Licensing World

This brand is my brand

Welcome to this month’s extended Licensing World section. Over the following 60 or so pages, we are delighted to bring you a round-up of the latest news from the world of licensing, an exhaustive selection of the hottest new licensed products hitting shelves over the coming months and a preview of the forthcoming Licensing Expo event.

After a three-year hiatus due to the mention what’s fuelling Nerf. We hope everyone can pandemic, Licensing Expo returns in stop by and have a glimpse into the potential of LBE.” person to the Mandalay Bay Convention Centre in Las Vegas from 24th-26th May, and the show organiser is pulling out all the stops to make sure the show is back with a bang. The theme of this year’s event is location based experiences (LBE), which draws on consumers’ growing interest in immersive, IP-based experiences that bring their favourite characters and brands to life. Of the 200+ exhibitors confirmed to date, with more signing on daily, many brands are showcasing their foray into LBE at Licensing Expo in search of new licensees, manufacturers and retailer partners that will help bring their IP-based experiences to life.

Hasbro, Falcon’s Beyond, NAFTOS, and Feld Entertainment are among the brands that have revealed extensive LBE plans for the May event, transforming their booths into an IP-based destination that will capture attendees’ attention. From turning show attendees into NFTs and transporting guests into imagined worlds to a VR battle arena, this year’s event is gearing up to be highly interactive and trend-driven in order to provide a more seamless experience that facilitates new IP discovery.

At Hasbro’s Experience booth (A143), the company will be previewing the Transformers: VR Battle Arena with Meta4 Interactive, which enables players to play as a Transformers robot in a VR world. Hasbro will also be showcasing inspiration from other LBE initiatives around the world with a sampling of mini experiences. Matt Proulx, VP, Location Based Entertainment, Hasbro, commented “We’re excited to demo the Transformers: VR Battle Arena with our partners at Meta4 Interactive at our booth this year. We’ll also be giving visitors a chance to sample other activations around the world, taking inspiration from our Monopoly Life-sized in London, Transformers & My Little Pony-themed Hotel in Shanghai, not to mention what’s fuelling Nerf. We hope everyone can stop by and have a glimpse into the potential of LBE.”

Our editor Rachael Simpson-Jones caught up with Anna Knight from Informa, organiser of Licensing Expo, who was understandably excited about the show coming back: “Licensing Expo returns in-person for the first time since 2019, and excitement among the industry is palpable. This is a business-critical time in the calendar for brands, manufacturers, and retailers alike – they’re coming with a pen in hand ready to ink new deals and discover the new trends that will line their shelves in the coming years, but also to reconnect in-person possibly for the first time since the pandemic.” You can read more from Anna in the interview which starts on page 144.

With travel restrictions between the UK and the US now largely a thing of the past, a sizeable contingent from the UK licensing community is expected to make the trip. With four months to go before BLE once again opens its doors in London, Vegas attendees have the chance to start conversations about 2023 nice and early – always a major advantage when discussing licensing-related opportunities.

The past few years has seen large swathes of the licensing community having to adapt longestablished business models, with some key drivers of licensed merchandise sales - including cinema attendance and location-based experiences – significantly impacted by the pandemic. However, as the world slowly returns to normal, the licensing community can start to plan for the long term with a far greater degree of confidence, and many will hope that Las Vegas kick starts planning for 2023 and beyond.

Meanwhile, the next few months will see a wealth of new licensed lines coming to market. The year has already got off to a strong start, with The Batman and Spider-Man: No Way Home movies both driving healthy sales across the toy and kids’ space, while the release of the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie sequel last month is expected to continue that trend. Ahead lies a summer of blockbuster movie releases, including DC League of Super-Pets, Lightyear, Jurassic World Dominion and Minions: The Rise of Gru, which all have strong merchandise programmes that will work well in the toy retail channel.

Away from movies, Pokémon is set for another strong year following its 25th anniversary year in 2021, and its success has paved the way for other strong brands in this area - such as Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh! – to firmly establish themselves in the toy market. The Pre-School category looks as competitive as ever: market leading-brands Paw Patrol and Peppa Pig show no signs of slowing down, despite facing stiff competition from strong new properties such as Moonbug’s CoComelon and BBC’s Bluey. Classic toy brands such as Barbie and My Little Pony continue to provide a great opportunity for licensees and retail partners to tap into the success of the core brand with complementary line extensions, while visitors to Licensing Expo and BLE in September will no doubt spend much of their time attempting to unearth ‘the next big thing’.

There are also some intriguing new opportunities opening up in licensing, especially in untapped areas such as NFTs, while Sustainability remains a topic that the licensing community is doing its best to get to grips with. These conversations are often best held face-to-face, while shows always provide the opportunity for spontaneous chance meetings and introductions that rarely happen in the digital realm. Just as the toy community found with the London Toy Fair back in January, so much good can come from meeting up in person, and I am sure the licensing community is excited to come together again in Vegas this month and London in September. Keep an eye out for another extended Licensing World section in our September issue, focusing on BLE. In the meantime, enjoy this month’s look at all the latest from the world of licensing.