Brand Licensing Europe Set to Grow Sports & Automotive Categories

LONDON: Brand Licensing Europe, due to take place October 13 to 15 at London’s Olympia, is expected to grow its sports and automotive categories.

Among the 180 companies already signed up to exhibit at this year’s BLE are Adidas, A.C. Milan, Arsenal Football Club, Chelsea Football Club, FIFA, Automobil Lamborghini SPA and Moto GP. This will mark the annual event's 17th year. As usual, it will be divided into three zones: Art, Design & Image; Brands & Lifestyle; and Character & Entertainment.

Running alongside the exhibition is the popular Licensing Academy, featuring keynote sessions from industry trailblazers. Also set to return is the Brands & Lifestyle Theatre, which launched last year, in addition to the License This! Competition.

Darren Brechin, the BLE event director, said: “Our main focus for 2015 is to build on the success of last year’s show, the biggest BLE to date. We are looking to grow all three of the show’s zones but it’s great to see, even at this early stage of the event cycle, those categories with strong representation. Sports licensing was a major theme at BLE in 2014 and we’re hoping that the increased participation of automotive brands will bring a whole new dimension to this year’s show. We are looking forward to seeing which other trends develop around the show over the next eight months.”