Trade association Licensing International celebrated a select number of home and housewares manufacturers last month for producing outstanding licensed product.

Appliance maker Smeg, soft home resource Jay Franco and Sons, and cutlery company Dalstrong earned the highest accolades for a product created under license from The Coca-Cola Company, Hasbro Gaming, and Call of Duty, respectively.

Judges, with the help of voters, whittled 850 award submissions from around the world down to 30 finalists. The mix of wannabe winners spanned licensors (intellectual property owners), licensees (manufacturing partners to the licensors), retailers, agents, and more.

“We were thrilled to honor the creativity and innovation of the teams working in Home Décor and Housewares at this year’s Licensing International Excellence Awards,” said Maura Regan, president of Licensing International. “These categories have shown incredible growth in recent years and present opportunities for expansion to everything from corporate brands like Coca-Cola to videogame properties like Call of Duty.”

Of note, the trade association teased new data indicating that the growth of global sales of licensed merchandise and services in 2022 reached a groundbreaking $340.8 billion, with overall licensing industry sales up 8% compared to 2021.

Winner Spotlight

Dalstrong x Call of Duty Culinary Collection

Dalstrong won Best Licensed Product in the categories of Appliances, Housewares & Electronics for Entertainment Brands category with Call of Duty Performance Culinary Collection.

The Dalstrong x Call of Duty culinary collection is a collection of kitchen essentials that exudes the popular game’s aesthetics, topographies, and spirit. Each item is designed for performance, using premium materials and manufacturing techniques that deliver an insane level of detail, tactility, and a performance experience. The relationship between chefs and gaming is serious. Before and after a shift, gaming is popular. A kitchen is a place of adventure and creativity. This collection levels that up. Adventure, creativity, and ‘play’ in the kitchen like never before: [think of it as] Call of Foodie. Pre-orders for phase one sold out in one day. Phase two sold out in five days. 76% of purchases were new to the brand. 50% purchased non-licensed products. 17% sales lift of core non-licensed business.

Jay Franco and Sons Hasbro Board Game Blanket

Jay Franco and Sons won Best Licensed Product​ in Home Décor category for the Hasbro Board Game Blanket.

The concept: the blanket acts as the “board” with the foam game pieces packaged within the set. The packaged-in-a-backpack format launched exclusively on a Walmart end cap and was later featured in every Target and Aldi across the U.S. overall.

Smeg Coca-Cola Refrigerator

Smeg won Best Licensed Product in Appliances, Housewares & Electronics for Corporate Brands category with the Smeg Coca-Cola Refrigerator.

The redesign of the famous Smeg FAB 28 was inspired by Coca-Cola’s vintage “Ice Cold” vending machines. To launch in the U.S., interior design websites and social influencers were tapped to imagine and share how this collaboration could update interiors in unexpected ways and elevate design by combining modern and nostalgic aesthetics. The Coca-Cola Smeg designs were also featured in their flagship storefront windows in London and Milan.

Tom Mirabile, principal of Springboard Futures, delivered a keynote session, Consumers In Control: Insights & Imperatives for the New Economy during The Inspired Home Show 2023.

He revealed key findings from the 2023 Value Equation Index — new research highlighting the most important elements influencing consumers’ purchases of home and housewares products today. The survey of 1,200 U.S. householders was conducted in late February 2023 as a joint project of Springboard Futures, Project Partners Network and The Trend Curve.

With consumers looking to cook more at home as a hedge against inflation, they are exploring a wider menu of familiar and new flavors, Leigh Ann Schwarzkopf of Project Partners Network said during the Innovation Theater education program at The Inspired Home Show 2023.

Food has become a much more critical part of how consumers think about their leisure time. Schwarzkopf pointed out that three of four consumers in the United States travel for the food. As research suggests they are dubious about discretionary travel in the current economic circumstances and even cutting back on restaurant spending, the desire to experience new flavors and cuisines is being satisfied by what they can find on social media, whether through recipes, influencers or the kind of online instruction that’s generated by retailers such as Sur La Table, she said.

It’s not just about cooking up new recipes. Consumers are thinking about food differently, Schwarzkopf said.  They are looking for new cuisines, such as Moroccan. And they are trying new forms of fusion combining, for example, increasingly popular Latin cuisines. They also are combining behaviors to save money, ordering takeout or delivery of certain items then combining them with their own cooking whether from scratch or leftovers. As for leftovers, consumers are saving food then looking for new ways to spice it up for the second serving occasion.

Schwarzkopf said 76% of consumers want to try new foods, and all generations are interested in new flavors. A direct effect of this is the purchase of new cookware. Cooking many cuisines requires or encourages, for authenticity’s sake, specific cookware and kitchen tools. She added cookware companies should pay special attention to social media influencers, who can not only show directions that food is taking but also could be a source of partnership to promote products.

Trend forecasters like to talk about things that influence an industry including lifestyle, food & beverage, economy, cohorts and generations, décor and life stage. When these things start to form a pattern, they showcase a trend.

And how does this affect home and housewares? It affects everything, said Leigh Ann Schwarzkopf, principal, Project Partners Network, and Nikki Gondell, founding partner, Trend House, Inc., during their Connect FALL session on Wednesday.

Trend House works with several international trend forecasters, and for this presentation, Gondell chose MoodSign Milan’s Spring 2024 trends. There are four stories they are working on — Harmony, Rebirth, Tropical Lush and Color Me Happy!, she said, and then focused on Harmony and Rebirth, explaining how they incorporate food and flavors and housewares design directions.

Harmony

The consumer mindset behind this story is for those who want a harmonious life for themselves with equilibrium and balance, physical, emotional and spiritual balance. Good health and peace of mind are the two components that create true self-care. “When we slow down, we can allow the beauty and poetry of life to come in,” Gondell said. “When we’re rushing and hurrying and stressing, we shut ourselves out from the present moment.”

This has led to a reawakening to opting out of the hustle culture; quiet quitting and slowing down and taking it easy, getting proper sleep, breathing deeply, and being more relaxed, she said.

Another element, cottagecore, is a movement that came about during the height of the pandemic when consumers were craving safety. It brought a safe, cozy, familiar, friendly environment to one’s home. It allowed consumers to facilitate doing things they never did before because they had more time and were indoors more. For example, if you couldn’t find bread, you learned how to make it and then found you liked making bread, Gondell said. Some of the behaviors developed during the pandemic are the new normal, she added, saying, “We’re not eating out as often, we’re cooking at home more.”

The color palette for Harmony is fresh and clean. It focuses on colors of spring, shades of peach pink, lavender and cherry combine with natural shades of warm and fragrant beige. The colors are easy to live with.

The food and flavors associated with Harmony are fresh, clean and have health-boosting properties. It is a major consumer driver and presents opportunities and challenges. A Deloitte survey showed that 90% of respondents said fresh food makes them happy. They aspire to have food that is clean, organic, natural, less processed and with fewer additives.

Gondell discussed the design inspirations for housewares, which includes how we facilitate welcoming and relaxed experiences for the meal, entertaining, getting dinner to the table and cocktails. One answer – sheet pan meals, which allow you to make the entire meal on one pan are trending up. This type of cooking also gives consumers permission to not be perfect with everything, she said. Design inspiration also comes from the friendly and familiar; sweet, simple and nostalgic; charming and original; easy and versatile; indoor/outdoor; personal and emotional; and conscious and conscientious.

Rebirth

The consumer mindset behind this story is similar to harmony but is a radical reconnection to our lives and wild world. We move away from a screen-centered focus and reconnect with the world, to our shared humanity, our instincts and our mother earth, Gondell said. The décor is a warm comforting style showcasing the beauty of earthy materials, texture and forms, and honoring the traditions and artistry of other cultures.

The color palette is focused on earthy shades and natural dyes. Indigo blue and beetroot are flanked by varying natural shades of brown, and a pear green is an essential key to complete the vegetal mood. Blues and browns are popular. Whenever there has been a very stressful external event, brown comes back because from a color psychology viewpoint it makes us grounded and rooted, and we gravitate toward that, Gondell said. Earth and brown colors are very big right now, she added.

Food and flavors associated with the Rebirth story feature new horizons and new connections, a street flood influence, post-fusion, spice sensations, ancient know-how, 5-star wild, foraged and in season and open fire cooking. Illustrating post-fusion, Gondell, who grew up with an Italian/Catholic mother and a Romanian/Jewish father, remembered how her mother would make a Seder with a pasta course in the middle. “She wasn’t mixing flavor profiles, but we just grew up merging the different cultures at the dinner table,” Gondell said.  

Design inspirations include earthy, organic and tactile; cultural exchange; vegetable dyes and pigments; artistry, clay and soul; handmade and hand-forged, ancient techniques; woven, knotted and linked; and share, learn and explore.

Schwarzkopf then shared data points on food, lifestyle and housewares trends.

• Of people who eat at home, 46% watched TV during their most recent meal at home and 68% of people who made all of their meals enjoyed it. When it comes to generations, Boomers led the way in making all of the meals, followed by Gen X and Millennials. Gen Zers were the top group in making some or none of the meals.
• The growth of the resale economy – promotes messages of better value, greater selection and being kind to the planet. Americans sit on 23.6 billion products that are unused.
• Is becoming more acceptable to purchase secondhand products. 36% of consumers have bought secondhand furniture and homewares in the last year.
• Retailers are joining the resale & refurbish market or offering donation programs where gently used products are donated to shelters and or organizations. They include Nordstrom, Williams Sonoma, Walmart and Goodwill.

Truth on Trend is an exclusive HomePage News video series that examines the evolving connection between consumer behavior and the home + housewares industry and the pursuit of effective trend forecasting.

The series is co-hosted by Peter Giannetti, HomePage News editor-in-chief, and Tom Mirabile, founder of Springboard Futures and trend analyst for HomePage News and the International Housewares Association.

This episode, with special guest Leigh Ann Schwarzkopf of Project Partners Network, examines how suppliers and retailers can capitalize on the home and housewares licensing surge as the influence of branding continues to expand.

The consumer value equation is changing quickly after two years of economic and social uncertainty, and it is fluid across generations, said Tom Mirabile, principal of Springboard Futures, and Leigh Ann Schwarzkopf, founder of Project Partners Network, in a keynote address Monday at The Inspired Home Show 2022.

The session featured the 2022 Value Equation Index – brand-new research highlighting the most important elements influencing consumers’ purchases of home and housewares products today.  The survey was commissioned by Mirabile and Schwarzkopf, along with Michelle Lamb of The Trend Curve.

“Consumers are moving so quickly right now that sometimes the consumer value equation changes overnight,” Mirabile said. As such, he added, it is important to inform the industry about new developments and stay nimble enough to act on them quickly.

The 2022 national-sample survey, which was collected just a week ago, offers a comparison to a similar survey last year.

Mirabile and Schwarzkopf highlighted five key consumer motivating factors measured by the 2022 Value Equation Index:

Convenience

When it comes to convenience, the duo is tracking what they called “Endemic Urgency.”

“Everything’s an emergency now,” Mirabile said. Pandemic-level services have become expected as the baseline, and the value of in-stock items is elevated. “Consumers are tired of the supply chain issue,” he added. “It doesn’t matter to them that it’s still an issue (for the industry).”

The idea of the “endless aisle” may be losing favor among consumers. Mirabile and Schwarzkopf recommend the housewares industry manage consumer expectations with honesty, only offering products that can be delivered in a timely fashion.

Price

Price, according to the survey, is less important to consumers today than last year. In 2022, 47% of respondents said price was extremely or very important when considering the purchase of a home or housewares product. That number is down from 66% in 2021.

Mirabile said stabilizing job and economic outlooks explain some of the shifting price value. Erratic retail promotions and supply uncertainty have also changed consumers’ perspectives on price in the last year, Schwarzkopf added. Some consumers prefer to wait for pricing promotions, while others prefer to pay full price to get something when they need it or when it becomes available.

“The current environment on pricing offers a clean slate,” Mirabile said.

Trust

As the importance of trust grows, more strategic efforts to deliver and enhance trust are crucial, the presenters agreed. Brands and licenses help shorten the timeline for developing consumer trust, Schwarzkopf added.

The importance of brand was ranked high across generations. Only 14% of Gen Z, 11% of Millennials, 10% of Gen X and 6% of Baby Boomers said it was not important.

People often generalize younger generations, especially Millennials, don’t care about brand, Schwarzkopf pointed out. “The striking thing (the research shows) is that brand matters to all generations,” she said.

Data privacy, safety and security are increasingly important trust factors, according to the survey. The topic is extremely or very important to cultivating trust among 78% of respondents.

“This is where you can lose consumer trust very quickly,” said Mirabile, adding that broken trust usually lasts forever.

Quality

Quality influences consumers’ perceptions of trust, brand and price, and 86% of respondents rated quality as extremely or very important.

Quality is the number one driver of good and bad online reviews, Mirabile noted. “Over 90% of reviews are driven by comments about high quality or lack of quality,” he said.

Durability (59%) and reliable performance (57%) were the overwhelming top two considerations when consumers evaluate a product’s quality. Millennials and Gen Z highly value durability for its waste-mitigating eco-friendliness, Mirabile said.

Lifestyle Benefits

Lifestyle benefits outside of the primary function of the product – such as a storage system that helps create a sense of calm and wellbeing – are becoming increasingly important to consumers.

The top lifestyle benefits cited by respondents were inspiring time with family and friends (46%), promoting physical wellness (43%), enhancing emotional health (37%), cultivating new skills (28%), fostering creativity (22%) and creating sharing opportunities (13%).

Among different generation, generations, inspiring time with family and friends rated highest with Millennials (53%). “It’s interesting to point out that the people who are most interested in socializing with family and friends are the ones who still need to buy (home and housewares goods),” Schwarzkopf said.

Connect FALL, an IHA virtual event, is set for Sept. 27 through Oct. 1 with exclusive, in-depth content designed to bring the housewares industry together around education, inspiration and product discovery.

Each day of Connect FALL will offer a mix of education sessions and virtual product demonstrations. Session topics include style and design trends, independent retailing post-pandemic, shifting consumer trends, a new report on consumer spending for special occasions, branding for retailers and suppliers, store window merchandising, and the announcement of the Global Innovation Award (gia) Top Window Award are some of the topics to be covered during Sessions will run daily from 10:30 a.m. CDT to 4 p.m. CDT.

“Based on the success of our inaugural Connect SPRING virtual event last May, we wanted to provide housewares buyers and sellers another opportunity to connect around new product innovations, education and expertise that address issues we face as we move forward and get back to pre-pandemic activities,” said Derek Miller, IHA president.

Connect FALL will open with an industry update and outlook by Joe Derochowski, home industry advisor at The NPD Group. Other sessions on Monday, Sept. 27 include Independent Housewares Retailers: Beyond the Pandemic, a panel discussion led by Peter Giannetti, editor in chief of HomePage News, and including Tony Curtis-Wellings, Faraday’s Kitchen Store, Austin, Texas, and Jamie Butler, The Butler’s Pantry, Escalon, Calif.,  that will examine how leading independent retailers are aiming beyond the pandemic with fortified merchandising and operational platforms and a determination to set a new and competitive standard for the long-term success of a channel that remains vital to the home and housewares industry; and product demonstrations featuring cook and bakeware items.

Other education sessions on the week’s agenda include:

All Roads Lead to Home: New Insights Reveal Shifting Consumer Values and the Need for Industry Transformation – The character and responsibility of today’s home cannot be described simply. In a single day, it must expand and contract, shapeshifting to serve seemingly conflicting needs: workplace, play space and home base. Above all, it is a fortress, representing a unique sense of safety and security unattainable in the “outside world.” Joe Derochowski of The NPD Group, Tom Mirabile, principal, Springboard Futures, and Leana Salamah, IHA’s vice president of marketing, will explore the dramatic shifts in the home value equation, and the potential of this transformative period in the housewares industry’s evolution.

2022 Style Trend Outlook: The Reinvention of Real Life – A new ethos is influencing every facet of home and housewares lifestyles; it’s a spirit grounded in a need for simplicity, modernity and functionality, with an unapologetic passion for color and design. Nancy Fire, found & principal of Design Works International, will examine consumers’ desire for improving and enhancing real-life experiences adopted during the pandemic with a focus on home + housewares style, design and quality that supports their plans to resume in-person socializing and entertaining at home.

Occasions Report: How Consumers Spend for Special Occasions – Every year, numerous consumer occasions align with the need to purchase home + housewares products —  for oneself and for others. These include weddings, childbirths, pet adoption and more. Many of these occasions, and the celebrations and/or new needs that typically herald them, have been dampened during the last 18 months by the pandemic. IHA and HomePage News have commissioned a study to understand the recovery of these occasions in 2022 — specifically the likelihood of them taking place in 2022 – and where appropriate, the associated home + housewares purchase expectations for those occasions. Leana Salamah, vice president, marketing for IHA, and Peter Giannetti, editor in chief for HomePage News, will present findings from this first-of-its-kind report in advance of full publication, and explain how various categories can position themselves for growth against these consumer life events in 2022.

Are You Ready for 2030? Imminent Lifestyle Shifts Will Change the Experiences of Home – Sphere Trending executives Susan Yashinsky, vice president, innovation trends, and Mandi Mankvitz, vice president, engagement trends, will explore trends and strategies accelerated by the pandemic and poised to create the new-normal of 2030. Their discussion topics include Generations—cross-influence on lifestyles & economics; Space — wants & needs in a post-pandemic world; Localism — across community, retail & leisure; Renaissance — new era of tech & creativity; and Relevancy — intersection of community & commerce.

Retail Branding Post-Covid – The Covid pandemic changed the world…and how does a brand go about aligning with the changes? Adrienne Weiss, brand developer and author, will explain the process of re-energizing mature brands and how to build a brand from start up. She will explore case studies from Build A Bear Workshop to Baskin-Robbins to reveal the secrets to consumer connectedness.

Brand Where You Stand. The Path to Building, Becoming and Broadcasting Brand You –Consumer relationships with brands have become more complex and more important than ever.​ This means looking at every business as a brand and evolving in a way that can adapt and survive ​in a market of increasingly distracted and decreasingly loyal customers. Leigh Ann Schwarzkopf, founder & principal, Project Partners Network, will discuss the “Three ​B​’​s of ​Branding: Building, Buying and Borrowing” and how they work to ​grow relationships​, cement loyalty​ and ​create a responsive and resilient Brand You.​

Materials and the Consumer Experience – Gayatri Keskar, PhD, vice president of research, Material Connexion, will discuss how product material can affect the consumer buying experience.

Winning Visual Clicks/Top Window Award – For a century, the function of store windows has remained the same; they were a place to feature and sell merchandise or hype the latest sale or promotion. Like everything else, things have changed, and store windows have evolved into a powerful communication tool for a retailer to express its character, style and values. Designer and educator Anne Kong will explore a new directive on designing windows, including the techniques and tactics most effective for today’s marketplace. In addition, Kong, who is a member of the Global Innovation Awards (gia) expert jury, will announce the winner of the GIA Top Window Award for the best window display from around the world.

Each day’s program will also include virtual product demonstrations focused by category, including cook and bakeware, tableware and drinkware, kitchen gadgets, storage and organization, cleaning, personal care, home environment and kitchen electrics.

There is no charge to register for Connect FALL.  For more information on the agenda or to register, go to TheInspiredHomeShow.com/connect/connect-fall.

Michelle Lamb, founder and editorial director of The Trend Curve, and Leigh Ann Schwarzkopf, principal of the Project Partners Network, laid out a road map for refocusing on the creative elements of shopper engagement — including assortments, displays and messaging — during the IHA’s Connect SPRING session “Retail Renaissance: Driving Sales Through Experience.” The session highlighted where to find the right inspiration, how to utilize trend in the process and innovative ways to communicate through visual merchandising.

Schwarzkopf, addressing the science of emotions, cited a recent Springboard Futures/Unity Marketing study reporting 90% of consumers say the total shopping experience — encompassing aspiration, entertainment, discovery and social factors—  is important. She advised retailers and suppliers to pay close attention to a constantly changing consumer dynamic.

“It’s about being in the moment,” Schwarzkopf said, noting research that 4 in 10 shoppers spend more when they feel they’re getting an exceptional experience. “It’s not about what you make them want. It’s what the consumer wants.”

Schwarzkopf cited three primary shopping experience qualities sought by consumers:  Safety, a top priority that values control, balance and nostalgia; Belonging, which taps the importance of human connection and community; and Transcendence, which factors such attributes as responsibility and sustainability.

“It’s no longer good enough to give. You now must do,” Schwarzkopf said.

Trust, she said was chosen as an important purchase influence by 99% of consumers, ahead of price, in a recent survey. “If you are transparent and authentic, you will be important,” she added.

Schwarzkopf emphasized the trust-building value of consistency in brand messaging across physical and digital platforms.

Lamb turned the presentation to the vitality of trend in creating an emotionally fulfilling retail experience. She distinguished between “trend” and “core.” “Trend,” she said progresses along a bell curve with distinct stages of relevance; while “core” is rooted in day-in/day-out stability.

“Core is safe; it is foundational, while trend carries more risk. It is topical and exciting,” Lamb said. “(Trend) has a halo effect that impacts the core items. It is key to establishing a company’s identity. And it differentiates one retailer from the next.”

Lamb advised session attendees to treat trend and core as two pieces of the same pie, noting that retailers should aim to build trend into as much as 35% of their assortments.

Color, Lamb continued, has made a big comeback in home products as an emotional trend factor during the pandemic.  “Consumers will compromise on pattern. They will rarely, if ever, compromise on color,” Lamb said, noting the surge of nature-inspired browns, greens and mineral tones.

Lamb detailed three new design and style trends shaped by lifestyle and behavioral influences.

“Japandi” was described by Lamb as an architecturally inspired minimalism merging pure and calming Japanese and Scandinavian design qualities.

The more mainstream “Cottagecore” is “the heir to “farmhouse,” Lamb said, evoking romantic, pastoral and nostalgic themes that mark an escape from technology and the modern world.

“Contemporary Contrast” balances rounded, bulbous shapes with thin, often “skinny” design elements, Lamb said. “It’s not harsh,” she said, adding the trend embodies simplicity, offering few embellishments while favoring tactile texture over pattern.

Schwarzkopf and Lamb, showcasing retailers in the U.S. and across the globe, identified key visual display objectives aligned to a more emotional shopping experience: create and build around a focal point; optimize underutilized space; incorporate multiple display levels to engage the eyes; tell a story; integrate POP; and create an immersive experience.

“Be where and when it matters,” Schwarzkopf said. “It’s not just about satisfying the consumer. That’s mediocrity. You want to make them happy.”