Since I was a little girl, I was fascinated with brands and the experiences they represented, whether it was the woman falling backwards into a pool of water in the Nestea Plunge ad or any of the powerful looking women in fashion ads. As I grew older, though I recognized that the power of brands wasn’t always a good thing, I did note that as a consumer, I was drawn to them, and wanted to step into their world. Licensing has allowed me to do just that, while also gaining an up close view of the relationships consumers have with brands via detailed sales reports of licensed goods.

While those reports kept me fascinated while I worked on consumer goods such as tees, plush, and PVC figurines, as my career in licensing progressed, I wanted to get closer, specifically working on:

• Direct experiences with brands, such as those created within VR and video games.
• Fully themed shops, hotels, rides, and other destinations.

Lucky for me, in joining Dimensional Branding Group, as a part of Bay Tek Entertainment, I have been working on inbound licensing in the redemption arcade space, which is inherently experience driven. The coolest of these games to date in my mind, was Connect 4 Hoops, though we have some extremely fun games that will previewing at IAPPA this fall!

But, on the outbound side, I’ve been lucky enough to work on two VR games with the properties we represent:

• Arcade Legend, featuring Skee-Ball, with LAI Games
• King Kong of Skull Island VR from Raw Thrills

I have yet to land a hotel or pop-up café deal but have no doubt that one day this will become a reality as such experiences continue to be popular and profitable. A few of my current and recent favorites are:

• The Godzilla room at Hotel Gracery Shinjuku
• The Twin Peaks Roadhouse pop-up
• The new Atari hotels in the works

One day, maybe I’ll catch you at a Tasty Peach Studios café or themed ride.

Hope to see you at the Licensing Executive Vegas Retreat where we can dream up some new experiences to rock the lives of consumers worldwide.

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