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Name
Why celebrity licensed products matter in today’s rug business
What's in a
Safavieh’s Cyrus Yaraghi has spent enough time in rug galleries and retail stores to see the same phenomenon over and over again. A customer walks in, winnows her selection to two rug designs and picks the one with a familiar name attached to it.
“The retailer doesn’t buy a rug just because of the name,” says Yaraghi. “But if a consumer sees two rugs and one brand
is more famous, they choose it.”
That’s why Safavieh is a long-time licensee of the Martha Stewart and Ralph Lauren lifestyle brands. Those celebrity properties drive sales, and not just for rugs. According to the 2016 LIMA licensing study, Martha Stewart and other lifestyle brands generate more than $52 million in annual sales of everything from lamps to cooking tools. Only the entertainment/character licenses
earn more.
Stewart is a perfect case study of how a familiar name moves merchandise. She has leveraged her work as an Emmy-winning television show host, entrepreneur and bestselling author to create a branded products empire that ranges from bathroom cabinets to pet products. And all of it sells. According to her company’s media, Martha Stewart-licensed goods are in more than 70 million households.
Adding New Life to Lifestyle Branding
“Licensed products in the marketplace are much more in demand today than they were 10 years ago,” says Julie Rosenblum, executive director of Licensing at Nourison. “Buyers and consumers are looking for products that they can trust and rely on. When there is confidence in the product name, it is an easy sale.”
Nourison holds a number of celebrity lifestyle brand licenses, including Calvin Klein and Calvin Klein Home, Barclay Butera and Kathy Ireland Home.
Yaraghi says these and other celebrity lifestyle licenses do more than add brand recognition to the rug business. “They also bring new colors and designs and new energy to the market that wasn’t there before,” he says. “Licensed designs are different from what you see from traditional rug makers. As a result, it helps the whole industry. Consumers and designers have something fresh to choose from. Even the competition becomes inspired to come
up with something new.”
Capitalizing on a Brand Aesthetic
Home fashion designers such as Butera don’t always have the same widespread mainstream name recognition of a fashion mogul such as Calvin Klein, but the former still drives sales.
It all depends on a retailer’s customer base, says Rosenblum.
“Retailers need to have an understanding of their audience in regards to who their demographic is and what branded products work best in their tier of the business, while comfortably exploring new ideas as the next step,” she says. “Once this is established, bringing in products that provide a diverse assortment is key
to their growth.”
As consumers watch more aspirational programming and read more lifestyle publications, they are more aware of designers’ aesthetics and more often look to emulate a certain style. While they sometimes can’t articulate exactly what they want or why they want it, they know they are comfortable with
a certain look and retailers can build on that. >
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