Protecting, promoting and growing the inclusive MSU brand

<p>“I really like brands,” says <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/erika-austin-4a23547">Austin</a>. “When you look at the Michigan State brand, it's not just a local brand. It's regional, it's national, and it's international. Sparty the mascot is very well known; I felt like the equity in the brand is here. There are always things that we can do to further the equity in the brand. But the brand, the school, the academic programs, and MSU’s reputation itself drew me to come here.”</p><p>What is university licensing? And what does it mean <a href="https://licensing.msu.edu">at Michigan State</a>?</p><p>“University licensing really is three prongs. We're here to promote the brand so that we can generate revenue that then can be sent over to the general scholarship fund and other university programs. We are here to support the students. Every time someone buys licensed merchandise, a portion of the royalties goes back to the general scholarship fund. The general student body benefits from those funds through scholarships. And the merchandise programs that we develop garner revenue and royalties that then come them back to the university.</p><p>“And then the second part really is protecting the brand. We want to make sure that people aren't infringing on our brand. And I don't think of us as the logo cops or the no police. Our stance is more that if you want to use the university brand, you can, but just go through the proper processes and procedures and become a licensee and do it the correct way. By protecting the brand, we're adding equity into the brand. You have the promotion piece, you have the profit piece, and then you have the protection piece. And it’s looking at our trademarks portfolio. That doesn’t just mean our logos. It also means our wordmarks. Even the name, Michigan State University, and Go Green Go White, and some of our taglines are protected as well.</p><p>“And we have great licensees and partners that want to work with us to develop great merchandise. We want to make sure we have mer