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Hong Kong International Licensing Show(Posted: 04-02-2010)

By Richard Latter

Ever since the announcement that the Hong Kong International Licensing Show was going to be moved from it’s July slot to run alongside the Toy Fair in January I had been looking forward to it. This seemed on paper to be a good move for the show, and in practice it turned out to be just that.

Instead of having the 2 halls of the Summer Sourcing Show alongside, we were faced with the whole venue filled to the gunnels - even many of the entrance halls housed exhibitors. The benefit to the Licensing Show was obviously more traffic, but the fear that this brings a certain amount of “time wasters” didn’t really materialise. I may have spoken to a lot of visitors who didn’t really understand licensing, but they all seemed to have a genuine interest and were willing to learn.

The show itself had grown since it was last held in July 2008, and was a presentable spectacle on its own without the added attraction of the Toy Fair for visitors. Once again it was beautifully presented and run – nothing was too much trouble for the organisers, and plenty of staff were always highly visible if we needed them. Well done once again to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. A comprehensive seminar programme again complemented the event and seemed to be well attended. As an aside, it’s always a breath of fresh air to go to venues where the food and drink services do not take advantage of a captive audience and charge the same as you would pay elsewhere in the city – other venues please note.

The number of overseas exhibitors is definitely on the increase, both from the local region and further afield. The change from when I first started supporting this event in 2005 is incredible. At that time I seemed to be the only exhibitor from outside the immediate region. I think this can be taken as a reflection of the growing appetite for mainstream characters and brands in this part of the world.

Local content still figures strongly at the show, and I am sure that a decent percentage have a chance of gaining the international recognition that they are looking for. The depth and range of the entries for the Premier Asian Licensing Awards was quite staggering, and you can see how highly the companies from this region regard these awards by the amount of time that was obviously spent on the detailed entries. As a member of the judging panel, I am never less than impressed by the presentations that the nominees submit.

Notwithstanding the draw of the Toy Fair, there certainly seemed to be an increase in the overseas licensing visitors this year, which shows that the industry is still prepared to cast its net far and wide to find the next big thing to bring to market. I just hope that they are ready to take a punt on some of the great stuff that was available.

The Hong Kong International Licensing Show looks like it has found it’s perfect slot early in our busy licensing calendar, and I look forward to supporting it for many years to come.