By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
The numbers are out, and Licensing Expo is reporting the 2023 trade show has been the most successful in years, growing 13%.
That news came as a bit of a surprise to me, as my impression on the show floor was that it seemed less crowded than last year. However, Expo’s official tally of unique visitors to the trade show floor showed close to 12,000 people attended this year’s event.
That marks a return to pre-COVID levels, close to identical with the Expo’s attendance in 2019, the year we were blissfully unaware of the deadly virus incubating in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
I personally met with fewer people from Europe and the Middle East this year, and had theorized that attendance would likely be lower as more people attended the Brand Licensing Expo show, but it appears Expo has managed to have their cake in Europe, and eat it in North America, all at the same time.
That’s good news for the industry, despite the fact many companies told me they are trimming (or even slashing) their marketing budgets this year in response to the current economic downturn and the decline in consumer spending we saw over the past year.
Licensing Expo also said the increase was not just in quantity, but in ‘quality’, which the organization defined as a higher proportion of high-level management attending the show.
“The annual event also recorded the highest quality attendance to date, with 60% of visitors being C-suite or Director level executives alongside a record-high retail attendance, coming in at +47% vs 2019,” said Expo organizer Informa Markets.
“Licensing Expo continues to be the meeting point for the entire licensing industry and host to the most influential and recognizable brands on the market today,” said Anna Clarke, SVP of Global Licensing Group for Informa Markets. “It is the place where new and emerging brands come to be discovered, future trends are identified and the next ‘must have’ products are launched.”
One reason the Expo may have seen greater attendance this year is that Informa successfully targeted buyers from the retail end of the business. According to Informa’s bean counters, more than 1,150 retailers attended including buyers from Walmart, Forever21, PacSun, Tilly’s, Toys ‘R’ Us, Ross, Rue 21, Hot Topic, Inditex, Dollar General, Bershka, Burger King, Hallmark, Macy’s, Amazon, Kohl’s, Target, Fanatics, TJX Companies Inc., Home Depot, Lush, Coach, Primark, and Pottery Barn.
That retailer interest makes a lot of sense to our team at TLL, as we have been tracking a much larger exposure to licensing in the retail sector. In that list above, recall Forever21’s fantastically successful licensing deal with Roblox, Barbie, and Virtual Brands Group (brokered by Brand Central), which helped redefine the consumer relationship with brands in the metaverse.
Similarly, Walmart has done very well penning licensing deals with various organizations, chief among them Netflix, with whom Walmart hosts a store for licensed goods from a variety of Netflix hit shows. As this Direct-to-Retail model has been taking off, it’s to be expected we’ll see more retailers prowling the show floor for their next successful line.
Clark says another aspect was the Expo’s focus on fashion and its education offerings during the show.
“Through interactive fashion showrooms, industry education, and an expo floor hosting companies from all corners of the industry, the engagement and buzz from attendees on this year’s show floor exceeded all expectations,” she said.
Informa says the show also saw over 6,800 meetings booked and hosted through the official matchmaking platform. Personally, we made appointments through our own sources and used our own data systems for appointments, but for the first time we did use the matchmaking platform in a slightly different way. After making our appointments, we then filled in the spots on the platform so people would know we were already booked.
However, TLL has the benefit of owning the Licensing Sourcebook, so I can imagine the matchmaker was very handy for most companies seeking meetings.
With fashion as this year’s show theme, Licensing Expo hosted a new perspective of trend-driven apparel and drove the conversation of what licensing means in the fashion world. Over 60 brands were on display in the fashion showrooms including Emporio Armani, Crocs, Vans, Kathy Ireland, Butter Goods, Burberry, and Lacoste, highlighting fashion products and new brand collaborations.
“Amid increased attendance and a strong retailer presence, we saw significant business being done at this year’s Licensing Expo,” says Maura Regan, President of Licensing International. “Once again, we saw first-hand how important it is for professionals from around the world to gather together as Expo served as an opportunity to celebrate the power of brands, discuss strategies for the year ahead, and continue to expand the business of global brand licensing.”
The 2023 expo also saw a 15% increase in new-to-show attendance and increased international attendance from Asian, South American and European companies, with some markets doubling their attendance vs 2022. Latin American attendees represented nearly 7% of total attendance at the event.
That is one thing I also saw at the show. For example, we had featured the fabulous Mexican company Exodo Animation in last month’s magazine, with two of their founders attending this year’s show. I also met a large number of other attendees from Latin America, which allowed me to practice my admittedly horrendous knowledge of Spanish. (My thanks to the generous attendees I shared a desayuno with at Ri Ra, as they suffered bravely through my mangling of their language.)
In case you’re already feeling nostalgic for the long hours, sore feet, and hubbub of the Expo, you’ll be relieved to know the next show is already scheduled for May 21-23, 2024, and will be held once more at the Mandalay Bay.
However, if you just can’t wait, you can also book in for the upcoming Brand Licensing Europe at the ExCel hall in London. Just as Expo featured Location-Based Entertainment in 2022, that will be the theme for the BLE this year.
Brand Licensing Europe will be held this Oct. 4-6 at ExCeL in London with a show theme of Location Based Entertainment (LBE).