Epic Games’ hit video gaming franchise, Fortnite won big at this year’s Licensing International 2019 International Licensing Awards, having taking home the coveted accolade across five categories.
The popular battle royale game cleaned up when it took home a sweep of awards across Best Licensed Products apparel/footwear/accessories, Toys/games/novelties for ages 0 to 12 and three and upwards, Best Licensed Brand in digital/app/video gaming, and the 2019 Newcomer Award.
It was joined by the likes of Harry Potter, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Funko and its run of Warhammer 40,000 figurines.
The 2019 International Licensing Awards took place during Licensing Expo at the Mandalay Bay Convention Centre in Las Vegas this week, where the winners were announced, having been whittled down from more than 600 entries, judged by 150 executives from across 18 countries.
Pam Lifford, president of Warner Bros Global Brands and Experiences and Michael Stone, chairman and co-founder of Beanstalk were named the latest inductees into the Licensing Industry Hall of Fame.
The Awards also recognised eight Rising Stars of the industry, highlighting the work of Barbara Adu from PEZ Candy, Sophie Booth from Brandgenuity, Nemo Bussu from KIDdesigns, Héléne El Arouni from TF1 Entertainment/Licenses, Pablo Franco from International Management Group, Sophia Hunter from Pocket.watch, Mireille Maragakis from KMPG and Kalle Törmä from Flowhaven.
The 2019 International Licensing Awards winners are as follows:
Best Licensed Products
APPAREL / FOOTWEAR / ACCESSORIES – Spirit Halloween for the Fortnite costumes and accessories range
APPLIANCE / AUTOMOTIVE / HOUSEWARES / ELECTRONICS – Ion Audio for the Ford Mustang LP record player
TOYS / GAMES / NOVELTIES FOR AGES 0-12 – (Tie) Lego for the Harry Potter range ANDJazwares for the Fortnite Llama Loot Piñata
APPS / SOFTWARE / VIDEO GAMES – Kano for the Harry Potter Coding Kit
FOOD / BEVERAGE – The Ruprecht Company for the Tony Roma’s range
HEALTH & BEAUTY AIDS – ASOS/CREA Cosmetics for the Crayola Beauty Range
HOME DÉCOR – Crate & Kids for the Sesame Street furniture and décor range
PUBLISHING / BACK-TO-SCHOOL – Moleskine for Super Mario notebook and stationary range
TOYS / GAMES / NOVELTIES FOR AGES 13+ – Hasbro for Fortnite Monopoly
Best Licensed Brand
ART / DESIGN / CELEBRITY / FASHION BRAND – The Very Hungry Caterpillar / World of Eric Carle by Eric Carle Studio, LLC & The Joester Loria Group
DIGITAL / APP / VIDEO GAME BRAND – Fortnite by Epic Games
CORPORATE BRAND – The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. by The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
ENTERTAINMENT / CHARACTER BRAND: ANIMATED – L.O.L. Surprise! by MGA Entertainment
ENTERTAINMENT / CHARACTER BRAND: LIVE-ACTION – Harry Potter by Warner Bros. Consumer Products
FOOD / BEVERAGE / RESTAURANT BRAND – Hershey’s Reese’s by The Hershey Company
SPORTS / COLLEGIATE BRAND – NFLPA by NFLPA
Other Awards
BEST LICENSED PROMOTION – Home Alone Again by 20th Century Fox / Google Assistant
BEST LICENSED COLLABORATION – The Peanuts Global Artist Collective by Peanuts Worldwide
BEST EXPERIENTIAL OR LOCATION-BASED INITIATIVE – Camp Master Chef by Cerdanya / Endemol Shine North America
BEST RETAILER FOR A CHARACTER / ENTERTAINMENT INITIATIVE – Galéries Lafayette for Wizarding World
BEST RETAILER FOR A CORPORATE / LIFESTYLE/ SPORTS INITIATIVE – Forever 21 for Coca Cola
THE NEWCOMER AWARD – Fortnite by Epic Games
COMMUNITY CHOICE AWARD – Funko for Warhammer 40,000 figurines