Brand Licensing Europe, the largest licensing event in Europe, has revealed its lineup of industry executives judging this year’s License This! competition.
Kelvyn Gardner, managing director, LIMA U.K., will chair the panel. He will be joined by Tom Gunn, brand director, Nickelodeon; Jane Evans, director, JELC; Sam Ferguson, senior director, licensing and retail, Jazwares; and Pat Reading, licensing director, UU Ltd.
Now in its seventh year, License This! is an initiative that runs as part of BLE. The competition offers new creative concepts or brands the chance to break into the global licensing industry.
The competition is open to anyone with a concept that has yet to be published or broadcast, or a brand that has not yet extended to non-core consumer products. It also applies to any new property in publishing, art and design, television or digital media.
Entries for the competition are reviewed by the panel of judges and a shortlist of four properties are then pitched in front of visitors at BLE on Oct. 13. The winner will receive a prize worth more than £6,000, including a furnished stand at BLE 2017 to bring the property to the market. The winner will also receive LIMA membership for one year and a ticket to the LIMA Licensing Essentials Course and Spring Fling Networking Party in May 2017.
“As the second annual LIMA survey demonstrates, retail sales of licensed products are increasing year on year. Platforms like License This!, which expose new talent to industry executives, are therefore essential for the future development of the industry,” says Gardner. “I am looking forward to working with my fellow judges to review this year’s creations.”
Previous winners of the competition include Pink Chillies, RaNT! and Mr. Trafalgar, who have gone on to sign a number of licensing agreements as a result. OiDroids, a range of collectable pop out and build robot characters in the pocket money sector, was last year’s winner.
Entry forms and competition rules can be found online at BrandLicensing.eu.
Deadline for entries is Sept. 9.
Brand Licensing Europe, organized by UBM EMEA and sponsored by the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association, will take place Oct. 11-13 at London’s Olympia exhibition hall.