Hanging in a professor’s office at UCLA is a poster from a Japanese political campaign of the last decade. The candidate, a member of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, is pictured in a Japanese temple in a pose of reverence and prayer.
On his chest he sports a UCLA T-shirt.
“The campaign was supposed to show that even though he was traditional, he had modern ideas,” chuckles Jack Revoyr, who heads a licensing consulting firm called Intelic with offices in West L.A. and Ojai.
Revoyr is the guy who sold that politician his shirt. As UCLA’s director of licensing until 1993, he oversaw the most successful international merchandising program any American university had ever seen.
Perhaps that says as much about Los Angeles and its international cachet as it does about UCLA.
L.A.’s image may have taken a beating in recent years what with all the natural, economic and criminal disasters, but there is still something about those two letters “L” and “A” when used in combination that makes people in distant climes think of beauties and beaches, leisure and lucre.
Which is the only thing that explains why the L.A. Sports Council has been able to turn the letters “L” and “A” into a brand to sell sportswear.
The non-profit organization has been licensing its logo to Sunworld Co. Ltd. in Japan since 1993. Sunworld is an apparel manufacturer that makes and markets sportswear in Japan bearing, among other things, the L.A. Sports label.
Last month, the Sports Council signed another licensing agreement with Taijin G.F. Co. Ltd. in Korea to do the same thing.
Now keep in mind, we’re not talking about a well-known brand name like the L.A. Dodgers or the L.A. Lakers or UCLA. The Sports Council logo is a stylized version of the letters “L” and “A,” with the words “L.A. Sports” written beneath. Since it’s terribly unlikely that anyone in Asia has ever heard of the L.A. Sports Council, one can only conclude that it’s simply the name “L.A.” that appeals to Japanese and Korean consumers.
Does the logo sell? Sports Council President David Simon says the terms of his licensing agreement forbid him from revealing sales figures, but he confirms that sales of L.A. Sports merchandise in Japan are in the seven figures each year.
Licensors get their cut of the profits through royalty fees. In the U.S., royalties typically range from 6 percent to 12 percent of total sales. Licensors usually get less than that when signing deals in Asia, Simon said; the Sports Council’s royalty percentage is in the single digits.
Proceeds are used to help fulfill the Sports Council’s mission, which is to outbid other cities competing for large sporting events.
Though Revoyr and other licensing experts say it’s unlikely that the Sports Council’s licensing deal in Japan generates more than $100,000 a year, that’s not bad considering all the organization had to do was hire a design firm to dress up the letters “L.A.” and then sit back and collect the money.
L.A.-oriented merchandise has a long history of selling well internationally. Labels like the Beverly Hills Polo Club have turned a particularly Southern California image of wealth and leisure into a strong international brand, and TV shows like “Baywatch” and “Beverly Hills 90210” have licensing arms to import L.A.-themed merchandise around the world.
UCLA was one of the first American universities to license its name, beginning a year after the National Collegiate Athletic Association OK’d the practice in 1975.
Japan quickly emerged as a top market for UCLA products, according to Revoyr. By 1994, a year after Revoyr left his job as the university’s licensing director to form his own consulting business, UCLA was taking in about $1 million in royalty fees from Japan alone, he said.
Is that because a lot of Japanese people are college basketball fans? Don’t count on it.
It’s the L.A. image that sells in Japan, Revoyr said.
“Anything that can capture the essence of the California lifestyle is very popular in Asia,” Revoyr said.
The Sports Council is relying on something else besides the popularity of the L.A. image to sell its logo in Japan and Korea: pitchers.
Conveniently, the Dodgers imported two star pitchers from Asia: Korean Chan Ho Park, and Japan’s Hideo Nomo. Both are extremely popular in their native countries.
“Our success may depend to a large degree on the success of the Dodgers’ pitching staff,” joked Sports Council spokesman Mark Meyers.
Pac/West shuts down
Does anybody out there know what the heck happened to Pacific/West Communications Group Inc.?
The Mid-Wilshire agency, which until last year was the biggest independent P.R. agency in L.A. County, has closed its doors. Leasing manager John Kim at its former headquarters in Equitable Plaza said the company vacated its 10,000 square feet on Aug. 17. When you call Pac/West’s old phone number, there is no answer and no forwarding number.
Pac/West still has about 18 months left on its lease at the building, and stopped making payments in July. Kim said he is pursuing legal action against the company.
Pac/West’s legal problems have been well-documented; last year, the California Department of Transportation accused the agency of overbilling taxpayers by $644,000 on its contract to promote ridesharing. Pac/West responded with a lawsuit against Caltrans for defamation and conspiracy.
Meanwhile, some of Pac/West’s subcontractors are pursuing legal action against the P.R. firm, claiming they were not paid.
In December, company founders Stephen and Maureen Tobia put their brand new La Canada Flintridge home up for sale to help pay off an estimated $250,000 in legal bills.
The Tobias could not be reached for comment last week.
News Editor Dan Turner writes a weekly marketing column for the Los Angeles Business Journal.
