Feature - BLE

It's good to be back!

The long-awaited return of Brand Licensing Europe is now only mere weeks away, with London Excel preparing to welcome back the leading licensing trade fair from 17th-19th November. Toy World caught back up with Anna Knight, VP Licensing, Informa Markets, to find out what else has happened in the time since we spoke to her last.

It’s just a few weeks before BLE kicks off – how are the last-minute preparations going?

Right now, we’re just four weeks away and it’s all getting very real. The whole team is so excited by the prospect of being back at Excel and meeting up with everyone in person again. We’ve got such a packed event in terms of exhibitors, features, keynotes, events and more. It’s going to be a hectic but brilliant three days; we just can’t wait to get onsite now.

The online meetings platform, which lets registered attendees request in-person and online appointments, has been open for the last few weeks and we’ve already seen 2,000 meeting requests sent between exhibitors and attendees. This clearly tells us that the industry is as excited about getting together as we are.

Since we last spoke, BLE announced that another big name – ViacomCBS Consumer Products – was joining the exhibitor line-up. This must be a major plus for you?

Of course, it’s great to have a company as large and influential as ViacomCBS Consumer Products at the show. That said, BLE’s purpose is to facilitate connections across the whole industry: it’s just as important to us that we’re able to tell your readers we’ve got close to 170 exhibitors confirmed, big and small, across all three categories - Character & Entertainment, Brands & Lifestyle, and Art, Design and Image - and from 20 countries. That’s across in-person and online, as BLE this year is truly embracing the multi-platform format. The majority are exhibiting both in-person and online too, which is testament to their commitment to this format.

The government recently outlined relaxations to overseas travel. Has this made a difference to the number of international BLE visitors?

It was obviously welcome news to us when the UK’s travel system was simplified. We knew it would make life so much easier for our international visitors and exhibitors wanting to attend BLE in person. The relaxations have definitely made a difference to the number of international visitor registrations, particularly from areas that little bit further afield, such as the USA. European registrations were already tracking pretty well. Despite the relaxations, we know that not everyone will be in a position to join us - yet will still have the same business requirements. We hope our hybrid solution gives the industry what it needs: BLE virtual will run from 30th November to 1st December.

This is also why we’ve moved most of our educational content online. We will have two inperson keynotes as well as live content in the Retail Trends Lounge, including the final of this year’s Kelvyn Gardner License This! competition, which has been extended to three categories including an award for Product Innovation.

When we spoke in October, you couldn’t yet tell us specific details about the BLE keynotes. It seems there’s now a fair bit more you can share regarding speakers and topics?

I was so excited about the keynotes, and it was really hard to keep them secret, but I hope you’ll agree that they are as huge as I promised they would be.

At 4pm on Wednesday 17th, we will be hosting a Team GB panel session, hot off the back of the team’s amazing medal haul from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. This session will feature two British Olympic gold medallists, one of whom is BMX Freestyler Charlotte Worthington. The panel also features The Point. 1888 , one of Team GB’s brand licensing partners. Charlotte will be at BLE in-person and doing a meet and greet after the keynote. Our other gold medallist will be dialling in virtually.

The second keynote takes place at 1pm on Thursday 18th November. This will be a highly insightful session from ViacomCBS Consumer Products discussing insights from its Diversity & Inclusion efforts, with a specific focus on its recent toy research. This keynote will follow a special presentation from Black Lives Matter Licensing UK.

Both keynotes will take place on the 3rd floor of the Platinum Suite on the Excel Boulevard. Access is to registered attendees only and spaces are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

What else has happened or been finalised in the weeks since our previous interview?

Where to start? We’ve confirmed almost all of the content in the BLE Sustainability Activation, held in partnership with Products of Change. There’s plenty of toy content in there from the likes of Lego - which is really paving the way when it comes to sustainability in toys - Keel Toys with its Keeleco range, and Golden Bear with Hey Duggee and Wastebuster. The latter two are building a full circular system to recycle old toys into pellets that can be used to make other products.

The Retail Trends Lounge is returning with five brilliant retailer-exclusive sessions, plus the Kelvyn Gardner License This! final, which is open to everyone. I really would encourage your readers to support this talented bunch of designers, illustrators and inventors, all of whom are very keen to break into the industry.

We’ve also confirmed Colour for Kelvyn on day two, when his family will be joining us to open the show at 9am. We’re asking everyone to wear bright colours in tribute to Kelvyn Gardner and to make a Light Fund donation. We’ve locked in our social events too. Team BLE and Licensing International are inviting everyone to join them for after-hours drinks on the show floor from 5pm-7pm on day one at one of our three bars: the Crunchyroll Bar, the BLE Bar and the Motul Lifestyle Bar. On Thursday, meanwhile, we’ll be hosting exhibitor drinks at the Novotel.

If there’s anyone out there still unsure about attending, what would you want them to know?

That we’re here to do everything we possibly can to help them connect – and reconnect – with the people, companies, insights and inspiration they need to help them plan for a post-pandemic future, and to build and grow their business. And that’s exactly what they’ll find at BLE this year, both in person and online. It’s worth bearing in mind that licensing is genuinely a face-to-face business, and without a doubt thrives upon personal interactions, so if you can attend, don’t hesitate. We have the right measures in place to give you comfort and safety, as well as plenty of opportunities to do business.

I’d also like to make sure our visitors don’t miss the Agents of Change galleries located in each of the entrances – these are the companies that are driving real change across our industry.

Finally, we know being in meetings back-to-back for three days can be hard at any time, but this year, when we’re all just gradually getting back into the swing of seeing people in real life again, we’re guessing some people may want to take time out. In this instance, please do visit our Health and Wellbeing Lounge in the Sustainability Activation. It’s a little haven of tranquillity where you’ll find healthy snacks and drinks, plus a welcome chance to reset.