ICLA Webinar

Growing Your Brand Through Collaboration

and External Communication

Sponsored by Signature Announcements

Kristan Cole

Marketing, Trademarks and

Licensing Manager

Virginia Commonwealth

University

804-828-3615

kmcole@vcu.edu

Renata Hays

Assistant Athletics Director

University of Oklahoma

405-325-8547

renatahays@ou.edu

Ryan Prowell

New Business

Development Manager

Boxercraft

404-355-9994

rprowell@boxercraft.com

Questions? Questions may be asked in one of two ways:

1. Through Twitter utilizing the #ICLAwebinar

2. Through the chat feature within the webinar software.

– Select “Q & A Group” from the drop down menu.

– Type question and hit send.

ICLA Webinar

Renata Hays

Assistant Athletics Director

University of Oklahoma

405-325-8547

renatahays@ou.edu

Growing Your Brand Through Collaboration

and External Communication

Building Relationships with External Stakeholders

Building Relationships with

External Stakeholders

• In what other industries do so many stakeholders have the ability to influence your brand?

• Communication is key, particularly with external entities

– Shows that you care and are serious about working together to grow your brand and the business

– Benefits licensees, retailers, licensing agents and other entities that aren’t on campus and therefore don’t know about events, trends, etc., in your market

– Provides an opportunity to make a “sales pitch” about your institution

How Do You Establish

Those Relationships?

• Schedule an introductory call or meeting with licensees and retailers – Prioritize those calls

– Discuss a wide range of topics: company overview, institution overview, business overview, challenges/opportunities

• Establish next steps and a method for future communication – What are 1-2 action items or goals that you can establish collectively?

– How would the licensee or retailer like to receive information?

– How often would they like to receive information?

• Track your follow-ups

How Do You Grow

Existing Relationships?

• Write “thank you” notes • Depending on your budget, meet face-to-face with licensees and retailers

– ICLA meetings – Trade shows – Trips to HQs

• Schedule events and meet-and-greets on your campus

• Assign graduate assistants or other staff to help collect information from

and/or provide information to select licensees and retailers • Provide marketing toolkits for key promotions and platforms throughout

the year; make it easy for licensees and retailers to participate

Example: There’s Only

One Oklahoma Program

Example: There’s Only

One Oklahoma Program

Questions? Questions may be asked in one of two ways:

1. Through Twitter utilizing the #ICLAwebinar.

2. Through the chat feature within the webinar software.

1. Select “Q & A Group” from the drop down menu.

2. Type question and hit send.

ICLA Webinar

Growing Your Brand Through Collaboration

and External Communication

Ryan Prowell

New Business Development Manager

Boxercraft

404-355-9994

rprowell@boxercraft.com

Maximizing the School/Licensee Partnership

Dr. No Director – Sales Prevention Department

COMMUNICATION

COMMUNICATION

COMMUNICATION

COMMUNICATION

COMMUNICATION

Useful Information • Retail List • Retail Maps • Pockets of Displaced Alumni • Licensee Rankings • Upcoming Events • Brand/Policy Updates • Common Mistakes/Tips • Local Trends • “Meet the Team”

COMMUNICATION

COMMUNICATION

Take a Moment to Appreciate the Partnership!

COMMUNICATION

Good Communication Bad Communication

Vs.

Artwork Review

COMMUNICATION

COMMUNICATION

Disapproved: “Does not fit our brand”

COMMUNICATION

Disapproved: “When applying this mark on a dark garment, please use logo #5. Thanks!”

COMMUNICATION

Disapproved: “Please use flower logo”

COMMUNICATION

Disapproved: “Due to our our recent branding change, we are asking licensees to only use marks and fonts on our current logo sheet”

COMMUNICATION

Disapproved:

INVOLVEMENT

INVOLVEMENT

• Campus meetings with licensees

• Develop relationships with local sales reps

• Communicate local trends

• Licensee/Retail receptions

• Seek out licensee, retailer, and school feedback

If We Work Together, We Grow Together

UNDERSTANDING

Things that make licensees go….. Hmmmmmmmm • Delayed artwork approval

• Lack of direction when artwork is disapproved

• Short notice for logo/brand changes

• New logo exclusives for categories outside the scope of exclusive licensee

• School and local retailers (including bookstore) not on the same page re: guidelines

• Policies or restrictions that are not published

UNDERSTANDING

UNDERSTANDING

Things that make schools go….. Hmmmmmmmm • Artwork rush, why can’t it be sent in sooner

• Lack of detail in artwork submissions

• Submitting art for one item/color, but finding multiple items/colors in store

• Artwork submitted to the wrong school

• Resubmitting artwork that has not been revised

• Not following guidelines clearly stated on logo sheets

UNDERSTANDING

Confessions of a Licensee • I try my best to catch all errors before submitting artwork. For every one incorrect

submission that sneaks through, I’ve caught five others.

• I try my best to know all the nuances and guidelines for your brand, but having over 500 of them can make it challenging.

• I’m not trying to dilute your brand by being creative with your marks, just trying to give the customer what they want and serperate us from our competition.

• I appreciate Licensing Directors taking the time to give me a call, even if its with

bad news.

Questions? Questions may be asked in one of two ways:

1. Through Twitter utilizing the #ICLAwebinar

2. Through the chat feature within the webinar software.

– Select “Q & A Group” from the drop down menu.

– Type question and hit send.

ICLA Webinar

Growing Your Brand Through Collaboration

and External Communication

Utilizing Social Media to Grow your Brand

Kristan Cole

Marketing, Trademarks

and Licensing Manager

Virginia Commonwealth University

804-828-3615

kmcole@vcu.edu

Social Media: VCU Gear

@VCUGear

facebook.com/ MyVCUGear

Social Media: VCU Gear

@vcugear

Social Media: VCU Gear

Social Media: Pinterest

Pinterest – Black & Gold board on VCU’s main account

Social Media: Pinterest

Miami University

Social Media: Pinterest

Social Media: Be Engaged

• #VendoroftheWeek – highlighting both Internal Campus Suppliers and Local/Standard licensees

#VendoroftheWeek

*Important notes: Always tag the vendor and/or retailer whenever possible. Create a hashtag and use it as much as possible.

Social Media: Be Engaged

Engage with and promote other university entities

Social Media: Be Engaged

Engage with and promote other university entities

Social Media: Be Engaged

Engage with and promote external entities

Social Media: Be Engaged

Engage with and promote external entities

Social Media: Be Engaged

Engage with and promote external entities

Social Media: Be Engaged

Be vigilant for relevant comments and requests

Social Media: Be Engaged

Social Media: Turn Comments into

Opportunities

Social Media: Turn Comments into

Opportunities

Social Media: Featured Products

#BNpickoftheweek – featuring gear in our bookstore

Social Media: Brand Promotion

PapaRAMzzi – promotion to encourage new students to wear their VCU gear during Welcome Week

PapaRAMzzi– share pictures in real time, with students’ permission

Social Media: Brand Promotion

Social Media: Enforcement of

unlicensed merchandise

Searching your brand can help you engage with students/fans about unlicensed products and licensing issues

Social Media:

Content for different platforms

Vary content on each platform when possible

Vary content on each platform when possible

Social Media:

Content for different platforms

Social Media: Contests

• Utilized paid ads on Facebook and Twitter

• Spent $200 on Facebook ad & reached 25,000 people

• Spent $400 on Twitter ad & reached 20,000 people

• Started with 57 followers on Instagram and ended the week long contest with 510 followers

• Over 150 people participated and tagged us in the contest

RamTech – VCU’s on-campus tech store

Social Media: Contests

Social Media: Contests

• It’s affordable

• You can customize the audience to the people you want to reach

• Flexibility of social media allows the advertiser to be reactive

• Raising brand awareness and growing your audience

• Ability to answer questions in real time

• Ads are look likes posts

Social Media: Paid Ads

Benefits of paid social media advertising:

Helpful links for more information on paid advertising

• Specifics on the various types of Facebook ads and how to use them: https://www.facebook.com/business/products/ads

• To make sure you are using an image that will be approved on Facebook, upload your image to this site: https://www.facebook.com/ads/tools/text_overlay

• Step-by-step instructions on how to set up a Facebook ad campaign: http://bit.ly/1oCoKwr

• Tips on advertising with Facebook and new tools: http://www.insidefacebook.com/

• Twitter ad types, pricing options, analytics, trends and ad policies: https://business.twitter.com/ad-products

• Advertising advice for Twitter and new tools as they are introduced: https://blog.twitter.com/advertising

• Step-by-step guide to setting up a Twitter ad campaign: http://bit.ly/1o5S4Yr

Social Media: Paid Ads

Social Media: Accounts to Follow

Account Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest

VCU Gear My VCU Gear @VCUGear @vcugear VCU

Miami University Miami University: Shop Miami

@ShopMiamiOH Miami University

Fanatics Fanatics @Fanatics Fanatics

Mizzou MU Black and Gold

Legacy Athletic Legacy Athletic @Legacy_Athletic Legacy Athletic

West Virginia University

WVU Trademark Licensing

University of Virginia University of Virginia Trademark Licensing

University of South Carolina

Gamecock Trademark Licensing

@GamecockTandL

Utah State University Utah State University: True Blue

Utah State University: True Blue

University of Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin Trademark Licensing

Thank You to Our Sponsors

Questions? Questions may be asked in one of two ways:

1. Through Twitter utilizing the #ICLAwebinar

2. Through the chat feature within the webinar software.

– Select “Q & A Group” from the drop down menu.

– Type question and hit send.

ICLA Webinar

Thank You!

Sponsored by Signature Announcements

Kristan Cole

Marketing, Trademarks and

Licensing Manager

Virginia Commonwealth

University

804-828-3615

kmcole@vcu.edu

Renata Hays

Assistant Athletics Director

University of Oklahoma

405-325-8547

renatahays@ou.edu

Ryan Prowell

New Business

Development Manager

Boxercraft

404-355-9994

rprowell@boxercraft.com