Brand Licensing Team

What Brand Licensing Team does

Brand Licensing Team (BLT, DBA BLTeam) is a privately held, Atlanta-based brand licensing agency founded in 2009 that operates as an intermediary between licensors (brand owners) and licensees. The firm develops strategic licensing frameworks, prospects and negotiates with licensees, and provides day-to-day program management including royalty collection, financial oversight, compliance, and retail sell-in support across mass, specialty, mid-tier department, drug, and grocery channels. BLT's client roster is dominated by tier-one consumer brand owners in food and beverage (General Mills, Molson Coors, Cold Stone Creamery, Wienerschnitzel), quick-service restaurant (Chick-fil-A), beverage (Coca-Cola), energy (Phillips 66), publishing (5 Love Languages), and consumer promotions (Box Tops For Education).

The agency's core offering is a service suite rather than a software product, comprising Brand Identity, Brand Strategy, Marketing Campaigns, Brand Refresh, Licensing and Partnerships, and Brand Management, augmented by capabilities in industry and retail trend expertise, licensee development, retail business development, annual business planning with monthly forecasting, royalty collection, and environmental merchandising. There is no proprietary technology stack or AI/ML infrastructure disclosed; the firm's stated differentiator is the team's collective experience of more than 250 years in marketing and licensing, drawn from the brand-side of the business.

BLT generates revenue through licensing management services (royalty oversight and licensee development, classified as licensing royalties) and strategic brand services (brand strategy, design direction, retail business development, classified as professional services). Pricing is custom and quote-based per client engagement and is not publicly disclosed. The firm is founder/management-owned with no external institutional investment, no parent company, and a headcount of 1-10, led by Managing Partners Cindy Birdsong and John Shero.

Name

Brand Licensing Team

Legal name

BLTeam

Website

https://blteam.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Brand Licensing Team (BLTeam) is an Atlanta-based, privately held boutique licensing agency founded in 2009 that develops and manages brand licensing programs for tier-one consumer brand owners, including General Mills, Molson Coors, Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-A, Cold Stone Creamery, Wienerschnitzel, Phillips 66, and 5 Love Languages.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Licensing Management Services: BLT provides full-spectrum branding and licensing management services to licensors, including licensee development, royalty collection, business planning, and ongoing brand management oversight.
2. Strategic Brand Services: Services including brand strategy development, design direction, merchandise development, and retail business development support.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

BLT is a brand licensing agency that develops and manages end-to-end licensing programs for brand owners, including licensee prospecting, due diligence, business term negotiation, ongoing program oversight, royalty collection, and retail business development. The firm also provides brand strategy, brand identity, brand refresh, marketing campaigns, and environmental merchandising services to extend client brands into consumer product categories such as apparel, home, food, seasonal, and collectibles.

Product overview

Brand Licensing Team (BLT) is a full-spectrum branding agency offering a unified suite of service modules rather than a software product. The core offerings include Brand Identity, Brand Strategy, Marketing Campaigns, Brand Refresh, Licensing & Partnerships, and Brand Management. BLT also provides specialized capabilities including Industry Expertise, Strategy & Design Expertise, Licensee Development, Retail Business Development, Business Planning, Royalty Collection, and Environmental Merchandising. These services work together to create strategic brand extensions through authentic products that drive consumer connections and incremental brand revenue. The agency leverages over 250 years of combined marketing and licensing experience to deliver brand experiences that deepen consumer relationships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $915MM delivered to schools through Box Tops program over 23 years
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and legacy.

• Molson Coors Beverage CompanycoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 1 January 2014Partnership since 2014 to extend Molson Coors portfolio of brands into consumer categories including apparel, food, home décor and seasonal. Brands include Coors Light, Miller Lite, Molson Canadian, Carling, Staropramen, Coors Banquet, Blue Moon Belgian White, and more.
• General MillscoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerBLT manages General Mills licensing program focused on elevating the brand in categories: apparel and accessories, home & kitchen, seasonal celebrations & gifting, beauty, collectibles, and crafts. Brands include Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Cheerios, Monster Cereals, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms.
• Cold Stone CreamerycoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerBLT and Cold Stone Creamery are working to expand the brand in retail through new innovative and delicious food products. Cold Stone delivers the Ultimate Ice Cream Experience with unique creations, shakes, cakes, cupcakes and cookie sandwiches.
• Box Tops For EducationcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerBLT supports the Box Tops for Education program which has delivered over $915MM in funding for more than 70,000 schools over 23 years. The program has transitioned to digital with real-time receipt scanning.
• WienerschnitzelcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerBLT manages licensing for Wienerschnitzel, the world's largest hot dog chain founded in 1961, serving more than 120 million hot dogs a year with their famous secret-recipe chili.
• Phillips 66coreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerBLT manages licensing for Phillips 66, an iconic American energy brand with more than 100 years of heritage and 7,000+ branded locations. The brand's historic shield traces back to U.S. Route 66.
• 5 Love LanguagescoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerBLT manages licensing for the #1 New York Times bestseller franchise. Over 20 million copies sold and over 130 million quizzes taken. Opportunity to develop retail statement across broad number of categories including culturally relevant products.
• Coca-ColalegacyOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerInitial BLT property with strategic focus on key lifestyle statements including apparel/accessories, tabletop/home, social occasions, holiday category focus, plus reclaimed and repurposed merchandise stories, and core legacy products.
• Chick-fil-AlegacyOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerInitial BLT property. Launch focused on iconic 'Eat Mor Chikin' cows and core brand logo. Key drivers of growth: plush, toys and games, apparel and accessories, tabletop and entertaining, and holiday category. Distribution at mass with Walmart and Target plus specialty retailers.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Lisa Marks Associates: Boutique brand licensing consultancy working with consumer and lifestyle brands. Comparable to BLT in service model and client profile, though smaller scale and more narrowly focused on select brand categories.

Broad incumbents

• Authentic Brands Group: Large brand management platform that owns and manages IP across consumer categories. Tangentially comparable to BLT because ABG runs licensing programs in-house for the brands it owns — a competing model to outsourced agencies like BLT that brand owners might pursue.

Direct peers

• Brandgenuity: Brand licensing agency focused on building licensing programs for consumer brands across food, beverage, and lifestyle categories. Closely comparable to BLT in client mix (F&B and consumer brands) and full-service licensing program management.
• Beanstalk: One of the largest global brand licensing agencies, managing licensing programs for enterprise brand owners across categories. Directly comparable to BLT in service offering — licensee development, royalty collection, retail sell-in — but at materially greater scale and with international reach.
• Global Icons: Specialized brand licensing agency representing entertainment, food, and corporate brands in licensee development and royalty management. Comparable to BLT as a mid-sized agency with F&B and consumer-brand focus.
• Born Licensing: Brand licensing agency representing a roster of well-known consumer and entertainment brands. Directly comparable as a specialist licensing agency serving licensors with program development and retail strategy similar to BLT.
• The Joester Lioering Group: Licensing and brand extension agency with deep CPG and entertainment brand expertise. Closely comparable to BLT in managing licensing programs for major consumer brands and securing strategic partnerships across categories.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Brand Licensing Team