�ݺ�ߣ

Editor's Notes

• #2: Elona: Thank you for joining today’s webinar on key challenges and strategies in the licensing market. We will start with a presentation by our guest speakers from FADEL and then open the session up for questions. To ask questions please enter them through the chat window at any time and we will answer them at the end of the session. Elona: We have two guest speakers today. The first is Gregg Guest, VP of Product Management from FADEL. Gregg, thank you for joining. I’ll turn it over to you for a quick introduction. Gregg: [introduce self]. I would also like to introduce my colleague, Rob Ambrose, Director of European Strategy for FADEL, who will kick off today’s session. Rob: Thanks Gregg. I lead FADEL’s business and strategy here in Europe. I’m based in our London office – and work with licensors and licensees to help them optimize their licensing business. We’re also joined by License Man, FADEL’s very own licensing super hero – and we’ll see how he’s coming to the rescue of clunky licensing workflows and royalty teams who’re drowning in Excel.
• #3: [Rob] Our goal today is to help identify strategies for maximizing revenue from your licensed properties -- and eliminating the roadblocks you may be facing in growing your own business – whether you’re a licensor or a licensee. Licensing is big business – you’ll know just how important it is to your company. According to the Licensing Industry Survey that came out from LIMA earlier this year -- global retail sales of licensed merchandise hit $251 Billion for 2015 and the corresponding royalty revenue grew to $13.9 Billion. Those numbers touch many industries, property types and product categories.
• #4: And it’s big business for both licensors and licensees. With so much money flowing between licensors and licensees, how does each side mitigate errors in the license management and royalty accounting of the licensed IP, in order to maximize the revenue potential? FADEL’s character, License Man, is here to help. And License Man himself is a licensed property.
• #5: So let’s put License Man into a standard licensing process to pinpoint some of the complexities that might exist around managing and monetizing your properties. Over the past 5-10 years we’ve seen a sea change in the market, where there’s an ever-growing complexity to intellectual property… all driven by innovation. We’re having to address more fragmented markets, more license combinations, a higher volume - and new distribution models that seem to evolve on a daily basis. At the same time, you’re fighting for the best properties, the maximum shelf space for your products, and producing the most creative products – physical and digital – to win over consumers. Everyone needs to be uber competitive. So how can you take advantage of these new opportunities? How do you maximize the value of your properties when you’re faced with all of these complexities and unknowns?
• #6: Let’s drill into one specific contract between a Licensor and a Licensee – in this case a coffee cup vendor. Sounds simple, right? Well,, in this contract we see many different terms to the deal. We see a unique set of rights and royalties for each product type that can define what territories or formats are allowed. The royalty rates differ between products, territories and retail channels – and may be fixed or tiered. Perhaps there are different minimum guarantees on different items. Then what if the cup combines more than one property? Or the cup is bundled with a digital product? Basically the permutations can be endless. But some of this complexity is what can drive more revenue opportunities.
• #7: And that’s certainly the case for one of FADEL’s licensee clients, Tervis, a drinkware manufacturer that’s known for its trendy tumblers. For Tervis, licensing is strategic. Its licensed brands make the tumblers stand out and represent a significant portion of company revenue, growing year over year. And with this business, Tervis also looks to make the most out of its licensed properties, by empowering its sales teams to be creative in their bundling and options -- such as combining different characters or logos on one product. The accounting team wants to support and empower this creativity but runs into some common challenges: Needing to produce a specific sales and royalty report format for each licensor – they create 40-50 different reports for different licensors Managing audits when even one audit can be across a one year duration Calculating the right royalty payments that takes into account combinations, different terms per property/format/territory -- and handling returns And Tervis works with over 100 licensors, the biggest of which also work with FADEL to automate their complex licensing processes and deals. They in fact run their processes on the same FADEL software platform.
• #8: So let’s look at some of the challenges that licensors face. The innovation and creativity is endless with new distribution channels and content. But can your systems scale to support the growth potential?
• #9: And with that complexity comes the ability to manage financials – royalties, guarantees, commitments and all types of flat-fee payments. Both licensors and licenses see a financial loss as high as 20% due to over or under payment/collection of royalties. And that’s typically because of manual, inaccurate processes and/or a lack of visibility. And many finance teams I speak to are drowning under the pressure of work and gigantic Excel sheets. Never mind the accounting and legal costs to reconcile, audit and pay credits and to review contracts and handle disputes and litigation. So can you automate the checking of sales and royalty reports, and validating them against the contract - eliminating manual processes?
• #10: As much as 70% of self-reporting on licensing contracts is inaccurate. For licensors, this means money left on the table – and the need to conduct more costly audits. That’s if you can detect the errors in the first place - licensing violations often get overlooked due to complex terms and a lack of information flowing between finance and IP rights departments.
• #11: So let’s take a moment to check how you’re currently coping with the complexities of licensing finance. A question whether you’re a licensor or licensee…. Are you still using spreadsheets? Yes No I’m not sure Who’s still using Excel Spreadsheets I’m using excel spreadsheets and it works just fine for me I’m using excel spreadsheets and I’m drowning I’m using a home grown database built in something like “Access” I’m using a robust system
• #12: So we can see from those results that Licensees are facing the same challenges and “Excel hell”. We help licensees compete more effectively by giving them the tools they need. Are your sales reps able to see real time info on where you’re performing on deals and guarantees? How easy is it to see if your minimum guarantees are earned out? And are you leaving money on the table by not effectively managing financial obligations?
• #13: And then there’s the challenge of demonstrating your performance accurately and easily. Licensors often mandate their own formats and data for royalty statements. Royalty calculations can be a challenge to calculate. And there are enormous costs associated with licensor audits
• #14: And do you have the metrics to help you maximize revenue potential? To identify key trends across channels, territories, products….? And when it comes to landing or renewing the best deals, securing the best properties and getting the best terms - do you have the business analytics to give you the data you need at your fingertips to negotiate the best deal?
• #15: Are your systems sophisticated enough to keep up with growth? [IPM Framework, Java EE, latest technologies ] Are you empowered to negotiate the best deals? [manage the end to end lifecycle from negotiation to execution]
• #17: I am going to open it up for questions now. But before I do if you want to see if you qualify for a free, no-obligation assessment to get expert insight about your environment and requirements, or would like to get more info on FADEL’s solution, feel free to email solutions@fadel.com. We will also share a recording of today’s webinar to attendees.