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The Finalists of the Bologna Licensing Awards 2026 Are Here!

The Finalists of the Bologna Licensing Awards 2026 Are Here! image

This year’s Awards feature 16 categories, including the newly introduced Best Transmedia Project, and attracted over 250 applicants from all over the world.

A distinguished panel of three jurors convened at Bologna’s beautiful Salaborsa library to select the finalists:

  • Karin Ebnet (Journalist and Editor at Toy Store)
  • Ian Hyder (CEO of Max Publishing)
  • Helena Mansell-Stopher (CEO and Founder of Products of Change)

The finalists’ products will be showcased throughout the fair at the BLTF/K Awards display area, located in the BLTF/K zone of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, Hall 29 – Mall 2.

The winners will be announced on April 13 at 16:45 at the BLTF/K Awards Ceremony, held in the Licensing Conference Room, Hall 29 – Mall 2.

The event is open to all industry professionals.

The shortlist:

BEST PRE-SCHOOL LICENSING PROJECT
Ladybird Books, Penguin Random House UK, and Hasbro for the Peppa Pig and Evie publishing programme;
Sanrio, for the H&M x Hello Kitty and Friends project, created by H&M;
Ladybird Books, Penguin Random House UK, and the BBC Studios for the Bluey publishing programme.
BEST KIDS LICENSING PROJECT
Sanrio for the Hello Kitty Home project by H&M Home;
Sanrio, for the Puma x Hello Kitty and Friends project, created by Puma
WildBrain CPLG, with Peanuts Worldwide, for the Diadora x Peanuts project, developed by Diadora.
BEST TEEN LICENSING PROJECT
Rainbow for the Spread Magic Not Hate campaign, created in partnership with The Cybersmile Foundation;
IMG Licensing, with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, for the Goodyear x Pull&Bear collection created by Pull&Bear;
Maurizio Di Stefano Licensing, with Global Merchandise Service Ltd, for the development of the Skibidi Toilet brand;
Starbright Licensing, with Konami Cross Media NY, for the Yu-Gi-Oh! X Nike collection created by Nike.
BEST YOUNG ADULT LICENSING PROJECT
Lisciani Giochi with Mattel for the Barbie Giradischi project;
Sanrio, for the Peggy Sage Monsieur Madame project, created by Peggy Sage;
WildBrain CPLG with Amazon MGM Studios for the Elmo & Montegrappa x Wednesday project, created by Elmo & Montegrappa;
WildBrain CPLG with Hasbro for the Timex x Monopoly project, created by Timex.
BEST RETAIL PROJECT
Universal Consumer Products for the Gabby’s DollHouse project, created in collaboration with PRG Group;
Rainbow for the Winx Club: la magie est de retour x Rook!es Paris project, created by Rook!es Parises Paris;
Sanrio for the Lush x Hello Kitty and Friends project, created by Lush;
Sanrio for the Heinz x Mr. Men & Little Miss project, curated by Heinz;
Moodspace with Paramount Consumer Products for the SpongeBob SquarePants project, produced by Aurora Multimarket.
BEST PRESCHOOL & KIDS FASHION PROJECT
WildBrain CPLG with Peanuts Worldwide for the Benetton x Peanuts project, produced by Benetton;
WildBrain CPLG with Peanuts Worldwide for the MC2 Saint Barth x Peanuts project, produced by MC2 Saint Barth;
Rights & Brands for the Cath Kidston x Moomin project, created by Cath Kidston.
BEST TEEN & YOUNG ADULT FASHION PROJECT
Mattel for the Koi x Monster High project, created by Koi;
Sanrio for the GCDS x Hello Kitty project, created by GCDS;
Sanrio for the Hello Kitty & Kuromi & Kevin Germanier project, created by Kevin Germanier;
WildBrain CPLG, in partnership with Peanuts Worldwide, for the Coccinelle x Peanuts project, created by Coccinelle.
BEST LICENSED PUBLISHING PROJECT
Lerner Publishing Group, in partnership with The Planetary Society, for the The Planetary Society publishing project;
De Agostini Publishing Spa, in partnership with Peanuts Worldwide, for the Snoopy House project;
WildBrain CPLG, with Peanuts Worldwide for the Adriano Salani x Peanuts publishing project, developed by Salani;
Sanrio, in partnership with Agatha Christie Ltd, for the MMLM x Agatha Christie project.
BEST LICENSED TOY PROJECT
IMG Licensing with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company for the Goodyear Take Apart Toy Engine project, developed by Red Toolbox;
Outfit7 for the Talking Tom Heroes: Suddenly Super toy line developed by Spider International and Spider Global;
Cicaboom, in partnership with Mediatoon, for the Naruto Mythos TCG project;
The Pokémon Company International for the Pokémon Jazwares Collectible Vinyl Figures Set project, created by Jazwares.
BEST LICENSED VIDEO GAME PROJECT
Storytoys, in partnership with LEGO and BBC Studios, for the LEGO® Bluey project;
Officina Comunicazione for the Find the Skifidol Brainrot Card project developed for Roblox;
Miraculous Corp, in partnership with Outfit7, for the co-branded gaming project featuring Talking Tom and Friends and Miraculous® – Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir.
BEST LICENSED PROMOTION/LOYALTY PROJECT
Blue Ocean Entertainment, in partnership with Playmobil, for the Playmobil Team project carried out in collaboration with Carrefour Italy;
WildBrain CPLG, in partnership with Horst Brandstätter Holding GmbH, for the Ferrero x Playmobil x DC Comics project, developed in collaboration with Ferrero;
The Pokémon Company International, for the campaign developed in collaboration with Casa Optima;
WildBrain CPLG and SEGA for the PROMOTICA x EUROSPIN x SONIC MODERN project, developed by Promotica and Eurospin;
The Continuity Company Srl with Netflix for the La collezione dal sottosopra project, developed in partnership with Conad.
BEST LICENSED KIOSK & COLLECTIBLE PROJECT
WildBrain CPLG, in partnership with Supercell, for the Diramix x Brawl Stars project developed by Diramix;
Maurizio Di Stefano Licensing, in partnership with Rights & Brands, for the Moomin newsstand project developed by Panini Spa;
Maurizio Di Stefano Licensing, in partnership with Global Merchandise Services, for the Iron Maiden newsstand project, developed with Centauria Editore Srl;
Tomodachi Press, in partnership with Studio MDHR, for the CupHeads Cards project.
BEST LICENSED SUSTAINABLE PROJECT
Caravanserai Partners, in collaboration with Pomase, for the Le Petit Prince by Art Funeral project, developed in partnership with Paolo Imeri – Art Funeral;
Sesame Workshop, for the Sesame Street E-Wasting Campaign project, developed in collaboration with Stiftung Elektro-Altgeräte-Register;
Maurizio Di Stefano Licensing, in partnership with Acamar, for the Bing Eco Puzzle project developed by Lisciani Giochi;
Rights and Brands for the Imperfect Industries x Moomin project, created by Imperfect Industries.
BEST RISING-STAR PROPERTY OF THE YEAR
Project First with Leo the Truck;
The Mouse Mansion Company with Sam&Julia;
Officina Comunicazione with Skifidol Italian Brainrot.
BEST TRANSMEDIA PROPERTY OF THE YEAR
Acamar with Bing
Miraculous Corp with Miraculous® – Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir
Peyo Company with The Smurfs
Scopely with Stumble Guys
BEST TRANSMEDIA PROPERTY OF THE YEAR
Sanrio with Hello Kitty and Friends
Peanuts Worldwide for Peanuts
BBC with Bluey
Rights and Brand with Moomin
Hasbro with Peppa Pig
Mattel with Monster High

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  • Translation provided by Google Translate, please pardon any shortcomings

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