Three Views on Licensing

There’s no one right way to manage the licensing process at colleges and universities, especially for imprinted products sold in the college store.

The three presenters of the Collegiate Licensing Panel virtual session at CAMEX22 shared a number of practices that have been successful for their campuses and stores, including ways to educate staff and students interested in creating custom wares for special occasions or fundraisers.

Moderator Shelly Schrimpf, assistant director of campus retail and licensing for the Lope Shops, Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, AZ, asked the panelists to discuss how they educate internal departments on licensing policies, how many graphics are approved weekly, how much licensing revenue is derived from the campus store, what happens when a licensing decision goes against the store, whether they permit fashion colors in addition to school colors, why stores should be an integra part of the licensing process, and what benefit they derive from having a licensing company. Here’s a summary of what they had to say:

Travis J. Cochran, director, Brown Bookstore, Brown University, Providence, RI

As bookstore director, Cochran is also responsible for licensing for the Campus Shop and technical center, reporting to the Licensing and Social Responsibility Committee chaired by the provost, with a dotted line to the Office of Communications for when there are requests such as name use or trademarks in communications (such as using a Brown shirt on a TV show). Any changes to royalties or policies go through the committee.

“We have administrative leadership group meetings,” said Cochran, who also works with the purchasing staff to make sure marks are used properly on items bought for the university. “Probably on a weekly basis, we’re educating someone on the process.”

Brown uses CLC’s dashboard to track graphics submissions, which can number anywhere from 300 to 5,000 per week. As licensing director, sometimes Cochran needs to approve something for a vendor but not for the store. “It happens all the time,” he said. For example, a vendor may sell some type of on-demand products the store doesn’t have, but the school still gets the royalty.

“What’s good for the university is good for all of us,” he said. “Sometimes I have to take off my bookstore hat and put on the licensing hat.”

Brown does permit colors other than the official school colors (brown, red, and white), especially neutral shades. “We do our best to shy away from rival school colors,” he noted. Two font sets are used, one for athletics and another limited to university purposes. On occasion, a different font might be used for something specific.

It’s important not to get too strict with licensing and branding policies. “When I came in and rewrote the licensing policy for Brown, I tried not to be too stringent,” Cochran said. “We need to protect the university” but overregulation can stifle creativity.

“There are two things we did to help build bridges with the licensing department,” he said. One was to make sure that departments and suppliers understood the review process; the second was to make clear the reasoning behind licensing decisions. The latter was important to avoid submissions repeating the same transgression.

“We went in with the feeling we’re in a learning and education moment here,” Cochran said.

He also manages the CLC contract. He considers the company as “an extra pair of eyes and ears, to combat counterfeiting and violation of licensing out there and to streamline the process to make it easy to approve or reject submissions for art. But they don’t make the decisions for us.”

Gregg Zarnstorff, director of trademark licensing and brand protection, North Carolina State University, Raleigh

Zarnstorff has been director of licensing since 2010 but more recently has worked within the Office of Strategic Brand Management, part of university communications. His role extends to brand enforcement with departments on use of promotional goods and dealing with student organizations on how to use university marks.

He also works with the bookstore, Wolfpack Outfitters. The store is included in his weekly meeting with the CLC rep. Once a month, there’s a luncheon meeting to discuss critical projects, campus enterprises, and concerns.

“The biggest challenge is having turnover in staff and student groups,” Zarnstorff noted. Once a month, he and the communications creative director lead a one-hour brand training session open to anyone on campus. They typically get 30-40 attendees.

He also uses CLC’s dashboard to keep an eye on the 7,500 submissions that come in every year. “Fifteen percent get rejected or are asked to be revised, based on years of training licensees on what we’ll accept and won’t accept. A lot of department purchases,” he said.

The store purchases from 71 of the 281 licensed vendors, accounting for 17% of royalties. Another 34% comes from the local market. Some exclusive product lines, usually those tied to academics or a campus activity, are approved solely for sale in the bookstore, such as “College of” shirts.

“I try to work with the bookstore as much as I can,” Zarnstorff said, and meets with them every Thursday. Sometimes there’s a bit of contention, for example, when the store asked to revamp the design for “College of” shirts without NC State branding. “In the end, we were able to work it out,” he said. “On the plus side, then sales increased 40% over the prior year.”

Fashion colors are fine, as long as the logo is white. He’s also open with fonts but draws the line at “blood-dripping” fonts, a request that comes up occasionally. “We’re the Wolfpack,” he explained.

Zarnstorff said CLC “helps us with enforcement. When it comes to product category management and how to select licensees and royalty rates, CLC is very good at analyzing numbers for us.” CLC’s recommendations provide a starting point in decisions, but NC State can consider other factors; North Carolina companies get a closer look.

“We have a crafter’s license open to any North Carolina resident,” he said. Not many people have taken advantage of it, but the program has served as an incubator to help newbies dip their toe in the water. Two crafters eventually expanded into standard licenses.

Michael Jastorff, director of licensing and director of four stores at Black Hills State University, Spearfish, SD

Black Hills is self-licensed, with about 94 marks registered at the state and federal level. Marks used for publication go to the marketing department, but merchandise designs are sent to Jastorff for processing. Jastorff works to maintain good relations with marketing.

It was decided to exempt the University Bookstore from royalties on all sales. Most of the products licensed are for sale in the store, with a few exclusively for the store. Certain marks are reserved for the university’s internal use, as well.

“We have a lot of companies that we give a one-time exemption to,” Jastorff explained. If the product sells, then the store will set up a licensing agreement.

Black Hills will order fashion colors if something looks good. The same for different fonts. “If we like the font, we’re going to run with it,” he said.

Jastorff sees the store’s involvement in the licensing process as a natural step. “It’s great for the bookstore to be involved. On every tour, one stop is the store. We’re the heartbeat of what’s happening on the campus side of things,” he said.