The 12th Edition of the Kazachok Licensing Forum took place in Paris last 8 & 9 April in a brand new location, the Paris Event Center, Porte de la Villette.
A total of 70 exhibitors and 2,000 participants (stable figures vs. 2014) were able to meet, exchange and set up new business opportunities.

Each edition is Different!

The change of location came with a very new booth concept that gave the event the appearance of an exhibit rather than a traditional fair layout. New exhibitors joined in to showcase their novelties: Equipe de France de Football, Gaumont with Ballerina, Little Marcel, Mercredi with Zombillénium, On Entertainment with The Little Prince, Perfetti Van Melle with Mentos and Chupa Chups, Procidis with Hello Maestro, Rovio with Angry Birds, The Pokémon Company International, Textiss with WTF. And ImagesCorp within the Market Place.

An extensive 2-Day Program packed with conferences, 18 Pitching sessions, and one-to-one appointments in a friendly atmosphere:
 

• Zoom on the conferences
  • Sébastien Wullems GME / Movie opened the conference cycle with a much expected topic: Brands and Properties: Above Line, Below Line, Digital communication - How to succeed? That presentation was very to the point and many case studies were reviewed, including the Candy Up promotion with the Smurfs, Haribo or Oscaro with Planes.
  • Philippe Guinaudeau from Kidz Global continued with a booming topic: Children & Digital - Licensing opportunities. Nowadays kids have little time to sit back and they are heavy users of screens and the level of multi-tasking is very high all over the world.
   
  
• Visitors had fun between meetings
  • Sébastien Chabal came on Glénat Licensing booth
  • At M6 Licences booth visitors could have a souvenir pic taken on the set of their favorite shows
  • Each day 3 albums of Elmer the famous patchwork elephant autographed by the author were up to win on Inès Pezet Licensing booth
  • At Mattel visitors could have their picture taken with Barbie and Ken real size - something to make every little girl dream
  • Last but not least DreamWorks concluded the 1st day by a Trolls cocktail - the new 3D film is scheduled for 2016.
   
  
• The 2015 Licensing Awards organized by F2D2 honored 8 winners!
  The French Federation of Licensing Rights organized the 2015 Licensing Awards to honor rights holders and licensing agents for business dynamics, creativity and innovation when dealing with the properties they handle.
  • Best Brand & Design property: "HARIBO" handled by TF1 Licences
  • Best Entertainment property: "BATMAN - 75 YEARS" handled by Warner Bros. Consumer Products
  • Best Sports property: PSG handled by PSG Merchandising
  • Best Product Innovation: MECCANO handled by CPLG
  • Best Global Communication: ASTÉRIX handled by Les Éditions Albert René
  • Best Communication: RAVING RABBIDS handled by CPLG
  • Best Promotion: MR MEN AND LITTLE MISS handled by Francetv Distribution
  • Best Property of the Year: FROZEN handled by The Walt Disney Company
   
  
• Trends
  Kazachok Licensing Forum was the opportunity to launch new properties:
  • Yo-kai Watch is a brand new Japanese property. Already a hit in Japan, Viz Media Europe handles the rights. Video games, manga, TV series, films, cards - everything is there! Hasbro is the Master Toy
  • Trolls at DreamWorks
  • TF1 Licences introduced a new brand: Route 66
  • CPLG announced it is handling the rights to Felix the Cat and Where’s Wally?
  • Nelvana its new property: Shopkins. That license is a big hit with little girls and has lots of surprises in store!
  • Noddy will be making a big comeback with a brand new design and a new animated series by Easter 2016. Noddy will become a detective! And new characters will appear. Francetv distribution is working on the licensing program.
  • Home Made Licensing introduced for the 1st time on the French market the POU property, a highly successful digital game
  • Planeta Junior also launched Mexican Skulls and Bad Day, 2 design properties by a Spanish creator
  • Mercredi agency showcased Zombillénium the cult comics by Arthur de Pins, that will open in movie theater for Halloween 2016, followed by a TV series for kids by the fall of 2017 and 3 new comic books scheduled until 2019.

The fair was also an opportunity for visitors to keep in touch with numerous properties that are already well established and that continue to have exciting news.