Licensing Expo is a huge licensing trade show, showcasing a number of different brands and intellectual properties (IPs). 2023’s Expo is set to take place June 13-15 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. The trade show will bring back a previous competition and introduce a new event to highlight new brands and licenses.
The License This! The competition asks artists, designers, and creatives of all kinds with no previous licensing experience to submit concepts. They will be judged by a panel from License Global based on the criteria of ingenuity, licensing potential, and alignment with the current market. The three runner-ups and one winner will be announced on stage at the expo. The winner will receive more than $7,000 worth of free exposure including a booth at the following year’s event to launch their brand to the global licensing community.
Ignite Brand Pitches is another competition, this one taking aim at IPs that are brand new to the industry. The competition is for brands that already have portfolios, asking them to pitch a brand concept on-stage live to the audience at the event.
“There is high demand at Licensing Expo to curate experiences surrounding emerging and existing IPs, with brand discovery a key reason that attendees come to the show – to seek the next big thing,” says Ella Haynes, Event Director for Licensing Expo. “With this in mind, we wanted to bring back License This! to provide a voice for those who are trying to break into the licensing industry. We are also launching Ignite Brand Pitches this year to support continued innovation and to spotlight newness for existing exhibitors to amplify their current projects.”
Both of these competitions are entirely free to enter, with entries closing on April 17, with the trade show itself following soon after. Licensing Expo, organized by the Informa Markets’ Global Licensing Group, anticipates more than 5,000 brands will be represented, and with more than 10,000 unique attendees, any contest winner can expect exposure for their concepts.
