Ultimate Fighting Championship® leads JELC’s strongest line-up yet on stand E010 at BLE

Jane Evans Licensing Consultancy brings its strongest line-up yet to this year’s BLE. Not only does JELC represent European licensing for the fastest-growing sport in the world but its portfolio includes runaway greetings cards hits expanding into new categories, established successes extending their European presence and fast-growing new names.

Ultimate Fighting Championship®, Smiling Bear, Grumpy Old Gits, Vincent, Plain Lazy, Bad Cat, NICI® and more will be part of the main event at stand E010 at this year’s BLE.

Ultimate Fighting Championship®
With headquarters in Las Vegas and offices in Los Angeles and London, Ultimate Fighting Championship® is the fastest-growing sports organisation in the world, worth an estimated $1.2billion. UFC® pay-per-view events are broadcast in 147 countries in 17 languages and reach almost half a billion homes worldwide. A hit reality TV show, The Ultimate Fighter, pitting unsigned mixed martial artists against each other in an elimination tournament, has further boosted the reach of the brand. UFC® also produces over 25 wildly popular live arena events each year around the world, with the leading mixed martial arts fighters assigned to them fast becoming household names. UFC is also a hit online; the UFC.com website attracts over six million unique visitors a month and has two million Twitter followers.

As a result UFC® is today the largest and most recognised mixed martial arts brand in the world — and a US licensing sensation.

At BLE 2010, JELC will be emphasising the enormous potential of UFC® in its key categories of apparel, gym equipment and accessories, video games, DVDs, magazines, collectible cards and figurines. UFC® will have some of the best fights to watch on plasma screens, the new video game to play and a glamorous ‘ring girl’ on stand E015 connected to the JELC booth.

Grumpy Old Gits After three years of sell-out card and gift sales, it’s hardly surprising that Grumpy Old Gits, a highly successful line that combines images and one-liners perfectly suited for the lovable old (or not so old) male grump in everyone’s life, is now moving to a wider audience. Developed by the Backland Studio this fast-growing brand is targeting new categories such as print-on-demand, personalised gifts, publishing and novelty clothing.

Vincent Another greetings card hit — and another successful creation of the Backland Studio — Vincent is a one-eared bear whose quirky wisdom has not only sold over 100,000 cards in a three-month period but who enjoyed a stunning customer reaction when Izziwotnot took him into the Bedding and Nursery Accessories category. Vincent’s look and style, combined with a truly distinctive voice has a clear appeal to both parents and young adult women, offering further strong possibilities, not only in the nursery area and plush but in women’s sleepwear and a wide range of giftware and homewares highlighting Vincent’s charm and wit.

Smiling Bear
The new Australian outdoors lifestyle brand Smiling Bear, created by Guy Paterson, is launching to the European market for the first time at BLE. The adventurous and outgoing but cool and laidback Smiling Bear and his friends are expected to enjoy a strong appeal, especially among teen and tween girls. Target categories are fashion and accessories, toiletries, cosmetics, stationery and beach products.

Plain Lazy
Taking laidback very literally is the lifestyle brand Plain Lazy, a witty celebration of all things effort-free that has built a strong market among easygoing males and females from 12 up. Categories already at retail in the UK include accessories, paper products, gifts, skateboards and skateboard accessories, a new range of bikes and, inevitably, bedding. The Plain Lazy sleeping silhouette logo can now be seen on products selling directly and through licensees to over 2,000 stores and outlets throughout the UK and Europe. For those who want to see more of Plain Lazy they will also have their own stand No G079.

Bad Cat
Bad Cat, a fun brand with attitude, is making strong inroads into Europe, driven by its unbeatable combination of mischievous and confident one-liners and stylish, instantly recognisable images. Enjoying strong results across its core market of trend-conscious teen and tween girls and young women, the Bad Cat licensing programme is now poised for expansion across a wide range of categories and markets.

NICI®
NICI® is one of the world's leading manufacturers of plush toys and gifts for the whole family. For more than 23 years NICI® have inspired millions of people all over the world through products that offer unique design, high quality materials and a great attention to detail. JELC is delighted to have the opportunity to build on the successful European NICI® licensing programme in the UK.

The Bamforth Collection The cheeky charm of the saucy seaside postcard received its ultimate expression through Bamforth, the original Yorkshire-based comical postcard company. And now the thousands of entertaining, iconic and sometimes slightly naughty images in the Bamforth Collection are available for licensing. The timing is perfect. As the success of the 'Rude Britannia’ Exhibition of British comic art at Tate Britain shows, the market for sly, slapstick and, of course, saucy British humour is as strong as ever.