A recent occurrence:
Our client had finally picked up a collection for an upcoming catalog after a week’s worth of back and forth modifications with the artist. We all allowed ourselves a big sigh of relief – till the next shoe dropped: they wanted the production work done asap, by the artist, and it had to be uploaded in the next few days. But her booked-up schedule would not allow it. The project was in danger of falling apart but we managed to work out a compromise by splitting the work with the client and getting it done.
Production work is the layout and finalizing of all aspects of the product, sometimes to fit customer templates, to make files that are factory (print, sculpt, cast, whatever the process is) ready. Depending on what the process is, this can involve fronts, backs and sides, borders and backgrounds, even 360 degree views which include tops and bottoms.  Layers, bleeds, design positioning, Pantone color matching – it is very detailed and time consuming, and it has to be done right. And it was rarely done by the artist, but instead was the domain of the production people at the factory – of course that was then and this is now and my, how things have changed.
It’s important to know what will be involved in delivering files for a project before you make a commitment to do it. Not many companies require this type of “production ready” art, but it does seem to be popping up more often as client staffs have been reduced and manufacturers continue to look for ways to cut costs. We got caught up in the aforementioned situation because they had changed their policies and somehow we missed it. (It really makes you appreciate those manufacturers who will take the art “sketched on a napkin” and run with it…) The question becomes not only WILL you have time to do it, but also will it be WORTH your time to do it? Give that some consideration, because laying out the production files for a giftware line, or a paper tableware collection, or even a line of greeting cards can be complicated, tedious work – it can take many hours to get it right and would cost hundreds of dollars to hire it out.
So just how much are those royalties going to be?

Now What?

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I just received a really cool new set of designs from one of our artists, something that I had not seen before – she took a whimsical … wait a minute, I can’t tell you because it IS new and fresh. Several client names immediately popped into my head who are candidates for this, so as I am planning to send it out I am thinking “what can she do next”…
We launched a new property called Life Is Country™ and the licenses are continuing to stack up nicely. We had just made a great deal for an apparel line and were having a celebratory glass of wine on the lanai when we caught ourselves talking about Now What… as in which of our artists has the next big thing ready to launch? Seriously, it’s what we do (some people might suggest that’s a lack of focus but what do they know).
A fine artist may spend months on a painting getting every highlight and every brushstroke just right, but in our business you will be hurrying to finish a set of (cards – ornaments – figurines – tableware – take your pick…) so you can get to work sketching on that new set of (cards – ornaments – figurines – tableware) that you were thinking about while working on the previous ones. Not you? It’s the nature of the art licensing biz, and to make a career of it you will need to be thinking several steps ahead. I know successful artists in this field that plan their year in advance with lists of categories and products they intend to work on, and then methodically work down the list in between client requests. They always have an answer for Now What (and a portfolio full of new art).
The forums are active with people asking questions about Surtex and what they should be doing, how they should be setting up this or that. Sure, it’s an exciting time getting prepared, but I can guarantee you that most of the experienced people in this business have left Surtex planning in the dust already, they might be tying up a few logistical loose ends but most are looking far past it and thinking Now What…
So what are you going to do next?