Smiley, Authentic Brands Group and Alibaba to give keynote addresses at large scale virtual gathering next month.
The Smiley brand, the world’s biggest retailer Alibaba, and globally-renowned brand management, brand owner and marketing company Authentic Brands Group (ABG) are the first keynotes revealed for the Festival of Licensing Live Stage agenda, sponsored by Crunchyroll.
Going live at 0900 BST on October 6, The Smiley Company will open the festival and kick off the event’s Europe content.
Meanwhile, Alibaba will take the centre stage for the first day of the Asia week, with ABG headlining day one of the Americas week with insight into its unique business strategy. Live Stage sponsor, Crunchyroll, will keynote the America’s second day of content with a lively discussion around anime.
In addition, the first wave of regional speakers and educational content has also been confirmed.
For Europe, this will see key executives including Dan Amos, head of esports at Difuzed, Ruth Golightly, head of buying children’s clothing, Asda/George and Gabrielle Sims, licensing director at FatFace, take to the virtual stage.
The first week of Festival of Licensing – running from October 6-8 and powered by Brand Licensing Europe – currently looks like this:
Tuesday 6 October, 9am BST
Keynote presentation: Putting Purpose into your Licensing Programme
Nicolas Loufrani, founder and ceo, The Smiley Company. Additional special guests to be announced.
Wednesday 7 October, 9am BST
Keynote panel: How the Sports Industry Swerved the Biggest Brand Disruption of Recent History (Joan Carrera Lopez, senior manager, Retail & CPG Licensing, Formula 1; Tim Ellerton, commercial director, Team GB; + more panellists to be announced)
On-demand sessions available from Tuesday, 6 October, 9am BST, including:
What do Gamers Want? – Dan Amos, head of esports, Difuzed. Additional panellists to be announced (Moderator: Ben Roberts, Content Editor, EMEA, License Global).
Building a Long-Term Programme: What do Licensors Need to Do? – Nikki Samuels, ceo, factory; Ruth Golightly, head of buying, children’s clothing, Asda/George; Ashley Holman, md, Riverside Brands; Gabrielle Sims, licensing director, FatFace (Moderator: Richard Pink, Managing Director, Pink Key Licensing).
“To have businesses of this stature, who are globally known and respected throughout licensing and beyond, headlining on the Festival of Licensing Live Stage is phenomenal. We couldn’t have asked for more,” said Anna Knight, vp licensing, Informa Markets.
“We have amazing regional sessions confirmed, as well, including fantastic panels. This is just the start. We have another four weeks to go and a tonne more keynotes and content yet to announce. It’s going to be an incredible line-up with some truly inspirational sessions and can’t miss educational content.”
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