First Slate of Brands Confirmed for Brand Licensing Europe

Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) opens visitor registration today. The leading pan-European trade show for licensing and brand extension  takes place Oct. 4-6 at ExCeL, London.

The world of fandom covers verticals from toys, LBE, fashion, gaming, entertainment, art, publishing, heritage, FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) and more, and BLE helps attendees find the right partners to  connect with fans in new and creative ways by leveraging the power of brands.

Over 150 companies from all over the world – with strong representation from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Lithuania, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Ireland, Macedonia and the U.K. – are already confirmed to exhibit – an increase of more than 25% on this time last year.

They include some of the world’s leading brand owners including Paramount, Warner Music Experience, Hasbro, Aardman, Acamar Films, Banijay Brands, Asterix, Bandai Namco, Beanstalk, Brandgenuity, Bulldog Licensing, Capcom, Caroline Mickler, Crunchyroll, Cyber Group Studios, FC Barcelona, Gallimard Jeunesse, Imperial War Museum, LMI, Magic Light Pictures, Natural History Museum, Penguin Ventures, Perfetti Van Melle, Sanrio, SEGA, The Wombles, The Pokémon Company, The Smurfs, V&A, Yale University and many more. 

Thousands of brands are represented on the show floor from animation to sports, heritage, arts, gaming and more, offering attendees the opportunity to secure the rights to  leading brands including Paul Frank, My Little Pony, MTV, Top Gun, Chupa Chups, Asterix & Obelix, Paw Patrol, the Victoria & Albert Museum, The Batman, Hello Kitty, Assassin’s Creed, Peter Rabbit, The Van Gogh Museum, Minions, Jurassic Park, le Petit Prince, Kellogg’s, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sophie la Girafe, Far Cry, and more.

This year’s BLE theme is LBE (location-based experiences), a licensing category that has grown exponentially in value, creativity and opportunity since lockdown restrictions were lifted. At Licensing Expo, Licensing International revealed topline stats from its forthcoming Global Licensing Survey, which showed that the value of LBE increased by 67% in 2022. 

LBE will be brought to life at BLE through a series of inspirational features including the LBE Pavilion with immersive exhibitor content created for visitors to walk through, around and interact with, two LBE-focused keynote addresses (Wednesday, Oct. 4 and Thursday, Oct. 5), and more to be announced in the coming weeks.

"If you thought last year’s BLE was an incredible experience with the fashion catwalks, wait until you get to ExCeL in October and see how the LBE theme manifests; it’s going to be one of the most fun, entertaining and genuinely inspiring BLEs ever,” says Ella Haynes, event director, Global Licensing Group, Informa Markets. “And what’s really exciting is that LBE is for everyone – whether you’re a retailer, licensee, designer or brand owner, I promise you will take away great ideas, contacts and content from this year’s show.”

Visitors are invited to register for a free pass to BLE. Last year’s event welcomed thousands of leading retailers, manufacturers and brands.