Licensing Leadership Summit brings together C-level executives from the world’s largest players across manufacturing, retail and brands to discuss, debate and collaborate on the future of consumer products licensing and shape the strategic direction of the industry in 2021 and 2022. The conference is the culmination of the month-long Festival of Licensing virtual event and offers global brand licensing decision-makers insights and thought leadership panels that will help shape their strategic direction in the future.

The two-day conference, taking place Oct. 28-29, is packed with industry-led thought leadership and online conversations about the opportunities ahead. The event will virtually unite the licensing industry to form connections, share knowledge and secure licensing deals, and is brought to you by the organizers of Licensing Expo and Brand Licensing Europe.

Each day of the program will include insightful keynotes on the retail and licensing trends shaping the market. Following each keynote, attendees will have the opportunity to tune into an array of sessions covering a wide range of topics, issues and strategic opportunities facing the world of brand licensing such as TikTok, esports and gaming to evergreens like museum licensing, as well as hear from industry thought leaders including NPD, MoMA, NFLPA, Sesame Workshop, Hallmark, Trend Bible, Fashion Snoops, Redbubble, Legendary Entertainment, Funko, Zynga, Nickelodeon, BBC, Wildbrain CPLG, Kantar, FlowHaven and many more.

“This year, perhaps more than ever, leaders and decision-makers from around the world must come together to connect and work toward our future beyond the pandemic,” says Anna Knight, vice president, global licensing group, Informa Markets. “As 2020 is the first year Licensing Leadership Summit will be held virtually, the event is now more accessible than ever, with more diversity of speakers, and more opportunities to connect and engage with content that, in the end, brings us all closer together.”

This year’s agenda is highlighted by keynotes from Coded Futures/ASOS Ventures, Google and JPatton. From the future of retail to the challenges protecting your brand in a digital world, this year’s keynotes shed light on the diverse trends shaping the industry’s future.

The Retail Revolution: Planning Ahead for Digital Disruption

Speaker: Marcus East, technical director, Office of the CTO, Google

Overview: How are brands going to need to behave to interact with the retail customer of the future? This keynote will look deeply at customer intimacy in a digital age and explore how consumer-facing brands and their core audience will be shaped in the next decade.

Revolutionizing Brand Protection

Speaker: Dr. Wes Wang, chief scientific officer, JPatton

Overview: One of the toughest issues for brand licensors and their licensees is the issue of counterfeit products posing as real items. It robs revenue for both the licensors and licensees and hurts brand value. In 2019, a new technology became available to help protect brand licensors, licensees and retailers. This technology provides the licensing supply chain with the ability to protect revenue as well as the consumer, without changing anything. This session will explore how utilizing scannable forensic security technology can solve counterfeiting issues.

Time to Play: Supercharging Retail Through Gamification

Speaker: Daniel Bobroff, co-founder, ASOS Ventures, and founder and chief executive officer, Coded Futures

Overview: We have all played our part in how technology has disrupted the traditional world of retail. But in the shadow of the recent pandemic, technology has emerged as retail's savior. And as retailers scramble to accelerate their digital capability, a superpower exists that most know, yet few have mastered. It is the art of gamification.

Using game techniques and methodologies, there is an urgent need for retail to deliver compelling digital experiences that are human-focused rather than merely task-obsessed. And, as we build the next incarnation of retail theater, let's make sure to satisfy a new generation of highly creative, multitasking customers, who have simply become impatient with a world that appears too slow.

This practical keynote will provide the latest thinking in how gamification is changing the world of retail, across its entire value chain, and reshaping organizations. Learn how to use simple techniques for your customers today and leverage gamification as the winning strategy for your business, culture and bottom line.

Different by Design: MoMA’s Modern Approach to Museum Licensing

Speaker: Robin Sayetta, head, business development, retail, The Museum of Modern Art

The Athlete Influencer Difference

Speakers: Terése Whitehead, senior manager, sponsorship and operations, NFL Player's Association, Inc.; Isaac Rochell, American Football Player

What Do Licensees Want?

Speakers: Connie Chang, director, licensing, C-Life Group; Tonya Kirby, director, licensing, Retro Brands; and Rick Lowe, managing director, Brands In

Moderator: James Dohnert, content editor, License Global

How Games Ate the Licensing World 

Speakers: Chris Petrovic, senior vice president and head, corporate strategy, M&A and business development, Zynga, and Shaan Akbar, digital media executive and consultant

How to Combat the Explosion of Print On-Demand Whack-A-Mole on Social Media

Speakers: Rachel Aronson, head, business development, CounterFind, and Jamie Gerson, head, strategic partnerships, CounterFind

Thinking Beyond Revenue: A Holistic Licensing Approach in the Post-Normal

Speakers: Kalle Törmä, FlowHaven, and Anita Castellar, chief executive officer, FanGirl Consulting and Brand Management

Digital Talent: The Future

Speaker: Sid Kaufman, licensing agent, UTA

Moderator: Amanda Cioletti, event and content Director, Global Licensing Group, Informa Markets

Product as Solutions

Speakers: Lilly Berelovich, president and chief creative officer, Fashion Snoops; Jenna Guarascio, director, content strategy, Fashion Snoops; and Carrera Kurnik, culture editor and consumer strategist, Fashion Snoops   

Something Old, Something New: How to Plan for Changing Consumer Behaviors 

Speakers: James Foti, Worldpanel Division, consumer insight director, entertainment, Kantar, and Glen Tooke, Worldpanel Division, consumer insight director, fashion, Kantar

Licensing and the Toy Industry: A Changing Landscape                                           

Speaker: Juli Lennet, vice president and industry advisor, U.S. Toys, The NPD Group

I Want It Now!: Using the Fan to Expand Distribution

Speaker: Lauren Winarski, senior manager, brand and licensing, Funko

Knowledge Is Power: Throw Away Your Crystal Ball

Speakers: Frank Masterson, formerly of Hallmark, and Tony Scott, senior promotions manager, Edgewell Personal Care

Moderator: Marty Malysz, president, Dependable Rights

New Directions at Retail

Speaker: Robin Lewis, founder and chief executive officer, The Robin Report

Moderator: Maura Regan, president, Licensing International

Finding Opportunity in the Overwhelm: Key Trends in Consumerism 

Speakers: Maxwell Luthy, Evangelist at Large, TrendWatching

How the World’s Best Brands use Trends to Succeed

Speaker: Joanna Feeley, founder and chief executive officer, Trend Bible

COVID-19: What Happens Next?

Speaker: Bibi Wardak, Content Editor, License Global

YouTube and You: Insights to Drive Retail and Consumer Product Strategies

Speakers: Steve Manners, vice president, Business Development, WildBrain CPLG and WildBrain Spark, and Jon Gisby, managing director, WildBrain Spark

Esports: The Hottest New Licensing Category in Latin America

Speakers: Maca Rotter, president and chief executive officer, La Panaderia, and Habacuc Guzmán, co-founder and director, Arena Esports GG

Forging a Sustainable Future      

Speakers: Mart Drake-Knight, owner, Teemill; Rikesh Desai, licensing director, merchandise and gaming, BBC Studios; Anita Manju, senior licensing manager, softlines, BBC Studios; and Helena Stopher, founder, Products of Change

Moderator: Ben Roberts, Content Editor, EMEA, License Global

Orchestrating Speed-to-Market: How to Make Everything Hum in Concert

Speaker: Gabriela Arenas, vice president, licensing, North America, Sesame Workshop

Moderator: Amanda Cioletti, Event and Content Director, Licensing, Informa Markets

The Importance of Licensing to Brand Owners in these Turbulent Times

Speaker: Michael Stone, co-founder and chairman, Beanstalk

UGC Marketplaces and Brand Licensing

Speakers: Christina Lima, vice president, Global Franchise Management and Creative Services, ITV Studios; Eric Morse, senior vice president, Content Partnerships, Redbubble; and James Ngo, executive vice president, Franchise Management, Legendary Entertainment

From Screen to Shelves

Speakers: Nina Hahn, senior vice president, Nickelodeon; Veronica Hart, executive vice president, Franchise Planning, ViacomCBS; Mark Kingston, senior vice president, International Licensing, ViacomCBS Consumer Products

Moderator: Rachel Sandler, vice president, communications, Consumer Products, ViacomCBS

All sessions will be available on-demand throughout both live event days and for four weeks after the conference ends. We’ve provided a snapshot of the agenda below and you can view the complete program here.