License Global speaks to four finalists hoping for success when the winners are announced at Brand Licensing Europe next week.

License Global

September 15, 2022

10 Min Read
License This! logo.
License This! logo.Brand Licensing Europe

Earlier this month eight aspiring designers, illustrators, inventors and entrepreneurs were named as finalists for 2022 Brand Licensing Europe Kelvyn Gardner License This! Competition. All eight have entered with the hope of boosting the profile their brands and aiming to successfully break into the $300 billion global licensing market.    

In this article, License Global speaks to four of the finalists, Yvonne Ottley from Frobelles, Robert Johnson from Let’s Go See, Penny Kyriacou from Invent-A-Cards and Sharon & Tobias from Animo, on the eve of the winners being announced at Brand Licensing Europe in London next week.  

Yvonne Ottley, Frobelles (Character & Animation Category) 

Frobelles is a character and digital toys brand based on sisters, Coco, Kelli and Krista. The Frobelles proudly rock their Afro hair and inspire girls to love their natural tresses. Through a gaming app, digital content, a fan club and activity magazine, the brand provides much-needed positive representation for girls with afro hair and encourages self-confidence and fosters sisterhood.   

License Global: How did you hear about the Kelvyn Gardner License This! Competition? 

Yvonne: I first heard about the competition at Brand Licensing Europe in 2021 and I was really intrigued. A colleague of mine emailed me to encourage me to enter this year and I saw this as a sign just to go for it.  

Related:Brand Licensing Europe Unveils Eight Finalists for 2022 Kelvyn Gardner License This! Competition

Why did you enter?  

I see it as a fantastic opportunity to present my brand and to experts in the field. Hopefully it will also help to widen my network and I really look forward to learning more and gaining resources to help me become a successful licenser.  

Describe your property in one sentence… 

Frobelles is a character and animation brand and it's a much-needed positive representation for children with Afro hair. It's all about encouraging self-confidence and fostering sisterhood.  

What categories do your brand fit into? 

Frobelles is relevant for several categories. It's already had success with our gaming app and we see opportunity to expand into comics, apparel, toys, homeware and gifts.  

What is your dream for your brand when it becomes a licensing program? 

I think the dream for our brand would be an animated cartoon series on a major entertainment network or streaming platform and we hope to achieve this through licensing. 

Is there one retailer that you would love to see your products for sale in? 

Having a global reach online would be huge for the brand, so I would love to see a retailer like Character.com selling our products. Equally, I think we're all regaining a love for in-person shopping after a couple of very remote years. So, I'd love for Frobelles to be available in store in the likes of Selfridges, Target and Hamleys.  

What are you hoping to get for being part of the competition? 

To kickstart our brand licensing program and hopefully gain the attention of licensees who can take our brands global. 

Finally, how does it feel being shortlisted and what would it mean to win?  

It's so exciting to be shortlisted. My daughter and I have been working flat-out on developing the brand over the last few years. This just feels like we're getting closer to our dream. It would mean the world to win, not only for where this could take our brand, but on a personal level. It's a success story that I get to share with my daughter, who has been on this journey with me from the start.

Robert Johnson, Let’s Go See (Character & Animation Category)

Captain Robert Johnson has worked with aircraft for over 25 years. In an effort to entertain, educate and inspire children about the wonders of our world he created Let’s Go See, an animated children’s series, interactive website, children’s books and augmented reality app based on the original Pilot Ollie and Pilot Polly adventure books.

License Global: How did you hear about the Kelvyn Gardner License This! competition?

Robert: We have been keen followers and attendees of Brand Licensing Europe for a number of years. As a result, we are sent regular email updates in the build-up to the show, one of which highlighted the Kelvyn Gardner License This! competition. As Let’s Go See is now ready for the M&L markets, it was a perfect opportunity for us to showcase it.

Why did you enter?

We have spent the last two years building an award-winning team and a solid, tried and tested foundation for our Let’s Go See brand. Having launched our first two pilot animated episodes, an augmented reality app along with two new reading books which have generated a hugely positive response from the market, we are ready to grow the brand with a high volume of episodes, new educational gaming content for our app and explore the many licensing opportunities open to us.

Describe your property in one sentence?

We’re using animations, books and AR apps to ‘educate, entertain and inspire’ children because not every child can travel the world. Let’s Go See brings the world to every child.

What categories is your product relevant for?

We have embedded a number of toy and game-based options within the animations such as the specialAviatron’ watches that every character wears, the solar powered JJ-1 plane and the individual rucksack that each of the Junior Jets wear. As well as toys, physical and electronic games, further licensing opportunities exist in multiple arenas such as play characters, pilot uniforms, publishing, apparel, homewares and travel accessories.

What is your dream for your brand when it becomes a licensing program?

The Let’s Go See core motto is to entertain, educate and inspire young children about the wonders of our world, it’s amazing people and cultures using our relatable role model characters. These characters work as a team, supporting each other whilst embracing difference, diversity, respect and inclusion. Any licensed products, be it toys, games, books, activity sets, apparel or homewares to name just a few, that helps us share this core message will enhance the brand, core message and provide revenue to help us continue to grow.

Is there one retailer you would love to see your products for sale in?

I’d love to see Lego create our home base, Knots Airport, with our JJ-1 solar powered plane and Pilot Ollie, Pilot Polly and the Junior Jets as play figures.

What are you hoping to get from being a part of the competition? 

The key to growing Let’s Go See is visibility and being a finalist in this competition at Brand Licensing Europe will give us the opportunity to share our brand, the strength of our award-winning team and our achievements to date with the biggest and best licensing companies in the world.

Finally, how does it feel being shortlisted and what would it mean to you to win?

It’s a real honor to make the final of the Kelvyn Gardner License This! Competition and have the opportunity to share our brand and its values. As a fairly young production company, making the final validates our brand and the hard work we have put in over the last two years. It’s always nice to hear experts in the field see the value of your brand.

Sharon & Tobias, Animo (Brand & Design Category) 

Animo’s designs are based on the watercolor paintings of animals by the Swedish artist and stage designer, Anna Gisle, inspired by her many years working in theater and the world of Scandinavian children's literature.    

License Global: How did you hear about the Kelvyn Gardner License This! Competition? 

Sharon: I've been following Licensing Expo emails for a while, but this specific email [prompting entry to the competition] arrived in our promotion section, which was really lucky. 

Why did you enter?  

In the past three years, we have been exhibiting in different fields and got a few licensing contracts through it. So, I started to research the possibilities and I came across the competition. 

Describe your property in one sentence. 

A timeless kingdom where whimsical hand-painted animals play. 

What categories do your brand fit into? 

The categories would be stationery, home and gift, personalized greeting cards and gifts, fashion and games. I would say the sky is the limit. 

What is your dream for your brand when it becomes a licensing program? 

My dream is to create a highly recognized, trustworthy and much-loved brand. 

Is there one retailer that you would love to see your products for sale in? 

Yes! I would love to see our products in Waterstones stores.  

What are you hoping to get for being part of the competition? 

We are hoping to gain more contacts that might lead to new contracts and to learn more about the licensing world. 

Finally, how does it feel being shortlisted and what would it mean to win?  

It’s exciting news for us, it really made my day when I received the email. It’s thrilling for others to see the potential in our brand and in our products. I hope winning will take us another step forward. 

Penny Kyriacou, Invent-A-Cards (Product Design Category) 

This category is in partnership with Mojo Nation and Aardman. 

License Global: How did you hear about the Kelvyn Gardner License This! Competition? 

I'm Penny, I'm 18-years-old and I'm about to start a product design course at Central Saint Martins [University of the Arts London]. I heard about the competition from another university, London Southbank. They regularly send me emails about their students’ success, competitions and opportunities that I can take part in. 

Why did you enter?  

I'm always looking for new creative opportunities to get involved in and find competitions to be a really exciting way to grow and enhance my skills. I thought this would be a challenging project to keep me engaged over the summer and help me prepare for my course. 

Describe your property in one sentence… 

My product is a family friendly card game in which players must race to collect materials and build the inventions in the “Wallace and Gromit” stories.  

What is your dream for your brand when it becomes a licensing program? 

My dream is for my game to bring hours to as many families as possible and for Wallace and Gromit to continue bringing joy to new generations.  

Is there one retailer that you would love to see your products for sale in? 

I'd be thrilled for Invent-A-Cards to be sold in WHSmith stores, because they have shops up and down the U.K. High Street and at airports. They're also visited by a wider demographic and supermarkets and toy stores. So ultimately it would make my game more accessible to customers. 

What are you hoping to get for being part of the competition? 

I've been fascinated by product design from a really young age and I would love to be a designer. I'm intrigued to see the other finalists work and how they have interpreted the brief. It would be good to meet like-minded people in the industry. Hopefully I can begin networking and building contacts, because during my course I would like to take part in a work placement.  

Finally, how does it feel being shortlisted and what would it mean to win?  

It feels amazing being shortlisted, it's given me a confidence boost and proven to me that I do have what it takes to create a compelling product. Obviously, I would be overjoyed to win. It would be amazing to see something that I've imagined come to life, and I'm sure it would bring me a wealth of future opportunities.  

However, I'm so grateful to have had this platform to represent myself as a designer, and I'm proud to have made it to the finals. I can't wait to meet everyone! 

The live finals will take place at BLE in the License Global Theatre at the following times on Thursday, Sept. 22:     

  • 10:30-11 a.m.: Brand & Design category finale   

  • 11-11:30 a.m.: Character & Animation category finale 

  • 10:30 a.m.-Noon: Product Design category finale    

Brand Licensing Europe is the leading event in Europe for licensing and brand extension, taking place Sept. 20-22 at ExCeL London. Visitors can register to attend for free here. 

About the Author(s)

License Global

License Global is the leading news source for the brand licensing industry, delivering award-winning editorial content including news, trends, analysis, and special reports about the global consumer product and retail marketplace.

Through its print edition, website, daily e-newsletter and event publications, License Global reaches more than 150,000 executives and professionals in all major markets. The magazine also serves as the official publication for the sector’s trade events, which include Licensing Expo, Brand Licensing Europe, Licensing Expo Japan, Licensing Expo Shanghai and the Licensing Leadership Summit.

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