Strauss founds a licensing company in the USA for the professional marketing of rights

Main-Kinzig district/New York/Los Angeles. As the Strauss company writes in a press release, it is expanding its global market presence and adapting its internal structures to the growth of the past decades. The European market leader’s products have also been available in North America since 2023. The company is now setting up a licensing company to “bundle intellectual property” and an in-house media agency.

According to the press release, the aim of this step is to further professionalize the marketing of rights. After collaborations with, among others, Major League Baseball (MLB) and National Football League (NFL), the “iconic bird” is now a sought-after asset in the global brand landscape. In this way, Strauss is opening the way for new sales concepts – with so-called master franchises, for example, new markets can be opened up efficiently. Licensed products are also conceivable in the future.

All companies appear under the name “Strauss”.

At the turn of the year, the company is adjusting its corporate structure – as a result, all companies in the group will operate under the Strauss name in the future. The Strauss family remains the sole shareholder.

With collaborations such as the partnership with MJB, Strauss underlines its ambitions for expansion in the USA and worldwide. Strauss became the first helmet sponsor in baseball history in September. The popularity of the sport is currently breaking all records – including in Japan, a previously untapped market for the workwear brand.

Expansions in the USA and worldwide

Thanks to Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, 16 million Japanese would have the first two games of the MLB World Series – that’s a fifth of Japan’s population. For the first time, the reach exceeded that of baseball’s home country of the USA, where more than 14 million people watched the third game of the World Series.

In recent years, Strauss has also collaborated with global brands such as Metallica, Nintendo and Liverpool FC. In the course of global growth, the company founded an agency for sports and media partnerships and thus further professionalized the successful brand strategy organizationally.

Franchises and licensed products are also conceivable

The structural update also heralds a new development: Strauss is pooling its intellectual property by founding a licensing company – thereby opening the way for new sales concepts. So-called master franchising is conceivable, as the company writes. Strauss would grant a franchise license to a local player who would independently sell the brand in accordance with the conditions of the respective market. Licensed products are also conceivable.

“The iconic work trousers with the bird have global potential. In order to be able to offer them efficiently in new markets around the world, a franchising model is an attractive option for us. And our brand offers so many more options: from men’s fragrances to combine harvesters – a lot is imaginable. “In this way, we are opening up growth prospects for our family business for the next few decades,” says Henning Strauss.

At the turn of the year, Strauss is also reorganizing itself and adjusting its corporate structure – all companies will in future appear under the name “Strauss”. Since 2020, when the company updated its corporate identity and presented a new company logo, the workwear manufacturer has mostly been operating under the name Strauss. The names of the companies in the group will now be consequently adjusted. In the future, the umbrella company will operate under the name “Strauss GmbH & Co.KG”.

“Engelbert” remains in Europe

Brand boss and owner Henning Strauss explains the advantages of the concise company name: “The baseball helmet shows: The Strauss works worldwide. Brand presence on boards, jerseys and helmets is comparable to a doorbell sign – it must be possible to quickly determine who can be found here. Our last name is obviously perfect for this: it conveys our unique brand personality that has been distinguished over the years and at the same time is understandable worldwide.”

At the same time, the popular founding name of the grandfather of the current managing directors Steffen and Henning Strauss, Engelbert, will remain in the European product brand in the future and will adorn the labels of the range. “Strauss remains Strauss. We are strengthening our roots and investing in our region – and at the same time bringing Grandpa Engelbert’s legacy to the wider world. All Engelbert fans can look forward to a lot of new products with our bird in the future,” says CEO and owner Steffen Strauss.

GNZ