Barcelona Licensing Forum breaks attendance records | Key4Communications |

Barcelona Licensing Forum closed its most successful edition with an increase in exhibitors of 50% (12 to 8) and in attendance of 33% (from 165 to 220).

During the forum, held on June 22 at the Barcelona World Trade Center, licensors, agents, producers and retailers introduced new properties and programs, and learnt about business trends in Spain and Portugal.

Thus, some of the leading licensors and agents were present among the exhibitors: Arait Multimedia, Art Ask Agency, Biplano, Chupa Chups, CPLG, Edebé Audiovisual Licensing, El Ocho, Elastic Rights, Fulanitos, Luk Internacional, Mendía Licensing, Planeta Junior, Silver Line and El Toro de Osborne. There also were first-timers: Artoons, with products that play with augmented reality technology, Hong Kong International Licensing Show, and the young animation producer Impose Estudios.

These companies represent dozens of brands and properties, such as Sesame Street, Inazuma Eleven, Sony, Dreamworks, Nickelodeon, The Simpsons, Hello Kitty, Anne Stokes, Pocoyó, Niña Repelente, Doraemon, Asterix and Obelix, and Consentidos, among many others.

Knowledge Sharing
Lectures were also highly valued by attendees. The roundtable addressed the current licensing issues in the Spanish market: the saturation of the market, the need of understanding between owners, licensees and retailers, and the importance of innovation in products.

Thus, Elsa Gomes, general director of CPLG in Spain and Portugal, underlined the need of not launching too much licensed product for a new property, in order to extend its life cycle. In this sense, José Francisco Cerda, marketing and product director of Artesanía Cerdà, explained that these aggressive launches are forced many times by the manufacturer’s need to cover the cost guarantees required by brand owners. Ingo Sonego, head of marketing for FCB Merchandising, stressed the importance of timing in the release of a license. Sonego said that approval times could be shortened, and that his company had achieved this through legal autonomy. David Olesti, marketing director of Educa Borràs explained that manufacturers and owners needed to be aware of the importance of adjusting target and license.

Also in reference to this possible saturation, Lorenzo de Benito, commercial director at Toys 'R' Us, said that his company feels more comfortable working with licenses that are not the best-selling. Guadalupe Corzo, from the toy purchases department of El Corte Inglés, agreed, but nonetheless admitted that big retailers cannot leave top 10 licenses.

Enrique San Juan, director of Community Internet, gave a talk exposing the reasons why companies should rely on social media for their communication actions: their increasing presence, the importance of communicating with customers and the possibilities of awareness they offer.

Last presentation was by Cristina Perez, Toys Account Manager, NPD Iberia Group, who presented some figures on the licensed toy market, which accounted for 34% of toy sales in 2010 in Spain, the highest percentage in Europe.

The 2010 Licencias Actualidad Awards were also delivered, with Spongebob Squarepants chosen as license of the year.