80% of licensing creative never sees daylight. Here’s why.

There’s a dirty secret in licensing. Too much of the creative work produced never gets used. Unused work burns budgets, eats time, and slows deals. Ask around and the same figure comes back again and again, 80% of creative assets never see daylight.

Why? Because the system is set up to waste it.

At Skew , we’ve seen how this plays out across categories, markets, and territories. The intent is good. Teams are working hard. But the model is broken. The fix is not more creative volume. It’s clarity and focus.

When your style guide is good, but not good enough

Let’s be clear. We love style guides. They remain one of the best tools in licensing. They bring together all the elements of a brand extension programme in one place. They’re sales tools, design tools, and product development tools rolled into one.

But style guides are not the only tool anymore. Licensing has moved on. Twenty years ago, most deals were classic licensor–licensee relationships. Today, brand extension covers direct-to-retail, direct-to-consumer, e-commerce, and more. The creative toolkit has grown with it: pitch decks, tasters, look books, sizzles, online and yes, print is making a comeback.

So where does that leave the style guide? Still important, but no longer sufficient on its own.

Death by a thousand unused assets

Most teams aren’t set up to be nimble. Commercial set the targets. Sales are told to hit them. Creative is asked to produce assets to support everything.

Sales teams then head out with seasonal guides designed to cover every market level, category, and territory. To hedge their bets, they need volume. The hope is that somewhere in the pile, there’s a match for a buyer’s needs.

But by definition, this one-size-fits-all approach creates waste. It doesn’t matter if the creative is produced in-house or outsourced. Most of it is never used.

When one-size-fits-none

As consumers, we’re used to personalised experiences. In B2B licensing, the same expectation is arriving fast.

In the past, it would have been unthinkable to produce a unique style guide for every pitch. But today, the tools exist. AI can generate concepts fast. We can debate the ethics elsewhere and AI content should never end up in a final product but it can help create tailored pitches.

The direction of travel is clear, buyers expect more relevance, more customisation, more proof that you understand their audience.

Extension accelerator: less waste, more wins

This is why we developed our Extension Accelerator approach. Instead of flooding the market with assets and hoping something sticks, we start by sitting down with commercial and sales teams. Together, we identify the handful of deals that will really move the needle.

Then, and only then, we build the creative needed to land those deals. Pre-approved design assets, targeted pitch decks, tailored sizzles. Tools designed for a specific outcome, not generic volume.

The result? Less waste. Faster buy-in. Deeper partnerships.

Field notes for the dealmakers

Three shifts are worth keeping in mind:

• Bespoke is the direction of travel: generic tools still play a role, but they won’t be as effective in closing your most valuable deals.
• Sales, commercial, and creative need to work together. Alignment upfront reduces wasted effort later.
• Your toolkit must evolve. Style Guides remain useful, but explore other option and focus on outcomes.

A retailer, a reluctant buyer, and a quick fix

In 2022, a client of ours was close to signing one of the largest national retailers in their category. The retailer liked the style guide but couldn’t see how it would translate into their ranges.

We stepped in. Our team researched the retailer’s consumers, analysed competitor ranges, and adapted the guide into tailored creative for their shelves. The effect was immediate. The retailer bought into the partnership at a deeper level. The deal was signed and is now into its fourth year.

That’s the power of moving from generic to specific.

Small tweaks, big impact

Bespoke doesn’t always mean expensive. This isn’t about replacing style guides with six-figure creative retainers. It’s about smarter allocation of resources. Focus your best creative work on the deals that matter most, and you reduce risk while increasing impact.

So what have we learned?

Licensing creative waste is not inevitable. It’s a result of old habits and misaligned teams. If you want to break out of the 80% trap:

• Audit your licensee base: what do they really need to build the next great range?
• Prioritise your prospects: what would help land the deals that move the needle?
• This is the hill I’ll die on - brief outcomes, not deliverables. Ask for results, not a specific format, and let your creative agency be … creative.⠀

The days of one-size-fits-all creative are ending. Buyers want proof that you understand their market and their consumer. The brands that deliver that proof will win.