How Bioworld Stays On Top In The Competitive World Of Fandom Fashion and Accessories
Image: Bioworld
You may not be familiar with the name, but if you’re a fan of fandom fashion and accessories chances are you own some of their products. Bioworld has been the premier manufacturer of licensed lifestyle apparel and accessories for the last 25 years. With a presence in over 25 product categories, successful collaborations with more than 1,000 brands, and an estimated annual reach of 100 million customers worldwide, the company continues be a global leader in the industry.
How does Bioworld stay so successful year after year? Fashion and Fandom caught up with Paul Beck, Senior Manager Brand Management and Acquisition at Bioworld recently at at San Diego Comic-Con where we talked about how the company helps it’s partners stand out in a crowded marketplace, “dream” licenses, some of the secrets behind Bioworld’s success and more!
Fashion and Fandom: Bioworld has been a leader in the world of pop culture products for a long time. What do you feel is the key to staying ahead of market trends?
Paul Beck: I think it's really two things. It's all of our employees are part of the fandoms. I mean, we're always talking with each other, and asking about what we’re all watching and listening to so we’re looking at the market from the perspective of the fans. I think we've also been really lucky to work with so many great partners over the years like Lucasfilm, and with iconic properties like Star Wars that have a huge fan base. When you walk a show like this (San Diego Comic-Con), you see so many Star Wars products. So for us, we're always thinking, “what can we do that hasn't been done already?” which isn't always easy. How can we innovate and find some of those other touch points that are really going to resonate with fans? It's always a continual innovation process.
Fashion and Fandom: That's one of the things that really helps differentiates Bioworld’s family of brands from other retailers — that they always find that unique niche in the marketplace.
Paul Beck: Yes it’s been nice, because since we control and operate that platform we can really make sure it's the right marketing, it's the right mix of product, and it's the right price points too. Heroes & Villains is definitely an elevated brand, and it may be hard to place some of their products in a brick and mortar retailer because of the price point. So it’s nice that we’re able to offer those types of products at fan conventions because there is a market for that and there are fans that want that. That's not an easy thing to walk into your local store and find. So it's nice to be able to offer that wider selection and those higher price point items that are elevated.
Images: Fashion and Fandom
Fashion and Fandom: Bioworld works with a wide range of retail partners. Some of these are niche companies, like Heroes & Villains, and some are major brick and mortar department stores. What are some of the ways you help your partners try to connect with their customer base?
Paul Beck: mean, I think our philosophy is always “everywhere and anywhere”, whether that's an omni channel approach, or the online and brick and mortar piece. We understand that all fans aren't going to be in the lane that maybe we want them to be in, and that we have to be in multiple lanes to find, and really harvest that whole fandom. So the more touch points we have at a retailer, the more there’s a chance people discover our product.
I think the business has changed so much in the last 10 years. You used to be able to ask, even at a convention like this, what's your favorite comic? What's your favorite property, and you would get a lot of the same answers. You don't get that now, because the content is so diversified, and there's so many different ways of consuming it — whether it's all of the long form animated entertainment, etc. So now our goal is to try to have something that's in your top five, maybe when you're walking. Because just like we all go through our phones and we sit here and do this all day at retail, we're trying to find that stop walk versus the stop scroll, where it gets you to stop andengage with our product. That's not always an easy thing to do, but that's what we're challenged with all the time.
Fashion and Fandom: I'm sure each of the each of your partners have different marketing strategies to connect with customers, because not all of them are going to be here at a pop culture convention. What are some of the some of the ways you work with your partners to to find that connection?
Paul Beck: There are a lot of different ways. Influencer marketing is still huge, not even from a dollar perspective necessarily, but just from an exposure perspective. There’s such a overlap between a lot of these fandoms and a lot of the creators that people are following. I think anytime that you can get some crossover from fandoms and and creators it just forms a new funnel into our products. Everyone's trying to replicate this at retail. You’re always trying to find something that’s special. But I think when you have an engaged fan base, you get that kind of arm tug factor of like, “I want that”. “I'm looking for this”. I think that helps you get a lot of repeat customers, but you also get a lot of people that are looking for something very different, like this. And I think from an omnichannel standpoint, when they can walk into a brick and mortar store and see one set of product, and then they can go online and see a different set of product, that's always really valuable to kind of have those options.
Fashion and Fandom: Is there a dream license or a dream IP that bio world doesn't have that you’d love to partner with?
Paul Beck: That’s a great question. That's really what I focus on in licensing. And I will say we've been really lucky to work with so many of our previously “dream partners”, and there are a couple that we're working on that we hope to announce in the near future. I think everyone has a very unique existence in the licensing sphere, and some, you know, there are some properties just don't embrace it as much for whatever reason. That's completely fine, but for the ones that are looking to do that, we really want to be their go to partner, and be the ones that can bring them to a convention like this and really showcase them.
Fashion and Fandom: What advice would you give somebody in grad school right now who's looking to get into licensing or brand management?
Paul Beck: That's another good question, because when I was coming up, I don't think there were any licensing programs. Licensing just kind of found everyone. I know there are some programs now — I think at NYU and I believe USC with some specific programs, but it’s still not widespread. I still think for the most part, most people probably don't understand what licensing is, necessarily or why.
As we monitor social media and Reddit forums and everything, there's always someone asking, why don't you have “X” product. They’re not even directing those comments to the buyer world, they’re just people saying, “I want to buy this.” I think it is a hard exercise for people to think about, because it would take five licenses, or there are four, you know, people involved. Or, how do you make the financials work? So, you know, some of those things always come into play. But I think anyone that's passionate about pop culture in general and wants to get into licensing, you know, a marketing, brand management, all of that is probably the good foundation to have. And as you start working with these partners, I think you get a better understanding of kind of what licensing means, not only for the licensors, like Star Wars, but for the partners, like a Bioworld that work with a lot of partners.
Fashion and Fandom: What do you see in the future for fashion and the pop culture fandom?
Paul Beck: I think it's just going to continue to push the envelope. I think fashion continues to get elevated. Ten years ago, if you talked about an $80 hoodie or $100 hoodie, people would think you're crazy, or they would think it's a very limited fashion brand that's selling in very high end stores, and that's not really the case now, it's all kind of been elevated a little bit higher. From a fashion standpoint, the trends change so quickly. You could probably argue that they change daily, but certainly weekly and monthly. There's always something else that's popping up, and it's all really being fueled by social media. That's where everyone's kind of not only discovering new trends, but I think validating their current trends. Everybody is scrolling their phone. So that plays a big role, and I think fuels that change just being more rapid than ever.
Marena Bronson is an award-winning journalist, a life-long nerd, and the Editor-in-Chief of Fashion and Fandom. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
