BLE Names License This! Winners

BLE Names License This! Winners The winners of this year’s License This! competition were announced on Thursday, Oct. 11 at Brand Licensing Europe following 90 minutes of pitching and presentations from the six finalists.

This year’s competition attracted a record number of entries, and for the first time in its 10-year history, BLE presented two License This! awards. The winner of the License This! Character & Animation award is “Oddcats.”

“Oddcats” is a preschool property from Zara Picken; a mob of mischievous creatures with a taste for adventure and socks! Cute, colorful, a little bit quirky and with a distinct stitch design, the “Oddcats” borrow odd socks to help them along on their globetrotting travels.

The winner of the License This! Brand & Design award is Animals! Animals from Sarah Burman, a range of colorful, characterful quirky animal designs with a unique patchwork texture, strong colors and a hint of retro.

“We had six fantastically original and diverse properties in two very distinctive categories,” says Kelvyn Gardner, License This! chair and LIMA UK managing director.

“There was licensing potential in each one, which made for a very difficult decision, but we are confident we have picked two very worthy winners from the class of License This! 2018.”

The two License This! winners will receive a free exhibition stand at BLE 2019, one year’s LIMA membership, PR support and advice from a panel of industry experts. For the first time, all finalists will receive legal consultation from competition sponsor Wynne-Jones. Previous entrants¬–both winners and finalists¬¬–have also signed lucrative agent and licensing deals off the back of the competition. 

The 2018 License This! judges were:

Chair: Kelvyn Gardner – LIMA UK

Cross category judge: Christina Schiavone - Wynne-Jones

Character & Animation judges 

•                Dan Grant – Danilo Promotions

•                Nikki Samuels – Sambro  

•                Clare Piggott – Larkshead Media

•                Julia Redman – M&Co

•                Steve Manners – CPLG

Brand & Design judges

•                Stuart Cox – I Like Birds

•                Will Stewart – The Point 1888

•                Vicki Thomas – Vicki Thomas Associates

•                Sarah Lawrence – This is Iris

•                Jehane Boden Spiers – Jehane Ltd.

Brand Licensing Europe took place Oct. 9-11 at Olympia London.