As Brand Licensing Europe prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary, Tim Rudd-Clarke, licensing director for Gemma International, explains why Europe’s biggest licensing trade show is essential to the party trade.
Anyone who’s anyone in the licensing trade will be heading to London’s Olympia this autumn as Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) opens its doors for the 20th time. Taking place from 9 – 11 October, BLE is the holy grail for all things related to celebrating the product extension of popular brands and characters – and that, of course, includes costumes and other party products.
“Licensing is at the heart of what we do,” said Tim, “and BLE is the go-to place for us to seek out potential new opportunities for our licensed party portfolio. It is a great show for understanding what’s going on below the radar and offers a valuable opportunity for the promotion of current and new brands for the party industry to both licensees and retailers.”
Tim also points out that visitors to the show get to see what brand activations are in the pipeline . “We then assess these in line with our party retailers and their consumers,” he continued. “It’s all about finding the very best brands for the party arena and matching that with what the consumer wants.”
“Our children’s licensed party ranges are often reflective of how popular a brand is across the spectrum,” Tim continued. “Leading preschool brand Peppa Pig one of our most successful party ranges, but newcomer PJ Masks is going from strength-to-strength.”
