Finalists across the Product, Property and Retail categories “thrilled”, “elated”, “humbled” and “delighted”.
Let’s face it, things have been pretty grim for the majority of this year, so when the finalists in The Licensing Awards 2020 discovered the good news earlier this week it, understandably, helped to put a spring into their step.
And they shared their joy with LicensingSource.net in their droves so we decided to pass on the feel-good vibes to our readers, to help end the week on a high.
“It’s a real honour to have been recognised by our retail customers,” said licensing director, Dan Grant about Danilo’s three nominations. “Danilo have focused a lot of effort into product development in the past few years, so its great to see this being rewarded. Everyone at Danilo will be hoping that we can collect at least one trophy on the night.”
Jane Smith, group director, brand licensing at Banijay Brands, said the company was “thrilled” to be finalists in four different categories for Peaky Blinders: “It is incredibly exciting, and demonstrates yet again not only the strength and popularity of the brand but how the licensing team at Banijay Brands are able to work collaboratively and successfully with licensees to come up with new and innovative ways to extend the brand across multiple product lines and live events.”
GB eye is one of the licensees with Peaky Blinders product in the running for an award. Commercial manager, Ben Woodman, said: “We’re delighted to hear the news that our Peaky Blinders decanter has been nominated for a licensing award. The GB eye team worked tirelessly to provide the shows fans with a gift product in keeping with the theme of the show, so it’s great to see that hard working paying off.
“We are all really looking forward to the awards evening and the chance recognise the great work that has still been achieved across the industry in a difficult year.”
On the publishing side, HarperCollins Children’s Books garnered a selection of nominations for its work on key properties.
“Huge thanks for the nomination for The World of David Walliams in The Licensing Awards (both for the property itself and for Smiffys’ dress-up range) – and for the Paddington TV publishing and MGML’s The Tiger Who Came to Tea stationery range, of course!” said John Collins, commercial brand and licensing development director.
Juliet Matthews, colour publisher, added: “We are thrilled to be on the shortlist for the Best Licensed Written, Listening or Learning Range category for the launch publishing of The Adventures of Paddington.
“Our books reflect the beautiful rendering and richness of the TV and we are delighted to be introducing the nation’s favourite bear to a whole new preschool audience with all the familiar Paddington traits of kindness, family and slapstick mayhem.”
Meanwhile, Charlie Donaldson, joint md of Rocket Licensing, said that everyone at the agency was “absolutely thrilled” to be among the nominees. “Licensing is a great creative collaborative process,” he acknowledged. “We are very lucky to be working with superb brands and a fantastic group of licensors, licensees and retailers with whom we can strive to create amazing products and events. Thanks to Jakki, Ian and the Awards team for enabling the industry to celebrate its achievements in this challenging year and may Ian’s sack bulge bigger than ever in 2021.”
Naomi Smith, licensing associate at Mattel, is one of the nominees in Licensing International’s UK Rising Star award. “I am completely thrilled to find out that I am a finalist, along with some other amazing nominees, for The Licensing International UK Rising Star Award and it was total unexpected,” she commented. “I am very grateful and humbled by the nomination from my amazing colleagues, so a big thanks to them.”
Venetia Davie, vp of ViacomCBS Consumer Products UK and Ireland, said the team is looking forward to attending the digital event on Wednesday December 16.
She said: “We’re thrilled that we’ve reached the finals for The Licensing Awards 2020 across a variety of different categories. This not only showcases the strength of the ViacomCBS portfolio, but the talent of the various teams we have working across our brands from in-house to our licensees and retailers.”
To find out more on the plans for the virtual awards ceremony on Wednesday December 16 and how you can get involved, please contact Ian Hyder or Rob Willis by clicking on their respective names.
