Unwrapping the Next Animated Brand Sensation at Brand Licensing Europe

The must-attend event for IP owners and licensing partners on the continent, Brand Licensing Europe will be taking over Excel London once again next month with its parades of colorful characters. From October 7-9, attendees can take in the thousands of brands on offer and explore the potential of 270 exhibitors.

We recently got to chat with Ella Haynes, BLE’s Event Director, about the exciting animated highlights of this year’s edition, what special surprises are in store and how the 2025 event is further empowering decision makes to connect and create new business opportunities within Europe and beyond. Here’s what she had to say:

Ella Haynes: We’re coming off the back of the biggest ever Brand Licensing Europe, so we’re really excited to bring the same quality and quantity of visitors to the show again this year.

We’re also bringing new features we introduced at Licensing Expo in May to BLE, including the Networking Hub, which we ran in partnership with industry trade association Licensing International. BLE is the focal point for the European licensing industry, so we’re doubling down on the ‘E’ in BLE this year, which means increasing attendance from mainland Europe as well as delivering more content designed to help retailers and manufacturers do more — and better — business within Europe, and they’ll find that content in the Networking Hub.

We’ll also have some fresh activations for the show, too, including a full size pickleball court thanks to Erve and partner Lotto. Everyone is invited to play and drop by at 2:30 p.m. each day to watch some very special — animation-related — players. We will also have a Wellness Space and there are several other activations in the works with details dropping over the next couple of weeks.

What are some of the big brands and companies that will have a strong presence this year?

To date, we have over 270 companies confirmed to exhibit, which means thousands of brands will be at the show for visitors to discover across character & entertainment, brands & lifestyle, the sports zone and discovery & design.

From an animation viewpoint, visitors will find Bluey, Mr. Bean, Pokémon, Hello Kitty, Sonic the Hedgehog, Moomin, The World of the Snowman, Dragon Ball Z, Warhammer, Bing, Dr. Seuss, Peppa Pig, Tara Duncan, Leo the Truck, Simon, The Smurfs, Magic Mixies Mixlings, Yu-Gi-Oh! and many, many more.

Can you tell us about the keynote?

Sure; our day one keynote is very animation-focused — it’s A Legend Reborn: Reimagining the Masters of the Universe Franchise delivered by Mattel x Amazon MGM Studios at 1:30 p.m. Speakers include Josh Silverman, Mattel’s Chief Franchise Officer, and Greg Coleman, Global Head of Franchise Marketing at Amazon MGM Studios. The panel will unpack the strategy behind the Masters of the Universe revival, tracing the journey from script to shelf and revealing how legacy, innovation and cross-platform storytelling combine to reimagine the franchise and engage fans across generations and retail. Our day two keynote will be announced mid-September.

What are some of the big trends you see this year in terms of licensing and how it pertains to animated content?

The big ones are fandom, gaming, kidult, anime, celebrity, multi-generation consumption and ‘newstalgia’: when popular brands are being rebooted to be relevant to current generations. The Masters of the Universe keynote is a great example of newstalgia in licensing, and we’re seeing lots of animation-led brands being brought back to life as parents relive their youths and share their fandom with the children in their lives. Other brands at BLE that fall into this category include Bagpuss, Danger Mouse, Inspector Gadget, Lucky Luke, Asterix and many, many more.

Any tips for first-time visitors to the show?

That’s easy: Register now so you get access to the online Event Planner and start using it asap. The planner helps visitors discover the brands that are right for their business and allows them to request meetings with those brand owners, as well as planning their itinerary around meetings and content. And we’ve added useful new features including enhanced wayfinding, integrated floorplan for easier stand searching, agenda sync to show where conference sessions, networking and other key show events are located and the ability to save searches, whether that’s people, brands or content, and set up alerts so visitors instantly know when there are new matches.

There is also a really useful downloadable guide for first time exhibitors here.

What are your own personal favorite aspects of the event?

The Mattel x Amazon MGM Studios keynote will be fascinating and relevant to everyone in the room because it spans the entire story arc of consumer product development. I’m also looking forward to our very special pickleball players at 2:30 p.m. every day on the Erve stand.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Don’t forget our networking drinks at 5 – 7 p.m. on the show floor. Should retailers have any questions, I would urge them to contact our head of retail Laura at laura.freedmandagg@informa.com. And, our amazing customer service team headed by Naomi can be contacted at blecustomerservice@informa.com.

Brand Licensing Europe takes place October 7-9 at Excel London and it’s free for animation professionals to attend. Simply register here. Visitors from outside the U.K. may need to purchase an ETA before travelling. This is quick, easy and affordable. Simply visit www.gov.uk/eta.