New Brands to exploit Iconix brands in Latin America

Iconix Brand Group Inc announced that it has entered into a joint venture with New Brands Americas LLC ("New Brands") to further develop and exploit the Iconix brands in Latin America. New Brands is a member of The Falic Group, a Florida based consortium owned and operated by Simon, Jerome and Leon Falic.

The joint venture company, Iconix Latin America, will focus on maximizing royalty revenue via existing and new licensing agreements for the Iconix portfolio of brands in Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, which today number 16. In exchange for $6 million plus other commitments, New Brands received a 50% interest in the joint venture, which will also have an option to purchase rights to future brands acquired by Iconix.

Neil Cole, Chairman and CEO of Iconix, commented, "We are pleased to announce the formation of Iconix Latin America with The Falic Group. The Falic brothers have extensive expertise and contacts in the Latin American market. Having locally based partners with knowledge of the different cultures and markets that comprise this region will significantly accelerate the growth of our brands throughout this territory and help us maximize revenue from our existing licensing base in Latin America. Different from our joint venture in China, Iconix Latin America will be run as a traditional licensing business with near-term revenue opportunity."

Leon Falic, President of New Brands, commented, "This exciting venture will enable us to capitalize on the ever growing Latin American market for proven U.S. brands. Because of recent demographic changes in Latin America, we feel that this a unique opportunity to bring the Iconix brands to a thriving new group of consumers there. We are looking forward to working with Neil and his team at Iconix to maximize each brand."

Iconix Latin America is the second international joint venture for Iconix. Iconix China, a Hong Kong company formed by Iconix and Novel Fashion Brands Limited, led by Silas Chou and family, was completed in September 2008 to develop the Iconix brands in Greater China.

Iconix Brand Group Inc owns, licenses and markets a growing portfolio of consumer brands including CANDIE'S, BONGO, BADGLEY MISCHKA, JOE BOXER, RAMPAGE, MUDD, LONDON FOG, MOSSIMO, OCEAN PACIFIC, DANSKIN, ROCA WEAR, CANNON(R), ROYAL VELVET, FIELDCREST, CHARISMA, STARTER and WAVERLY.

New Brands Americas LLC is a member of The Falic Group of companies, which are involved in the retail sale, manufacture and international distribution of luxury goods. The Falic Group owns and operates Duty Free Americas, Inc., the largest duty free retail store operator in the Americas, with over 150 duty free shops located in major international airports and border crossings.

Iconix Brand Group Inc

End of Orange in UK as company seeks new brand

Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile and France Telecom’s Orange are merging their UK businesses to create a mobile phone giant with 28.4 million customers and 37% market share making it the number one player in the market.
The promise of the management is “better value, promised expanded network coverage, better network quality and improved customer services”.
Reports say it will offer major customer benefits, including enhanced network quality for 2G and 3G services, providing the platform for unparalleled mobile broadband offers as well as better customer proximity through a larger network of own shops and improved customer services. Sounds great. So what does that mean in branding terms and what “substantial benefits to UK customers” can we expect?
Years ago, I worked on the pitch and launch of O2. At the time, Orange was seen as benchmark for branding excellence in the communications arena.
Times, technology, behaviours of customers and brands have changed a lot since then. It feels like Orange has somehow lost its way in recent years — with the exception of its brilliant and quirky association with film, the network brand somehow feels a little tired, left behind by the massive impact and notable absence of a smart phone.
Now that the merger has been given the green light by EU legislators, both brands have agreed to remain separate for the first 18 months. But they will then drop both existing brand names in favour of a totally new one. Despite this, Orange will need think about how to re-energise its offering as well as the rest of the joint venture in order to compete with the incumbent leader O2.


Unique opportunity 

This thinking time will no doubt be spent wisely as mergers present businesses with a unique opportunity to re-present themselves to existing customers, present themselves to prospective customers, re-motivate staff — those left — and create more value for shareholders.
The problem with most mergers from a brand perspective is that they work from the inside; they are concerned with internal issues rather than presenting a new face to their customers.
The important principles this brand should be:
• putting the customer first;
• addressing any issues of the two previous brands that limited their customer appeal;
• re-launching with something bold enough and big enough to get the brand talked about and noticed;
• ensuring that a solid plan exists to support the proposition and deliver against it — not necessarily on day one but it will be vital to manage the expectations of the customer.
Creating a new, combined, brand is more than usually important because this is the opportunity to find out what values and approaches the companies share and an opportunity to define them for the new company.
The solution will set out a visionary appeal but will have to feel true to the merged company. It will have to be properly motivating to the staff.
After such an uncertain, stressful period, people need a flag to rally around; they need something that they can be proud of.
The new brand will also, of course, have to be properly motivating to the customers, existing and prospective. They are not interested in the merger, and won’t notice until told.
And it will be more than usually difficult because there are two sets of people and two sets of cultures that have to find common, motivating ground between them. Each company comes to the table with its own ambitions and values — not to mention communication ideas — which it may find difficult to share, change or compromise.
Moreover, the existing brand architectures may not, of course, represent the future architecture of the company.
Mergers are a very odd time in the life of a company, and of its managers, because they are devoted to pleasing potential partners and financial investors, rather than customers. It’s not unusual in these situations to reach a brand architecture that’s hugely motivating to those inside the merged company, only to realise that you’ve forgotten about the actual users of the product.
Either way, this is a unique opportunity to reframe the business — and therefore the market — and one that cannot be compromised or watered down because of internal sensitivities.
In branding terms, a merger must be treated as a start-up; this is the one chance that the new company has to set a bold and motivating vision that will inspire both customers and staff. They will have one chance to get it right.
There’s a fundamental question to be asked here though: what business is the company in? What does it actually provide to customers? Is it innovation? Entertainment? Is it connectivity, the ability to talk? Is it the future?
In a complex market like this, where there are multiple products, services and devices and a network bundled together, it’s understandably difficult to narrow things down.
But it’s the branding team’s job to do so, and to do it with a real resonance for the customer. GTB 

Mars Food is set to unveil its first new brand in the UK in nine years

PurAsia is a new brand in Asian cuisine developed to “inject excitement” in to the GBP594.5m (US$1.2bn) wet cooking sauce category.

The range consists of a set of three blends of spices, herbs and pastes, assorted to “help cooks recreate their favourite restaurant Asian meals at home in under thirty minutes”, the company said today (21 July).

The product comes in six varieties inspired by cuisine from India, Thailand and China.

Paul Aikens, marketing director for Mars Food, said: “With meal preparation time averaging at 41 minutes and a desire to produce restaurant quality Asian meals at home, our product will help achieve this in under 30 minutes. Because the meal involves a level of consumer participation there is a greater sense of fulfilment and engagement for the cook.”The PurAsia range consists of six variants: Royal Korma, Tikka Masala, Thai Green Curry, Thai Red Curry, Szechuan and Black Bean. It will be priced at GBP3.29 and available exclusively from Tesco for the first nine months.

The launch will be supported by a GBP1m marketing and in-store campaign from July onwards which will include: advertising on Tesco.com, the clubcard statements, food club magazine and on in-store TV screens.

A national print and online advertising campaign will take place in September.

Before that time the company doesn’t disclose any information on the packaging and visual look of the new range. The brand’s site www.gastrosexual.com is still under construction.