Technology is making its presence felt in licensing, yet heritage brands and traditional products still thrive.
As BLE slowly recedes into the background, quite a few of us are already gearing up for Spring Fair, Toy Fair, Bologna, KidScreen, MIPTV and, only a little over half a year away, Vegas, not to mention more focused shows for homeware, gardening, sport, food and drink, and much more.
But it’s still worth looking back – it’s only been a matter of weeks after all – to what was a lively BLE, one that had shrugged off the post-Covid hangover to regain the bounce and confidence we expect of Europe’s biggest licensing event.
For Kilogrammedia in particular it was a very successful show – which at least partly makes up for the sad fact that we were attending our first BLE without our late founder Jane Garner.
In many ways, of course, it was the show it always has been, highlighting brands from entertainment, design, heritage and more, promoting licensing in plush, perfumes, games and many, many other categories.
But technology is also making its presence felt: through downloads and apps of course, but also via augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI), to name just a few of the trends generating a buzz at BLE – and pretty much everywhere else.
And this trend will accelerate. Look out, in the coming years, for the influence on licensing of existing or expected advances like real-time, high-speed mobile gaming, instant translation, AI assistants, tailored messaging for live concerts and sports events, and smart manufacturing in a world where connectivity drives everything.
And yet… people still enjoy jigsaw puzzles and card games. They still buy fragrances, outdoor seating and tea towels. And they still love brands that aren’t ultra-modern and technology-specific, notably heritage brands, like the V&A, London Zoo and (our own client) the RHS.
And they will continue to love them – for a very long time to come. However, even these brands will benefit from the opportunities technology will offer in the coming years to extend their reach in a world where almost everyone is carrying or using devices more sophisticated than could be imagined a few decades ago.
In other words, whatever your brand area, it pays to keep up with the changing technology landscape. After all, a property owner may one day ask you, especially if you’re an agent, a licensee or even a licensing PR company, a question like: “Now that we can access live streaming with enhanced uplink capacity, how could this benefit our brand?”
If that happened, it would certainly help if you understood what “enhanced uplink capacity” actually means…
