Peppa Pig, Barbie, the Smurfs and the Rollinz are among some others that were named winners of the Bologna Licensing Award 2017, the prize for the best projects to develop licensed products during the period 2015-2016 in Italy.
These awards will be assigned for the first time during the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair (BLTF), the fair for the sector of licensing and the development of products based on established brands and intellectual property already in its tenth edition and organized by BolognaFiere and due to take place from 3 to 5 April at the Bologna Exhibition Centre at the same time as the Children’s Book Fair.
The winners of the Bologna Licensing Award 2017 have been selected by a jury of five experts namely Francesca Ash, founder and co-editor of the magazine of the group Total Licensing Ltd; Ivan Colecchia, Europe General Manager of Kidz Global; Daniela Di Maio, consultant in the sector of Kids Entertainment; Armando Garosci, journalist at the monthly publication Largo Consumo; Roberta Nebbia, representative of the LIMA Office in Italy and director of the consultancy firm Licensing Italia.
The aim of the awards is to provide increased visibility and institutional recognition to the licensing industry in Italy, valorising the entire production chain for the sector. All of the products awarded will be on display at the BLTF in pavilion 31.
There are four categories for the Bologna Licensing Award 2017 namely Preschool, Kids, Teens and Adults.
The jury has added a special prize and two special mentions. For the pre-school category, the prize went to the brand Peppa Pig, managed in Italy by ETS Studios with reference to a promotional project developed with Costa Crociere.
The jury explained that this selection was due to the extension of the project, the involvement of children and families and the type of experiential licensing with a theatrical element that existed beyond the small screen.
For the Kids category, the prize was awarded to Grani & Partners for the creation and patenting of action figures that were a huge hit in 2016, the collectable Rollinz, a brand loyalty project developed by Esselunga, acknowledged for its ‘extraordinary capacity to design currently collectable products and its unique technology, having created an unprecedented social and market phenomenon’.
For the Teens category, the award was lapped up by the Barbie brand, managed in Italy by Victoria Licensing & Marketing on behalf of Mattel with reference to the project for Tezenis, for the “completeness of the extension of the brand into a teen market segment, with an integration between retail social and product development and for its ability to extend an iconic brand to an adult area, making it highly aspirational in a category of great appeal for the target”.
And finally for the Adults category, the prize was awarded to the brand The Smurfs, managed in Italy by The Licensing Company CAA – Global Brands Group, with reference to the project Forma Italia –Egan, for its “capacity to interpret intellectual property such as The Smurfs through a refined adult stylistic treatment and with a particularly high quality of product capable of interpreting the mood of the consumer”.
The Special Prize was given to the brand Despicable Me – Franchise Minions, managed in Italy between 2015-2016 by CPLG Italy, for “the total transversal nature of the target, from the very youngest to the oldest and for particularly coherent choices of all the licensee partners, also from an international point of view, which developed products rich in innovation and technology”. The Special Mentions for Retail went to the brand Trolls, managed in Italy by Planet Junior Italy, for its “vast plan of retail agreements and for its capacity to cover, in a targeted manner, all categories of distribution, designing also high impact and dedicated explosive projects in every selected retail outlet”. The Special Mention for Intellectual Property revelation of the year 2015-2016 was awarded to the brand PawPatrol, managed in Italy by Viacom International Media Networks Italia, for “the complete treatment of intellectual property on a multi-platform level and the full penetration in all of the categories”.
