Brand Licensing Europe returns in-person from 17th-19th November at Excel, London.
152 companies are already confirmed to exhibit at Brand Licensing Europe 2021 and more are expected to sign shortly, with seven weeks still to go till the event starts. The announcement coincides with the launch of the event’s online platform. From today, anyone who is registered for BLE can drop off a virtual business card, search the exhibitor list or IP directory, and start booking meetings for both the in person and online events through the Matchmaking function, sponsored by Flowhaven.
BLE runs in person from 17th-19th November at ExCel London with a follow up event taking place online from 30th November – 1st December. As the first in-person licensing event to take place in over two years, BLE boasts a wide range of exhibitors from across the globe with strong representation of Europeans and internationals as well as the UK, covering the full spectrum of categories from sports to animation and heritage to gaming.
They include ViacomCBS, Hasbro, Perfetti Van Melle Group, Panini, Rainbow, Sega, Vivendi, Coolabi, Warhammer, The Smurfs, Penguin Ventures, Banijay Brands, Crunchyroll, Manchester City, Aardman, Asterix, FC Internazionale Milano, ETS Studios, Kate Mawdsley, Withit Studios, Olympique de Marseille, WWE, MGA Entertainment, Natural History Museum, V&A Imperial War Museum, Sinigaglia, Scribos Asmodee, ZSL (London Zoo), Federation Française de Football, FC Barcelona, Planeta Junior, Sophie La Girafe, England Football, Dorna Sports, Real Federacion Espanola de Futbol, IMG and many more.
Cécile Chevalier, marketing manager, TF1 Licences, commented: “TF1 Licences’ whole team is really excited to attend this year’s BLE. We missed meeting our partners in person and we missed seeing all the great projects in 3D rather than via a screen. BLE is the biggest European event for the licensing business and we’re looking forward to the new experience of this hybrid event.”
Waell Oueslati, director of Acquisitions and Licensing EMEA, Crunchyroll, added: “We are really excited to be able to go to BLE again and meet all our partners during the event, and at the after events, too.”
BLE Virtual
As well as facilitating introductions, IP discovery and meeting bookings (on and offline), the online platform will host on demand educational content and exhibitor trailers. This content will go live after the in-person event ends on Monday 20th November, and follow-up meetings will be available during BLE Virtual on 30th November and 1st December.
The online meetings function, sponsored by Flowhaven, was launched at BLE (and sister show Licensing Expo) five years ago. In its first year, over 1,200 business meetings were arranged and 13,783 online profiles created. In 2019, when BLE last took place in person, these stats had soared to 3,129 meetings.
Anna Knight, VP of Licensing, Informa Markets, said: “We’re just seven weeks away from meeting up in person again at BLE and to know we will have over 150 companies from across the world exhibiting in London and/or online is fantastic news for the industry and for our visitors. I think it’s fair to say we have all missed that face-to-face time, and it will be wonderful to kick start connections and provide inspiration and food for thought for the European licensing industry once more. And for those attending online, I promise you will not miss out. We will be streaming sessions, vox pop and exhibitor interviews filmed at BLE in London, as well as exclusive, never-before-seen content created for the virtual platform.”
