Brand Licensing Europe has unveiled its dates – and plans – for the 2023 show and it’s all about location, location, location.
For the theme for the event is Location Based Experiences (LBE), aiming to chime in with current trends. The event will take place at Excel, east London, from October 4 to 6.
More than 140 exhibitors have already signed up, with names such as Paramount, Bravado, Jazwares, Capcom, Tour de France, Rights & Brands and MGA Entertainment. Pokémon and Hang 10 all set to show off their wares again, with new companies such as Spanish license Stor, BioWorld and The Wombles all due to make their debut at the event.
The LBE to BLE experience follows a successful, similarly-themed Licensing Expo in 2022, which saw exhibitors embracing the theme and the likes of Hasbro creating an entire LBE experience at its stand. This included a “My Little Pony & Transformers Hotel Collection, Shanghai – the first themed hotel of its kind; a “Monopoly Life-sized and Top Hat Restaurant & Bar, London – brilliantly immersive and engaging themed world for visitors and Nerf Challenge, North America – the ultimate Nerf playground, which toured North America in 2022”.
Organisers say the LBE theme will be “woven” into this year’s event, with keynote speeches based around it and an “LBE Pavilion: A Goliath of a stand at 400 sq m (the size of two tennis courts), the LBE Pavilion will house up to eight exhibitors showcasing super immersive and inspiring LBE content that visitors can walk through, around and interact with” as well as an LBE Stage and themed show entrances.
Registration opens in June; exhibitor and sponsorship details and opportunity inquiries should be directed to greg.mcdonald@informa.com and cassius.anderson@informa.com.
BLE event director Ella Haynes: “LBE is already a huge market (valued at $3.29 billion in 2022) and is only going to get bigger (30% growth expected by 2030) as it expands into more categories and touches more diverse audiences and the potential for brands to get involved to both drive and benefit from this growth is massive.
“Its success is partly explained by the consumer preferences of new generations – while goods count for 39% of purchases by 21-34-year-olds, experiences count for 59%* – plus a growing desire (partly spurred on by the pandemic) for multi-generational experience sharing and engagement.
“But, also, because LBE is now much more than theme parks. In London alone, we have seen sell-out successes with the likes of Secret Cinema, the immersive Van Gogh and David Hockney exhibitions, Abba Voyage and Monopoly Lifesized.
“Magic Light Pictures first delighted preschoolers on the Gruffalo Trail as long ago as 2010 and many retailers have since enjoyed the benefits of LBE with ‘retailtainment’, such as Primark’s Greggs, Peaky Blinders, Disney and Friends in-store pop-ups and Westfield’s Squid Games experience.
”LBE basically exists to make consumers smile and spark a deeper, more immersive and engaging brand connection that leads to loyalty and purchase, so it’s a joyous space to be in. Our goal for BLE 2023 is to replicate that joy on the show floor and show retailers, licensees and brands how getting on board can be truly business changing.”
* The Journal of Consumer Psychology
