Licensing Expo 2024 Recap: Let’s Play!

Beanstalk VP of Strategy & Partnerships, Todd Kaufman, identifies the top trends Beanstalk spotted at Licensing Expo this year.

The Beanstalk team stands in front of Booth G134 at Licensing Expo 2024, with CEO Allison Ames displaying the Licensing International Excellence Award for Best Licensed Home Décor Product, honoring The Met x Eiccholtz home collection.

Another Licensing Expo has come and gone. For three days each year, brand owners, licensees, agencies, and retailers convene in Las Vegas to help shape the consumer products landscape for the following years. Whether the announcement of a theatrical release, an unexpected partnership between two brands for a collaboration or a retailer launching a capsule collection to increase foot traffic, newness can be found at every turn.

This year, the show’s theme was “Brands at Play,” which was designed to showcase “the incredible innovations in play, the power it holds in every stage of life and the creativity it allows when building brands.” And to use a Gen Z term, the exhibitors and attendees understood the assignment! From physical activities to interactive games to playful product partnerships, brands provided new mediums for fun, discovery, and connection.

Following are the trends that caught our attention during the show.

Stop. Collaborate and Listen.

From Serial to Smartless to Smash Boom Best, podcasts of all genres are now an essential part of the media mix for consumers of all ages. Ultimately, podcasts are about storytelling. And whether those stories are fictional or based on fact, they provide an intimate auditory experience where listeners feel a true sense of connection to their orators.

Wondery’s Guy Raz and Nicole Blake delivered the show’s second day keynote and discussed podcasts as a platform for true franchise development. Their flagship kids show Wow In the World announced agreements for STEM toys and board games, allowing their listeners to continue discovering beyond the stream.

This Must Be the Place

Location-based entertainment (LBE) is back! Picking up where it left off before the pandemic, brands and operators have creatively conceptualized immersive activations that help consumers connect with and discover brands in new ways. We like to say that licensing done right meets consumers where they are in their shopping journey. However, LBE flips that script and creates opportunities and desire for consumers to meet the brand where it is from pop-ups to theme parks to cruise ships.

Moonbug’s CoComelon announced plans for an interactive play space at The Mall of America in Minneapolis, while Sony Pictures’ Garfield partnered with Motel 6 for ten custom Garfield-themed suites across the US. Staying on-brand, the rooms include mini-refrigerators stocked with frozen lasagna.

Wicked Game

At Beanstalk, we like to say that brand extensions are a form of product-based marketing. Unlike traditional ads, products provide a tangible experience, which is typically accompanied by an emotional connection. No brand in history has done a better job of employing this strategy than Barbie last year. Now blazing their own trail in that mold is Wicked. Universal announced dozens of partnerships for the upcoming release across fashion, beauty, toys, and more ensuring that your aunt’s casserole is not the only green evil to contend with this Thanksgiving.

Memories

Approximately 50% of Millennial and Gen Z consumers say they feel nostalgic for types of media. Drawn to familiarity and comfort, this generation of current and future parents places value on simplicity in these complicated times. Enter the reboot. Heritage properties such as Holly Hobbie, Strawberry Shortcake and Teletubbies all announced new partners. On the heels of their new YouTube series, iconic kids band “The Wiggles” announced their plans to relaunch a consumer products program allowing the parents who grew up watching the original show to now share it with their children. In addition to a new EDM single, the band also announced a partnership with Thrifty car rental for interactive road trip content to help ease the stress of long car trips.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

Earlier this year, we predicted 2024 would be The Year of the Ubiquitous Brand. Food and beverage brands have done as much to broaden their reach as any other sector with a bevy of buzzworthy collaborations across fashion, lifestyle, beauty, and other consumable categories.

We saw Guinness leverage the trend of food and beer pairings with a new line of jerky. To support the launch of their new protein-packed Waffles, Kellanova’s Eggo announced a collaboration with The Shoe Surgeon for limited drop of sneakers. These recent partnerships build on the success of earlier launches such as e.l.f. x Liquid Death, Velveeta hair dye, and HI-CHEW and Sloomoo Institute.

Come Out and Play

Staying on theme, this year’s show floor featured a fully playable pickleball court which offered attendees and exhibitors a unique networking opportunity. Earlier this year we wrote about the larger trend of outdoor sports such as running, hiking, golf and tennis maintaining their post-lockdown boosts. Pickleball is a part of this and is very much pacing the pack. Participation continues to grow and so does branding within the space.

Following their collaboration with Sprints, Vlasic announced a new partnership with Think Royln for an elevated line of gear and accessories. Barbie is maintaining its relevance beyond the big screen thanks to a collaboration with Nettie. And never one to miss a cultural moment, Target recently debuted a collection of gear in partnership with leading tennis brand, Prince.

Note: this piece originally appeared in The Drum.