Sam Bremner: Navigating Consumer Trends | Ep 1199 - The Digital Executive

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Digital Executive | Sam Bremner: Navigating Consumer Trends | Ep 1199

Overview In this episode of The Digital Executive, host Brian from Coruzant Technologies interviews Sam Bremner, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at iBest Consumer Partners. The discussion centers on the burgeoning world of licensing, the strategic rise of licensing as a boardroom priority, and the evolution of licensing into investable, institutional-quality assets. Drawing from industry data and Sam’s operator-experience background, the conversation covers key trends impacting consumer brands, shifting strategies within corporate licensing, and the future financialization of royalties.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Economic Drivers Behind Licensing Growth

Capital-Light Expansion:
- "First is licensing is capital light growth and boards, you know they're very focused on capex. Right. Brands scale globally without inventory and balance sheet risk which boards care about a lot. And royalties is a 95% gross margin business."
  — Sam Bremner (02:10)
Brand Efficiency Across Channels:
- "Second, IP cuts through the fragmented distribution because strong brands lower customer acquisition costs across channels. That's why licensing has moved from marketing to a board level value and margin strategy..."
  — Sam Bremner (02:33)
Licensing enables brands to reach global markets without heavy capital expenditure and by leveraging high-margin royalty streams, licensing has become a central, board-level lever for growth and profitability.

Franchise IP vs. Digital Native IP: Value Creation

Franchise IP Dominates on Longevity and Predictability:
- "Franchise franchises deliver global scale longevity and predictable royalty streams. Digital native IP is powerful but higher risk."
  — Sam Bremner (03:40)
Transforming Engagement to Products:
- "The breakout winners will be digital brands that successfully convert engagement into physical consumer products, which is where operator experience really matters."
  — Sam Bremner (03:56)
Warner Brothers Example:
- "Our team at IVEST... built out Warner Brothers consumer products and licensing globally... built it up to a $7 billion business. So when you look at things like Batman, Harry Potter... those are great digital ip. But you can make a lot of money by selling product related to that IP because people have a value connection, an emotional connection."
  — Sam Bremner (04:06-04:28)
Franchise IP brands, exemplified by legacy characters like Harry Potter and Batman, remain the most stable and profitable, yet there’s promise in newer digital IPs if they can convert online audiences to tangible product sales.

Licensing as an Institutional and Investable Asset

Shift to Revenue Platforms:
- "The corporate brands now manage licensing as a structured revenue platform, not just a side project. That shift is why institutional Capital is paying attention and why private equity sees it as underwritable today."
  — Sam Bremner (05:29)
Adjacent Category Expansion:
- "Now they're creating Starbucks branded product and selling it at Costco... you can extend into new categories... Jeep... has an incredibly successful apparel brand as well."
  — Sam Bremner (05:47)
Case Study — Makeup Brand Expansion:
- "I said look, why don't we get into adjacent categories by licensing the brand to people that make makeup brushes, makeup bags and other accessories. You don't have to manufacture them yourself."
  — Sam Bremner (06:26)
Corporate brands are strategically leveraging their IP into structured, repeatable revenue streams beyond core offerings—prompting serious attention from private equity and institutional investors.

The Financialization of Licensing Royalties

Alignment with Financial Asset Classes:
- "Licensing royalties already have the right profile, recurring, diversified and contract based. But institutional capital needs discipline. That means clean governance, transparent sell through data and diversified licensee exposure."
  — Sam Bremner (07:37)
Governance and Data Standards as Prerequisite:
- "The standards are exactly what we focus on at IBEST and what we unpack in the Licensing International private equity series that we created."
  — Sam Bremner (07:58)
Industry Gathering Recommended:
- "They have a big conference coming up in Vegas... over 12,000 people. Thousands of licensed product manufacturers... IP owners as well as other professionals around the licensing industry. I recommend looking it up."
  — Sam Bremner (08:08)
The podcast emphasizes that clean data, governance, and contract transparency are essential for licensing revenues to be considered as legitimate, securitizable assets, echoing trends seen in music royalties.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Licensing Margins:
- "Royalties is a 95% gross margin business."
  — Sam Bremner (02:18)
On Franchise Value:
- "Harry Potter still to this day is billions of dollars in licensed product."
  — Sam Bremner (04:22)
On Adjacent Brand Strategies:
- "Find someone who's great at it... we're going to partner with these other manufacturers to add these other categories. So Walmart loves it, it's exclusive to them, it's unique."
  — Sam Bremner (06:37)
On Institutionalization:
- "Institutional capital needs discipline. That means clean governance, transparent sell through data and diversified licensee exposure."
  — Sam Bremner (07:41)
On Industry Opportunities:
- "Licensing International, it's coming up soon and it'll be a great way for you to take your business to the next level by creating royalties revenues, which trades at a higher value multiple."
  — Sam Bremner (08:13)

Important Segment Timestamps

Introduction to Sam Bremner and iBest Consumer Partners
00:20 – 01:23
Forces Driving Licensing Growth
02:10 – 02:53
Franchise vs. Digital Native IP Discussion
03:40 – 04:51
Corporate Brand Licensing as an Investment Platform
05:29 – 06:54
Institutionalizing IP Cash Flows & Standards
07:37 – 08:51
Licensing International Conference Mention & Closing Advice
08:08 – 09:22

Tone & Takeaways

The discussion maintains a pragmatic yet optimistic tone, highlighting the transformative potential of licensing for both new digital-first brands and legacy corporate brands. Sam Bremner anchors his commentary in hands-on operational experience and industry data, making the episode highly practical for founders, corporate executives, and investors aiming to understand or capitalize on the modern licensing landscape.

Recommended Action:
For those interested in licensing, both the Licensing International private equity series and their upcoming conference are essential resources to deepen understanding and network with top industry players.

Host: Brian, Coruzant Technologies
Guest: Sam Bremner, iBest Consumer Partners

Transcript

A (0:00)

Foreign. Welcome to Coruscant Technologies, home of the Digital Executive Podcast. Do you work in emerging tech? Working on something innovative? Maybe an entrepreneur? Apply to be a guest at www.corazant.com brand welcome to the Digital Executive. Today's guest is Sam Bremner. Sam Bremner is the co founder and managing partner of iBest Consumer Partners, an operationally driven private equity firm managing nearly 5 million in assets across high potential consumer businesses. Before I best Sam's team led some of the world's top consumer brands and helped grow Warner Brothers into one of the world's second largest licensing business. Ives specializes exclusively in licensed consumer products and and is officially private equity partner of Licensing International. Their Portfolio drives over 1.5 billion in annual revenue sales across 50 countries with a heavy focus on character and entertainment licensing. What sets them apart is they are built by operators, not just investors. Ivest leverages deep Fortune 500 experience and global relationships with leading retailers, licensors, manufacturers and agents to scale businesses. Well, good afternoon Sam. Welcome to the show. Great.

B (1:23)

Thank you Brian.

A (1:25)

Absolutely my friend. I appreciate it making the time generally I know you're out of Miami but you're in Vancouver BC today and I'm in Kansas City. So I'm always traversing the globe but makes me excited to jump out of bed and see who I'm going to speak to today. So I appreciate that. Sam, let's jump into your questions here. I know you recently did a 10 part series with Licensing International on trade and that sort of thing and I'd like to kind of get your background of how that all began maybe and start with my first question here with Licensing International pegs global license merchandise plus services at 369 billion in just 2024 up 3.7 year over year. What are the two biggest forces driving that growth and why is licensing now a board level strategy lever?

B (2:10)

Well, you know there's two main drivers that stand out in Licensing International data. They just did a study 2025. First is licensing is capital light growth and boards, you know they're very focused on capex. Right. Brands scale globally without inventory and balance sheet risk which boards care about a lot. And royalties is a 95% gross margin business. So licensing is is capturing people's attention. Second, IP cuts through the fragmented distribution because strong brands lower customer acquisition costs across channels. That's why licensing has moved from marketing to a board level value and margin strategy which is exactly how we approach it at ivest.

A (2:53)

I really appreciate that and I know you just highlight a couple of things in this business, private equity. I know you're doing a great job, you doing this a long time but the boards do focus on some of those capex. But I didn't know this that royalties is where that margin is. I didn't know as high as 90. I think you said 95% but that's pretty cool and I appreciate you sharing that with our audience because we have a lot of founders that are in this business looking at private equity all the time. I switch gears Sam to your second question here. Entertainment characters alone is 150 billion, about 40% share I guess I would say inside that film and TV is about 43% while anime gaming social is about 33% of that makeup. Where do you see the next breakout value? Franchise IP or digital native ip?