Festival of Licensing, the brand licensing industry’s biggest digital gathering, brought insights on brands’ legacies, emerging categories and collaborations across Europe, Asia and the Americas.
By creating a more robust digital platform, Festival of Licensing allowed the industry to hone-in and focus on a different region each week. The team at Dependable Solutions joined the global licensing industry as they actively connected with colleagues, clients, and industry peers through Festival of Licensing Europe and Americas, a blending of Brand Licensing Europe and Licensing Expo.
In between attending insightful panel sessions and connecting with visitors at Dependable Solutions’ virtual booth, the team was able to have many successful meetings. With the happy hours, trivia and virtual meetings, Festival of Licensing made it easy to make valuable connections.
And now that the festivities are over, the team revisits the month-long extravaganza and shares some key takeaways from the show:
Matchmaking and Digital Networking:
The good old opportunity to do matchmaking prior to traditional trade shows was still available at Festival of Licensing. With trade shows going entirely virtual this year, DSI team is learning to utilize online matchmaking to meet brand licensing professionals in the virtual environment from different parts of the world. Throughout the month-long event, it was a welcome platform for us to familiarize ourselves with industry professionals from brands, manufacturing companies and licensing agencies.
Finding the Positive:
While the disruption due to the pandemic was a key focus on conversations, the industry’s positive attitude and actions shined bright throughout the live and on-demand sessions. Formula 1 and Team GB showed “How the Sports Industry Swerved the Biggest Brand Disruption of Recent History” with their Netflix series, Drive to Survive, and their involvement with e-sports as useful engagement tools. Formula 1 also has a #WeRaceAsOne initiative where they sold squares of checkered flags from races to generate donations for a charity. The positive theme was echoed in The Smiley Company’s session “Re-affirming Purpose through Positivity, Creativity and Connection”.
Connecting in a disconnected world:
Dependable Solutions’ President Marty Malysz shared insightful tips and tricks to make purposeful connections with your business partners, licensees, clients and staff members in a current tumultuous world.
The session provides insights into the best way to approach these challenges of a disrupted licensing marketplace.
Many organizations have faced sickness of employees, a lot of companies were greatly impacted by furloughs and lay-offs. While most of us continue to work virtually, making connections between personnel, clients, and consumers still offers its challenges.
Now more than ever, we rely more on internet and technology. Technology is now the best option for businesses to run their operations smoothly and develop new opportunities.
It’s possible to strike business deals anywhere around the world and still stay connected. Sharing style guides, approving artwork with licensees, , capturing data from retailers, and staying on top of your financial and contractual obligations may get overwhelming, but with a proper system in place, you can keep track of everything in one place and not get disconnected. Watch this full video here.
Who moved the finishing line?
Dependable Solutions provided tools and insights to help keep processes on track with another video seminar Who Moved the Finishing Line? Keeping Track of Where Each Process is While You Aim for Success in Licensing.
As consumer behavior shifts and the global economy reshapes, we need to measure how the accumulated change is impacting organizations, their resources and what companies need to do when the finishing line moves. Companies need to get all their resources moving together in the same direction, where business partners, licensing agents, licensees, and manufacturers can thrive, complete tasks and feel energized, rather than feeling stagnated.
Licensing industry itself is facing big changes where the retail landscape is changing, new categories have emerged, brand owners and licensees are renegotiating minimum guarantees, licensing deals are being revisited and altogether consumers, brands, licensees and manufacturers need to manage and embrace the change and cross the finishing line while keeping track of each processes moving from the legal, to creative, finance and other departments. Stream the full session here.
Global C-suite summit
As a Gold Sponsor of the Global C-Suite Summit, Dependable Solutions hosted a panel session, Knowledge is Power: Throw Away Your Crystal Ball. The session was moderated by Frank Masterson, recently retired from Hallmark, with panelists Tony Scott, from Edgewell Personal Care and Michael Cisneros from Sega of America.
During this informative panel, seasoned industry experts discussed establishing milestones that matter and drive success in their licensing businesses. Learn about how metrics can help you gain insights on your licensing programs and processes, in our current environment. Watch the on-demand session here.
This peer-to-peer conversation of industry C-Level thought leaders shared insights and tips on how to avoid licensing and intellectual property guesswork and gain the powerful knowledge needed to succeed.
All in all, gaining insight to overcome challenges, uncovering industry trends, and strengthening connections both old and new made a truly positive experience for the team at DSI through Festival of Licensing.
From Hasbro’s Tunes & Trivial Pursuit happy hour to Licensing International’s Kahoot & Cocktail party to the Mask-arade party, the licensing industry proves time and time again that when we work together challenges can be overcome and fun can still be had by all.
Learn More
Dependable Solutions offers brand licensing software solutions that is designed to simplify all licensing processes for your sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. Our cloud-based software suite automates complex tasks related to royalties, approvals, assets, and contract management while providing business intelligence for boosting revenue and optimizing efficiency. Connect with Dependable Solutions’ licensing experts.