Munich, 30 May 2022 – BurdaVerlag Brand Licensing’s portfolio of international brands has expanded to include the influential sports media brand ‘Sports Illustrated’. The partnership between BurdaVerlag Brand Licensing, Authentic Brands Group (ABG), a global brand-development, marketing and entertainment company as well as owner of the ‘Sports Illustrated’ brand, and Kouneli, publisher of ‘Sports Illustrated Deutschland’, was announced at Licensing Day in Cologne on 4 May.
Myriam Karsch, CEO of Kouneli Sports: ‘We’re proud to have brought another world-famous, iconic brand to the German market with “Sports Illustrated Deutschland” and to be able to gradually diversify it in line with its own international model. The collaboration with BurdaVerlag Brand Licensing is an important step in developing “Sports Illustrated Deutschland” into a multi-channel brand and delivering the right media coverage to interested clients and partners for their products.’
Lasse Martinsen, director of Brand Licensing, welcomes the new addition: ‘With “Sports Illustrated” we’ve managed to bring in one of the most acclaimed brands in sport, one that’s been known and loved around the world for years thanks to its excellent journalism. The brand represents an important addition to our portfolio of internationally renowned brands and also ideally supplements our ability to address target groups. We can’t wait to tap into this cult brand’s licensing potential in collaboration with ABG and Kouneli.’
With ‘Sports Illustrated’, licensing agency BurdaVerlag builds on its portfolio of international brands along with existing brands Elle and InStyle. While Elle and InStyle principally address a female, lifestyle-focused audience, ‘Sports Illustrated’ has a wider target audience that is passionate about sport. The licensing agency exploits its comprehensive expertise and proximity to the wide-reaching media company in order to develop holistic licensing concepts that cater to both clients’ and target groups’ needs as well as transporting brand values.
Successful brands already part of Brand Licensing’s portfolio include publishing brands such as Elle, InStyle, Freundin, Fit for Fun, and children’s brands like ‘Die drei !!!’ and ‘TKKG’ – www.burda-brand-licensing.com
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About Sports Illustrated
‘Sports Illustrated’ is an unparalleled sport brand that shapes modern culture and unites athletes, teams and fans worldwide. Bringing together sport, lifestyle and entertainment, Sports Illustrated is a 360-degree company providing exciting content, innovative digital experiences, unforgettable events and original products. The German edition of Sports Illustrated captures the essence of the US version. As well as reporting on football, the magazine also devotes a lot of attention to US sports including American football and basketball. Kouneli has the publishing rights for the DACH region.
About Authentic Brands Group
Authentic Brands Group (ABG) is a brand-development, marketing and entertainment company that owns a portfolio of global media, entertainment and lifestyle brands. Headquartered in New York City and with offices all around the world, ABG increases the long-term value of over 50 consumer brands and properties through partnerships with first-class manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. ABG’s brands are represented in retail around the world, including in luxury, specialised, middle-class and mass channels, and from department stores to e-commerce, plus 6100 free-standing stores and shops-in-shops worldwide.
ABG has made it its mission to transform brands with compelling product, content, business and experience worlds. The company develops and activates original marketing strategies to promote its brands’ success across all touchpoints with consumers, platforms and new media.
ABG’s portfolio of iconic and world-famous brands generates annual worldwide retail revenue of over $21 billion, and includes Marilyn Monroe®, Elvis Presley®, Muhammad Ali®, Shaquille O’Neal®, David Beckham®, Dr. J®, Greg Norman®, Neil Lane®, Thalia®, Sports Illustrated®, Reebok®, Eddie Bauer®, Spyder®, Volcom®, Airwalk®, Nautica®, Izod®, Forever 21®, Aéropostale®, Juicy Couture®, Vince Camuto®, Lucky Brand®, Nine West®, Jones New York®, Frederick’s of Hollywood®, Adrienne Vit-tadini®, Van Heusen®, Arrow®, Tretorn®, Tapout®, Prince®, Vision Street Wear®, Brooks Brothers®, Barneys New York®, Judith Leiber®, Herve Leger®, Frye®, Hickey Freeman®, Hart Schaffner Marx®, Thomasville®, Drexel® and Henredon®.
You can find more information at www.authenticbrands.com.
About Kouneli
In Sports Illustrated, Kouneli has brought the most important sports magazine in the US to Germany. The German edition belongs to Kouneli Sports GmbH, a 100% daughter company of Kouneli Holding Gmbh, and publishers Myriam Karsch and Florian Boitin have secured the print, digital and events publishing rights. Since 2019, Kouneli has also published the German edition of PLAYBOY.
