Video game sensation Fortnite dominated the 2019 International Licensing Awards with five wins. The awards show took place during Licensing Expo at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.
In addition to bringing home trophies for licensees Spirit Halloween (Fortnite costumes), Jazwares (Fortnite Llama Loot Piñata) and Hasbro (Fortnite Monopoly), the gaming brand was also named as the Best App/Video Game Brand of the Year and received the inaugural Newcomer Award for brands or companies in their first year of licensing.
Other big winners included Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter, which snagged two product awards, a retail award, and was also named as the Best Live-Action Entertainment/Character Brand. The Retail awards were split into two categories this year with Galéries Lafayette taking home the trophy for Best Character/Entertainment Retailer for its Wizarding World initiative and Forever 21 winning for Best Corporate/Lifestyle/Sports Retailer for its Coca Cola program.
Viral video sensation “Home Alone Again,” in which actor Macaulay Culkin reprised his famous role on behalf of Google Assistant, was named Best Licensed Promotion. Funko’s Warhammer 40,000 figurine series was the winner of the Community Choice Award, selected by a direct vote of the global licensing community from among all of the 154 finalists.
For the first time ever, submission and judging of the International Licensing Awards took place fully online, resulting in a more internationally diverse group of nominees and winners. More than 600 entries were judged by 150 executives in 18 countries.
In addition to the awards presentation, Pam Lifford, president of Warner Bros. Global Brands & Experiences, and Michael Stone, chairman and co-founder of Beanstalk, were honored as the latest inductees into the Licensing Industry Hall of Fame for their lifetime of achievements. Eight up-and-coming licensing professionals were also named as Risings Stars in the industry, including Barbara Adu of PEZ Candy Inc.; Sophie Booth of Brandgenuity; Nemo Bussu of KIDdesigns Inc.; Hélène El Arouni of TF1 Entertainment/Licenses; Pablo Franco of International Management Group; Sophia Hunter of pocket.watch; Mireille Maragakis of KMPG LLC; and Kalle Törmä of Flowhaven.
See the full list of all of the 2019 International Licensing Awards winners:
BEST LICENSED PRODUCTS
- APPAREL / FOOTWEAR / ACCESSORIES – Spirit Halloween for the Fortnite costumes and accessories range
- APPLIANCE / AUTOMOTIVE / HOUSEWARES / ELECTRONICS – Ion Audio for the Ford Mustang LP record player
- TOYS / GAMES / NOVELTIES FOR AGES 0-12 – (Tie) LEGO for the Harry Potter range AND Jazwares for the Fortnite Llama Loot Piñata
- APPS / SOFTWARE / VIDEO GAMES – Kano for the Harry Potter Coding Kit
- FOOD / BEVERAGE – The Ruprecht Company for the Tony Roma’s range
- HEALTH & BEAUTY AIDS – ASOS/CREA Cosmetics for the Crayola Beauty Range
- HOME DÉCOR – Crate & Kids for the Sesame Street furniture and décor range
- PUBLISHING / BACK-TO-SCHOOL – Moleskine for Super Mario notebook and stationary range
- TOYS / GAMES / NOVELTIES FOR AGES 13+ – Hasbro for Fortnite Monopoly
BEST LICENSED BRANDS
- ART / DESIGN / CELEBRITY / FASHION BRAND – The Very Hungry Caterpillar / World of Eric Carle by Eric Carle Studio LLC and The Joester Loria Group
- DIGITAL / APP / VIDEO GAME BRAND – Fortnite by Epic Games
- CORPORATE BRAND – The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. by The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
- ENTERTAINMENT / CHARACTER BRAND: ANIMATED – L.O.L. Surprise! by MGA Entertainment
- ENTERTAINMENT / CHARACTER BRAND: LIVE-ACTION – Harry Potter by Warner Bros. Consumer Products
- FOOD / BEVERAGE / RESTAURANT BRAND – Hershey’s Reese’s by The Hershey Company
- SPORTS / COLLEGIATE BRAND – NFLPA by NFLPA
OTHER AWARDS
- BEST LICENSED PROMOTION – Home Alone Again by 20th Century Fox / Google Assistant
- BEST LICENSED COLLABORATION – The Peanuts Global Artist Collective by Peanuts Worldwide
- BEST EXPERIENTIAL OR LOCATION-BASED INITIATIVE – Camp Master Chef by Cerdanya / Endemol Shine North America
- BEST RETAILER FOR A CHARACTER / ENTERTAINMENT INITIATIVE – Galéries Lafayette for Wizarding World
- BEST RETAILER FOR A CORPORATE / LIFESTYLE/ SPORTS INITIATIVE – Forever 21 for Coca Cola
- THE NEWCOMER AWARD – Fortnite by Epic Games
- COMMUNITY CHOICE AWARD – Funko for Warhammer 40,000 figurines
