Brand Licensing Central & Eastern Europe Announces 2011 Licensing Academy Programme

LONDON, February 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- MTV Networks International, Planet Retail, Kidz Entertainment, Egmont Hungary and LIMA among high-profile line up -

Advanstar Licensing has announced a top line-up of speakers and content for the Licensing Academy programme at the second annual Brand Licensing Central & Eastern Europe event in Budapest on 7 and 8 March.

Five free seminar sessions have been created specifically to help licensees, retailers and brand owners develop their licensing business in Central and Eastern Europe. The seminars will deliver facts and figures, retail trends, case studies, and licensing know-how to an audience keen to understand how to exploit the increasing opportunities within this region.

Licensing Academy Highlights:

    
    -- Planet Retail's Milos Ryba's overview of the retail landscape in C&EE, 
       including current trends and studies of direct-to-retail licensing in 
       the region.
    -- Egmont Hungary's Gyorgy Babos and Lizzy Card's David Bozsan explaining 
       the opportunity for manufacturers. Using case studies of their own 
       they will show how to choose the right license, and how to manage
       relationships with licensors, agents and retailers.
    -- Morten Geschwendtner, CEO Kidz Entertainment and Nicholas Walters, 
       Senior Director and Country Manager, Russia, MTV Networks 
       International, two specialists from the region, giving a step by step
       account of the challenges and opportunities of launching an 
       entertainment brand in Central and Eastern Europe.
    -- Christian Fortmann from 24IP highlighting the technical and legal
       considerations that are vital to negotiating a successful licensing
       contract.
    -- LIMA's Martin Brochstein delivering an opening address, titled "The 
       Strategic Imperatives of Licensing", which will look at the global
       licensing landscape and provide a roadmap of considerations to keep in
       mind as you approach the licensing business.

For the full programme, click here (http://www.brandlicensing-budapest.com/educatiion.html)

Jon Gibson, event director, Brand Licensing Central & Eastern Europe 2011 comments: "As other markets in Europe mature brand owners are turning to Central and Eastern Europe for new business opportunities. There is so much to learn about the different territories in this region, the retail landscape, the preferences of consumers and the opportunities for licensing. Our speakers have unrivalled experience in this region and we're delighted to have them on board".

Registration is free at http://www.brandlicensing-budapest.com where visitors can also find a full list of exhibitors and details about the networking reception.

BLC&EE is organised by Advanstar Licensing, which produces Licensing International Expo in Las Vegas and Brand Licensing Europe in London. Last year's inaugural event highlighted the fact that this half of Europe is a market that can no longer be ignored by our industry. Visitors attended from 26 countries to learn more about a region where growth is twice that of Western Europe and consumer demand for branded goods is rapidly increasing.