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Record numbers of retailers and visitors from France, Germany, Italy and Spain were in attendance at this year’s Brand Licensing Europe (BLE), with this year’s event placing special emphasis on location based entertainment (LBE).
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 09 Oct 2023
Brand Licensing Europe is home to hundreds of different brands and IPs from across the globe Credit: BLE
Record numbers of retailers and visitors from France, Germany, Italy and Spain were in attendance at this year’s Brand Licensing Europe (BLE), with this year’s event placing special emphasis on location based entertainment (LBE).
Taking place from 4-6 October inside London’s ExCeL, the event was created to bring together thousands of brand owners, retailers and manufacturers, as they explored ways to create new branded products and visitor experiences designed to connect audiences to their favourite IPs.
A total of 9,649 licensing professionals attended BLE this year, representing an increase of 19% compared to 2022’s event. Meanwhile the number of retailers in attendance was 1,166 - an increase of 31% on last year and a record for the show.
Overall, licensing professionals from 100 different countries attended the show, while exhibiting companies totalled 229 - a year-on-year increase of 12% - with companies including Paramount, Hasbro, FC Barcelona, the Natural History Museum, The Pokémon Company exhibiting in 2023.
The theme of this year’s show was rooted in attractions, with a special focus placed on location-based experiences (LBE). A licensing category that has grown exponentially in value and creativity since the end of global lockdown restrictions, LBE is a hot topic, with the value of the sector increasing by 67% last year.
To further explore LBE, the featured two LBE-focused keynote speeches, while the LBE Pavilion offered immersive content created for visitors to walk through and interact with.
For 2024’s edition of BLE, as well as its US edition - Licensing Expo - the show will share the theme of ‘Brands in Play’, highlighting the concept of play.
“Immersive entertainment, storytelling and fan engagement are changing, and the concept of play is changing with it,” said Anna Clarke, SVP licensing, Informa Markets.
“Today, brands are creating multi-generational, omnichannel play patterns that permeate videogames, tabletop, board and card games, location-based entertainment, immersive theatre, sports and esports, toys and kidult culture. Brands are also playing in new spaces, building ground-breaking new extensions and bringing the brand licensing business to life in increasingly creative ways.”
Next year’s BLE will take place once again in London at the ExCeL, with the event taking place from 24-26 September.
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