The licensing market in Italy continues to grow and the number of companies interested in developing licensed products is increasing therewith.
This was proved by the high attendance at the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair (BLTF), the only fair event in Italy dedicated to the trade in licenses for the use of established brands and characters.
This event, in its tenth edition and organised by BolognaFiere, concluded yesterday at the Bologna Exhibition Centre.
The BLTF 2017 involved the participation of 46 exhibitors, representing 800 brands. The key players from the licensing sector in Italy (such as CPLG, Atlantyca, Rai and Rainbow) were in attendance as were the big international players like Mattel, Warner Bros., Turner, Viacom, Sanrio and Hasbro.
During the event, BolognaFiere announced the creation of a new professional event for commercialisation and trade in publishing rights to be held in New York.
Due to take place from the 30th May to the 1st June in 2018, the event will include a section dedicated to licensing, open to Italian and European specialized companies.
According to the Italian Licensing Industry Survey 2017, carried out by PwC in collaboration with the international Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA) and Licensing Italia, in 2015 royalties relating to the trade in licenses and the development of products based on established brands and intellectual property achieved revenues of 1.2 billion euros.
The sector is experiencing notable growth that has almost doubled the volume of business since 2013 when earnings from royalties were worth 680 million euros. The most dynamic business sector was shown to be fashion, which registered 613.9 million euros in revenues from royalties (52.8% of the total). Other important sectors are cartoon characters with earnings of 178.2 million (15.3%), automotive licensing with 101.2 million (8.7%), clothing with 86.4 million (7.4%) and sport with 56.9 million (4.9%).
“The licensing market continues to grow and for ten years our fair has been able to represent the best of this positive trend,” avered Marco Momoli commercial director Italy of BolognaFiere.
During the BLTF 2017 around 30 events, conferences, presentations and demonstrations took place, organized by the Fair and also by the exhibitors.
