5 Powerful Takeaways from My Conversation with Content Creator Caleb (The Collab King)
After two decades in licensing, I've seen the industry from every angle - negotiating deals, structuring partnerships, bringing products to market.
But here's what struck me during my conversation with Caleb, known to his hundreds of thousands of followers as "The Collab King": we spend so much time in boardrooms discussing brand strategy and retail placement that we sometimes forget the most important voice in the room - the fan.
Caleb represents that voice. As a content creator specializing in anime collaborations and IP partnerships, he's built a massive following by doing one thing exceptionally well: telling fans what's worth their attention and what's not. When he posts about a collaboration, millions of people watch. When a product flops in his eyes, his audience knows immediately.
This conversation gave me a rare glimpse into what fans actually think about our licensing deals - and it challenged some of my long-held assumptions about the industry.
1. Logo Slapping Is Dead—And Fans Can Spot It From a Mile Away
The Insight: Fans don't want your brand's logo next to their favorite character. They want thoughtful design that shows you actually understand the IP.
Caleb was brutally honest about what he calls "logo slapping"—when brands take standard assets provided by the licensor and simply place them on a product with minimal creative effort.
"If I see a shirt that just has the Naruto asset on it with your branding, I know you didn't put much work into it," he explained.
What resonates instead? Creativity within constraints. Caleb highlighted his friend Jordan Bentley from Hypland, who thrives when given parameters:
"He always said that his true creativity comes out when there's parameters involved. He loves the fact that you have to use these assets, you have to use the first three main characters, you have to use this color orange."
The message is clear: fans know the difference between a cash grab and a collaboration that required genuine creative effort.
Why It Matters: In an era where fans can buy graphic tees at Walmart for $10, premium collaborations need to justify their price point with superior creativity. As Caleb put it, "If I can go to Walmart and buy one just as good, I can't promote this."
The Takeaway: Before approving that next product design, ask yourself: would a hardcore fan recognize the creative effort here, or does this look like we took the easy route? Your audience already knows the answer.
2. The Secondary Market Isn't Your Enemy - It's Your Most Honest Feedback Loop
The Insight: When your $10 product sells for $100 on eBay, that's not a problem to solve—it's data telling you that you created something fans actually want.
This insight genuinely challenged my thinking. Caleb was emphatic about how brands misunderstand the secondary market:
"Don't be afraid of the secondary market. If you release something that's $10 and you look on eBay and it's $100, congratulations. You have created insane hype around your own product."
Instead of viewing resellers as villains, Caleb sees them as indicators of success. The real mistake? Overreacting by flooding the market with product.
"That's what ultimately kills these brands. That's what Funko I believe is running into. Everyone says everything is the next Beanie Baby. That's essentially what killed Beanie Babies—they overprinted one day and essentially just killed their brand."
His advice: use secondary market prices as feedback to calibrate future production runs, not as a signal to massively overproduce.
Why It Matters: The licensing industry's instinct is often to maximize short-term revenue by increasing production when demand spikes. But Caleb's perspective suggests that maintaining scarcity—even when you could sell more—protects long-term brand value and keeps fans engaged.
The Takeaway: Monitor secondary market prices as your most honest focus group. High resale values mean you're doing something right. The goal isn't to eliminate the secondary market—it's to use it as intelligence for your next release.
3. Authenticity Beats Reach—First-Time Collaborations Always Win
The Insight: Fans get more excited about a brand's first anime collaboration than they do about a brand's fiftieth, regardless of the brand's size.
Caleb shared a fascinating pattern:
"The ones that haven't been done yet are always going to do well, or the brands that haven't been in the space yet will always do well. Like Converse just recently did Naruto. That's big. That was their first partnership with Naruto."
But he also identified a concerning trend: "I think I've seen a lot of brands right now not really have any of their own identity anymore. They're kind of becoming a licensing or an IP brand, which I think is kind of losing the sauce a little bit."
Translation: when every product you make is a collaboration, nothing feels special anymore. Fans value brands that maintain their core identity and use licensing strategically, not brands that become empty vessels for IP placement.
Why It Matters: This is a wake-up call for brands over-indexing on licensing as their primary strategy. Fans don't want to buy from a "collab brand"—they want to buy from a brand with its own point of view that occasionally partners with IPs they love.
The Takeaway: If you're a licensee, ask yourself: do we still have a distinct brand identity outside of our collaborations? If every product launch is a licensed partnership, you're training your audience to wait for the next collab rather than caring about your brand itself.
4. Going Deep Beats Going Wide—Layered Experiences Create Lasting Impressions
The Insight: Fans appreciate when brands take licensing beyond the packaging and into every layer of the product experience.
Caleb lit up when discussing brands that go the extra mile: "Pokemon Hershey's just did a thing where the packaging was on the Hershey's package and then the Kisses were wrapped in little Pokemon packaging and then there was a Pokemon on the bottom. Dang, you know, they took it one extra level. They probably could have just done the main packaging and dropped silver wrapped Hershey's Kisses in there, but they took it one step further."
He contrasted this with brands that stop at surface-level integration:
"If it looks lazy, I'm gonna call it out."
This philosophy extends beyond food products. When discussing the Fantastic Four theatrical release, Caleb praised the diversity of partnerships—Little Caesar's pizza boxes, Pop-Tarts, Snapple—precisely because they found creative ways to integrate the IP rather than just slapping logos on existing products.
Why It Matters: In a crowded licensing market, depth of execution separates memorable collaborations from forgettable ones. Fans notice—and remember—when you put in the extra work.
The Takeaway: During product development, always ask: "What's one more layer we could add?" Whether it's special flavors, unique packaging details, or unexpected product features, that extra layer transforms a transaction into an experience worth sharing.
5. Content Creators Are Your Secret Weapon—But Only If You Understand How They Work
The Insight: The path to working with influential content creators isn't through free products—it's through creating genuine value for their audience first.
When I asked Caleb how he started receiving products from brands, his answer was revealing:
"There's nothing more valuable to a brand than that level of awareness. If you want products or to work with these brands, create things that they're working on ahead of time."
He described starting without any products at all, using green screens and images to talk about upcoming releases. The strategy worked because he focused on what brands actually need: awareness for upcoming launches that drives sales.
But Caleb also shared something that should concern every brand: sometimes he receives products that he simply won't cover.
"There's some times where the product just absolutely sucks and I know that it sucks. If I made a video on it, I think my audience would definitely call me out that it was either seeded, a paid advertisement, or some kind of favoritism."
His solution? Stick to information when products don't excite him, letting fans decide for themselves.
Why It Matters: Content creators like Caleb have built trust with their audiences by being selective. That trust is their most valuable asset—and they won't risk it for free products or payment. Brands that understand this can build powerful partnerships. Brands that don't waste everyone's time.
The Takeaway: If you're looking to work with content creators, start by creating products they'd genuinely want to talk about. Then demonstrate that you understand their audience by showing how your collaboration will provide real value to their followers. The products and partnerships will follow naturally.
The Bottom Line
Talking with Caleb reminded me why I got into licensing in the first place: the magic moment when a fan connects with something they love in a new way. But his perspective also challenged the industry to raise our standards.
Fans today are sophisticated. They understand quality. They can spot authenticity—or the lack of it—instantly. They're not just passive consumers waiting to buy whatever we put in front of them; they're active participants in a conversation about what makes collaborations meaningful.
The licensing professionals who succeed in the next decade won't be the ones who close the most deals or launch the most products. They'll be the ones who understand what Caleb and his audience already know: every collaboration is a promise to fans that this partnership is worth their attention, their money, and their trust.
Make sure you're keeping that promise.
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