Show focus – Informa’s VP Anna Knight on the importance of trade shows such as BLE

Showing out

Toys continue to be one of the key areas for Brand Licensing Europe, and, as the 2022 event slowly disappears in the rear-view mirror, here’s what BLE parent company Informa’s SVP for licensing Anna Knight thinks of the importance of trade shows…

The return of the trade show has been a highlight of post-pandemic business in the toy and licensing industries and beyond.

A look at the crowds at Autumn Fair shows that, while BLE has again proved its worth across the spectrum with its 2022 event. But after the high of returning in 2021, shows need to keep up the magic.

As Informa Markets’ VP for licensing Anna Knight says: “Trade shows are critical business drivers for industry. At BLE, our purpose is to provide a platform for the licensing industry to have meaningful conversations that will help to drive their businesses forward. Those conversations may be around IP in meetings with brands, they may be knowledge sharing during one of BLE’s brilliant educational sessions or they could take place in one of our many lively networking events.

“At BLE, we also feel we have an obligation to help educate and share best practice with attendees so that we can all do businesses better, which is why we focused day three on sustainability and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion).”

The long lockdown periods of 2020 and 2021, the slow return to meetings and so on, taught us all a lot about ourselves, as Knight notes: “During lockdown, we learned that the

licensing industry is very sociable and, while we carried on virtually, meeting face to face and seeing properties and product in person so that you can touch, feel and experience them is incredibly important to this sector.” This year saw BLE trying on a fashion theme for the event, something that tied in not just to the clothes side of the business, but had more than a nod to toys too. Brands taking part in this year’s theme included “ “Fashion is one of the biggest licensing categories and it’s important because it’s creative, dynamic, exciting and always pushing boundaries. At BLE, we had spectacular fashion catwalk shows including Collabs, Mattel, SEGA, Food & Beverage, Kids, Culture & The Smurfs, Unity (featuring the Black Lives Matter NBCUniversal, Cry Babies and more “ Movement and spotlighting Blackowned businesses and the LGBT community) and the Sustainability catwalk with Products of Change, Junk Kouture and United Nations. Brands taking part in this year’s theme included Mattel, SEGA, The Smurfs, NBCUniversal, Cry Babies and more. There were also High-end product showcases on display close to the catwalk and in the main entrances featuring products modelled in the catwalk shows; The License Global Theatre had several fashion-focused sessions and the Barbie x Fashion opening keynote on the first day was with Mattel COO and president Richard Dickson; while the Products of Change team were on hand to provide free sustainability advice.”

As Julian Moon, senior vice president at Warner Bros. Consumer Products EMEA had earlier noted: “There’s a lot of innovation going on in fashion, with online, phygital and in-store experiences – it’s an exciting space to be in. BLE’s fashion focus this year is a chance to underscore just how vital fashion is to a brand eco-system, as another touchpoint for fans to connect to their favourite properties. It’s also a recognition of how far licensed apparel has come.’’

Retailers who wavered in 2021 or 2022 should also note the inroads BLE has made – and continues to make – in supporting their side of the business.

As Knight adds: “BLE has been organising and running the Retail Mentoring Programme for over a decade now, which invites retailers who want to learn more about licensing to take part in a CPDaccredited programme, including educational content, licensor days and attendance at BLE. This is our most subscribed year and we’ve had amazing feedback.

“At the show, we introduced orientation sessions and show tours for anyone who was new to BLE and/or licensing to help them make the most of their time at the show. We also had the Retail Lounge at the show, which retailers had exclusive access to, as well as retail-focused content across the educational content.”