High Velocity Radio

High Velocity Radio Interviews Pete Canalichio With Licensing Brands, Inc.

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A tremendous number of manufacturing and service professionals businesses are experiencing the adverse affects of the global recession. Growing revenue has become increasingly more difficult as customers have limited their order sizes. Retailers are reducing the number of Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) they carry and routinely postponing or cancelling orders. Many companies feel like they have exhausted their options and are becoming increasingly anxious and frustrated at the prospects of improving their business.

There is one way to break free from this trend – by selling products to your customers that consumers are insisting be sold. If we take Apple for example, their sales are up across the board and new product introductions like the iPad can’t keep up with demand. Do you think retailers are reducing the number ofApple’s SKUs or cancelling their orders? Not likely. Moreover, the companies that have partnered with Apple to sell products that support Apple’s platforms are reaping the benefit. Another example is Case-Mate which makes those great protective and beautiful covers for their iPhones. Case-Mate is experiencing unprecedented growth as consumers clamor for their products.

As disposable income continues to decrease, consumers are relying more than ever on brands they trust when they make their purchase decisions. Brand owners, like Apple and Case-Mate, have become more and more innovative in how they satisfy their consumers. Many are realizing that they need to meet and generate demand for their branded products by building partnerships with best-in-class manufacturers and serviceproviders. Many are doing this through the technique of brand licensing.  Pete Canalichio’s mission is to help businesses like yours harness the power of brand licensing and begin reaping its benefits.

Pete’s “crisis-tested leadership skills” were forged not in a battle with the competition or a challenging business turnaround—although he has certainly excelled in those arenas—but in the dark skies above the Pacific Ocean as he flew a military jet aircraft whose engine had caught on fire. Clear-headed and decisive under those extraordinary circumstances, he has applied that same leadership style to every challenge and opportunity he has faced in a distinguished executive career with such firms as Coca-Cola and Newell Rubbermaid.

Most recently Pete founded Licensing Brands, Inc., a brand-centric company dedicated to helping brand owners and manufacturers harness the power of brand extensions through licensing. His agency executed Coca-Cola’s first ever Olympic brand licensing and pin trading programs for Vancouver 2010 using products made with RPET (plastic bottles) and other recycled content.

Previously General Manager of CardScan, a $20 million global technology business unit of Newell Rubbermaid, Pete delivered both quick wins and strategic long-term growth while rejuvenating the organizational culture. In a prior role directing Rubbermaid’s global brand licensing program, he earned the corporate MVP award for strengthening the brand’s equity and marketing effectiveness while more than doubling royalty revenues and wholesale sales in just two years.

Earlier, as a Partner at Tula Communications, Pete spearheaded an aggressive pursuit to become Samsung’s agency of record for its pioneering Olympic Torch Relay sponsorship—elevating both Samsung and Tula into world-class ranks in Olympic marketing. Pete has deep expertise in Olympic and sports marketing through prior positions with Coca-Cola, where he directed sponsorship activities in conjunction with the Salt Lake, Nagano, and Atlanta Games. He also negotiated numerous talent, sponsorship and brand licensing agreements with high-visibility athletes and professional sports organizations, including MLB, NHL, NASCAR, and the World Cup.

Before transitioning to marketing and licensing arenas, Pete earned his MBA from the University of North Carolina and was recruited into the global finance unit at Coca-Cola. He rose quickly to managing $32 billion in transactions yearly as Treasury Operations Manager in London and built a strong foundation of business skills and diverse experiences within the world-class company. Throughout his career, Pete has operated in the global arena, having worked in more than 40 countries and managed extensive projects across national and continental borders.

After graduating from the US Naval Academy, Pete was an award-winning Naval aviator and instructor pilot, honing his leadership and decision-making skills as commander of a large multi-engine aircraft and 12-member crew during the height of Cold War tensions.