Licensing Expo, the world’s largest and most influential licensing event went on at Las Vegas from May 23 to 25 this year.
This year’s expo proved to be one of the most successful to date with the debut of Licensing Week, a brand new initiative that incorporated all events surrounding Licensing Expo into one streamlined week of licensing industry happenings.
“Licensing Expo 2017 saw substantial international attendee growth including an 87 per cent increase in attendees from South Korea and a 23 per cent increase in attendees from Japan.
Several product categories also saw an increase in growth this year including video games that experienced a 46 per cent increase followed by TV, video, filming and streaming with a 45 per cent increase,” informed Jessica Blue, senior vice president, Licensing, UBM.
“Our rebook total for Licensing Expo 2018 has already hit 84 per cent which proves that this year’s show was a tremendous success.
Highly anticipated keynotes, presentations, celebrity appearances, educational Licensing University sessions hosted by the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA), and invite-only entertainment showcases drove more than 16,000 attendees and 406 exhibitors with 185 new exhibitors including BuzzFeed and the Scott Brothers.
With a large presence from leading companies such as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Authentic Brands Group (ABG), Licensing Expo proved once again that it is the premiere event for licensing professionals to attend and conduct business.
“Licensing Expo is a key part of our business development strategy because it is the one and only show we exhibit at in the U.S. It’s the premier place to put our amazing brands in front of both the North American community, as well as the global community.
It gives us the opportunity to have face-to-face meetings with our existing partners and find new opportunities,” said Kelly C. Hill, vice president, licensing partnerships, Endemol Shine North America.
In 2016, Licensing Expo introduced Matchmaking, a service designed to connect licensors and licensees. The service was a tremendous success again in 2017 with more than 3,800 meetings scheduled, an increase of more than 1,200 meetings from 2016.
With the new growth of UBM’s global licensing portfolio, these top-notch industry events will continue throughout 2017 with Licensing Expo China that will take place from July 18- 20 and the 19th annual Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) that would take place from October 10 to12 at Olympia London, United Kingdom.
Licensing Expo 2018 will take place from May 22 to 24, 2018.
