Cooneen, Disney, Kinnerton, Penguin Random House UK, Bravado and LEGO all share their delight at winning accolades.
This week has ended on a high note for the winners of The Licensing Awards – with executives from the victorious companies continuing to share their delight with LicensingSource.
Dan Scott, general manager UK and Ireland consumer products, games and publishing at Disney, was celebrating picking up the inaugural What Kids Love Award (in partnership with The Insights Family) for Frozen.
“The team at Disney is delighted that our record breaking franchise Frozen won the What Kids Love Award,” he commented. “We’re thrilled by how much consumers love the magic of our Frozen characters, stories and products. Thank you for putting on such a tremendous event; it was inspiring to see the great work that has been done across the industry and felt like such a positive step forward to be back together in person.”
Gareth Davies, UK sales director at Cooneen, said winning the Best Sustainable Licensed Product award for its Brand Threads Peppa Pig Nightwear Range was “delightful and fine recognition of the Cooneen team vision of improving sustainability in children’s apparel”.
“A project first conceived over two years ago, the affordable Brand Threads range continues to go from strength to strength, and it was an honour to share the nominee list with such a fine cohort of licensees pushing to make a difference,” Gareth told LicensingSource. “This year The Licensing Awards celebrations felt as much about the industry coming together as winning the award, though I was very proud of our Cooneen team in gaining the recognition they deserve for a vision they truly believe in. Our colleagues back at base were thrilled to learn of the award and celebrated with tea and cake at Cooneen HQ the next day.”
Another licensee celebrating is Kinnerton, which scooped Best Licensed Food or Drink Range for its Harry Potter Confectionery for M&S.
Zoe Kaill, innovation manager, commented: “Kinnerton was absolutely delighted to win the award for the Best Licensed Food or Drink Range. We have been working on the Harry Potter collection for nearly two years, so to win an award for such a technically challenging range is fantastic. A brilliant achievement by the Warner Bros, M&S and Kinnerton teams for making the magic happen.
“It was fantastic to be back at The Grosvenor after what seemed like years. The buzz and excitement hit an all-time high as we took our seats to be wined, dined and thoroughly entertained.”
Susan Bolsover, global licensing and consumer products director at Penguin Random House, agreed that it was great to see the UK licensing industry back together again.
Commenting on the company’s win, Susan offered: “Penguin Ventures were thrilled not only to win the award for the Best Film Licensed Property for Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, but to see our partners Dennicci triumph in the apparel and accessories (0-5) category for their stunning Peter Rabbit collection with Nutmeg.
“It was even an honour to award the trophy we sponsored to our partners at Cath Kidston (even though it wasn’t a Peter Rabbit win). Such a great night and a joy to see all of those licensing faces again.”
David Boyne, UK md at Bravado – which won Best Music or Celebrity Licensed Property for The Rolling Stones – commented: “It was incredible to be back at a live Licensing Awards again, made even more special by the award we collected for The Rolling Stones. We continue to be honoured to be working with the world’s biggest rock and roll band and be a part of their ongoing rich legacy. Congratulations to all the other winners on the night!”
Finally, the hotly contested Innovation Award went to LEGO DOTS Range from LEVI Strauss & Co. Emily Jacobs, head of in-bound licensing at The LEGO Group, told LicensingSource: “We were so thrilled to receive this award on behalf of everyone who worked on the LEGO Dots x Levis collaboration. Being such an innovative concept, this was only made possible by the commitment, partnership and creativity across extensive cross functional team at both brands.
“We had so much fun making it happen and are really proud to receive the recognition. It was amazing to be back with all our licensing colleagues in person this week. Such a special celebration of the industry coming together and demonstrating incredible strength and resilience.”
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