Agenda

Brand & Licensing Innovation Summit Agenda

November 2, 2023 - Retail Tour and Networking Event

Thursday, November 2 | 4-5 PM

IT’SUGAR Times Square, 234 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036

As a pre-curser to Friday's session, "The Retail Environment: Adapting to the Shifting Tides in Today's Dynamic Market" - join Justin Clinger, Director - Design, Licensing & Marketing, at the premier Times Square IT’SUGAR location. During the event, IT'SUGAR will guide attendees through a tour of their immersive space, overviewing their retail strategy, product success and brand extension initiatives. Entrance only with a Brand & Licensing Innovation Summit registration.

November 3, 2023 - B&LIS Summit

Friday, November 2 I 8am-6pm

Convene, 117 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036

All-day conference connecting exclusive senior-level thought leaders from the business of brand licensing, including brand owners, manufacturers and retailers, followed by ‘The Influentials’ awards & reception.

Agenda is subject to change. Please check the page periodically for the most updated version.

8:00-8:55

Breakfast

8:55-9:00

Welcome - opener from host and overview of the day

9:00-9:40

The Retail Environment: Adapting to the Shifting Tides in Today's Dynamic Market

A panel of retailers will offer insights into the trends they are seeing effecting their businesses, the buying patterns and share what’s hot and what’s not. This panel will discuss how different channels are performing, is the e-commerce channel continuing to grow and if so, is this at the expense of brick-and-mortar? How do licensed products fit into retailer strategies, how do they prioritize different brands, exclusivity deals and timing? What is the decision making behind choosing properties and identifying which ones to discontinue? The panel will also look at the massive media ecosystem and share how they determine which avenue to take, offering licensors an idea on what they can do to support product success on shelf.

Justin Clinger, AVP - Creative & Marketing, IT'SUGAR
Jamie Cygielman, General Manager/President, American Girl

9:45-10:30

Location-based Entertainment: Which is Better… the Amusement Park or the Mall Experience? Or is it Something New?

Different location-based entertainment models are under scrutiny… let’s face it, they are expensive and a true brand commitment. This panel will examine key factors to understand as you consider an LBE strategy, answering key questions like how much money can be made from them? This session will aim to provide a toolkit of the main considerations you need to factor when developing and executing a location-based experience partnership.
Other topics will include the types of biz arrangements and how they work, are most agreements joint ventures or are they typical licensing arrangements, who makes the investment and pays royalties, what is the lead time and more. We’ll even touch on consumer expectations and offer an understanding of the new innovations emerging in the LBE space.

Daryl White, Executive Vice President of Global Licensing and Business Development at Falcon's Beyond
Mark Amos, Executive Vice President, JRA, part of RWS Global

10:30-11:00

AM Coffee Break

11:00-11:40

Bang for your Buck: How to Market to and Engage with Different Generations

The panel will debate how generations are profoundly different to engage with. How do you service them all within your budget? How do you prioritize when audiences are so fragmented? How do cut through the content clutter? And more importantly, how do you get the attention of retail? This session focuses attention on considering the consumer, using data and understanding consumer purchasing decisions to decide how to focus your marketing dollars effectively. There’s also much debate about whether influencers have had their day. The panel will consider whether influencers remain relevant and an important part of the marketing strategy. Is it worth investing in influencers and if so, should the focus be on paid influencers or earned influencers? Which works better?

Eric Karp, SVP Brand Licensing, Vox Media
Ashley Mady, President, Zigazoo Kids
Jamie Kampel, Head of Licensing and Merchandising, Amazon Studios

11:45-12:20

Adjusting to the Rapid Pace of Consumer Change

The current economic landscape, and thus consumer trends, are changing moment-to-moment it seems. How do brands keep up, react and, more importantly, plan for the future, particularly in an industry that looks so far forward?
Join Circana’s (formerly The NPD Group) Juli Lennett, Vice President, U.S. Toys Industry Advisor, and Kristen Classi-Zummo, Director, Apparel Industry Analyst, for a session that will cover consumer trends in key category areas such as publishing, apparel, toys, SVOD and more, allowing licensors to gain actionable insights that will inform your 2024.

Kristen Classi-Zummo: Director/Apparel Industry Analyst, Circana
Juli Lennett: VP, U.S. Toys Industry Advisor, Circana

12:20-1:20

Lunch

1:20-2:00

Is it Still Cool to Collaborate?

Everywhere you look there are brand collaborations. Is the industry suffering from collaboration fatigue? This discussion will provide an evaluation of the key advantages of collaborations but also the points to consider which could create challenges. Are collaborations still relevant and are they a long-term business strategy? This session will ask how brands decide to work together, the practicalities and identify what makes for a good collaboration. How do you find them, is there always a lift in business and sustained growth afterwards? Who wins with collabs… Do these deals benefit both partners financially? The panelists will discuss the growing importance of collaborations in keeping brands culturally relevant and surprising and delighting brand enthusiasts and where they have seen success… or address if these types of deals have seen their day.

Jon Troutman, Executive Vice President of Commerce and Operations, VeeFriends

2:05-2:45

Understanding AI and Web 3.0 Technology: Weighing Opportunities Against Challenges

Everyone is eager to build their knowledge of and prepare for the potential impact new technologies such as AI and the metaverse will present to businesses, particularly in the licensing sector. This expert conversation will address burning questions such as what really is AI, how effective is the metaverse in building brands, how do you protect your IP, where should energy be focused in terms of emerging technology and more.

Ricardo Briceno, Chief Business Officer, Gamefam

2:45-3:15

PM Coffee Break

3:15-3:50

Think Tank: Where is Agility Needed?

This panel will be a constructive debate with a cross-industry speakers discussing how agility is required to meet the trials facing consumer products and identify what those current challenges are. Are supply chain disruptions still a thing, or has attention now shifted to inflation, shopping behaviors, political unrest, AI or something else entirely new? Whether you’re a retailer, marketer, manufacturer or licensor, you have needed to look at substantial changes in process, planning and execution that enables shorter reaction times to allow for greater adaptability. The panel will discuss the challenges they face in the modern licensed consumer product sector today and the solutions they are employing.

3:55-4:35

Do we need more Widgets? What’s the Hot New ‘It’ Item?

Every year, brands and manufacturers struggle to predict what prodcuts will resonate at market. This panel will look at which product categories are set for significant growth and examine where to focus brand energies. Our panel of licensors will debate the opportunities in categories including apparel, home, food and beverage and hospitality. Where are they seeing consumers spending in these categories? What are the existing and emerging platforms for entertainment and consumer engagement? What are the key compelling content factors that drive successful licensed prodcuts and are those factors changing? What are the new innovations and practices driving business today? Is the answer fandom and storytelling? Or are societal changes including diversity, inclusion and sustainability reflected in category decision making? What are the current considerations you need to make, and how do you convince consumers to purchase new products?

4:40-4:45

Closing remarks from the host

4:45-6:00

The Influentials Awards & Celebratory Reception

Why is the summit an important event for the licensing industry?

"We as businesses and consumers have undergone over a year of constant change. Its been harder than ever to unlock opportunities through our core shoppers – as behaviour is changing constantly to adapt to new rules. This event will give you better clarity on the latest industry trends to provide you with actionable insight to allow you to plan with confidence."

Claire McClelland, Client Executive, Kantar

Curated by the License Global Team

B&LIS has been specially curated by the License Global editorial team. With more than 25 years of expertise and a global view of the brand licensing industry, License Global is the No. 1 thought leader and news source. By leveraging their contacts, knowledge and in-depth market understanding, License Global is able to produce conference content guaranteed to provoke conversation and highlight trends that all brands, manufacturers and retailers need to know.