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WWD Reports, two more fashion brands have jumped into the hotel business: Missoni and Byblos.

Missoni, which has a successful home furnishings collection, has signed a worldwide licensing agreement with a Belgian hotel chain. The plan is to develop and operate 30 small- to medium-sized venues called Hotel Missoni by 2010.

The first three Hotel Missonis are slated to open in 2007 and are expected to include units on Palm Island in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and in Edinburgh. Other target destinations include London, Paris, Amsterdam, St. Petersburg, Milan and Istanbul.

By 2010, Vittorio Missoni, the fashion house’s marketing manager, forecasts sales for the project to be more than $350 million.

“We were approached some time ago and jumped at the opportunity because the home collection, whose sales will exceed $23 million this year, is an important segment for the brand,” said Missoni. “We are protective of what our parents built and will never sacrifice the values of that business at the expense of short-term growth, but we found the right partners in Rezidor SAS.”

He added that hotels are a natural extension of Missoni’s core business and a perfect complement to its fashion, home collections and fragrances.

The interiors, naturally, will be decorated in colorful patterns similar to those that catapulted Missoni to fame. Rosita Missoni, co-founder of the colorful knits, with her husband, Tai Missoni,
designs Missoni Casa. Besides Rosita Missoni and Rezidor SAS, the design of the hotels will be developed with Studio Thun, the Milan-based design studio headed by Matteo Thun.

“Rosita is ecstatic about this project. She can’t wait to start designing more sheets and tabletops,” said Vittorio Missoni.

Meanwhile, Byblos owner Dino Facchini is going for the art of surprise with his new five-star Byblos Art Hotel Villa Amistà and Chenot spa, located on the hills surrounding Verona, Italy.

Missoni and Byblos enter the hotel industry following Armani, Versace, Ferragamo and Bulgari, all of whom have put their stamps on luxury hotels.

Heinz Baked Beanz has been named ‘the most desired brand’ in the UK, according to a new survey, as big brands score well.

Carried out by academics at the University of Bath and integrated agency Geronimo, those surveyed were ask to name their preferred brands and rank their level of disappointment, if they were not available when shopping.

According to Geronimo, the aim was not to chart the products that sell the most, but those that consumers feel most passionately about.

Other Heinz products also did well in the survey, with its tinned soup range being named the second most desirable product and its tomato ketchup coming in at eighth place.

The third place brand was Fairy washing-up liquid, followed by Kellogg’s cereal range in fourth, Nescafe coffee in fifth and Colgate toothpaste in sixth.

The rest of the top 10 is made up of seventh-placed Walker’s Crisps, Robinson’s squash in ninth and Andrex toilet paper in 10th place.

Bigger name brand such as Coca-Cola missed out on a top 10 placing, with the drinks brand ranked at 11th. Cadbury chocolate bars were ranked 20th and Hovis reached number 29.

Geronimo managing partner Andy Snuggs said: “From various data already available any marketer will know which FMCG brands sell the most. With this research, we have found out which grocery brands consumers feel closest to and feel most passionately about.”

Out of the 100 brands charted around half are owned by just five firms Unilever, P&G, Heinz, PepsiCo and Tesco, which had eight of its own-label brands such as its cheese included in the survey.

1. Heinz Baked Beans (49.5%)
2. Heinz tinned soup (42.2%)
3. Fairy washing up liquid (40.5%)
4. Kellogg’s Cereal (34.2%)
5. Nescafe coffee (33.3%)
6. Colgate toothpaste (32.6%)
7. Walker’s crisps and snacks (30.9%)
8. Heinz tomato ketchup (29.4%)
9. Robinson’s squash (25.0%)
10. Andrex Toilet paper (23.4%)

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp., parent company of Smith & Wesson Corp., the legendary 153-year old global provider of products and services for safety, security, protection and sport, today announced that it has entered into an agreement, to license use of the Smith & Wesson brand and logo on a new line of gun cleaning products and related accessories.

The licensee has been an innovator in the development, manufacture and distribution of automotive chemicals, hardware, plumbing and traffic safety specialties since 1924. The company manufactures over 4,000 products.

The new Smith & Wesson line will include a variety of gun cleaning agents as well as accessories ranging from brushes to polishing cloths. All products have been created using the highest quality standards in the gun industry, and have been developed by scientists, in consultation with gunsmiths, engineers and metallurgists at Smith & Wesson.

Licensed gun cleaning products featuring the Smith & Wesson name and logo will be formally introduced at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 9-12, 2006, and will then be available on the Smith & Wesson website and wherever fine guns and accessories are sold.

Juicy Couture has signed a licensing agreement to design, produce and market a collection of watches under the Juicy Couture and Couture Couture brand names.

The companies announced the exclusive, long-term agreement, which takes effect immediately, in a joint press release issued Tuesday. The statement did not disclose the financial terms of the agreement.

The companies hope to launch the Juicy Couture watch collection in Fall 2006 with sales beginning at select, high-end retail outlets in the United States.

The watches will include rich color, exotic skins, jewel elements and clever shapes, according to the release.

Based in Southern California, Juicy Couture is a designer, marketer and wholesaler of casual apparel and loungewear for men, women and children. The company targets fashion-conscious women in the 18-45 age range, aspirational teens and baby boomers.
Liz Claiborne purchased the company in 2003.

The licensee designs, manufactures and distributes Movado, Ebel, Concord, ESQ, Coach, Tommy Hilfiger and Hugo Boss watches worldwide, and operates Movado boutiques and company stores in the United States.

Der Leiter Brand Development and Partnerships erklärte beim F1 Sponsorship Forum, dass Ferrari’s Einnahmen aus Merchandising und Lizenzen, inklusive der neuen Ferrari Shops weltweit $700 Mio. im Jahr betragen.

Er führte aus: “Rennsport ist absolute Voraussetzung für Marke und Produkt”. Ferrari plant eine Kette von 50 Läden weltweit, trotz der Gefahr der Verwässerung.

Er nannte keine Details, aber die Einnahmen aus Merchandising werden auf $70 Mio. geschätzt,
was etwa dem 5-fachen anderer Formel 1 Teams entspricht.