Licensors who establish a solid framework for exchanging information and ideas with their licensees reap many benefits. Creating an open dialog helps licensors and licensees ensure that higher-quality products reach store shelves quickly, leading to increased revenue for both parties.

But this is often easier said than done. There are many barriers standing in the way, such as geographical location, time zones, or determining suitable time to schedule calls. Both licensors and licensees have busy schedules and they may not be able to answer the phone every time it rings in order to answer to questions or give feedback.

However, communication is the key to making any relationship work. In today’s fast-paced digital era, it is easier and more important than ever to build connections and strengthen partnerships.

In this article, we will go over some of the elements that contribute to a strong infrastructure for brand licensing companies and licensor-licensee communications, including:

• Online databases for style guides and quick answers to common questions.
• Detailed royalty reports with SKUs for sales tracking.
• Notification systems for reminders and updates.
• Better communication mechanism to improve the relationship and connection you have with licensees.

MANAGING DIGITAL ASSETS

With clear guidelines on how to utilize a licensor’s brand, licensees will be able to easily present these brands with associated products in the best way possible. You will also avoid any confusion that might prevent delays in the approval workflow and ultimately have their products reach store shelves in a timely manner.

Licensees can access any information they need without having to call licensors directly for every single decision or question. This is possible with a licensing management software in place.

It is important to give licensees access to low-res images to place on product sketches during the approval process, as well as downloadable production-quality images for use in manufacturing once the designs are approved.

Having both readily accessible at the right time will ensure that licensees do not recreate artwork outside the licensor’s specific requirements.

DETAILED REPORTING OF ROYALTIES BY SKU AND RETAILER

When licensees share details about each product sold at retail or through distributors, licensors can gain insight into what products are selling and in which territories. This allows them to adjust their marketing spend, as well as their advertising, promotional strategies, and marketing plans. They also gain information to spot trends more quickly in the market.

Detailed reporting from licensees assists licensors in creating multiple forecasts based on actual data, which leads to better planning. The best crystal ball available to licensors or licensing agents is their licensees’ marketing plans.

In many categories, licensees have open orders to help keep costs down and plan their cash flow. Licensors should take advantage of this information to better compare their royalty income by licensee or product category against past forecasting trends.

Having this data will allow licensors to refocus their energies on brands that are producing revenue and steer away from introducing brands that are unlikely to succeed.

SELF-REPORTING AND NOTIFICATIONS

Traditionally, licensors receive reports from licensees at the end of each reporting period, typically each quarter. Nowadays, licensees can continuously monitor their brand licensing activities in-house, allowing nearly real-time improvements to their licensing practices.

Constant communication between licensor and licensees, during which licensees can share important, internally generated information on an ongoing basis, will allow both parties to work together to create great products.

For their part, licensors need to reciprocate by sending out reminders and alerts about annual insurance certificates, overdue royalties, updated agreements, upcoming guarantee payments, revised style guides, and more.

Receiving these notifications on a timely basis helps licensees submit all required information before deadlines while optimizing their approval workflow and avoid costly fees, fines, and overdue payments.

Since licensors have many licensees to communicate with and sending out reminders can be repetitive and time consuming, licensors need the ability to inform licensees quickly and effortlessly when these important events take place.

ENCOURAGE CONSISTENT COMMUNICATION & REINFORCE BRAND INTEGRITY

It’s crucial to provide licensees with an integrated platform that encourages constant and clear communication between parties with active monitoring while improving partnership to further strengthen brand exposure.

With an integrated brand licensing management software- sharing information among all parties, brand owners, agents, and especially manufacturers can become a seamless process. This leaves all partners able to make the best use of the information being shared – boosting revenues for everyone and establishing greater collaborations.

That is an area where we help consistently communicate on a secure platform between licensors and agents to licensees. Our brand licensing software allows licensors to upload digital assets to a centralized cloud-based database for quick, secure access. You now have a fully available one solution for your every brand licensing needs.

Our solutions help you track royalties to show individual sales down to the SKU level and ensure you have the data to evaluate licensees’ performance to identify areas to improve.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Communication is an essential piece of all business relationships. Licensors and licensees must find seamless channels to build this connection.
• Through an integrated online system, style guides, digital assets, intellectual property usage guidelines and more can be available for licensees to access, anytime and anywhere in world; optimizing product development, and approval workflow, which in turn ensures higher quality product to reach store shelves.
• Automated royalty reporting software gives licensors access to key data points regarding licensees’ marketing strategies, advertising spend, and returns. Through a comprehensive platform, licensors can have constant access to information and create accurate forecasts and allocate funds accordingly.
• Rather than submitting reports quarterly or annually, licensors have a chance to use reports within a brand licensing management software which automatically tracks numbers and generate analysis reports with real-time data.
• Licensors can set up the process to send automatic notifications to remind licensees of upcoming royalty payments, due dates, as well as alerts of any changes to style guides, licensing contracts, and trademark management with the right brand licensing management software.

Please reach out to our team at Dependable Solutions to set up brand licensing software to integrate your contracts, royalties, and brand licensing assets. Call us at +1 877-289-8431, +1 424-213-6663 and +44 203 882 3370 (UK) or email us at sales@dependablesolutions.com.