Q&A
Licensing Expo
Back to Vegas The Las Vegas Licensing Expo makes its triumphant return to the physical trade show calendar this month, once again set to take place at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, from May 24th26th. Anna Knight, SVP of the Global Licensing Group, spoke to Toy World about what visitors can expect from this year’s unmissable event. a group that relies on face-to-face connections to drive business forward, that's been exceedingly tough. It’s also created an incredible amount of pent-up demand. Licensing Expo is where established and new brands alike come to both discover and be discovered. Brands from nearly every category are signing up to be a part of this event. While our IP owners, manufacturers, licensees and retailers have faced adversity and continue to do so – I'd be remiss in not bringing up supply chain disruption – the pandemic also brought with it innovation, exciting new trends and a fresh way of leveraging the power of brand extension and collaboration to engage with consumers. This year's event is designed with each of the industry's challenges and opportunities in mind, from highly curated educational content that speaks to emergent trends (think NFTs and TikTok) to searchable IP that facilitates deal-making.
May 2022 marks the first in-person Licensing Expo in Las Vegas since 2019: what impact have the past three years had on the global licensing community, and how have they shaped the show's return? Regardless of what industry you're in, it's been a challenging few years to say the least. Our particular community has been without an in-person trade show in Vegas for three years: for
From the many conversations we’ve been having, we know that our attendee and exhibitor communities are both itching to meet face-to-face and source new potential partners - and they have three years of not being able to do this to make up for. To help attendees make their most of their visit to Licensing Expo this year, we've launched an online platform which lets participants begin sifting through available IP, schedule meetings and identify education of interest. This all adds up to create a seamless and efficient experience on-site. The platform will remain open for a month
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following the live event to simplify the process of booking follow-up meetings. Users will also be to revisit content at their convenience.
From a toy/kids' entertainment perspective, what makes Licensing Expo Las Vegas an unmissable event? There’s an unprecedented amount of content at parents' and kids' fingertips right now. Streaming giants like Netflix, HBO Max and Paramount Plus, for example, are investing heavily in kids' content. This opens the door to virtually limitless opportunities to bring the beloved characters and stories kids watch over and over again to life beyond the screen. And that's just one slice of the pie: gamification, which helps promote learning through trusted brands, is taking off too. A good example of this is Hasbro's Peppa Pig early years learning programme, Learn with Peppa, which launched last year. The past three years have radically transformed how kids learn, play with friends and consume content. Now more than ever, the toys and kids' entertainment industry needs face-to-face connection and on-display trends that will allow it tap into the opportunities at hand and learn from one another, as we collectively adapt to changing consumer habits. It’s also worth bearing in mind that the licensing community hasn't had a chance to reconvene at a trade show yet this year. As a result, support for this year's show is staggering; retailers are right in the midst of their buying calendars and manufacturers
