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Authentic Brands Group sees value in acquiring legacy brands because the company believes that content remains king, Authentic Brands Group President EMEA & India Henry Stupp told World Retail Congress today.

“One of our brands is over two centuries old, the archive is phenomenal. Content is getting harder and harder to produce and those back stories bring so much heritage and that can’t be created overnight, even with AI. That’s really where we’re focused,” Stupp said.

“We love stores, we like retail in all facets. Content drives commerce and we like to produce cultural moments so that consumers are connecting deeper with our brands,” he said. “The benefit of these brands is that we can bring them into many new areas and make deep social engagements and memory moments.”

Authentic’s growing stable is broadly split between brands and iconic cultural figures and Stupp said that entertainment “drives a lot of heat, even in retail” as the group looks to explore business synergies.

“We successfully worked to build the Elvis estate, including the movie, and have a new project around Muhammad Ali,” he said.

However, he also reflected that many of the brands have only joined the group because they had run out of growth under their incumbent ownerships and were in need of redirecting.

“You still have to modernise the brand, often we get the opportunity because they have run out of investment money and need to be unlocked. It always has to be a product-based strategy to start with and then you build from there,” he said of developing new brands within the group.

He cited Reebok, which has doubled in size to around $6 billion since acquiring from Adidas, while in another case, Ted Baker, he said that the brand was strong but the supply chain and organisational side needed far more work.

“We had to strip the business right back, but it did mean we had to make some tough decisions, like closing the stores down. But we added content and got it back to its roots. All the content is back to being produced in the UK and it’s coming back strong,” he said. “As we acquire brands we learn more and that means we can do more.”

“We are going to spend and invest more in our brands. It does take time and while the consumers respond really well, you do need a little patience,” he added.