Adding to the best digital Product nominees we showcased earlier in the week, today we are presenting to you the Brands from the digital world. The properties nominated for the honor of Best Brand – Digital, Apps, Video Games as part of the 2020 Licensing International Excellence Awards, come from three continents.

Two of them are from the gaming world, while the others have evolved from different origins into lifestyle and character brands.

Overall, more than 600 entries were received this year from companies in 22 countries and were judged by a panel of 152 executives from 20 nations. The licensing industry will make its selections from a ballot that includes 175 nominees in 23 categories of brands, properties and companies. Earlier this week, we showcased the nominees for Best Licensed Product: Digital, Apps, Video Games.

For a full listing of the categories and the nominees please click here.

Here are the nominees for Best Brand— Digital, Apps, Video Games:

Brown & Friends – LINE Friends:

Brown & Friends is expanding its footprint in retail, with more than 190 stores in 14 markets worldwide (as of January 2020). The first permanent store opened in the U.S. (New York’s Times Square) in 2017, and now the 2nd permanent flagship store opened in Los Angeles (Hollywood Blvd.) in June 2019, which followed a successful pop-up store in 2018 which drew over 15.000 visitors in two days. In addition, Line Friends recently announced that a ‘Brown & Friends’ Netflix original animated series will come to Netflix. The new series, which features 11 characters of Brown & Friends, is slated to premiere in over 190 countries around the globe.

emoji – emoji Company GmbH:

emoji®, the iconic brand, is a global licensing phenomenon, with 750+ global licensees that generated more than $850M in 2019 retail sales.  The Emoji Company is the creator of one of the most expressive and influential lifestyle brands in the world. Inspired by the language of the 21st century, emoji® is universal, and alongside its best-in-class new and existing licensees, one 2019 highlight saw the debut of an inspiring Burger King kids’ meal activation designed to spread positivity and deliver an anti-bullying message, and entre into fragrance, professional sports league promotional programs, and more!

Fortnite – Epic Games

Between a Fortnite World Cup that resonated around the sports world and a black hole that intrigued everyone from local news to Jimmy Fallon, Fortnite solidified its status as a pop culture force in 2019. Fortnite remains the only place where worlds collide: Marshmello, John Wick, Star Wars Storm Troopers, Batman and Marvel heroes all squad up in Fortnite. With over 250 million players worldwide, the demand for Fortnite is unprecedented. Its consumer licensed product program continues to dominate the NPD charts across multiple categories.

Five Nights at Freddy’s – Scottgames

Five Nights at Freddy’s, the series of intense thriller video games, has steadily grown in popularity thanks to two dozen licensees, key retail partners, over 30 BILLION YouTube views and two all new top performing games released in 2019.  FNAF expanded its digital reach with a new licensed Virtual Reality game for VR headsets (#1 PlayStation VR game) and an Augmented Reality game for mobile devices.  New FNAF merchandise was released throughout the year from licensees Funko, McFarlane, Bioworld, NTD and more, proving that FNAF shows no signs of slowing down as it devours new players across multiple commercial success.