Goodyear explores brand expansion at Licensing Expo

New York -- Goodyear is scouting out licensing opportunities at the annual Licensing Expo in New York this week to see how it can extend the reach of its brand into new and different product categories.

The company has already partnered with nearly 70 licensees around the world that produce products carrying the tyre maker's brand, according to Bob Paciulan, Goodyear's manager of licensed products. The licensing relationships represent a growing royalty stream for the Akron-based tyre maker, while offering licensees the opportunity to increase their revenue by leveraging the Goodyear brand within their respective categories and markets, he said.

“Our goal this week is to learn more about the licensing opportunities that are out there for Goodyear,” Paciulan said. “It also allows us the chance to outline our licensing strategy.… What Goodyear is looking for are companies that make very high quality and in many cases leadership products in categories where we have 'permission' to play, but where we don't choose to make a ground up investment.”

The company is particularly interested in licensees that produce premium products in the automotive, home/garage, apparel, travel and leisure/recreation areas, he said.

“Despite the fact that we're one of the top 100 licensors in the world today, we're relatively new to the whole world of licensing,” Paciulan added. “However, we're very optimistic that we will draw attention from companies that can significantly benefit from the strength of the Goodyear brand. We're serious about growing this area of our business.”

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)