INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
The event is curated by BCBF and BLTF/Kids in partnership with Licensing Magazine
The big players in the toy industry have moved away from their core business to content development in publishing and entertainment. Animation and publishing are increasingly intertwined, with toys also playing a part.
7 MARCH
LICENSED TO PLAY | HOW BRAND PURPOSE IS THE PLAYBOOK OF MATTEL
From Hot Wheels to Barbie, Mattel is home to a wide roster of truly iconic brands – brands that supersede just one category, from toys to clothes, attractions to publishing, Mattel has written the playbook of a full franchise portfolio. Driven by the four principles of brand purpose, design-led innovation, cultural relevance, and executional excellence, the Mattel playbook is the heat behind the fire that sparked its turnaround and the blueprint that’s reenergising its entire brand portfolio.
The Mattel approach is more than a promise, it’s brand purpose that influences everything from messaging and design to execution. In an exclusive Q&A session Ruth Henriquez, Mattel’s Head of Consumer Products EMEA, explains how her team engage consumers and open up the dialogue with new partners to tell the right story - putting the right people for the right roles throughout the team and empowering them to go do great work.
Speaker:
Ruth Henriquez, Head of Consumer Products, Mattel EMEA, UK
BUILDING BRANDS THROUGH ANIMATION, PUBLISHING AND TOY
Children's content, despite multiple digital evolutions, bases its foundation on video content, publishing, and toy. These three assets allow a brand for children a solid and long-lasting life cycle. In this panel we will go deeper into the interplay between these worlds, and how they have become increasingly synergetic and complementary with each other, with a look at the evolution of the individual areas of publishing, animation and toys.
Speakers:
Jiella Esmat, Chief Revenue Officer, Amuse Animation, UK
Sara Visentin, Head of Brand & Content Acquisition, FABA, Italy
Chanda A. Bell, Co-CEO and Chief Storyteller, The Lumistella Company
Moderated by:
Ben Roberts, Content Director EMEA, License Global, UK
CASE HISTORY. ZAG, MUCH MORE THAN A POWERFUL CONTENT HOUSE
With an unprecedented launch last January, Zag is the first entertainment company to create an in-house Toy Division to complement the development of franchises that have determined the group's worldwide success, as Miraculous - Tales of Lady Bug and Cat Noir. Zag Play does not only bring new products to life and on the shelves, but also gives new stimuli for the development of increasingly engaging content for children. In this panel, a discussion on the group's strategies and new scenarios and on how their evolution also falls within the more complex dynamics of the industry, between Toy and Entertainment.
Speakers:
Helena Perheentupa, SVP, ZagPlay, ZAG, Germany
Maria Doolan, SVP of TV Content, The World of Zag, Spain
LICENSING AND SUSTAINABILITY.A NEW APPROACH FOR FASHION AND TOY
Panel organized in partnership with Products of Change
Products of Change returns to Bologna to bring to industry’s attention the issues of sustainability and how they are increasingly central to every production cycle. In this session, the topic of sustainability and consumer goods will be addressed with a focus on toys and fashion, with two key protagonists of these categories.
Speakers:
Helena Mansell-Stopher, CEO, Products of Change, UK
Jutta C. Breyer, Managing Director, License Factory, Germany
Jakob Max Hamann, Product Sustainability Manager, LEGO Group, Denmark
Case study. Preview of MAVKA. THE FOREST SONG
Mavka. The Forest Song animated movie will be released internationally starting Spring 2023. The premieres will be in Europe, the USA, Canada, and MENA.
The story is based on a famous Ukrainian fairy drama of Lesya Ukrainka. This is the reason why children and families have been waiting for this animated feature film for 5 years since the announcement of the very first teaser. Thanks to the huge consumers’ demand, dozens of licensed partnerships were implemented even before the movie première. This presentation shows an extraordinary case history with challenges, achievements, and prospects.
Speaker:
Tetiana Ruban, CEO, The Nerd Agency, Ukraine
FROM BOOKS TO A GLOBAL OMNICHANNEL EXPERIENCE. MOOMINS BEST PRACTICE
A brand born from the books and stories by Tove Jansson in 1945 and which has set the standard in the publishing, entertainment, licensing and other industries. A reference in the development of sophisticated and avant-garde lifestyle products, one of the first brands to open branded flagship stores in the world, in Covent Garden, London, up to the most recent retail launch in Tokyo. Its stories always up-to-date and its audiovisual production always in full swing. This and much more is about Moomins, one of the best practices of the synthesis between publishing and licensing.
Speaker:
Roleff Kråkström, Managing Director, Moomin Characters Ltd, Finland
CHANGES IN FAMILY CONSUMPTION, AND WHAT THAT MEANS FOR THE LICENSING INDUSTRY
Kids and teens in today’s world are constantly connected, financially empowered, and socially conscious. They are becoming increasingly influential within the household, and the speed of change is significant. As a result, the licensing industry needs to transform quickly in several ways if it is to keep up with to the changing attitudes, behaviors, and consumption patterns of this generation of kids, teens, parents, and families.
Speaker:
Ivan Colecchia, SVP International Development, The Insights Family, Italy
The big players in the toy industry have moved away from their core business to content development in publishing and entertainment. Animation and publishing are increasingly intertwined, with toys also playing a part. The immersive experience allows multiple-source enjoyment by consumers of brand content, a phenomenon that is also reflected in the increasingly omnichannel retail experience. In this session, international experts from the toy, publishing, animation, and entertainment sectors will discuss the growing interconnection of worlds that until recently seemed separate.
Chanda is co-CEO at The Lumistella Company, overseeing the creative vision for the company's global portfolio of brands. Co-author of The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition, Chanda has guided the company's evolution from a single consumer product to a story-first global intellectual property that tells the stories of Santa’s North Pole through products, brand experiences and engaging entertainment. The Lumistella Company's brands are distributed in 23 countries and 6 languages, with animated content available on Netflix in 75+ countries.
Jutta Breyer business graduate from the University of Passau (Germany) and Managing Director of License Factory GmbH since 2014, has more than 30 years of experience in the marketing and production of textiles, considering and analyzing global trade and culture-specific conditions.
As a person who is extremely devoted to nature and the earth, it quickly becomes clear to her that action must be taken in India if there is to be a future worth living for future generations, whether in Europe, India or elsewhere in the world. Together with a committed team of scientists and manufacturers, techniques to produce natural color dyes from barks, plants, minerals, etc. are then taken up and further developed.
The own brand "LIQUID" is founded, which focuses exclusively on the production and development of naturally dyed textiles / clothing made of conventional or organic cotton in India.
Ivan Colecchia is SVP International Development at The Insights Family, the global leader in kids and family market intelligence, which has seen the business expand to operating in 22 international markets, with more than 100 clients, including: Amazon, BBC, Hasbro, Paramount and Warner Media.
Prior to joining The Insights Family, Colecchia has over 25 years of experience in worldwide family market research, spending time in the US, Europe and Asia across many different business areas. He is an appreciated expert in the family brand space and has been a keynote speaker at many international licensing conferences and events.
Maria Doolan serves as ZAG’s VP, TV Content, reporting to ZAG Founder and CEO, Jeremy Zag, and Julian Jacob Zag, EVP, global operations, ZAG & Head of ZAG PLAY - (ZAG’s Consumer products division).
Doolan is responsible for ZAG's global strategy of content distribution across all platforms including television, home entertainment, and digital media, for select properties in the ZAG Heroez portfolio—an umbrella brand franchise that brings together the superheroes from ZAG’s animated properties.
Doolan has an extensive brand management background, spearheading efforts across program distribution and consumer products and is an expert at driving strategy, building brands, and adding value. She works closely with the company’s consumer products executives to craft strategies for TV placement with best-in-class partners around the globe to build strong platforms from to launch new TV shows under the ZAG Heroez universe.
Doolan brings 20+ years' experience managing, marketing, and selling TV and retail products and properties, having spent 17 years with Zinkia Entertainment. There she served in several roles, her latest as global head of international TV distribution & co-productions.
Jiella is the Chief Revenue Officer of Amuse Animation tasked with 360 growth of the company. Her career began at several Hollywood Majors, including responsibility for distribution of the Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation new release slate and catalogue at Paramount Pictures. She was one half of the founding duo of Paramount Digital Entertainment EMEA, followed by a Digital & Innovation stint at Sony Pictures International, New Media sales at NBCU, and most recently leading distribution & originals at Moonbug Entertainment across EMEA.
Jakob Max Hamann is sustainability manager at the LEGO Group with a background in sustainable product development and environmental engineering. Being part of the strategic sustainability development of the LEGO Licensing Sustainability transformation, Jakob is leading the partner sustainability governance and joint direction for the LEGO Licensing partner business across consumer product, brand and publishing partnerships.
Ruth Henriquez, Head of Consumer Products for the Mattel EMEA region, is a veteran of the company. In her current role, Ruth oversees the entire consumer products portfolio across all Mattel IP brands, as well as further integration of the CP division into franchise marketing and live events.
Ruth has enjoyed a successful decade at Mattel EMEA and possesses expert knowledge of its products, having worked on every brand in the Mattel portfolio both at local and regional level. She joined the Mattel finance department in 2011 before moving into marketing and heading up marketing teams in both Italy and the Iberia region where she successfully accelerated the business in both her appointments. Prior to her most recent role, she was marketing director for EMEA Infant and Pre-School brands where she turned around the business after decline.
Roleff Kråkström is the managing director of Moomin Characters Ltd, founding partner of Rights & Brands Agency, Chairman of the board and member of several other companies. Roleff and Sophia Jansson are heading the Moomin universe and licensing strategy. The company owns the rights and licenses the original artwork of the Moomins created by Tove Jansson, the Finnish-Swedish writer and artist. All characters from Moominvalley are trademark registered worldwide.
Helena Mansell-Stopher is CEO and founder at Products of Change, a membership organisation and media platform that provides a safe place for industry to learn, connect and transition to a more sustainable future. Helena curates the sustainability in licensing conference (SILC) the first of its kind in the brand and licensing industry, formed to advance the industries knowledge on future innovations within the sustainability space.
Helena is an advisor to the United Nations Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Initiative and Board Director to Recycle to Read.
With a 26 year career in the licensing industry across media and lifestyle brands, working with companies such as HIT Entertainment, Mattel, Marvel and National Geographic, as well as a 6 year career in sustainability, Helena is at the cutting edge of closing the knowledge gap to advance the industry forward to a sustainable future.
Helena Perheentupa joins ZAG from Mattel & Hit Entertainment in Frankfurt, Germany, where she rose through the ranks over her 13-year tenure to become Head of Licensing, leading an eight-person team overseeing brands including Barbie, Hot wheels, Fisher-Price, Monster High, Uno, Matchbox, Thomas & Friends, Fireman Sam, Bob the Builder, Pingu, and more. She also served as Country Sales manager and Head of Marketing and Customer marketing while at Mattel. Prior, she served as Joint Business Planning and Category Manager at another blue chip giant, Procter & Gamble, developing, planning and executing a portfolio of long-term strategic projects for the giant’s beauty brand portfolio in Finland, including market leaders such as Pantene, Head&Shoulders, Wash&Go, Wella, and Gillette amongst others.
As Content Director (EMEA) for License Global, Ben Roberts specializes in global intellectual property and consumer product licensing. Based in License Global’s London office, Ben charts trends across key brand categories in all major markets, speaks with brand and business leaders worldwide to gain in-depth insight on strategy and reflects the cutting-edge work of the licensing industry through coverage across the License Global family of brands.
Tetiana Ruban is the CEO of Nerd agency (FILM.UA Group), based in Ukraine. She is the 2022 Licensing International Rising Star award winner. Tetiana holds a Doctor of Philosophy in World Economy and International Economic Relations from Kyiv National Economics University, named after Vadym Hetman.
Tetiana Ruban led the Nerd agency in 2020. The licensing agency represents MAVKA. THE FOREST SONG, ROBOCAR POLI, BRAVE BUNNIES, and other properties. As well, Tetiana created an idea of a licensed charity brand CALL ME UKRAINE , which became a part of the agency portfolio. Nerd agency operates in Ukraine and internationally.
Sara is Head of brand & content acquisition at FABA. She is in charge of establishing the editorial strategy for the company's products, currently distributed in 8 countries and 4 languages, coordinating the acquisition of new content and licences, as well as building partnerships aimed at enhancing the brand and expanding its reach.
Before joining FABA, she gained more than 15 years of experience in the field of edutainment for kids, managing and accompanying the international growth of several animation brands.
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GLOBAL RIGHTS EXCHANGE
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