Brand and Product Licensing

March 2024

For arts and cultural organizations with extensive visual assets, the opportunity for brand and product licensing partnerships can be incredibly vast. Upon request of an ABA member looking to further develop their own licensing practice, our research team conducted interviews with five art museums and two botanical institutions — plus one fashion company known for its artistic collaborations — to learn about the structure and strategy behind their creative branding ideas.

Our report includes:

• A high level snapshot of how cultural organizations are approaching brand and product licensing.

• Team structures for licensing departments — including how many institutions supplement small teams with external agency partners.

• How to select partners who are aligned with your organization’s brand and mission, while also maximizing reach of the product.

• What goes into product design and ideation, and how to gather creative ideas from across your organization.

• The legal side of the process — how to set up clear expectations with partners through contracts and evaluation.

Plus, a full appendix of creative partnerships from around the sector to spark inspiration for your organization’s own licensing work.

ABA members can download the full report by clicking the image below.