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Kick-starting the licensing networking season, which also includes MIPCOM and the Frankfurt Book Fair, Brand Licensing Europe is a must-attend event in every licensing professional’s calendar. Every year, thousands of Europe’s licensing industry elite – from retailers, licensees and manufacturers, to brand owners and promotional marketers - descend on Brand Licensing Europe to discover the newest, hottest properties on – or about to hit - the market: properties that have the potential to be massive at retail in one, two – even twenty – years down the line. With more than 2,500 properties from many different categories, Brand Licensing Europe provides the industry with a unique annual opportunity to compare and contrast the biggest range of licenses on display anywhere in Europe. This year, owner and organiser Advanstar Communications has laid out ambitious and exciting plans to grow the event by up to 30 per cent to ensure that Brand Licensing Europe 2008 is by far the biggest and best ever. By the time October swings round, Advanstar is anticipating more than 200 top end brand owners at Olympia. Not only has the organiser set its overall targets high, it is also working hard to ensure that many of these additional exhibitors originate from countries throughout mainland Europe and Brand Licensing Europe continues to be regarded by licensing professionals throughout the continent as their event. Brand Licensing Europe 2008 – so much to offer This year at Brand Licensing Europe, visitors can expect to see even more than ever, starting with around 220 brand owners from the worlds of film, TV, entertainment, sports, publishing, art and design, apparel and heritage show casing over 2,500 properties available for license. The 2008 floor plan already includes some of the biggest names in licensing, including 4Kids Entertainment, BBC Worldwide, The Beanstalk Group, Chapman Entertainment, Chorion, Christie’s Images, Dorna Sports, Dreamworks, Entertainment Rights, Granada Ventures, HIT Entertainment Consumer Products, Jetix Consumer Products, LEGO Company, Lucasfilm, Manchester United Merchandising, Marvel Entertainment International, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Target Entertainment, The Natural History Museum, Twentieth Century Fox and V&A Enterprises. Aardman Animations, Bang on the Door, Chapman Entertainment and RDF Rights have also rebooked, following exciting debuts in 2007; and LEGO and Warner Brothers Consumer Products have made welcome returns. American Retro Museum, Cartoon Network and Ludorum are brand new entries on the 2008 exhibitor list. The property list is hotter than ever, featuring new brands such as Timmy Time (Aardman Animations), MI High (Metrostar), Rebel Toons (American Retro Museum), Marvo, Chuggington (Ludorum), Bakugan (Cartoon Network), Skunk Fu (Galleon), Pat and Stan (TV-Loonland), Panda Days (Andrea Jayne), Big Big World (Contender Merchandising), Pinky and Perky (PPC Enterprises), The Scummage (HallidayBooks), Magi-Nation and World of Quest (Jetix Consumer Products), Woodstock (Intercontinental Licensing), Pet Poets Club (Ignition Licensing) Iron Man 2 and Wolverine (Marvel Entertainment), Dex Hamilton: Alien Entemologist (Parthenon Entertainment) and Big Barn Farm (RDF Rights). Advanstar is also introducing new visitor attractions for 2008, as well as bringing back favourites from last year, including the Screening Suite: Where Films Become Brands, Licensing Academy, Art, Design & Image Licensing Zone, Advice Centre and Retail Lounge. Screening Suite: Where Films Become Brands - a purpose-built cinema inside the exhibition hall where Dreamworks, Lucasfilm, Marvel, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Brothers will trailer forthcoming blockbusters and associated licensing opportunities. Following a hugely successful launch in 2006, the Screening Suite was doubled in size for 2007 to wide applaud. Entrance to the Screening Suite is strictly by invitation only. Licensing Academy – featuring eight high-level sessions over two days, plus a keynote from LazyTown creator and star Magnus Scheving, the Licensing Academy has been refined even further for 2008 following a strong premiere in 2007. Sessions are free to attend and cover the hottest topics affecting the licensing industry. Visitors can register their interest in attending at www.brandlicensingeurope.com. Art, Design and Image Licensing Zone - debuted in 2007 in recognition of the fact that art and design is one of the fastest growing areas in the licensing industry. The creative industries are growing at an accelerated rate of six per cent - faster than any other sector – which has resulted in a greater consumer demand for design-conscious, more creative merchandise. Worldwide retail sales of art licensed product now stands at $19.3 billion and, last year, 36 per cent of all attendees to Brand Licensing Europe came with a specific interest in art and design properties. The Advice Centre - provides visitors with a single destination to go for practical advice and receive consultations with professionals from a range of services including intellectual property lawyers, accountants, design agencies, consultants, quality assurance services, royalty services, product and patent development. The Retail Lounge - as the name suggests, the lounge is designed as a refuge and information point for buyers needing a much needed rest before getting back out on the show floor. Brand Licensing Europe - In Europe for Europe With 220 brand owners, 3,000 brands, a high-end seminar programme and many insightful visitor features, Brand Licensing Europe 2008 is now firmly established as a must-visit destination this October for everyone working in the European licensing industry. The show’s pedigree as a pan-European event has strengthened significantly over the last five years, when – in 2003 - Brand Licensing was repositioned as Europe’s event for licensing and brand extension and, since then, organiser Advanstar has pulled out all the stops to ensure the event has evolved seamlessly into one that truly mirrors the industry throughout the whole of Europe. In 2003 and 2004, following the repositioning, interest from European attendees increased as did visitor and exhibitor support for the event’s wider international scope. In light of this, Advanstar launched the Hosted Buyers Programme in 2005, designed to attract key European buyers to Brand Licensing. Brand Licensing’s European content and reach continued to grow and the event was re-branded as Brand Licensing Europe at the end of 2006. An intensive outreach campaign followed and, at Brand Licensing Europe 2007 - the first following the event’s re-brand – Advanstar hosted the biggest and best show to date with 197 exhibitors, 1,800 new and best selling properties and a record-breaking 4,301 (ABC audited) visitors from 72 countries networking in the Grand Hall. International visitor numbers rose by an unprecedented 26 per cent to account for almost one quarter of all attendees. 18 per cent of attendees were from mainland Europe. Visitor numbers from Italy more than doubled; French visitor numbers increased by 37 per cent; Spanish visitors were up 10 per cent; Netherlands rose by 41 per cent and Polish visitor numbers shot up a staggering 475 per cent. Unsurprisingly, the five best-represented European countries were also those with some of the most advanced licensing programmes. In order, they were France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Germany. The Hosted Buyers Programme supported a phenomenal 36 per cent increase in the number of senior buyers from major European retailers attending Brand Licensing Europe, including El Corte Ingles, Auchan, Carrefour France, VME, Marie Claire Group, E. Leclerc, Toys R Us Netherlands, Vertbaudet and France Quick SAS. Exhibitors from mainland Europe accounted for 16 per cent of all brand owners on the show floor and included Art Ask Agency, Dorna Sports, Europacorp, NBA Europe, 5 Seasons & Co srl, The Licensing Machine/Panini, RicoBel b.v.b.a, Celebrities Entertainment GmbH, Kieselsteiner Verlags und Vertriebs GmbH, sheepworld AG, J & H International, Bruno Productions BV and Plus Licens & Design. And exhibitors worldwide launched a deluge of properties newly available for license, including Viva Pinata (4 Kids), Flash Gordon (Allsorts), Fuzzy Felt (At New Media), Vespa, Pele (The Beanstalk Group), Dork Hunters from Outa Space (BKN New Media), Brit Chicks (Brand Champions), Angel Cat Sugar (Bruno), The Mr Men Show (Chorion), In My Pocket (Entara), A Monster In Paris (Eurocorp), Star (Global Visionaries), Historical Royal Palaces, Juicy Lucy (Ignition Licensing), Planet Happy (Intercontinental Licensing), Lola Love (Jane Evans Licensing), Iggy Arbuckle (Jetix Consumer Products), The Likeaballs (Licensing Management International), The Incredible Hulk (Marvel Entertainment), Baby B2S (Paper Island), Pokemon Diamond and Pearl (Pokemon), Yo Gabba Gabba (RDF Rights), The Dangerous Book for Boys (Rocket Licensing), Storm Hawks (Target Entertainment), Indiana Jones, The Golden Compass (The Licensing Company), Little Princess (TV Loonland), Halo, Ice Age 3 (Twentieth Century Fox Merchandising) and Cheeky Monkey (Withit). Happy Birthday Brand Licensing Europe! 2008 marks the tenth anniversary of Brand Licensing Europe. A quick nod to the past shows just how far Brand Licensing Europe has come in that time. The must-attend event for the European licensing industry was originally launched in 1998 as Brand & Licensing London. In those days, the show was a table top affair in a London hotel featuring just 30 exhibitors. In 2002, the current owner and organiser Advanstar Communications acquired Brand & Licensing London. The event moved between venues, including London’s Business Design Centre and Earls Court, finally arriving at its natural home of Olympia in West London in 2006. At the end of that year, the event was re-branded to Brand Licensing Europe: a reflection of the show’s content and reach throughout Europe, as well as the increase in interest from visitors and exhibitors who wanted to attend. And in October 2007, 197 exhibitors and 4,301 visitors attended the two-day event: a far cry from where it started ten years ago. To celebrate Brand Licensing Europe’s birthday, Advanstar plans to host a glamorous exhibitor party in a brand new venue for 2008, as well as launch a number of new and exciting visitor features that will be announced in the summer. Brand Licensing Europe To register for a complimentary visitor pass: www.brandlicesningeurope.com “Brand Licensing Europe was absolutely great! It was the first time we exhibited in London and also the first time we presented our new license Angel Cat Sugar to Europe. We had a lot of traffic to our booth and interest from Dubai, Spain, Australia, Italy, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria Switzerland, Benelux and India, which was really overwhelming! As first time exhibitors, we didn’t know what to expect but it was definitely a very successful experience.” Marjon Lusink, licensing coordinator, Bruno “The Screening Suite was very well organized. It’s great to preview the films we are going to back for the season and understand how high profile they will be, and get a feel for the licenses coming through. We were particularly impressed with the quality and amount of individuals’ artwork and illustrations at the show, new stands that definitely were not there last year. The NPD/BRC presentation was also interesting and we’ll definitely be back at the show next year.” Teresa Osgood, buyer, Primark |
