Page 19 - March 2023 #179

Reebok Design Group
Boston, Massachusetts, US

Barneys New York Beauty
Seoul, South Korea

annual retail sales and have an expansive retail footprint in more
than 150 countries, including more than 9,800 freestanding
stores and shop-in-shops and 355,000 points of sale. As a
licensing business focused on brand identity, we partner with
best-in-class manufacturers and operators who strategically
support brand growth across key industry verticals, territories
and product categories.” joining us for Big Game Weekend events,” says Woodhouse.
As the conversation moves onto the upcoming development pipeline, Along with social media, sustainability is another key area for Authentic
Woodhouse highlights that their acquisition strategy is focused on brands as they believe that many consumers nowadays – particularly Gen Zers –
and opportunities that exhibit meaningful, organic growth potential are looking for more sustainable solutions and consider ethical practices
and are synergistic to their existing portfolio. They are looking at their before making a purchase.
audiences and their habits to determine crossover and the opportunities The company recently entered into a partnership with the world’s
to create synergies among their brands that are truly open-ended. largest international advocacy organisation, Global Citizen, to amplify its
“In 2023, retail will be about evolution and transformation. Our proven ESG goals and drive awareness and action around environmental and
playbook continues to create entries into new verticals and categories social issues. Through this partnership, Authentic and Global Citizen are
within our current portfolio, while uncovering strategic opportunities to not only breaking new ground, but also leveraging and building upon
bring additional brands onto our platform.” their respective expertise in the fashion, retail and social impact spaces.
An example of this is in the scaling of the Metaverse with the Forever Authentic has also established a task force to help drive sustainability
21 “Shop City” on Roblox, which is a game available in the Roblox across their global brands and businesses. The Sustainability Alliance
metaverse video game platform, which sees about 58.8 million active platform is designed to engage, educate and equip their partner network
users every day. When Forever 21 celebrated its one year “Meta- with the shared tools and resources to scale sustainable brand innovation,
versary” in November last year, they launched the first metaverse- value creation and positive environmental impact.
tested fashion collection inspired by the virtual goods worn by their So, looking at the company as a whole, what does Woodhouse
avatars in “Shop City”. Through this launch, Forever 21 and Virtual consider to be the reason the business has enjoyed monumental success
Brand Group have created an entirely new way to innovate, design and in recent years and what makes them stand out?
retail fashion globally. “We combine the operational and financial benefits of a traditional
Embracing the pivotal role that social media plays in marketing in brand licensor with the brand development, marketing and long-term
today’s world, the Authentic marketing team drives brand storytelling value approach employed by the world’s most successful brands.”
across all consumer touchpoints, platforms and emerging media. They As Woodhouse looks to the future of the company, he highlights that
develop original, branded content and dynamic advertising campaigns for the partnership with David Beckham marks a definitive step in Authentic’s
earned, owned and paid distribution channels. global strategy to expand its corporate footprint, launch new business
Woodhouse explains that they leverage the power of their combined verticals and drive growth in key territories, including EMEA and APAC.
following of more than 453 million across their portfolio of 40-plus Meanwhile back in October they completed the acquisition of
brands. By examining the data that comes from their brand audiences, distinctive British lifestyle brand Ted Baker, which is in line with their
they can strategically determine how to market their brands through strategic focus on growing and diversifying the portfolio through the
their owned channels and stay on top of the most relevant and impactful acquisition of brands that originate from outside of the US.
influencers and trends. “We are more than a licensing company; we are a lifestyle,
“Our teams have their fingers on the pulse of social media, especially entertainment and media platform fuelled by our portfolio of iconic and
TikTok, where new influencers are popping up all the time. We recently world-renowned brands. There isn’t a single company out there that we
partnered with Alix Earle for Forever 21. She’s the new it girl. She was can point to as a true competitor. We continue to push the boundaries
recognised by our team and the partnership was executed quickly. of what brands can be through our innovative partnerships and category
Not only is she the face of our Forever 21 festival season campaign on expansions and we continue to look at acquiring brands that have the legs
TikTok, we were also able to integrate her into our platform, with Alix to expand into new territories and markets,” Woodhouse concludes.