It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a week since the doors to Licensing Expo 2024 opened at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. For three days (or longer, thanks to the appropriately-Vegas pre-show events and afterparties), executives from all corners of the consumer products space gathered at the intersection of physical and digital products, live experiences, entertainment, and lifestyle. By now, the dust has settled, and the excitement — or the controlled chaos, as I like to say — is behind us until the next show.
Our team, including myself, Jackie Breyer, Ali Mierzejewski, and Stephanie Infantino, covered much ground spanning dozens of meetings and gatherings while using Booth No. G234 as our home base to occasionally regroup and refresh (if you left your contact info while we were away, we will be in touch). We unveiled new issues of The Toy Book and The Pop Insider, and between Ali and myself, we racked up nine TV appearances across four networks (huge thanks to the Licensing Expo team for helping us on the show floor on Wednesday)!
We can ponder and debate the reasons forever, but there is no denying that something special is happening with Licensing Expo. The show has become increasingly toyetic in recent years, with this year’s “Brands at Play” theme leaning into the opportunities for creative collaboration that await discovery around every corner — and inspiring a feature in the latest issue of The Toy Book.
The Licensing Expo “campus,” which is expected to evolve and grow in the coming years, embraced the playful nature of the business as toy and game makers expanded their offerings to allow visitors to go hands-on with their products. From the Hasbro Gaming lounge to the SEGA arcade and beyond, play was unavoidable. Perhaps it’s taken the world a few years to catch up, but I often say that “business should be fun,” and a reflection of that could be seen in what was lacking in abundance: suits.
Sure, they’re still around (navy and gray are the favorites), but pour one out for the tie industry, as I can’t recall seeing a single tie around the necks of my suit-wearing friends. Fashion choices aside, the buzz on the floor was that Licensing Expo had returned to a pre-pandemic vibe akin to 2019, the last year before COVID-19* changed everything. But was it the same? I say this year was even better!
Surprise. Inspiration. Appreciation.
While some trade shows like Toy Fair in New York or ASTRA Marketplace & Academy (two of my favorites) feel like family reunions, Licensing Expo takes things to a whole new level. As I’ve said about Toy Fair, our extended family includes “the serious ones, the funny ones, the wacky cousins, the kids who don’t get along, the cool aunts and uncles, the babies, the elders, and the rock stars with the ‘hit’ product or property of the moment.” At Licensing Expo you have all of that plus the second cousins, the third cousins, the friends from the old neighborhood, etc. It’s a party where stuff gets done.
On the eve of the show, The Toy Association shared the news that industry vet Greg Ahearn (Mattel, Toys “R” Us) is joining the organization on June 1 as its President & CEO. Ahearn’s arrival was met with positive buzz amid day one chatter.
Across the show floor and in the meeting rooms, the big surprise this year was the massive upswing in retail attendees, a factor I believe we’ll be hearing more about in the days ahead.
While retailers were always present, buying teams were out in force this year making unannounced surprise stops at many toy and game company booths. This increased retail presence led to some off-the-record conversations with some of my industry contacts who agree with the drum that I’ve been slamming on since January: The toy retail experience in the U.S. is in rough shape and has to be fixed fast.
How it’s gone so far off the rails is a bit of a mystery with no single answer, but the fact that international retailers are still delivering big statements and those oft-touted “surprise and delight” experiences on a regular basis should be a wake-up call for the domestic crowd.
And for those looking to make those big statements, inspiration was everywhere.
Aligning with recent trend reports — and the contents of our 2024 Licensing & Entertainment Issue — gaming and anime remain poised to shape entertainment content and consumer product licensing for many years.
Licensing International dropped some topline data from its annual Global Licensing Industry Study revealing that anime, video games, and social media properties accounted for 38% of licensing revenue in the $147.6 billion Entertainment/Characters segment. That news arrived alongside a host of new licensing deals for properties in that segment, including WowWee x Uplift Games for Adopt Me! Fingerlings; Bonkers Toys x Invisible Narratives for Skibidi Toilet; Viz Media x McFarlane Toys for Bleach; and Jazwares x Scottgames for Five Nights at Freddy’s. And that’s just the beginning as more deals will be revealed in time.
It’s easy to get caught up in the nonstop pace of a schedule that spans early morning to late night, but it’s important to step back and take in just how much respect and appreciation is on display at Licensing Expo. It might be a business based on wheeling and dealing, but that means little without the great people fueling it — folks who truly appreciate one another and the contributions they make toward shared success.
On that note, I want to call out not only the team at Informa Markets for putting together a great show but also the hardworking men and women contracted by the Mandalay Bay Convention Center to make it all happen. These unsung heroes work weird schedules to do the heavy lifting in building and tearing down the trade shows. Having worked countless events in countless cities, I’ve never encountered a more positive group than the one in Las Vegas last week. Trade shows are important but without skilled members of the trades — carpenters, electricians, etc. — they would not exist.
*So about that saying, “What happens in Vegas…”
We may be a few years removed from the full-blown pandemic, but COVID-19 remains a real threat. I returned home to Illinois with a nasty case of the bug, my second bout following what I picked up at Toy Fair Dallas back in 2022 (which was even worse). Sadly, I’m not alone in this as I’ve already heard from several contacts who are also battling COVID-19 right now.
That said, another positive test this morning means that my plans to attend ASTRA Marketplace & Academy in St. Louis this year have been scrapped.
While I won’t be there in person, I will be there in spirit as The Toy Book’s 2024 Specialty Toys & Gifts Issue debuts Sunday, June 2, 2024! Marissa Silva will attend in my place alongside James “JD” Devin and Thomas Stephen Jr. from our marketing team. Should you see the crew on the show floor, be sure to say hello and let them fill you in on all the ways we can work together across The Toy Book and its consumer-facing sister publications, The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider.
Stay safe. Stay healthy. And stay on the #pulseofplay!
