Exhibitor Preview for BLE 2017

Munich based, leading licensing agency Euro Lizenzen manages an extensive international licensing programme across a broad spectrum of properties, which includes several iconic properties, like Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s masterwork The Little Prince, with over 150 million sold copies in 290 languages, makes it not only the best selling children’s book of all times, but also a hero unlike other, capturing the hearts of all ages. The Little Prince has a message for all mankind, regardless of age, culture and language. The book bridges generations and enjoys worldwide popularity: 90% of children between 6 and 15 years and 92% of adults read and loved the book.

Everybody’s darling Le Petit Prince, born in 1943, is turning 75 in 2018! To celebrate this great event licensees, all around the world, are invited to produce anniversary related items, which will carry the 75th anniversary logo and designs.

The other evergreen property which Euro Lizenzen represents, with literary origin, is the world's most popular comic characters Astérix & Obelix. As of today, the 36 comic albums are translated in more than 110 languages and more than 370 million copies sold internationally, making it the highest selling book series ever. Asterix is a well established cult figure in German-speaking markets, which enjoys great popularity among all target groups. The Gauls have a year full of news coming up this year, which includes the worldwide release of the 37th comic book “Asterix and the Chariot Race”, written by Jean-Yves Ferri and illustrated by Didier Conrad, on 19th October 2017 in more than 20 languages.

To support this important occasion Euro Lizenzen has also developed several product releases and promotional campaigns around it. One of them is the Asterix QSR promotion in the 300 Serway restaurants on the German motorways. Euro Lizenzen’s apparel licensee Tex-Ass was able to get the retail chain C&A on board and their Idefix ladies lounge and nightwear will be launched also this October in 16 countries. This is obviously a perfect timing for a win-win situation and to increase the buzz around the comic release.

In order to participate at the celebration of the 37th book release, Ravensburger Spieleverlag is launching a new 1000 pieces puzzle based on an image from the new book. Furthermore, long-term Asterix partner Universal Music has planned to market three new audio plays in 2017, which also includes the 37th book adaptation, to be released in December 2017. Another new product launch for the most famous Gauls’, which is planned for early 2018, is the juice-based soft drinks from the leading German licensee Drink Department. The 12 different can designs, decorated with characters from the Asterix universe will definitely become the fun thing to drink & collect!

“The new product signings and launches for the Asterix brand will continue in 2018 and beyond” says Günter Vetter and continues “Especially, the new CGI movie "Asterix and the Secret of Magic Portion", which will hit the big screen in December 2018 in France and early 2019 in most of the European territories, will trigger countless licensing opportunities and support the existing licensing programme.”

Euro Lizenzen is also proud to represent another best-known and best-selling comic book series in Europe, namely Lucky Luke, a cowboy known as the "man who shoots faster than his shadow", accompanied by his horse Jolly Jumper and his dog Rantanplan. 103 graphic novels have been published since 1946 and sold over 300 million copies in 120 countries. Lucky Luke enjoys a huge brand awareness of 97% among adults and 94% among children. This unique character not only offers long-term licensing opportunities, but also great promotional partnerships.

“We are delighted to work with Mediatoon on this brand to develop a long-running licensing programme in our territories and pleased to announce that several deals are already in the pipeline.” says Günter Vetter, Managing Director of Euro Lizenzen. A brand new TV series of 52 episodes about “Kid Lucky” is also under development.

At this years' BLE Euro Lizenzen will also showcase Anne Geddes. One of the world’s most respected photographers (over 19 million books sold in 84 countries, translated in 24 languages), Anne Geddes creates images that are iconic, award winning, internationally acclaimed, and beloved. Like no photographer before, her imagery singularly captures the beauty, purity, vulnerability, and preciousness of children, embodying her deeply held belief that each and every child must be protected, nurtured, and loved. Euro Lizenzen is honored to have the opportunity of representing the Anne Geddes Brand in Europe and diligently selecting European licensees, which will reflect the quality of Geddes images. As it is Anne’s priority to create a strong platform of hope and promise for humanity and the future by her imagery. The goal is to make mothers, newborns and Anne Geddes fans happy through pure, natural products made with love.

Euro Lizenzen, in corporation with the Klaus Herding GmbH, continues to develop a successful licensing program for the lifestyle brand EMOT!X in Europe. This new trendy brand is based on worldwide social media success of Emoticons which are used billionfold times per day. It started as a smart phone application and it soon became an important part of today’s pop culture. Emot!x is a trendy brand that appeals to all ages with the core target group of dynamic urban teens. The brand has an European patented protection of the word and design mark in 19 classes. The world of Emot!x comes with a comprehensice style guide with more than 300 available icons.