The 11th Hong Kong International Licensing Show take place at Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) from 7-9 January 2013. More than 200 exhibitors with 600 brands and properties, participated in the 2013 edition of the show, which attracted nearly 16,000 visitors from 110 countries and regions.

The Hong Kong International Licensing Show were displayed under the categories of lifestyle and fashion, characters, animation, edutainment, art and culture, and food and beverage. There were six pavilions from the Chinese mainland, Chinese Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand. Many of the world’s top licensors and licensing agents also exhibited at the show.

As Asia’s premier licensing event helps licensors and agents find partners and expand their regional networks in Asia, particularly the Chinese mainland. The event featured some 600 brands and properties, ranging from characters and entertainment to art, sports, fashion, collegiate and celebrity items, as well as corporate brands.

The fairs shared strategies and help extending branding from daily products into intangible services to help create unique brand experiences. Foreign buyers see Hong Kong as a trustworthy platform to help them connect with mainland start-ups and companies. As an increasing number of businesses explore licensing as a way to move up the value chain, Hong Kong will have a key role to play in facilitating the growth of the industry.

The Asian Licensing Conference will feature renowned international and local licensing professionals, including executives from Twentieth Century Fox, Procter & Gamble and Lamborghini SpA. They will examine the latest industry developments and trends and share insights about the licensing business on the Chinese mainland.

To showcase Hong Kong’s boundless creativity, the Licensing Show has gathered a broad selection of local brands and properties. The Hong Kong Creative Gallery has returned to promote local creativity, showcasing extraordinary properties and original characters created by young Hong Kong designers and illustrators.

Advantage of Licensing
There are many benefits from Licensing, Through the partnership with reputable brands and properties, consumer can distinguish products bearing brand names they are familiar with. Consumers are willing to pay more for the value of licensed merchandise. Lower Opportunity Cost could leverage on the brands’ popularity to achieve a wide marketing impact.

Brand licensing offers a long-term business model for profitable, sustained growth. Corporate brands have proprietary products that are unique to the brand. The primary goal of licensing is brand building, and the goal is to establish long-term partnerships since they are the most successful. Entertainment licensing, in contrast, focuses on images, artwork, characters, and so forth, and the primary goal is to receive royalties. Changes in products and licensees are more frequent than for corporate licensing.

Brand owner should open to products that are relevant to local consumers, active in protecting trademarks and willing to explore other routes to consumers, such as e-commerce and multiple distributor networks.

For licensees strategic partner, should offer to the licensor and deliver consumer insights to show why the collaboration makes sense. There are also stressed the need to invest in innovation to solve unmet customer needs instead of just copying what someone else is doing, and to always be active in protecting trademarks.

Market Trends
In recent years, manufacturers, retailers, edu-tainment companies and food and beverage businesses have been actively seeking collaborations with brands to add value to their products and services, while the range of brands seeking licensing collaborations has diversified from characters and animations to art, culture, corporates, collegiate and music properties.

The licensing industry is diversifying. Properties now include such categories as lifestyle and fashion, characters, animation, edutainment, art and culture and food and beverage. Such widespread applicability suggests that the licensing industry will become more vibrant with keen demand for related supporting services.

There are many channels for broadcasting animation. Asia’s mega events, activities, theme parks, electronic games are all in need of new licensed characters. The market is huge.

At the same time, many consumers in the mainland China are proactively looking for personalised goods, which indirectly drives the growth of IP licensing in the country.

Consumers expect brands to stand for something; they want to purchase products that have a story and purpose with which they can identify; and consumers are increasingly seeking a deeper relationship with the brands they interact with.

Product execution involves building a lifestyle mood that transcends the product and the team, through style, design and fashion. Through co-branding and brand collaboration, licensees provide added value, brands need to ensure they select partners with connected core values.

In today’s digital age, the rise of the Internet, smart phones and new media, as well as the proliferation of digital entertainment and gaming brands have accelerated the development of the licensing industry. Asia is particularly receptive to technological innovation. With technology and innovation fast-evolving, the Internet, smart phones and new media have become an integral part of daily life, fostering the rise of digital entertainment and gaming brands.

Asian consumers will increasingly put their trust in new technologies such as artificial intelligence and algorithms. Consumers expect real value that goes beyond functionality. At the same time, companies must be considerate of cultural and religious beliefs, committed to sustainability, connected to the digital ecosystem, and offer quick solutions.

Leader of Asia’s Licensing Show
Hong Kong an effective platform for entering the international market exhibitors, an ideal venue to exchanging ideas with industry players from around the world. With its rigorous intellectual property protection regime, robust legal system, professional expertise and proximity to Mainland China and other key Asian economies, Hong Kong “provides the ideal platform for global brands and top licensors to access markets across the region.

The International Licensing Show made it an excellent platform for brands to introduce new characters and properties to the Asian market. As the licensing hub for Asia, Hong Kong has a deep pool of IP professionals who can assist different companies to create and capture new licensing opportunities.

Hong Kong is the gateway to the Chinese mainland, the second-largest licensing market in Asia. Hong Kong’s robust intellectual property rights protection and sophisticated logistics network make it the region’s licensing hub and a strategic base from which to tap the mainland market.

The HKTDC continued to provide business matchmaking services on site, and also made the services available online through the Licensing Show website. This one-stop solution connected buyers with exhibitors at the show, helping companies to identify – and make crucial connections with – potential business partners from Hong Kong.

Supported by the Intellectual Property Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and organised by Licensing International, the newly established Licensing Academy brought industry players up to speed on issues such as licensing law essentials, operational intelligence and cross-border cooperation between retailers and manufacturers.

HKTDC
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 to promote, assist and develop Hong Kong’s trade. With 50 offices globally, including 13 in Mainland China, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a two-way global investment and business hub. The HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to create business opportunities for companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the mainland and international markets. The HKTDC also provides up-to-date market insights and product information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels.