Playthings Q&A: Building Q's Woody Browne

By Dave Gerardi -- Playthings, 5/29/2002

C. Woodrow Browne is principal at Building Q, a marketing and licensing consulting company. He's worked in some facet of the licensing biz for 23 years. Recently, he spoke with Playthings' senior editor Dave Gerardi. See the June issue of Playthings for the rest of this interview as well as a perspective on licensing from LIMA President Charles Riotto.

On the importance of equity of a brand:

When a licensor has a property, they have a demographic profile of where their equity is. I may dream up a baby duck license for moms, but until I create an equity with the moms I can't license it to anybody because there's nobody willing to pay me. On the other hand, if I'm a manufacturer, I look at licenses and ask, "Does the equity in that license match up with my current marketing needs?" Licensing is often use to expand demographic categories. New properties aside, our job is to identify where the equity lies so our clients can make strategic decisions. When people call us up and say, "Hey, I've got this pencil sketch. Could you get your clients to license it?" The answer almost 100 percent of the time is, "No, our clients are interested in it once you develop a consumer following."

On long term thinking:

McFarlane has carved out a niche for himself by doing really superior product and that superior product — from the very beginning — was so extraordinary that retailers and consumers began to support him. One of the things the licensing business helps contribute to is a minimalist product development effort. A lot of manufacturers have cookie-cutter product operations and their attitude is, "I'll buy the license, I'll slap the license on the product and I'll generate some sales because I'm a distribution machine." Guys like McFarlane break the mold. They take the license, put an incredible amount of creative (resources) into it, and then reap the benefits by out performing the normal cookie-cutter operation. (A manufacturer who) provides a little more product than required for the licensor will reap the benefits from a long term partnership standpoint as well as getting the trade and the consumer excited for what's coming down the pike.

You told me once the quality of the animation is nothing compared to the quality of the story.

I love it when people say, "This is Disney-quality animation." Animation quality has nothing to do with anything. Look at South Park. One of the interesting things about South Park and some anime is that (the animation) jumps out at you. To an adult, Power Rangers is a pretty tacky TV show. But to a kid, it was new; it was different; it was a live action cartoon. It was special. (At another company), I was looking at a new color for a $9.99 dump truck. I'm looking at the paint job the art department did. It was gorgeous. Burgundy, metallic. It was like BMW colors. My boss looks at it and says, "What are you, nuts? Make it red and yellow. You're not selling BMWs; you're selling toys." He was 100 percent right. Sometimes when we're developing product, we let our own tastes drive it. In fact, a $9.99 dump truck has got to be a primary color. It's something you have to guard against, as a marketer.

On common questions asked by his clients:

"How come the royalty is so high?" The response is: "Let's have a realistic discussion and see what we can do." People hear about astronomical Star Wars royalty rates and they think everybody can get 'em. If it's a sure thing, then a high royalty is worth talking about.

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