British Museum extends licensing partnership with Chinese firms
The British Museum has agreed a new commercial licensing partnership with two Chinese firms.
The agreement, with Alfilo Brands and Tmall, will see the launch of a new range of licensed products based on the museum’s artefacts.
Alfilo is a consumer products company which holds exclusive licences to the British Museum’s cultural IP.
These include rights for the images of the artefacts held in its collections. The company also operates the museum’s store on Tmall, an online retail site owned by the Alibaba Group.
A press release issued today, December 14, said that Alfilo will extend its range of British Museum-licensed products over the next three years.
Alfilo has partnered with the museum since 2016. According to the statement, the museum has the largest licensing programme in the cultural institution sector in China, with sales predicted to reach $51 million this year.
Alfilo has produced over 500 museum-licensed products, including souvenirs, jewellery, textiles, electronics and home goods. The themes for the product range launched under the extended agreement will include ‘Pop Voyage’, ‘Electric Egyptian’, ‘Greek Legends’ and ‘East Side Story’.
Yizan He, CEO of Afilo, said that the company carefully selects artefacts from the museum to develop IP themes and libraries based on the latest retail and fashion trends.
Bo Liu, president of marketing and operations at Tmall, said the company was “thrilled to enable more than 600 million annual active consumers on our China marketplaces to experience its iconic, world-famous collections through products inspired by the museum’s collection”.
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