Cardfactory’s much more than just a card factory, and licensing features strongly
Licensing supremo Ian Downes takes a regular look behind the licensing stories and has realised that greetings retail giant Cardfactory is much more than just a card factory.
Here the founder of Start Licensing shares his considered perspective through a licensing lens…
One of licensing’s strengths is its ability to operate in different retail markets and tiers. Brands can be selected and nurtured to fit specific retail channels. This can go from value-driven retail right through to top tier retail. The skill is to pick the right brand and to develop the right products for the chosen channel.
With this thought in mind, I recently popped into a branch of retailer Cardfactory – from the outside it seems to have recognised that licensing can help it achieve its goals and deliver consumer engagement. It’s encouraging to see that such an omnipresent retailer as Cardfactory is embracing licensing.
I did a bit of desk research and it seems Cardfactory has 1,058 stores in the UK and Ireland. Many of which are located on local High Streets. Arguably it’s filling the space and role retailers like Wilko and Woolworths used to fill.
In this regard Cardfactory is more than a card factory – it sells plush, giftware, party goods, confectionery, balloons and toys, all of which are licensing-friendly product categories.
Licensing and licensed products are front and centre in the retailer’s stores, recognising its High Street location and with a nod to passing traffic, it makes good use of its windows realising these displays are a useful sales opportunity.
In the store I visited, the window space currently includes a display featuring Peter Rabbit crafting kits, Paddington water bottles and mini library book sets featuring both characters – on this latter point it’s worth noting that retailers like Cardfactory are becoming important sales outlets, particularly for gift formats where licensing programmes are helping to drive book sales.
Not unexpectedly, Cardfactory has a heavy commitment at the moment to Mother’s Day across cards and gifts. The offering includes licensed options with cards such as Little Miss, Mrs Brown and Peppa Pig featuring. Maybe there’s scope for a Little Mrs Brown special edition card one day!
It was also interesting to see a bit of old school new product development in among the licensed Mother’s Day cards with a Minions-themed Grandma concertina card which harped back to a style of Christmas cards I remember from the 1970s – so I guess the format would be well received by Grandmas of a certain vintage.
Continuing the notion of licensing being a flexible business model, it’s good to see that licensor and licensees are embracing opportunities like Mother’s Day, recognising it is sensible to be a player in as many occasions as possible.
Cardfactory supports a broad range of card themes as you’d expect, including humour-led cards where licensing features as well with brands such as Subbuteo, Only Fools And Horses and Wallace & Gromit on sale.
In the children’s birthday card section licensing is featured prominently with brands like Batman and Sonic The Hedgehog, and it’s being used effectively across age groups – for example there’s a Wallace & Gromit Grandad card which is a reminder of the flexibility of licensing as it can travel up and down generations and is not just focused on or relevant to children’s products.
Cardfactory also leans into licensing in its toy offer with a mixed range of products selected with gifting, parties and rainy days in mind, I think. Featured items include Spidey plush, a Gabby’s Dollhouse Make Your Own Jewellery Set and a Barbie stationery set, which are all keenly priced and include a lot of boxed products that have a high perceived value. It also carries some books including Disney Tangled.
And there’s a well-stocked partyware fixture with Disney the dominant force in this section, including items like balloons and party favours.
Cardfactory’s product mix is carefully curated and, essentially, a one-stop-shop for parties, cards and gifting. I imagine consumers like the fact the products are competitively priced, and they can also buy in a coordinated way.
It’s good to see licensing playing such an active part in the product mix – the range of products in-store underpins how flexible the genre can be.
Licensing’s ability to be retail flexible was also brought home by a venture into a Peacocks shop on the same high street as the Cardfactory I visited. Peacocks markets a clothing range developed with football personality Michael Owen while also featuring a range of pocket-money-priced toys at the till point which feature licensed brands – a great example of how a retailer can use licensing to reach different audiences.
A closing observation is that retailers seem to be focusing their efforts evermore on events like Mother’s Day. I’ve noticed a number of retailers, including WHSmith and Sainsbury’s, betting big on the special day for mums this year, with a mix of FSDUs, branded event bays and multi-sites of product throughout the store.
Licensing plays its part with brands appearing on cards, books and gifts specially developed for the event which, in itself, shows how licensing is becoming more creatively savvy and tuning into events. And the Mother’s Day ranges I’ve seen also reinforce the point that licensing can play its part for a broad range of retailers – a great example is an Emma Bridgewater-branded Summer Flowering Gift Bag on sale in Waitrose. Good to see licensed products like these in the market.
Licensing really is your flexible friend. I just hope my mum doesn’t read this column!
Ian Downes runs Start Licensing, an independent brand licensing agency. His X handle is @startlicensing and on Instagram he is @iandownesphotos – he would welcome suggestions for what to look out for.
