Bliss House Credentials

 

August 2001

 

The key ingredients licensors seek in their licensing agency are integrity, professional experience specific to the property, creativity, and appropriate resources. Let us respond to each of these requirements.

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

                      

 

As one of the founders of the professional licensing 

industry, the president of Bliss House, Jerry Houle, has one of the longest and strongest experience records in the world. This experience with some of the globe's finest companies, has allowed the company to create a successful licensing and product development agency which today is one of the top ten independent agencies in America. In 1997, Bliss House was nominated at "Licensing Agency of the Year" for its work on Curious George.

 

There are four important points about this experience. Very few licensing practitioners have worldwide experience. Most work solely in domestic licensing or have international responsibilities. Secondly, most licensing practitioners are simply salesmen. Their programs are not founded on solid marketing strategy. Importantly, only a handful of licensing professionals have developed licensing programs from scratch, had them become successful -- and last for a number of years. This is especially true of character licensing programs. One of Houle’s proudest accomplishments is the continued success of the MUPPETS licensing program. The publishing, music, retail, electronic products, international and licensing divisions he founded still generate millions of dollars annually to Jim Henson Productions -- twenty years after he created them. Thirdly, there’s the Bliss House product development experience.  In the gift, toy and fashion industry -- in fact, in most consumer product markets -- product is king. This is especially true of well run licensing programs. Our professional product development expertise sets us apart from most licensing organizations. Finally, there’s reliability: over 75% of our employees have been with the company for 9 years or more -- an unheard of loyalty!

 

RELATED EXPERIENCE -- SALES SUCCESS

 

We measure success not only in dollar sales but also in the quality of the products and their lasting value.

  

ENTERTAINMENT LICENSING:

  

CHARLIE CHAPLIN: The Chaplin merchandising program had languished to the point that there were only 4 active licenses when Bliss House took over. In just a few months, the activity and publicity exploded. We helped develop an animated weekly TV series, feature film from Sir Richard Attenborough, celebrations at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art, licensees like Royal Doulton, Dunhill, Hallmark, IBM, Coca-Cola, 3M, Owens/Corning, Ice Capades, Doubleday, Hershey's, Parker Brothers and SESAME STREET. Today, almost ten years later, there are nearly 60 Chaplin licensees -- a record envied by similar properties.

 

BOOK-BASED CHARACTER MERCHANDISING:

 

CURIOUS GEORGE: Bliss House celebrated the launch of the Curious George merchandising program in the fall of 1995 at a gala FAO Schwarz party attended by George Plimpton, Ruth Buzzi, the First Lady of the City of New York and other notable stars and friends of  “George”. FAO Schwarz created Curious George boutiques in their stores across the country and featured George on the cover of their Christmas catalog. This licensing program has grown from 7 original licensees in September of 1994 to over 75 in three years. And there are more to come! . Barnes & Noble featured George in endcaps in over 611 of their superstores plus selected B. Dalton stores. Nordstroms launched Curious George boutiques in their infant and toddler departments nationwide for Christmas ‘95 to tie in with the Curious George page in their Christmas catalog. There’s even a “Curious George by WordsWorth” store in Harvard Square, just blocks from the home of the late Margret Rey the co-creator of Curious George. And the year-end issue of the Sunday New York Times listed Curious George as “in” as part of their “What’s in, what’s out in 1997 pop culture.”  Effective in March of 1997, Universal Studios became the worldwide licensing agency for Curious George. Bliss House continued its Curious George role in working with Universal in the United States and Canada, with exclusive responsibility for the "upstairs" distribution component of program until 1998.

 

BABAR THE ELEPHANT: BABAR had several books, one U.S. and 4 French licensees when Bliss House began its worldwide responsibility. In 18 months we took this famous French elephant to 45 licenses worldwide including Gund for dolls, a bed and bath linen collec­tion from Fieldcrest-Cannon and a blue-chip promotion at FAO Schwarz.

VELVETEEN RABBIT: From scratch, Bliss House created a program with nearly a dozen licensees for Rabbit Ears Productions including a 4th quarter promotion in 1996 with VISA Credit cards and Reading Is Fundamental called “Read Me a Story”.

 

 

SHIP OF DREAMS: For this best-selling illustrated story book by Dean Morrissey published by Harry N. Abrams, we have assisted in a major promotion with Saks Fifth Avenue for Christmas 1996 featuring animated displays in their famous Fifth Avenue windows, the cover of the catalog, shopping bags and more. March '98 saw the launch of a major theatre complex in Orlando, Florida completely devoted to a Ship of Dreams theme, including a 25-foot replica of the ship hanging from the ceiling of the lobby. F.X. Schmidt launched a line of puzzles at Toy Fair 1998.

 

TRADEMARK LICENSING:

 

GORDON FRASER STATIONERY: One of England’s finest and best-regarded stationery companies, Bliss House brought this organization a complete line of china and silver giftware by Gorham.  Sales of licensed products actually exceeded sales of domestic Gordon Fraser products!

 

KINDERCARE: Our wooden toy licensee increased its market share in one year a total of 19.3 percentage points. In the same period, Playskool decreased from 34.7% to 20.8%.

 

GENERAL MOTORS: Beginning with two royalty-free licensees in 1989, Bliss House and its partner DMB&B developed a program generating annual income in seven figures for brands: Cadillac, Pontiac, Buick and Saturn. And licenses with Aureus Golf Apparel, Serengeti Eyewear, Franklin Mint, Jim Beam, 3M, Nicole Miller, Danbury Mint, NFL Properties, toy companies: Matchbox, Mattel, Revell, Monogram and others for a total of nearly 200 licensees domestically.

SAM ADAMS BEER. Initiated the first licensing program for the company that revolutionized the beer industry in America. Licensed products presented included apparel, gifts, beach towels and a full sauce and condiment proposal.

 

WGBH’S THE VICTORY GARDEN: In a very short time, we had licenses for indoor herb and flower growing kits and a wonderful line of comfortable gardening clothing. We also negotiated a series of handy garden guides, a broad range of world-class gardening tools, bird feeders, and a line of gardening fertilizers and potting soils.

 

THE LICENSING OF TOYS & GAMES:

 

SCRABBLE: It’s one of the world's best-known and loved games. At the same time, it was sorely in need of promotion. Bliss House developed a complete licensing program including an on-pack promotion with Post Alpha-Bits, a series of books from Macmillan, plus a $75 million dollar national promotion with McDonalds!

 

MATCHBOX: A classic little boy's brand, Matchbox had gone quiet for sometime. With new management, there was a new perspective and a new licensing program. Before being taken over by Mattel, we had developed license deals for a chain of restaurant/retail stores, display cases, boys' sportswear, children's toiletries, nostalgic T-shirts and more. We also had deals for innovative key-chains from Basic Fun for VIEW-MASTER, MAGIC 8 BALL and MAGNADOODLE. We also did an Iowa state lottery program with Magic 8 Ball.

 

At Milton Bradley-Playskool, I was responsible for licensing the Playskool brand name. Bliss House has been a consultant to LEGO for the launch of their licensing program worldwide. We also worked with Nancy Bailey and Associates on licensing LIONEL. And we have worked on PICTIONARY.

 

CREATIVITY IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & DESIGN

 

Our product development team has worked on retainer for one of the world's top ten toy companies; we put 3M in the children's business, creating the marketing and product development for POST-IT stickers which sold out in its launch year. We have also developed concepts for National Geographic, Columbia Bike, View-Master/Ideal Toys, Parker Brothers, Matchbox USA, Bandai America and others.

 

We have also acted as consultants in the launch of licensing programs for Lego Systems, WNET-TV New York and WGBH-TV Boston.

 

RESOURCES

 

In 1989 Bliss House established a joint venture with D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, Inc., the tenth largest advertising agency in the world. Through the DMB&B Licensing Group, we created trademark licensing programs for General Motors: Cadillac, Pontiac, Buick and Saturn and Anheuser-Busch for Europe. This DMB&B relationship has given us access to marketing professionals at the highest levels in 100 cities worldwide.

 

Additionally, Bliss House has an experienced licensing agent network in the leading markets: London, Paris, Munich, Melbourne and Sydney, Tokyo, Stockholm, Barcelona and Moscow.

 

We also have an agreement with Nancy Bailey & Associates, one of America's leading independent trademark licensing agencies, to cooperate on better serving our clients in strategic planning and sales.

 

On the graphics and product development side, Bliss House is supported by extraordinary outside individuals: Mel Epstein, a graphic artist with over 20 years experience with Fisher-Price Toys on both product design and marketing communications. Bonnie Zacherle, a talented illustrator and toy developer, she created one of the most successful little girl toys of all time, My Little Pony. Bruce McNally, hired by Houle as Muppets Creative Director, Europe in 1979, this England-based talented illustrator/designer continues to create books and toy products worldwide. 

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

Excerpts from recent letters of recommendation for Bliss House

 

I recently had occasion to work with him on a mutual client who he represented for licensing purposes.  We were the client’s licensing and intellectual property counsel.  My experiences with Jerry in this regard only re-affirmed my opinions of him.  He was the consummate professional and fully knowledgeable about all of the pertinent and relevant issues in the licensing program.  I was particularly surprised with his depth of understanding of the legal issues.  In fact, he had a better understanding of these issues than some of our younger law firm associates and many general attorneys.

 

There are precious few (licensing firms) that possess the qualifications and experience of Jerry Houle and Bliss House.  Of these few, I don’t know of any one that provides the level of quality and personal service that I know Jerry provides to his clients. It is, therefore, with no hesitation that I recommend Jerry Houle and Bliss House as a licensing agent.

 

Gregory J. Battersby

Partner and Founder, Grimes & Battersby LLP

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I have known Jerry Houle of Bliss House for nearly twenty years, and can vouch for the excellence of his work in the field of licensing.

 

From KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS WITH BILL COSBY to SURVIVOR, CBS has trusted Bliss House with our most important properties.  Jerry's background and knowledge of the licensing world is second to none, and he is widely respected within this small industry for his intelligence, thoroughness and his decency. Moreover, the Bliss House staff is first rate and they are the little engines that can. Often properties can get lost at a big agency, but Bliss House is more like a specialized boutique who only take on what they believe in... then deliver. Jerry and his staff know how to take a property from scratch and carefully build them (through innovative, high-quality products) into brands.

 

I am happy to recommend Bliss House to anyone considering them as an agent, and would be happy to speak to anyone who would like to know more of why I can so wholeheartedly recommend their licensing talent.

 

Jeffrey Nemerovski

Director of Business Development

 

I have known Jerry for over twenty years.  As a licensee in the late 1970's, I had the opportunity to work with him while he was head of licensing at Jim Henson Productions.  That experience was such a gratifying one that after he left Henson, I made sure to stay in touch with him.  I have followed his career closely and have carefully watched the development of Bliss House.

 

The licensing business has changed dramatically over the years and many times I have longed for the first class service and attention to details that smaller licensing companies can give to a licensee.  Among the very best in the area of service and personal attention is Bliss House, and I have many times recommended others to them.  I have never regretted making such recommendations.  Jerry and his staff are complete professionals. It is with great pleasure that I am able to comment on Jerry Houle and Bliss House.

 

Gary Caplan

Gary Caplan Inc.

 

In 1989, General Motors asked me, as EVP of their long-time agency D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, to create a licensing program for their Cadillac Motor Division. I had no experience in licensing and so I sought recommendations for an expert I could involve to build this program. I talked with leaders and veterans in the licensing industry and time and again I heard the same name: Jerry Houle of Bliss House. Although we had many outstanding candidates, it was clear that Mr. Houle and his organization stood out from the rest—they alone had all the ingredients we required.

 

Some of those qualities include: a fertile and incisive mind, oriented to strategic thinking. A perhaps unmatched palette of experiences in licensing, having been a licensee, a licensor, a licensing agent, a licensing counselor. Stature in the community, having written the charter of the Licensing Industry Merchandiser’s Association and long recognized as an industry leader. Mr. Houle is a solid businessman, with high standards and impeccable integrity. He is a very effective communicator, able to express complex ideas cogently and equally as good a listener.

 

Mr. Houle and his Bliss House colleagues contributed immeasurably to the acquiring of additional GM business for the Pontiac, Buick, and Saturn lines. In essence, these programs created the infrastructure, policies, procedures, documentation, and workways that continue to guide the GM licensing programs.

 

My experiences with Mr. Houle and Bliss House make me confident that they are fully capable of meeting any challenge in the licensing arena.

 

William V. Haney

MB Communications Consultants

 

I've spent my entire adult life practicing, researching, and teaching entrepreneurship.  These experiences have led me to a core belief that it is the combination of creativity, rigorous processes and absolute commitment that makes entrepreneurship work.

 

I have known Jerry Houle for over a decade, he is one of the very few pure embodiment of entrepreneurship.  His creative genius is fueled by his keen sense of the marketplace.  Equally important is his recognition of dynamic channels of distribution and the nurturing they require.

 

Jerry and I have collaborated on case writing and teaching in the MBA program at Babson College.  His ability to articulate the finer points of business development is extremely sophisticated.  Recently I had Jerry speak with a group of Intel executives about his business model.  They raved about Jerry's insights.  They were particularly impressed by his clear and succinct communication skills.

 

Jerry has my unqualified support and recommendation for the development and nurturing of an important brand.

 

STEPHEN SPINELLI, JR.

Babson College, Wellesley, MA

Director, Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship Chairman, Entrepreneurship Department John H. Muller term chair, Entrepreneurship

 

I have known Jerry throughout his tenure at Bliss House and before that at Milton Bradley, where Jerry was VP of Licensing and I was VP of Strategy & Development.  At Jerry’s request, I joined his Board of Directors early in the history of Bliss House and remained until forced to leave by the policy of my current employer, Deloitte Consulting, which prohibits membership on any Board of a for-profit company.

 

Bliss House has, from its beginnings, reflected Jerry’s passion for the licensing business.  He has built his team around that passion and, unusually for a small company, successfully built a culture on top of it.  The depth of thinking that his team brings to an assignment often surprises clients who mistake Jerry’s elfin charm for a reflection of shallow business sense.  His successes with products like The Muppets, Babar, Curious George, and the Velveteen Rabbit all suggest that there is much more than initially meets the eye.  My tenure on his Board gave me an inside perspective on his depth of commitment and directed creativity that has left me very impressed.  The very fact that he built a Board with substantial and varied business experience testifies to his business acumen.

 

As good as Jerry is, he certainly does not deserve all the credit for Bliss House’s successes.  He has methodically hired a team of people who each bring unique capabilities.  He then traded on his own experience with some of the largest and most successful children’s product companies to teach his people to operate as a powerful team.  There is camaraderie among everybody at Bliss House that feeds the energy and excitement when they focus on a new (or existing) property.  Though small, there is a seriousness about the work that imbues the atmosphere with the feel of a much bigger organization.

Though no longer connected to Bliss House in any way, I would recommend their team unabashedly for any children’s character property.

Charles Perrottet

Director, Deloitte Consulting

Mr. Perrottet has an extensive background in the formation and evaluation of corporate strategies and over 25 years of experience creating and implementing strategies.  He is responsible for Deloitte's scenario consulting practice, which relies on uncertainty techniques.  His personal focus has been the identification of strategic opportunities in the face of growing future uncertainty. He has been an officer of The Futures Group, Hasbro, Milton Bradley and Toro.