Now in its second year of the Licensing International Excellence Awards, this category looks to honor companies new to the licensing business. The range of nominees and their connection with the licensing business is evidence of the breadth of creativity in the industry and the way in which licensing can touch virtually any marketing venture.

Overall, more than 600 entries were received this year from companies in 22 countries; they 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.

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

Here are the nominees for Best Newcomer:

Brainbase – Brainbase Assist

Brainbase’s feature product, Assist, has been received extremely well from some of the top licensors in the industry since it was introduced about 18 months ago. With an easy-to-use interface, beautiful and insightful royalty reports, product and marketing asset approvals, unlimited user seats and unlimited contracts, and seamless app integrations, our customers have experienced several benefits to using the platform including workflow efficiencies and deeper insights to improve the performance of their licensing business.

Fly with Yaya Tohoku – Creative Minds LLC

By tapping into Japan’s growing desire to increase global inbound tourism to Japan to introduce Muslim friendly content in a unique style this promotion has opened two “impossible” elements in Japan: Successfully bringing a non-major foreign kids property that has never been broadcast in Japan and monetizing it by securing sponsorship for a promotional project; and becoming the first non-Japanese branded character to promote Japan as a tourist destination with a licensed promotion.  By promoting Japan with a character close to the heart of Malaysia, FlyWithYaya viewership reached 21,028,722 views over 13 months on YouTube MonstaChannel, AnimaSEA, MiniMonsta, whilst Fly With Yaya Tohoku 6 episodes Astro Prima TV broadcast coverage reaching 5,115k in a week. The total viewership number equals approximately 89% of Malaysia’s population.  A survey showed that 45% of the kids did not know about Japan prior to viewing the promotion.

Boonie Cubs – Fantawild Animation

Boonie Cubs is the number one early-years education animation brand with annual merchandising sales over US$140 million. It has cooperated with over 100 renowned brands, including the English Tutoring Website Acadsoc and an emerging online parenting community called Baby Tree. Boonie Cubs is the model for licensing in the early childhood education market. Boonie Cubs and McDonald’s joined hands to explore a new way of marketing which immerses customers in a lifelike animated world. With this new attempt in licensing, the product sales of McDonald’s increased by 20%.

Forthglade – National Trust Gourmet Dog Dinners

As Europe’s largest conservation Charity, with 750 miles of coastline and 250,000 hectares of land, the National Trust have many special places that are enjoyed by dogs and their owners on walking, running or just visiting occasions.  To reinforce their ‘dogs welcome’ offering, the National Trust have partnered with natural dog food experts Forthglade to encourage their supporters to enjoy open spaces with their four-legged friends and to experience the wellness benefits that nurturing their relationships with their dogs brings, a value that both organizations passionately share.

The licensed range is a first for Forthglade and through the sales of the collection, they will contribute at least £50,000 per annum to support the Trust’s conservation work in looking after our special places for generations to enjoy.

Cheetos – Frito Lay, The Joester Loria Group

Cheetos burst into licensing with coveted “FLAMIN’ HOT” fashion and collectibles.  Cheetos partnered with fashion retailer Forever 21 for Summer and Fall programs featuring men’s and women’s apparel, accessories and beauty.  The two-season collection was inspired by Cheetos’ bold Flamin’ Hot snack bags and a mash-up of vintage & current iconic brand assets.  Dynamic social media support drove over $2.8M in sales with multiple items selling out within hours. As part of the brand’s launch strategy, Chester Cheetah, the official mascot of Cheetos, collaborated with Funko for a limited-edition Pop! vinyl figure.

Ghost – Chips Ahoy Ghost Whey Protein

GHOST launched in 2016 and has become a major industry disruptor by creating a lifestyle movement inclusive of partnerships with some of the world’s leading flavor brands. GHOST was the first to introduce authentic licensing to the sports nutrition industry and in doing so, paved the way for others in the category to begin licensing.  Since launch, GHOST x CHIPS AHOY! is the #1 selling protein at GNC, amassing over $6,000,000 in sales in just 5 months to the end of 2019. GHOST won multiple awards, including GNC’s top Partner of the Year Award, 3x Brand of the Year and 2x Protein of the Year 2019 and has led the way unlocking license opportunities for others in the category. The total sales of GHOST’s licensed flavors exceeded $25,000,000 in 2019.

Harrogate Tipple Ltd. – Downton Abbey Gin & Whiskey

Our distillery is situated in the heart of fictional ‘Downton Abbey’ country — the wonderful and beautiful Ripley Castle Estate in North Yorkshire where all of our award-winning sprits are made, including our multi award-winning Gin. Our location and our exclusive rights to use the world-famous Harrogate Spring Water in our products, gave us a unique ‘proof of provenance’ as licensee of Downton Abbey.

We built on this by going back to the 1920’s, when the film is based, and researched ingredients of the era that would authenticate our Downton Abbey links.   Our first year ended on a high as our products were awarded best international consumable product at NBC Universal’s internal licensing awards. Our success has led us to develop a new SKU, ‘English Rhubarb,’ which is a pink gin version to be launched in March 2020. As well as success in export to countries such as the U.S. and Australia, we have gained key accounts with the likes of Cruise Ships that include the QE2 and Victoria. We also won Universal’s internal yearly awards as winner of ‘Best Consumables product – globally’ for 2019 — quite an achievement of our first licensed product.

United States Postal Service – USPS & F21 Collaboration

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is, as one young blogger put it, “a government-regulated entity that ships something we used to call ‘mail,’ which you put in envelopes and decorate with these sticky things called ‘stamps’”.  The USPS x F21 Collaboration is one of the most successful collaborations to date for Forever 21. Two highlights from this successful program: First was our ability to connect with a younger demographic that typically does not currently engage. The response was astounding. They posted videos, pictures showcasing the collection, and described it as “Dope” and “Superfire”.

Second, was the absolute support of the USPS employees who completely engaged with the brand. When purchasing online, customers had the opportunity to make comments and many of our employees responded with comments such as, “Because I am postal proud”. Employees’ family members purchased the collection, taking to social media to show support for those family members and USPS connecting generations.