Overview
The 7th edition of the Hong Kong International Licensing Show, held from 2nd to 4th July 2008 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, recorded its largest participation on record with 132 exhibitors from 11 countries and regions, representing over 300 saleable trademarks and properties spanning characters, entertainment, sports, fashion, art, corporate brands and celebrities.
Gained with support and reputation, the Show continued to house a special zone introduced last year, namely the Lifestyle Pavilion, featuring fashion brands and ready-to-license lifestyle properties of 5 exhibitors. To provide new elements and more variety, the Show also expanded to house a new zone, the Digital Entertainment Zone, featuring the latest and hottest digital contents of 3 companies.
The Hong Kong Character Hall was staged again to showcase 29 home grown figurines and characters. The Design, Legal and Trade Services Pavilion, another special highlight of the show, housed 20 exhibitors providing various supporting service companies to provide a wealth of business opportunities to attendees.
Exhibitors
The 2008 Show recorded a total of 132 exhibitors from 11 countries and regions including the Chinese Mainland, Germany, Hong Kong, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the UK, the US as well as the new-comer from France. It represented 5.6% growth from the previous year.
Number of Exhibitors
| |
2008 |
% Change |
| Hong Kong |
87 |
-3% |
Outside Hong Kong |
35 |
+29% |
| Total |
132 |
+5.6% |
|
Visitors
The Show was well attended by around 10,000 visitors from 72 countries and regions, of which 38.2% were overseas visitors and 61.8% were local visitors.
In terms of regional attendance, one third of visitors (31%) were from Asia, followed by Europe, North America, Australia and Pacific Islands and the Middle East. The top ten countries from which most visitors outside Hong Kong originated were: the Chinese Mainland (1,537), Japan (263), Taiwan (208), the Philippines (197), Thailand (148), Singapore (135), USA (121), Republic of Korea (111), and Malaysia (110) and Canada (77).
During the three-day Show, over 140 business matching appointments were arranged to match-make exhibitors with VIP buyers and delegates of buying missions.
Major Activities at a Glance:
A. Hong Kong International Licensing Conference
The Show featured a series of valuable and insightful market intelligence forums on the latest trends of sports licensing, strategic brand extension, entertainment licensing, as well as intellectual property rights protection and licensing business opportunities in the emerging retail markets. A new Licensing 101 Seminar programme was also introduced to provide the basics of licensing as well as negotiation skills for licensing programmes. Heavy-weight experts and star companies who presented at the Conference include:
Entertainment Licensing: Marvel Entertainment and FremantleMedia Enterprises representing Iron Man, Spider-Man, American Idol, The Price is Right
Sports Licensing: Warner Bros Consumer Products, NBA China Global Merchandising Group and IMG representing FIFA World Cup Germany, UEFA Euro 2008, Manchester United and NBA
Brand Extension: The Beanstalk Group, The Licensing Company (TLC) Group and Brand Castle representing Ford, Jaguar, Paris Hilton, Cosmopolitan, Crayola and Kelloggs.
Emerging Retail Markets: Disney Consumer Products and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Greater China, and Toys LiFung (Asia) Limited.
Intellectual Property: Introduction to IPR issues in the licensing business.
Licensing 101 Seminar Programme: Introduction to the licensing business, basic skills and market intelligence on the global market.
The three-day Conference attracted over 700 audiences, providing an excellent platform for market intelligence and business networking.
B. The 5th Premier Asian Licensing Awards
The 5th Premier Asian Licensing Awards, co-organised by HKtdC and LIMA (International Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association), continued to recognise the outstanding achievements of licensing companies on the development, launch and promotion of licensed properties and trademarks in the Asian markets
The Awards this year received a total of 190 impressive nominations from 10 countries in 6 awards categories as follows:
- Best Asian Property
- Best License (Entertainment)
- Best License (Non-Entertainment)
- Best Licensing Agency
- Best Licensee
- Best Marketing Campaign in Hong Kong
Five finalists from each award category were short listed by the Award Evaluation Committee, comprising professionals from the international licensing industry. The finalists were then voted on by the industry players for the final Award winners
Mr. Alan Siu, JP, Deputy Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development together with 12 other industry representatives and celebrities announced the 6 Awards winners at the Presentation Gala on 3 July. The Presentation Gala was well received by close to 300 industry players
C. Press Invitation
To maximise the media exposure for the Show and its attendees, several press events were organised prior to and during the fair period.
A luncheon briefing for overseas and Chinese Mainland journalists with exhibitors was held on 2 July. More than 15 journalists from overseas trade publications, Chinese Mainland newspapers, magazines and TV stations attended and interviewed the exhibitors.
Lined-up interviews for journalists with exhibitors and visitors were also arranged during the Show.
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