In this episode of Brand Money, Bill Jachthuber and Pete Canalichio interview Peter Weedfald, President of Gen One Ventures.  Peter discusses his vision of Dieoneer and Pioneers in Brands and Brand Licensing.  Peter’s wealth of brand building experience evokes discussion of Samsung, Circuit City, Apple and Nike.  Pete and Bill discuss with Peter how Brand Licensing can accelerate U.S. Brands to a Global platform and how China has already entered this arena.

To hear the interview click here.

Peter who works directly for GE Trademark & Licensing provides lead support for global sales, business development, marketing, advertising, internet tools and substrates, channels and operational leadership.

Prior to his current role Peter was President for a GE joint venture he helped develop and mature between GE (General Electric) and Tatung. GE | General Displays and Technologies which was formed to architect, sell, market and support GE HDTV’s globally. As President, he headed all functional operational business areas of the company globally as well as all sales, marketing, advertising, creative and communications.

In 2006, Peter joined Circuit City as a section 16 Officer, SVP, Chief Marketing Officer reporting directly to the CEO.  There he led and managed a team of 260 overseeing all brand management, advertising, creative, marketing, communications, in-store environment, research, PR, all digital assets and Circuit City.com e-marketing.

Peter served as SVP Sales & Marketing for Samsung Electronics overseeing all business operations and as  CMO for Samsung North America from 2001 through 2006. He led all consumer electronics, home appliances and corporate operations in an organization of 5,500 team members.

Prior to joining Samsung in 2001, Peter held various executive positions with ViewSonic Corporation, a global provider of advanced display technology from 1998 to 2000 including SVP of global marketing & EVP, GMM of Internet Appliances.  Prior to joining ViewSonic in 1998, he served for ten years in executive publishing positions at Ziff-Davis Publishing including VP, Publisher & Network Director on magazines and web sites: PC Magazine, Computer Shopper, Windows Sources, MacUser and PC Week. Ziff Davis Publishing is a leading integrated media company serving the technology and videogame markets.

To learn more about brand extension tools that can help your business click here.

Licensing in India is ready for exposive growth according to Gaurav Marya, President Franchise India Holdings Limited

November 30, 2011

According to Gaurav Marya over 200 million Indians consume brands today and the demand is growing each year.  India went from 3 malls in 2003 to almost 700 in 2011 with another 600 currently in development.  The market is ripe for brand licensing. That is why Franchise India is hosting their annual brand licensing conference this week.

Listen to Gaurav’s tremendous insights on the state of the Indian economy and how his company is helping companies around the globe invest in India’s future.

Gaurav Marya is a born entrepreneur. He started his first business at 16 and has started and sold some 15 other businesses ranging from mobile phones, career advisory, restaurants to entertainment business etc. At 24, Gaurav discovered his real passion in life — Franchising. He was first exposed to it while on a business trip to the US in 1998 when franchising was the buzzword there and Gaurav dreamt of replicating its success in India. In 1999, Gaurav started Franchise India Holdings Limited which spearheaded the franchise revolution in India and has gone on to become India’s largest integrated franchise and retail Solution Company.

The passion to share his learnings from his rich experience with would-be entrepreneurs prompted him to start his consulting career. He has interacted with over 25,000 budding entrepreneurs with the aim of helping them select and meet the challenges of start-ups businesses. His chief forte in consulting focuses in creating a win-win partnership between channels and large organizations. He has consulted over 250 large and small corporations including Gitanjali Group, Emami, Videocon, Landmark Group, Tata Steel, Unilever India, Levis, Welspun amongst others and has helped them make informed decisions about their business growth. He considers himself to be very fortunate for aiding start-ups and large businesses.

Shiv Khera, the noteworthy motivational speaker once dubbed him as the “Father of Indian franchising” in 2004 at one of India’s biggest franchise forum and it is this title which has remained with him ever since.

Gaurav is widely admired for his non-conformist operating style and aggressive marketing tactics. He has got several accomplishments to his name: none of them have come the conventional way. Today he has also been retained by several private equity funds who invest in business projects.

Gaurav has also chaired several Global Business Forums on Franchising and Retail. He is often quoted by the press in leading dailies and business journals. He has guest starred on several television shows on entrepreneurship. He is also the author of the bestselling book in franchising “The Science of Reproducing Success”, which has proved a milestone in his illustrative career.

Join us as Gaurav Marya shares his stories about what is important in growing a successful licensing program in India.

To learn more about brand extension tools that can help your business click here.

Joe Aziz, President Dophes, LTD talks about licensees quest for innovation and the changing entertainment licensing programs

November 22, 2011

Listen to an experienced licensee with major brands like Disney and major sports properties discuss with Pete and Bill the inside and out of the licensing programs.

Get the “inside story” on how innovations can help drive new licensing properties and what licensors look for when evaluating licensing partners.

Joe “JD” Aziz has been involved in the licensing business as a licensee for many years.  Under his tenure Dophes has created and sold a variety of products across North America featuring popular and well established brands.  JD has seen how brand licensing can boost revenue tremendously.  He also has a terrific understanding of what pitfalls to avoid.

JD started at Dophes in 1991 when he joined the company as Vice President of Product Marketing.   He went on to serve in this role for 9 years where he was instrumental in developing dozens of products for Dophes. In 2000, he was promoted to President where he continues to serve today.

Some of his licensing highlights include:

-          Began selling Disney Beach Towels to small accounts in 1991 and from there eventually managed a licensing business that became 60-70% of overall sales.

-          Worked with Disney, Warner Bros, Mattel, Universal, Nickelodeon, Saban, MGA, Marvel, Dreamworks, 4Kids, NHL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, etc.

-          Now focusing more on corporate brands, new product development and sourcing.

Dophes Ltd. is a Division of J&A Aziz Ltd. which was established in 1895 – a family business now in its 4^th generation.

Join us as JD shares his stories about what is important in growing a successful licensing program.

To learn more about brand extension tools that can help your business click here.

Lisa Merriam Shares Her Concerns Regarding Big Licensing in China

November 14, 2011

With stories ranging from Disney on Ice and Feld Entertainment, to Calvin Klein and Warnaco to Ralph Lauren Polo and Lancôme, Lisa offered our listeners on BrandMoney a wealth of examples about how great brands use third party manufacturers to extend their brands via licensing.

Lisa who is currently writing a book on branding in China also revealed how cultural differences have cause the Chinese to treat the protection of brands and intellectual property in a distinctly different way than most westerners.

Lisa Merriam is a brand consultant who has made a career of helping companies build and manage brands. Her expertise includes brand strategy, brand naming, brand identity, brand launch, copy writing and video production. Clients include multinationals like ExxonMobil (post merger strategy and product positioning, naming, design), Johnson & Johnson (positioning and design for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games), and ADP (researching the small business market and repositioning and describing products for that target), but also over a hundred small entrepreneurial firms.

Prior to starting Merriam Associates, Lisa was Director of Brand Strategy at McCann-Erickson’s FutureBrand consultancy. She worked with clients as diverse as McGraw-Hill, D&B, UPS, and Exxon Mobil. Prior to that Lisa held the position of Marketing Director at E Ink Corporation, an MIT start-up and was Vice President of Marketing for CENUS Corporation, and Internet technology firm spun out of the University of California. She began her career selling advertising space and syndicated data at Downey Communications, a family-owned company.

To learn more about the show, click here.

Goran Krnjak, Managing Director, Licensing New Europe talks about upcoming Licensing@Russia Conference

November 10, 2011

Goran Krnjak joined Pete Canalichio on November 9, 2011 for our weekly BrandMoney radio show.  On the show, Goran spoke about the tremendous progress Licensing New Europe has made over the past 3 years.  Goran and his brother, Zeljko, launched Licensing New Europe in 2009.   This International Licensing & Merchandising Show & Conference was established to be the platform and hub for the licensing industry in what is known as the New Europeanregion.  This region consists of Eastern, Central, South Europe, Russia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States, a region consisting of 35 countries and 400 million people.  Pete was privileged to speak at the Licensing New Europe 2010 conference in Zagreb, Croatia, last November.

The highlight of the BrandMoney radio show was hearing about the upcoming Licensing New Europe conference being held March 14 – 16, 2012 in Moscow.  With Russia growing at a 25% compound annual rate many Fortune 100 companies including Coca-Cola are investing heavily in the Russian market.  Moreover, the conference was strategically scheduled to with coincide with the Toy and Stationery conferences.  This will provide tremendous synergy as both conferences rely heavily on brand licensing.

If you are planning to invest in the Russian market you won’t want to miss this show. Click here to listen.

For those interested in learning more about brand strategy or brand licensing consulting, check us out at www.theblakeproject.com. If you need self-help tools, you can find them at our DIY Section.

Derrick Daye and Thomson Dawson weigh in on the impact of Kim Kardashian’s divorce on her brand

November 3, 2011

Derrick Daye and Thomson Dawson of The Blake Project joined Bill Jachthuber and Pete Canalichio on November 2, 2011 and shared their perspective on what makes a successful brand and how brands can be built or destroyed over time.  With lots of examples including the impact of Kim Kardashian’s divorce on her brand, to how FootJoy is reaching a younger audience to how Food Lion reached a more upscale consumer with the launch of Bloom, you won’t want to miss this show.