1/ So, we’re three weeks away from the second France Licensing Day – tell us more.
Yes, it’s just around the corner now and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s such a simple format, - we bring together brand owners, licensing agents, licensees and distributors for a day of meetings with the aim of helping them to forge successful partnerships in France and beyond – and this is one of the reasons it’s so successful.
In fact, last year, we were the conduit to 500 hours of meetings taking place in one day, and we were delighted when 84% of our attendees rated the event as excellent.
At 1.30pm, everyone comes together for a really special keynote, which I am delighted to tell you will be delivered by Edouard Bardon - Licensing & Retail Director, Paris 2024 Olympic Games and Bruno Schwobthaler - CEO, Licensing for Growth.
They will present a retrospective of how Paris 2024 created and delivered the brand licensing programme from scratch. What a treat of a keynote to have for our attendees in the host city of The Olympic Games just 27 days before the opening ceremony!
Following the keynote, the evening is dedicated to the Licensing International France Awards; which is a positive and fun way to end the day. It's great for everyone to have the chance to celebrate the best collaborations of 2023 together among their peers.
2/ What makes it special? Why does it work so well?
In addition to the simplicity of the format, France Licensing Day really benefits from a brilliantly diverse group of participants - exhibiting brands and visitors – and this can be quite educational, which – is an important element for the French licensing market, I think.
Timing is also key. It’s just ahead of the summer break but with plenty of space before we all convene as Europeans at BLE, so it’s the ideal chance for the brands, retailers and manufacturers attending to make connections and build stronger networks specifically within the France licensing community. Summer is also the perfect moment to kick off discussing for 2025 projects and partnerships, where BLE is often looking a bit further ahead.
3/ So, who’ll be there this year, Matt?
To date, we’ve got nearly 40 brilliant exhibitors lined up to meet French retailers and manufacturers in Paris on 27 June. Everyone from top tier entertainment brands including Paramount, Universal. Warner Bros, Pokémon, Mattel and StudioCanal, which obviously lend themselves to kids and baby licensing, to iconic French brands like Bel with The Laughing Cow and Baby Bel, Brigitte Bardot and – of course – Le Moulin Rouge, which celebrates its 135th anniversary this year. These are brands which have excelled at using licensing to stay fresh and relevant in their domestic markets while also expertly borrowing from their unique French-ness to expand their fan bases – and revenue streams - globally.
From sport, we have the French Football Federation and French Handball Federation as well as Tour de France and 24 Hours of Le Mans. Anime and gaming are well-represented with Crunchyroll, TOEI Animation and Bandai Namco. Of course, many of these have younger audiences, too.
First time exhibitors this year include Hari International, who debuted at BLE last year, Marubeni, Sanrio and Banijay Kids & Family.
4/ Any trends you’ve been spotting?
We are seeing lots of new partnerships / trends from visitors but also, from looking at the Licensing International France Awards nominations, I can see more licensees and brand owners involving corporate brands, more cross-collaboration and capsule collections created, the growing interest for gaming and anime brands, the interest from sport brands to actually invest in looking at brand licensing as a new business model.
5/ Anything else you’d like to add?
Yes. Three things.
Firstly, it’s at the International University City of Paris – a beautiful venue that’s really easy to get to on public transport.
Secondly, day passes for France Licensing Day are completely free, but it’s important to register in advance and start booking meetings with exhibitors. Tickets for Licensing International France Awards are €64 (€56 for Licensing International members) and both passes and tickets are available here.
And, finally, I would like to thank Licensing International France, they are brilliant partners of ours. Florence Ayem and Laurent Taieb do a lot to support the industry alongside many other experts and have been expert partners of ours over the past 40 years on our other events including, of course, Brand Licensing Europe and Licensing Expo.