Authoring the brand: literary licensing
Abstract
Reviews the growth in branded licensed merchandise for children inspired by books: literary fiction is an art form which has always had a close relationship with the market, and the full commercial value of children’s books lies in the potential for interpreting their content and characters into diverse product categories. Considers the contrasting roles of three early‐mid 20th century children’s authors as brand managers and custodians: Dr Seuss, Beatrix Potter and A.A. Milne. Describes the products that have emanated from each: Milne’s Pooh character is the most commercially successful children’s literary character, and the least recognisable. Categorises Milne as having a permissive approach to brand management, because he was uninterested in how the Pooh books were positioned in the market; Dr Seuss was a purist who wanted his books to be educational or even subversive, and refused to let his characters like the Grinch be used purely commercially; but Potter was a pragmatist who embraced merchandising of her books in order to make money.
Keywords
Citation
Booth, E. and Hayes, D. (2005), "Authoring the brand: literary licensing", Young Consumers, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 43-53. https://doi.org/10.1108/17473610610701385
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited