Story and Design Series | 3: Brands Untapped
The third in our series of online conversations will focus on design and story-telling. Billy Langsworthy, founder of Mojo Nation and co-founder of Brands Untapped, and Ian Downes, Director of award-winning agency and consultancy, Start Licensing, will join XpoNorth’s Alex Smith to break down the range of opportunities that brand partnerships can offer small businesses. The session will draw on practical examples of successful collaborations and look at what makes small businesses desirable partners for larger brands.
As we hopefully start to escape Covid and rebuild, the demands on the resources of small businesses will increase- and one important area of opportunity is how your brand can align with others to forge engaging new partnerships. Promotion, information, finance, product licensing – collaborations can take many forms, but as brands look for new ways to engage and tell their story, there is a real opportunity for businesses to develop meaningful new collaborations. If you have ever wondered about how a product gets licensed to a brand, or about the art of a successful collaboration, this session is for you.
Billy Longsworthy will offer a broad perspective on brand licensing and commercial partnerships, whilst Ian Downes will share his invaluable insight into the brand licensing space- and what partners are looking for from new companies aiming to explore opportunities in this space.
A not to be missed opportunity to find out how this approach can transform your business.
Ian DownesIan Downes is the Founder of award -winning licensing agency and consultancy Start Licensing. Ian has over 30 years of experience in the licensing sector. Start’s clients include DC Thomson for The Broons and Oor Wullie; Aardman Animations for brands like Wallace & Gromit and the University of Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum. Ian was awarded the Licensing industry’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. Start Licensing are well regarded for their innovative approach to licensing and their ability to bring new companies into the licensing market. Recent examples of ‘new to’ licensing companies they are working with include online cheese seller Pong who have launched a Wallace & Gromit Cheese Club and Urban Pup who have launched a range of Wallace & Gromit pet accessories.
Billy Langsworthy
Billy Langsworthy is the founder of the B2B creative platforms, Mojo Nation and Brands Untapped. Mojo Nation covers the world of toy and game design, hosting a suite of events including conferences, pitching sessions and awards, while delving into invention stories online at www.Mojo-Nation.com. Brands Untapped is a B2B site for the brand licensing industry, focused on telling the stories of the great design that powers stand-out brand collaborations and licensed product.
Brands Untapped is a new site specifically focussing on the global licensing industry, focusing on the design and creativity behind licensed product. A fantastic resource featuring interviews with brand owners, news and views from those working in design and licensing; be it fashion designers, video game developers, authors, film producers, theatre directors, toy inventors, TV showrunners and creatives from the world of sports, homewares and food and drink.
Register Here
