Brand Licensing Europe 2015

toys and licensing

www.buggtoysandlicensing.com The Buzz From BLE 2015

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The buzz from BLE 2015 Thinking about what to write about in my Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) wrap-up this year was interesting. You see, I spoke to many people about the show, and some were of the opinion that it was quieter and others that it was busier. My take is that it was equal to, if not buiser than last years show, especially the main show floor (downstairs).

Overall, I don’t think that there was one particluar standout (although the Nickelodeon stand was always super busy), it was quite balanced in the brands and characters on display. Rovio did create quite a mess with their ‘photo shoot’ setup on the stand, to promote the new Angry Birds movie. By the end of the three day show, there were Angry Birds feathers across the hall all the way on to the Warner Bros. Consumer Products stand!

Whilst Disney were not on the floor (which was disappointing aesthetically), they did annouce their plans for the Good Dinosaur, which looks great and opens later this year in December (Australia). The screening room was busy as usual and there were many presentation sessions to attend (read about the Nickelodeon presentation later in this report).

One session that I thought was really insightful was the session on eSports and Gaming by Dan Amos from Tinderbox Agency.

The growing popularity of eSports is astounding, and it has been reported that the sector is currently worth $612 million in worldwide revenues - you can read more about this at the links below: superdataresearch.com/blog/esports-brief/ buggtoysandlicensing.com/dan-amos-on-new-media-edition-7/ IMG also had a significant presence this year, with a number of popular stands in the Lifestyle area upstairs, including Volkswagon and Playboy. On the main show floor, the two major banners which were on display were The Secret Life of Pets by Universal and Blaze and the Monster Trucks by Nickelodeon.

A genius idea, which was literally sold-out the whole show, was the booth on the Universal stand for The Secret Life of Pets, where they were creating custom Dog Tags for attendees! The line for this was huge at all times and regular intermissions seemed to be required by the staff.

In this report you will also find some photos from the show and an article on UK Retail by Lincon Boyd from Blueprint Licensing.

As always, I hope you like the report and please let me know about anything you think could improve or if you have feedback by emailing me at editor@buggtoysandlicensing.com.

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For all relevant contacts please refer below: Media releases: media@buggtoysandlicensing.com Feedback/suggestions: editor@buggtoysandlicensing.com Advertising/bookings: bookings@buggtoysandlicensing.com Bugg Toys & Licensing is published by Bugg Marketing Solutions Managing Director - Tony Bugg - tony@buggsolutions.com.au Editor in Chief - Matthew Bugg - matt@buggsolutions.com.au Bugg Marketing Solutions Phone/fax: +61 3 9769 3963 Email: info@buggsolutions.com.au Address: Unit 5, 24-26 Woods Street, Beaconsfield VIC 3807 Postal: PO BOX 491, Berwick VIC 3806 Bugg Toys & Licensing has been compiled as a guide to Toys and Licensing. The views and opinions provided are based upon the views and opinions of its writers. In no way is Bugg Toys & Licensing a factual guide to Toys and Licensing and does not take responsibility for how the informtion provided is used by its consumers.

The main entrance to Brand Licensing Europe, sponsored by Hasbro...

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A panorama shot of the full show floor on the ground level...

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The main banner at the entrance for The Secret Life of Pets was really prominant...

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Nickelodeon - Brand Licensing Europe Wrap Up Bugg Toys & Licensing were at Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) and had the chance to stop by the new Nickelodeon store at Leicester Square in London, which opened on the 30th of May this year.

The store is a showcase for all things Nickelodeon, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT), SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, PAW Patrol and 90s classic vintage properties such as Ren and Stimpy and Rugrats to name just a few. The range of products and things to see in-store is also very exciting as you can browse from apparel all the way to coffee mugs or even play the wide range of Nickelodeon Apps on the in-store iPads.

The store is really a super high-quality showcase of the Nickelodeon portfolio and even includes an elevator to the second floor and an area where you can take photos with a giant SpongeBob character.

Much to the delight of true Nickelodeon fans, the store has kept its heritage and is much like a set from TMNT, with the wiring and air ducts all visible and the area well-lit, creating a great atmosphere for shoppers. If you are in London, we recommend going to visit the store and what it has to offer.

It must also be noted that the store and what is within, appeals to all ages and fans of Nickelodeon properties across the board.

www.nickelodeonstore.co.uk

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The other feature from Nickelodeon at BLE was the annual Nickelodeon Showcase presentation, where Mark Kingston kicked things off by announcing a special prize draw for accurately counting the number of times the Nickelodeon team said “awesome�, much to the appreciation of the audience. The first announcement was that Blaze and the Monster Machines will be joining Milkshake on Channel 5 and equally as exciting is that a new platform called Nick Play will replace the Nickelodeon App, offering gaming and content to fans. Blaze and the Monster Machines is a top 5 pre-school show in Australia and the toys launched in May in the US. Look out for Season 3 in 2017 as well.

These days, social media is a huge part of life and Nickelodeon continues to prove strong in this area, with 90 million social followers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). To date, Nickelodeon has had 50 million App downloads across the platform. Shimmer and Shine will see a 2017 product roll-out and it was announced that the show had 1.2 million views for the first 3 episodes, which rolls out in November (2015) across EMEA. PAW Patrol looks set for more stardom, being the top 5 show in Australia in its category and the 3rd Season will launch early 2016 with new vehicle the Air Patroller, which will see the pups take to the sky (this looks absolutely stellar).

which has huge appeal across the market on the back of the movie (The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water) reaching $300 million at the Global Box Office. A new SpongeBob Season is also underway and the 200th episode is well in sight for Spongey!

To close out a jam packed presentation it was announced that South Park will launch its 20th Season in 2017 and 2016 will see a new game launch, which all looks really impressive. And finally, perhaps the most obscure but interesting announcement was MTV Bump, which looks absolutely mad! Fans can submit their videos through the www.mtvbump.com website or use the hashtag #MTVBUMP on Instagram or Twitter. We recommend that you check it out!

TMNT also continues to look great with new announcements including Half Shell Heroes, a Season 5 of the TV series has been green lit and a new movie in 2016 sounds amazing with the return of Casey Jones, Bebop, Rocksteady and Krang.

Similarly to TMNT, SpongeBob is another property

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The Volkswagon stand by IMG was a hit this year, especially with the Minivan on display...

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Postman Pat was popular with attendees, who were more than willing to take photos with him...

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Caption...

A shot from above the main entrance to the show, the main show floor was always busy, as was the Nickelodeon stand...

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Twirlywoos (which will be represented in Australia by Haven Licensing) were at the DHX Media stand on display...

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Beanstalk, who also feature Tinderbox Agency and Dan Amos, who held a great seminar on Gaming and eSports...

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The MTV Bar was always busy throughought the show this year...

King had a nice stand which seemed to be popular, especially with Candy Crush...

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The Pokemon display is always a stand out on the show floor...

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This is another panorama shot, but from the second floor of the show...

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UK RETAIL RECON

By Lincon Boyd - BluePrint Licensing Attending Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) in 2015 gave me not only the chance to re-connect with both International & Australian Licensing industry colleagues in a really efficient & engaging manner over two days, but the chance to execute the ever important walk the shop floor imperative.

Having not visited Europe for a couple of years, I found that there have been a few subtle changes.

With big overseas majors landing daily on Australian retail shores & the spectre of global direct to retail licensing deals; European retail offers insights into future retail trends as much as how those licensing & merchandise strategies could realistically impact the Australian market futuristically.

Whether it’s simply the seasonality of the product itself, a European take on a well worn style guide application, to what the High Street fashion houses are backing, the prevalence of Halloween & some early indication of Christmas merchandise creeping onto shelves.

Primark to me was a really strong representation of licensing across

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Kids’, Men’s and Women’s fast fashion. The simple visual presence of the Licensing footprint across the store alone was great to see.

Hamleys, the world famous Regent Street Toy Store really does remind me of the Tom Hanks movie Big! As a clown and a slightly awkward looking man with a balloon attached to his forehead welcomed me into the store, Super enthusiastic staff whizzing about on roller skates had an orbit of Drones, giant UFO Frisby disks & RC vehicles.

The demonstration ethic in this place is off the charts and encouragement to try before you

buy is a winner with customers of all ages.

With floors & floors of the latest & greatest toys to explore. Super impressive were the London themed Lego displays & the higher end collectables featuring The Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit, Harry Potter, DC Superheroes & Game Of Thrones.

Marks & Spencer executed a strong retail Character Shop which to me never loses its’ appeal as a retail activation strategy. Having all hottest products in one spot always plays the convenience card & allows multiple licenses to shine at the same time.

Uniqlo - very Interesting! how many puffer jackets, knits plaid shirts and knits can one wardrobe fit! More Gortex than Seinfeld’s mate George Constanza could handle!

Nice to also see a proliferation of Licensed merchandise into the mainstream tourist shops.

Top Shop Man - over multiple levels including a Barber Shop complete with pinball machine enticing hipster male fashion fans is raised to a new level with pumping dubstep beats, a smattering of ironic licensed t-shirt fashion, a second hand recycled vintage section with leather jackets and pimped coats straight off the set of a 70’s Blaxploitation movie.

Speaking of LEGO… some great LEGO DIMENSIONS launch in-store displays sighted across retail in UK as well.

With all the talk of Back To The Future and the celebration of Marty McFly’s arrival in the present… if you catch my drift… some outstanding promotion from Nike with the Mag self lacing sneakers & Pepsi Perfect releases to commemorate the 30th anniversary garnering global coverage & rightfully so!

Sheppards Bush Westfield really is a great place to escape the Northern Climes for a one stop shopping mission. The simplicity of the layout of the shopping centre as well as the assortment of stores & particularly higher end branded stores in Tesla, Bose, Apple, Dune and Hugo Boss, stood out as a few of my favourites.

Both the Disney Store & Lego Stores devoted prime Front Window real estate to the reawakened Star Wars movie franchise… some really powerful displays bringing the brand to life in anticipation of new movie & merchandise rollouts preChristmas.

Halloween was all about & I’m sure that this trend has continued to pick up a spooky pace back in Australian retail land this last few weeks. With everyone from M&S, H&M, The local Tesco, Waitrose Selfridges, et al all stocked up ready for the sugar rush.

Well that’s a wrap! & here’s hoping it won’t be too long between Europa trips next time!

For more information contact Lincon Boyd, Managing Director Blueprint Licensing via phone on 0415 505 597 or email lincon@blueprintlicensing.com

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The Movistar Yamaha Moto GP bike of Valentino Rossi...

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The staircase to the Art Licensing section of the show...

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The WWE stand featuring the championship belts...

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Universal had a great Dog Tag machine creating tags for attendees, which was a massive hit...

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The Peanuts display at the show entrance advertising the movie, which opens in November...

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Angry Birds were creating a huge buzz for the new movie with a special ‘photo shoot’ setup for attendees...

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A final panorama shot of the full show floor...

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The ‘Blaze and the Monster Trucks’ banner in the background was the first thing in sight from the entrance...

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Hasbro had a great Transformer display on their stand, amongst other brands...

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Shaggy and Scooby as LEGO characters were walking the floor for photo opportunities...

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