Events

Finalists for The Licensing Awards 2015 have now been revealed for the Product, Retail, and Marketing Communication Awards. The finalists for the Property Awards categories will be announced in early August. The winners will be revealed at The Licensing Awards event on Tuesday 15 September – in The Great Room at London’s prestigious Grosvenor House Hotel. This year’s event is destined to be a memorable one for the 1,400 retailers, licensees, licensors and industry suppliers set to attend.

Approaching 5,000 licensed products were entered into the Product Awards this year. The Judging Panel comprised of almost 100 top retail buyers, including those from Sainsbury’s, Argos, Primark, Claires, Toys R Us, Tesco, Mothercare, Poundland, Boots, The Entertainer, Forbidden Planet, Lakeland, Asda, Mothercare, Matalan, BHS, Paperchase, Paulton’s Park, Blue Inc, Oliver Bonas, River Island, Lloyds Pharmacy and Rymans.

Best Licensed Toys or Games Range

Finalists:
• Despicable Me 2 RC Inflatable Stuart and Dave Minions with sound from Bladez Toyz
• Frozen Toddler Doll Range from Jakks Pacific
• Paw Patrol Toy Range from Spinmaster
• Peppa Pig Construction Toys from Simba Smoby
• Shopkins Series 3 Collectable Mini Figures and Playset from Moose Enterprise/GP Flair
• Star Wars Roar and Rage Chewbacca and Light Sabre Battle Yoda Action Plush from Underground Toys

Best Licensed Dress-Up or Partyware Range

Finalists:
• Frozen Light-Up Princesses Range from Rubies Masquerade
• Marvel Avengers Age Of Ultron Dress-Up From Rubies Masquerade
• Marvel Superheroes Dress-Up from Morph Costumes
• Minions Novelty Party Range from Icon Live
• Paddington Bear Partyware Range from Creative Party
• Roald Dahl Children’s Dress-Up Range from Smiffys

Best Licensed Preschool Apparel Range (0-5 years)

Finalists:
• Minions Build Your Own PJs for George@ASDA from Cooneen By Design
• Minions Preschool Collection for TU at Sainsbury’s from Smith & Brooks
• Minnie Mouse Denim Girls Preschool Range from Primark
• Paddington Babywear for Tesco from Brecrest Fashion
• Peter Rabbit Baby Range for M&S from Watermelon
• Star Wars Baby Range for Mothercare from Dennicci

Best Licensed Children’s or Adult Apparel Range

Finalists:
• Coca Cola Adult Range from Retro Freds By Brand Alliance
• DC Comics Superman Collection from Fabric Flavours
• Minions Boys’ Range for George@ASDA from Cooneen by Design
• Despicable Me 2 Children’s Footwear Range for George@ASDA from William Lamb Footwear
• Frozen Nightdress for TU Sainsbury’s from Cooneen by Design
• Harry Potter Autumn / Winter 14 Ladies Range from Primark

Best Written, Listening or Learning Range

Finalists:
• Alien Classic Range from Titan Publishing Group
• Frozen Magazine from Egmont Publishing
• Jurassic World Where Dinosaurs Come To Life Augmented Reality Books from Carlton Publishing
• Peppa Pig Book and App Range from Penguin Random House
• My Very Hungry Caterpillar App from Story Toys
• Winnie The Pooh Classic Collection from Egmont Publishing

Best Licensed Paper Products or Stationery Range

Finalists:
• Despicable Me Stationery Range from Pyramid International
• Great British Bake Off Stationery and Gift Range from Otter House
• House of Holland Stationery Range from Blueprint Collections
• Despicable Me Greeting Cards, Gift Bags, Calendars and Giftwrap from Danilo Promotions
• Star Wars Greeting Card Range from Hallmark Cards
• Winnie the Pooh Bother Free Days Card Range from Moonpig

Best Licensed Giftware Range

Finalists:
• Cinderella Adult Jewellery Collection from Icon Live
• IWM Victory Is In The Kitchen Range from Kimm & Miller
• Despicable Me Minion Made Plush Backpacks from Posh Paws
• The Makery Giftware Range from Wild and Wolf
• Mr. Men and Little Miss Grow Kits from Gift Republic
• Winnie The Pooh Classic Gift Range from Widdop Bingham

Best Licensed Food or Drink Range

Finalists:
• The Beano Sweet Shop and Selection Tin from Rose Marketing
• DC Super Heroes Biscuit Collection from Biscuiteers
• Frozen Baking Range from Fiddes Payne
• Jammie Dodger Celebration Cake from Finsbury Food Group
• Minions Ice Creams, Lollies and Squeezers Range from Icefresh Foods
• Snowman And The Snowdog Chocolate Gift Range from Thorntons

Best Licensed Home Décor, Tableware or Housewares Range

Finalists:
• Frozen Crystal Bedding and Home Furnishings Collection from Character World
• Happy Jackson Storage Tin Range From Elite
• Roald Dahl Bedding And Accessories Collection from Ashley Wilde
• Star Wars Homewares Collection from Half Moon Bay
• Ted Baker Portmeirion The Fine Collection Rosie Lee from Portmeirion
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar Nursery Collection from East Coast Nursery

Best Licensed Brand Range

Finalists:
• Kellogg’s Vintage Health And Beauty Range from Mad Beauty
• Historic Royal Palaces Baroque Gardening Collection from Briers
• Playstation Retro Range from Bioworld
• Rugby World Cup Collection from Ulster Weavers
• V&A Spring/Summer 15 Collection from Oasis
• Volkswagen Retro Housewares Range from Half Moon Bay

The Innovation Award

Finalists:
• Doctor Who Cyberman Edge Sculpture from Robert Harrop
• Historic Royal Palaces Fashion Collection No4 From Hobbs
• Metal Gear Solid 5 The Phantom Pain Boombox from Konami Digital Entertainment
• SpongeBob Square Pants Cycle Jersey from Scimitar Sports
• Star Wars Melting Storm Trooper from Blue Sky Designs
• Thunderbirds Classic merchMAKER range from Merchant On Demand

Best Licensed Marketing Communication Campaign Award

For this award category, a highly qualified panel of marketing and promotions experts judged the entries to the Best Licensed Marketing Communication Campaign 2015 Award to arrive at an impressive finalists line-up, each of which demonstrate strong partnerships forged between licensed properties and key FMCG brands.

Finalists:
• Adventure Time Dr Martens Bounce Mob Stunt
• The Beano at Brewers Fayre
• The Gruffalo Forestry Commission Trails
• Paddington Warbeartons Campaign
• The SpongeBob Movie Clean Start Appeal for British Red Cross
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar Giant Wiggle for Action for Children

The Retailer Award Finalists

The finalists of the Retailer Award categories were decided as a result of an online nomination process involving manufacturers, suppliers and importers of licensed products, inviting them to state which retailers have excelled in their retail delivery of licensed merchandise to the public over the last year.  These results were then taken into account by a validation panel of industry experts to arrive at the final line-up.

Best Preschool Retailer of Licensed Products (age group 0-5)

Finalists:
• Argos
• The Entertainer
• Mothercare
• Next
• Sainsbury’s
• Smyths

Best Kids Retailer of Licensed Products (age group 6-16)

Finalists:
• Argos
• Asda
• The Entertainer
• Next
• Primark
• Tesco

Best Retailer of Adult Licensed Products

Finalists:
• Forbidden Planet
• HMV
• Next
• Primark
• Tesco
• Urban Outfitters

The Radar Award

This award is for any UK based retailer (bricks and mortar/or online) that have ‘come on the radar’ by upping their licensing activities in the last year.

Finalists:
• B&M
• Halfords
• Poundland
• Shop Direct
• Specsavers
• Uniqlo

Top Retailer Award

All winners of the other categories are contenders for this award.