UK and Spanish licensees vie for this year’s award.
Brand Licensing Europe has announced the finalists for this year’s License This! competition following an intense judging day.
The finalists have been confirmed as:
Art and design studio Deckled Edge specialises in greeting cards, gift wrap and art prints. It is a UK-based growing art brand with a natural approach and an aim of bringing joy through pigment/paper/pen.
Spanish brand Ioguis are five illustrated friends who live in the woods and meet a yoga master who teaches them the philosophy of yoga through games, postures and wisdom. The story has been designed to invite children to learn how to handle their emotions and habits and encourage them to practice yoga,
Launched in 2009, License This! was introduced by Brand Licensing Europe to give unlicensed brand and image owners the opportunity to enter the licensing market, currently worth $262.9 billion globally. This year’s shortlisted entrants will have the chance to pitch their property in front of a live audience and our panel of expert judges at 13:15 on Thursday 12 October in the Licensing Academy Theatre at BLE where the winner will also be announced.
This year’s judges are:
- Kelvyn Gardner, LIMA UK
- Sam Ferguson, Jazwares
- Jane Evans, JELC
- Dan Grant, Danilo
- Clare Piggott, Larkshead Media
“License This! improves every year,” said Kelvyn Gardner, managing director, LIMA UK. “The success of previous entrants, and not just the winners, is encouraging wider participation, with everything from digital media concepts through art/design and even a brand or two now. This sets a challenge for the judges, almost comparing apples and oranges, but it’s a fascinating process and this year’s finalists have great merit.”
Dan Grant, licensing director, Danilo Promotions, added: “I was privileged to be part of the judging panel for the License This! competition for the first time this year. Not really knowing what to expect I was impressed by the variety and quality of the submissions that were presented to us. There were some really interesting concepts put forward and I think we managed to select a good range of finalists that cross different areas of the licensing world.
“One of the things that impressed me most was the fact that there was representation from around the world, which really reflects the reach of this competition, BLE and licensing as an industry. This is such a great competition for those people looking to get into licensing and I would encourage anyone else considering this competition next year to go for it, as you never know what it might lead to. Best of luck to the finalists.”
Jane Evans, managing director, JELC, added: “I was surprised by the variety of concepts submitted and the geographical diversity, and the fact that the finalists are very different is a great reflection of the scope of the licensing industry.”
Brand Licensing Europe is the definitive event for the licensing industry in Europe and takes place from 10-12 October 2017 at Olympia London. Visitors can register for free tickets at www.brandlicensing.eu/register.
Photo: Charlotte Reed, last year’s winner, with May The Thoughts Be With You.
