Twenty-two years after its foundation in 1998, Kelvyn Gardner has relaunched his licensing consultancy business, Asgard Media, to the business world.
Over more than two decades Asgard has advised companies as diverse as Yoplait, Topps, Finsbury Foods and General Mills in their licensing work, and has consulted in many sectors of licensing, food and drink, toys, promotions, consumer electronics, sport, video games, collectables and even theatrical productions. In the end, the work is the same: connect manufacturers to brands through brand licensing.
The company’s founder Gardner says: “It’s really a simple message. Quality products and services connected to powerful brands deliver sales, profits and increased profile. All of us in the licensing industry know this, but we’re often not as good as we think at explaining this to the wider business world. So we have come up with a new mission for 2020: connecting your business with the world’s biggest brands.”
Image: Kelvyn Gardner, founder of Asgard Media
Although licensing is a big international business, it is yet to reach whole swathes of the manufacturing industry. There are several hundred companies listed in online licensing databases as regular licensees – set against the tens of thousands of manufacturing businesses in the UK alone, and you immediately see that most of manufacturing does not utilise brand licensing as part of their marketing mix.
Gardner says: “Asgard’s goal for this year and beyond is to bring some of these businesses into the world of licensing. Clearly, not everyone we talk to will decide to employ our services, but if the least we do through making those connections is get more companies talking and thinking about licensing, then we have done a service, we believe, for the entire licensing community. In that sense, what’s good business for Asgard Media is good business for us all.”
To communicate this message, Asgard has turned to the modern tool of content, starting with a short introductory video designed to get businesses thinking about using brand licensing.
Gardner adds: “All my friends and colleagues in the licensor and agency sectors say it every day: content is king. We’re joining that club, and we’re ready to talk to any business about how to make licensing work for them.”
For more information, visit Asgard Media’s website here, or email kg@asgardmedia.com.
