Michael Dresner

Michael is the CEO of Brand² Squared Licensing, the strategic licensing division at Peppercom.  The division was founded to reinvent full service for brands wishing to extend their product and marketing reach through licensed manufacturers.  Traditional licensing agencies abound.  Most negotiate and manage license agreements, which we certainly do with depth of expertise.   But, for clients that want long-term partners in addition to contracts, marketing vehicles in addition to licensees, and product concepts in addition to decks, we offer extended resources – through a customized, cross-functional team – that our brand clients may not be able to tap into through our competitors.  Because of the tight integration within Peppercom, Brand² Squared Licensing supports its brand extension efforts with research, graphic design, marketing of licensed product, and measurement beyond royalties.

The Brand² Squared Licensing business model – like other agencies - is based largely on a percentage of the royalty stream.  However, we take a portion of our own compensation and plow it back into the marketing of licensed product.  That way we can plug into the PR and promotional efforts of our wider Peppercom team.  When a licensing alliance is cultivated between our clients and third party manufacturers, we deploy our staff to make sure the consumer finds out about it.  This is a unique and differentiated benefit in the licensing agency space.

On behalf of brands stretching across media, national restaurant chains, professional sports franchises, non-profits and automotive, Michael leads a team at Brand² Squared Licensing to service clients strategically licensing out their treasured equities.

Michael has spent the majority of his career in licensing, serving business development, client management, product launch and program leadership functions. He spent many years at Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc., licensing in beloved characters from Disney, Nickelodeon and Warner Brothers, for children's first aid and hair care products. Michael also played a key role in growing domestic licensing programs for AT&T and Subway, and global licensing programs for Ford Motor Company and The Andy Warhol Foundation, at The Beanstalk Group. He also played a consultative role at Beanstalk to major corporations such as Whirlpool and Pfizer as they considered strategic licensing as a potential marketing tactic.

Michael furthermore drove key marketing efforts for outbound licensing programs at Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products as well as American Greetings Properties, working on such properties as everGirl, Neopets, Holly Hobbie and Care Bears. He helped drive the 25th Anniversary celebration of Care Bears, which involved a website relaunch, a nationwide nostalgia trivia contest, new distribution of "lost" episodes and character guest appearances on morning news shows and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Most recently Michael served as the VP, Strategy for a marketing services division of Warner Music Group, helping to create sponsorship and licensing alliances between Billboard-leading musical artists and Fortune 500 companies.

Michael holds a B.S. in Communications from University of Illinois and an M.B.A. from University of Michigan. He also trained at Player's Workshop of the Second City in Chicago, and has performed cabaret acts in Manhattan. He currently lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.