During last week’s meeting of the Olentangy Board of Education, the district approved a second licensing agreement template as part of its recently established brand licensing program. Communications Director Krista Davis provided a brief presentation of the licensing agreement to the board prior to its approval.
The district has already previously approved a licensing agreement with K12 Licensing, which Davis said works with the “big box” vendors such as Walmart, Target, Meijer, and Kroger to sell merchandise in those stores. The second licensing agreement defines the affiliated and non-affiliated vendors who will be permitted to sell district merchandise.
Davis began by highlighting the previous phases of the brand identity initiative, which began with the rebranding of the district in 2018-19. From there, the district moved into the second phase, which included the rebranding of each individual school in the system. Davis noted that implementing the rebranded logos of the schools will happen gradually as items displaying logos need to be replaced.
“To be clear, there is not a phase three of brand work to implement the brand. When things are ready to be replaced because of normal wear and tear, that’s when those items will be replaced,” Davis said. “So, we aren’t ripping up turf or gymnasium floors. Signage in front of all of our buildings will be replaced, for example, over the next three to four years because they’ve been on a phased replacement schedule with permanent improvements.”
Davis said the goal of the trademark and licensing program is to protect the district logos while also creating a modest revenue stream. The district expects to begin seeing a return on its rebranding investment beginning next year.
Under the agreement, affiliated vendors will include those who work with the PTOs in the district, booster programs, and any groups within the school system that wishes to sell merchandise. Affiliated vendors will not produce products independently to sell in a store or online, nor will they determine the price, distribution, or sale of the products.
Non-affiliated vendors will be permitted to work with district-sponsored groups or independently to produce merchandise for profit. However, they must pay a royalty of 10% of all revenues received for the sale of goods and services relating to any of Olentangy’s brands. The district will receive the revenue from the royalty payments every six months in April and October.
Davis said there have already been talks between the district and several vendors about participating in the licensing agreement. “We look forward to including them in our process and licensing program, and growing that as more vendors become interested in participating,” she said.
Davis added that next year, the district will hold a workshop for those interested in participating in order to create a partnership on how to use the district logos and marks.
For more information on the district’s licensing agreement, or to access the vendor application, visit www.olentangy.k12.oh.us/departments/communications.
