Launch show creates a winning business opportunity for the Central and Eastern European licensing industry

Brand Licensing Central and Eastern Europe 2010, which took place in Budapest last week, has been hailed a triumph by exhibitors and visitors. Launched in response to extensive research by Advanstar into licensing opportunities within the CEE region, 292 retailers and manufacturers visited the show to secure the rights to the 250 brands and characters on display.

“It was crucial for us to get the balance of this event right for the 23 countries we were serving”, commented Jessica Blue, Event Director, “feedback from exhibitors and visitors has demonstrated that we did, creating a solid foundation on which to build for the future. The visitors attending were serious about the business of licensing.“

87% of visitors were budget holders or influencers in the purchasing process while half of those attending on the first day returned again on the second day.

Advanstar’s comments were echoed by Andrew Carly, Head of Licensing at E1 Entertainment, "You can see that this is the beginning of something that will grow. It's staggering how quickly things have grown in these markets and the show makes it clear that the opportunities are distinct for each country."

Visitors included Ars Una Studio Kft, Avon Cosmetics Ltd, Bon Bon Buddies, Cartamundi, C&A Buying, Diane Kappa Designs, Egmont Bulgaria, Formatex Ltd, Hungarian Society of Textile, M&C Toy Kft, Peek-A-Boo Toys B.V, Setino Hungary Kft and TESCO.

Retailers made up 15% of the audience, with Karen Saunders, Buyer at Tesco commenting, “We found the show to be interesting and of great use in introducing us to contacts and licenses that we had not been exposed to beforehand. We now have a number of different leads that we are able to pursue which will hopefully aid us in selling the right licenses tailored to our market.”

Advanstar will announce future plans for the event shortly.

Feedback from exhibitors:

• "The quality of people who showed up was very good. We have met a number of new clients."
  Morten Geschwendtner, Director, Kidz Entertainment/EEMC
• "I am very impressed by the entire professionalism of the show and for it bringing together so many licensing executives from the wider licensing community."
  Hakan Durdag, Managing Director, European Licensing Company (ELC)
• “We were very impressed by the quality of visitors and the span of countries they came from. We are particularly interested in apparel and stationery retailers and licensees, and that’s exactly who we saw. It has created some very interesting opportunities for us”.
  Jane Evans, Managing Director, Jane Evans Licensing Consultancy