BUILDING BRAND STRATEGY VIA LICENSING:AN EMPIRICAL ANALSYS OF THE FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how brand license could be configured as an original marketing tool for the development of branding in SME without an own original brand. The Authors wish to explore the issue in the field of fashion and, in particular, in the footwear industry. The paper is based on a qualitative research work by adopting the multiple case study method. The firms analyzed are three small to mediumsized shoe enterprises located in the Fermo-Macerata industrial district in Italy and they have a brand portfolio constituted of both own and licensed brands. Main results showed that the management of a licensed brand portfolio enabled licensees to consolidate their business by increasing the turnover and entering more easily new markets and distribution channels. In one case, it has been found that licensing know-how and experience were effectively invested by the licensee in the development of a self –brand strategy, with synergistic effects in the management of both own and licensed brands. Managerial implications could be related to the possibility of predicting ways that may allow a more informed use of licensing by entrepreneurs and managers of SMEs, not only in a speculative logic but also a strategic one.