With only one month to go, Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) confirms 251 exhibitors, 57 first timers, plus a new Licensee Pavilion and Advice Centre.
Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) reveals exhibitor numbers have surpassed 250 (+14% up on last year) including almost 60 first timers, strong visitor and retail registration and the launch of a new Licensee Pavilion and Advice Centre for 2023.
To date, 251 companies are confirmed to exhibit at BLE next month, , including Mattel, AC Milan, Pokémon, Aardman Animation, Crunchyroll, FC Barcelona, Natural History Museum, Gallimard Jeunesse, Hasbro, Jazwares, Le Petit Prince, Paul Frank, Perfetti Van Melle Group, Riot Games, TF1 Licensing, Smiley, Ubisoft, Van Gogh Museum and many more. Over the summer, the numbers were strengthened with the addition of Boat Rocker, Guinness World Records, Milano Cortina 2026, Nine Mile Babies, last year’s License This! Winner Spookysaurus, Konami Cross Media and many others.
Meanwhile, visitor registrations from retailers and manufacturers have been steadily rising and are tracking well ahead of last year, with registrations confirmed from Deichmann, Next, Aykroyd & Sons, H&M, John Lewis, Ferrero, Celio, Famosa, Primark, Aldi, Ravensburger, Tesco, FatFace, Lidl, Ackermans, Simba Dickie Group, George at Asda, Liberty London, Goliath Games, Amazon, PepCo, Erve, ASOS, Boots, Panini SPA, Selfridges, Funko and many more.
Category representation is broad and thousands of meetings have been requested through BLE’s online Meetings Platform. The organisers are expecting the Meetings Platform to be incredibly busy from this week and urge visitors to start planning itineraries as soon as possible.
Visitors are reminded to block out 5-7pm on Wednesday, October 5th for free Welcome Drinks on the showfloor.
“Now summer’s over and we’re just one month until BLE, it’s time to get planning: get those meetings booked in before brand owners close their calendars and you miss out, schedule time for shopping the floor for inspiration and relevant education sessions,” said BLE event director Ella Haynes. “the agenda is online and our second keynote will be announced next week. This is someone who has never spoken at a Global Licensing Group event before, and an exciting departure for us.”
Ella added: “The showfloor Welcome Drinks on day one will be followed by Licensing International’s Soho Nights party in central London. Tickets are on sale now, so make sure you get those booked, too.”
A new Licensee Pavilion (C171) and Advice Centre (C230 & C231) was revealed over the summer. The Licensee Pavilion has been introduced in response to increasing demand from licensees who want to exhibit, often because they have services to offer the retailers in attendance, and showcase their products to the exhibiting brands.
This year’s Pavilion features, new for 2023, Smash Industries Global, Play Management Company, E plus M, Best of Both Worlds, Park Agencies and Konix Interactive.
Elsewhere on the showfloor, BLE attendees will find more exhibiting licensees including first timers Half Moon Bay, Erve, Outerstuff and StoneK, plus Sun City, Fashion UK, Sabor, Bioworld, Difuzed and Jazwares, which returns with a bigger presence for 2023.
Lucy Earing, head of product, Half Moon Bay, has attended BLE as a visitor, but this year has decided to exhibit. “We want more people to know about the collaboration service we offer to brands and retailers,” she explained. “We’d love to find more partnerships – perhaps retailers who want to partner on DTR – or brands that need guidance/a partner that can support them in creating assets and want product at retail. Of course, we’ll also be there as visitors and will be looking out for licences ourselves.”
Also premiering at BLE this October is the Advice Centre, which launched to huge success at Licensing Expo in Las Vegas earlier this year. Attendees will be able to enjoy free expert advice from suppliers in the centre, including Redpoints and Axencis who specialise in counterfeit solutions; IP tokenisation with NFT verification to remotely sign license agreements from iLicensing Works; and PwC, leaders in licensing agreements and regulatory support within the industry.
Visitors can register for a free ticket to attend here.
