Gift Focus - Sep/Oct 2018 (Issue 109)

Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) celebrates its 20 th year in 2018, and the most colourful, character-filled trade show around is set to hit the double decade with an array of new features for visitors. BLE launched back in 1999 as a small hotel-based event called Brand Licensing – no Europe – before moving to London’s Business Design Centre and then Olympia. The show was rebranded as Brand Licensing Europe in 2007 to reflect the international nature of its exhibitors, properties and visitors – more than 35 per cent of all visitors are from outside the UK. In 2017, more than 7,500 retailers, licensees and marketers attended BLE, and 289 companies exhibited, showcasing more than 2,500 new and evergreen properties available for licensing opportunities, including characters, brands, images, artwork and designs. This is why BLE is widely viewed as the definitive event for the licensing industry in Europe. This year, the event takes place from 9 th -11 th October, 2018, and it will occupy the Grand and National halls at Olympia for the first time, making it easier for visitors to find their way around and meet new licensors, as well as significantly increasing the discoverability of smaller exhibitors, many of whom can be found in the Art, Design & Image Zone. BLE’s theme for 2018 is food and beverage – a theme that unites licensees and licensors. The show will feature exciting, immersive and interactive experiences, including cookery displays and celebrity PAs. BLE’s License This! competition also returns for its 10 th year. Launched in 2009 to give unlicensed brand and image owners the opportunity to enter the licensing market, this year’s License This! will have two award categories for the first time: Brand & Design and Character & Animation, giving entrants an even greater chance to win and enjoy valuable exposure to industry experts and mentors. The winners will get a free stand at BLE 2019, a year’s membership to industry body Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association and PR and marketing support. Gift properties have a great pedigree of excelling in License This! with Charlotte Reed’s May The Thoughts Be With You and Stuart Cox’s I Like Birds respectively taking first and second place in 2016. Both have since signed with agents and have seen their brands appear on a range of gift products, including stationery, greetings cards and homewares. The Product Showcase is a great place to see how creative this industry is, with hundreds of art, design, brands and lifestyle products on display. Last year, these included some beautiful ranges from the likes of the V&A. And finally, but certainly not one to miss, BLE hosts top-quality free seminars every year in The Licensing Academy and Brands & Lifestyle Theatre to inspire visitors with practical and forward-thinking content. BACK WITH A BANG Brand Licensing Europe celebrates its 20 th year in 2018 Visitors can register for Brand Licensing Europe for free, and unlicensed brand owners can enter License This! at brandlicensing.eu. Nominations close on 14 th September. Companies interested in exhibiting should contact the team on +44 (0) 207 921 8198 . IN BRIEF Show Brand Licensing Europe Organiser UBM Where Olympia, London When 9 th -11 th October, 2018 Website brandlicensing.eu Twitter @bleurope I Like Birds 126 giftfocus