At the final keynote for Week One of Festival of Licensing, Jane Smith, group director, brand licensing, Banijay Brands, sat down with Ben Roberts, content editor, EMEA, License Global, for a fireside chat.

Smith talked about the merge between Banijay and Endemol Shine, home to properties such as “Peaky Blinders,” “MasterChef” and “Simon’s Cat,” and how its licensing program can help build consumer engagement. 

“You see the power a brand can bring,” says Smith. “There’s no magic formula. You get a deeper engagement with the content you’re watching. You’ll see a kid watching a show will bring their siblings and friends in.” 

However, Smith points out that not all programs under the Banijay Brands umbrella should get a licensing program. 

“We all love watching a documentary or drama series, but that doesn’t mean you want to wear a t-shirt,” says Smith. “You want to have a fantastic viewer experience. You get that deep engagement when you see people who want to experience it off-screen.”  

Some brands don’t immediately have a licensing rollout in place. In one case, Smith shared how one of the company’s shows didn’t have a licensing program until the show was well-established.

“Licensing only really works if you’re authentic with the brand,” says Smith. “For ‘Peaky Binders, we waited until season four before that brand caught fire, when we saw all the [copyright] infringement when we realized there was a demand for product.”

To hear more from Smith, visit FestivalofLicensing.com and register for the month-long event for free.