A week on and we’re still riding the wave of Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) over here at POC. This year marked the 25th anniversary of the show, so it was one for celebration, networking, crucial discussions and learnings, as well as ever-increasing focus on sustainability within brand licensing.
A birthday to remember
Appropriately for the show’s anniversary, the 2024 BLE installment has reportedly broken previous attendee and retail visitor number records. Nearly 11,000 attendees, arriving from 172 countries, were registered by the final day, a 12% increase on 2023, alongside 1,417 retailers, an increase of 22% from 2023, and 242 exhibiting companies, a 5% YOY increase.
Anna Knight, senior vice president licensing, Informa Markets, owners and organisers of the Global Licensing Group, commented: “What a fitting way to celebrate BLE’s 25th anniversary by breaking all previous records held by the show.” She continued: “It is a testament to the hard work, commitment and passion of an amazing team who really care about delivering the very best event for this industry. On behalf of them and me, thank you again to everyone in the European licensing industry that supports us year after year – attendees, exhibitors, partners, retailers, media and more. It means everything.”
The end of Day One saw BLE organisers bring the show floor together for its 25th anniversary ‘birthday party’, including a photo call for all those that had been at BLE’s first event back in 1999.
Pathways to sustainability panel
Our very own POC CEO, Helena Mansell-Stopher, hosted an informative panel discussion on Day Two (Wednesday 25th September), alongside Lego’s Jacob Max Hamann, Disney’s Anna Halford, Paramount’s Michelle Papayamakos, and Difuzed’s Jeremy Orriss.
Jacob began by speaking about Lego’s commitment to reducing its emission by 37% by 2032, when the company turns 100 years old, which it is getting approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). He commented that they are working on a long lasting approach to find a business enabling perspective.
Anna added that at Disney, that there has been “a tidal wave” of change over the last couple of years, especially legislative, but that Disney has a lot of experts on its team, including environmental scientists, chemists, product safety engineers, and policy experts. Disney has also recently set up Disney Consumer Products Working Group, with representatives to ensure it is listening to what other people are doing and the challenges that the industry is facing.
Similarly, Michelle spoke about the excellent team at Paramount working on the topic and is in the process of getting its Science Based Targets approved. Paramount has also been working with the Climate Disclosure Portal (CDP), Michelle said, to really enable it to measure itself against its peers.
Jeremy brought a slightly different perspective, representing the Licensees through Difuzed, a license manufacturer, which he explained meant that they are often caught between the requirements of the brand owners and of the retailers. Close to 10% of Difuzed staff is now working on compliance and sustainability, essential at a time when a slew of legislation is coming this way.
The panel agreed that the challenges of sustainability within licensing mainly lie within standardisation of legislation, compliance, and the need for transparency and traceability. Meanwhile the opportunities are to be found among industry collbaration and innovation to achieve collective sustainability goals.
Debuting the Future Forecast Report
Products of Change took the opportunity at the show to unveil the first of its kind report, evaluating where the brand licensing industry currently sits on its journey towards a more sustainable future. As the pressure mounts to enable a greener economy, the licensing industry can anticipate monumental change and therefore need a support network to enable its prosperity. This is what Products of Change strives to do through its educational resources, advisors, media outlet and this report. POC is committed to releasing a Future Forecast report every year, documenting the progression and transparency of the industry as data reporting improves across the sector thanks to the deepening legislative demands and brand alignment with climate change action.
On stand, we had copies of this brand new report, which were given out to visitors to the stand. If you haven’t yet had a chance to read the report, find it here.
The Light Fund shone bright at BLE
Marking the end of second-hand September, for the first time, industry charity, The Light Fund, teamed up with Products of Change to offer a resale event on the POC booth over the course of the three show days. Donations for the resale were received from companies such as Aykroyds, Dreamtex, Danilo, Penguin Ventures, Start Licensing, Rainbow Designs, Bladez Toys, Paramount, and National Geographic Kids.
At another part of the show floor, Fugglers stand hosted a fairground-style game to knock the teeth down of the ‘Suspicious Fox’ or ‘Indecisive Monster’, using a X-Shot blaster from Fuggler partners, ZURU, for the chance to win a Baby Fugg.
Donations from the Fugglers activation raised £2,162 and the POC resale raised £855. Informa then matched the donation figures, producing a total of £6,034 for the Light Fund.
Mark Kingston, CEO & co-founder, Libertas, commented, “We were delighted to support The Light Fund’s 20th Anniversary via our ‘Knock the Fuggler Teeth’ down game at BLE this year. The game certainly captured the fun and quirkiness of our beloved Fugglers and to raise £4,324 with Informa’s generous donation matching was a great result.”
Nicola Webster, Light Fund trustee and social media and community manager for Products of Change, added, “Thank you to all who donated products and came along to buy something from the Light Fund sale at BLE. It was fantastic to speak to so many people keen to keep products in circulation, and pick up a bargain at the same time. The generosity of everyone at the show and the generous match-funding from Informa means The Light fund has raised over £6,000 during BLE, an amazing result.
“Thank you to everyone who helped man the sale, especially Graham Saltmarsh. And thank you to Emily Fawcett/Abysse for the signage.”
The Light Fund will be hosting its Southern quiz night on Thursday 28th November, offering a fantastic networking event to bring the licensing community together for a shared cause. Find out more here.
Lots on offer at the POC booth
BLE 2024 presented us with three packed days of activity and conversation, and the Products of Change booth attracted a brilliant array of visitors, coming across us by chance or seeking us out to discuss anything sustainability related across the licensing world. The POC team have been fuelled by the numerous insightful and forward-looking conversations we had throughout the show.
RDP Creative
The RDP team joined the POC booth at BLE to showcase their innovations and design concepts for more sustainable brand licensing products. RDP Creative partners with iconic film studios, brands, theme parks and retailers globally to bring their IP’s to life with merchandise and product portfolios. As a member of POC, sustainability is high on RDP’s agenda, through reporting its environmental data through CDP, utilising sea and road freight to reduce carbon emissions, bulk packing goods to reduce packaging, and redesigning products to reduce their impact on the planet.
A sustainable products showcase
For anyone who came by the POC booth last week, would likely agree that we had a stand fit to bursting with an array of products and innovations from our members and award nominees. On display was:
Wool Pots
The ingenious environmentally-friendly alternative to plastic plant pots, using wool that would otherwise have been wasted by farmers, received great interest from visitors to the POC booth. Graham Saltmarsh, the brains behind the product and champion of POC, commented, “Wool Pots were given an opportunity to show the world that there is an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic and hopefully we will have shown how the future could be, we are focused on horticulture but our environmental message reaches far beyond this and that is why Products of Change are going to be trail blazers for many other companies who are determined to make a difference.” Read more here.
Little Beau Sheep
Founded by Sarah Turner, Little Beau Sheep flies the flag for the British wool industry with its woollen laundry balls, serving as more than a product but as an ethos of locally sourced natural materials. Earlier this year, Little Beau Sheep, together with Aardman, launched a collection of Shaun the Sheep licensed woollen laundry balls, and was subsequently shortlisted for this year’s Licensing Awards Best Sustainable Licensed Product award. Read more here.
Smiley
Highlighting its latest Future Positive Creators Fund design collection, Smiley represented its commitment to sustainability with its presence on the POC stand. Its latest Spring/Summer limited edition collection with fashion designers, Christian Cowan and Theophilio, utilises both responsible and circular sourcing solutions, incorporating Smiley’s recognisable motif. Read more here.
Natural History Museum
Since 2020, the Natural History Museum has been working to optimise its consumer products and licensing division to ‘help create advocates for the planet,’ inline with its work throughout the rest of the museum. The museum’s recent collaboration with Dunelm produced a range of home retail items that, as well as being beautifully designed, drove home the message of conservation and biodiversity, taking inspiration from the museum’s own exhibits. A selection of this collection was on display at the POC BLE booth. Read more here.
LUSH
Known for its ethical cosmetics, LUSH entered the global brand licensing space only a few years back but has since found success and creativity with the likes of Super Mario, Mattel EMEA’s Barbie, and Paramount’s SpongeBob SquarePants, of which the latter two were shortlisted for the Licensing Awards 2024 Best Sustainable Licensed Product category. Dedicated to plastic-free packaging, ethical sourcing, and reduced product impact, the POC stand was treated to LUSH’s Paramount Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collection for the show. Read more here.
Mattel
Fisher Price and Mattel’s Barbie toys were displayed on the stand, highlighting their latest products and the progress they are making improving the sustainability of both their brands and products.
The POC community
The POC team very much enjoyed visiting all our members at the show, catching up with them about their innovations and plans, admiring some impressive booths, and sneaking in a quick photo with the POC logo! See a selection of our members below.
Next stop is the Products of Change Conference on Wednesday 6th November 2024. If you haven’t yet booked your tickets, do so here.
