India Licensing Expo 2018

License India to Showcase India Licensing Expo’s Second Edition

~500+ Global Licensing Brands Participating~

~Aims to invite an investment of INR 2000 Crore through about 200 Cr Deals~

License India, an exclusive brand licensing vertical of Franchise India Group invites licensing and retail fraternity to India Licensing Expo (ILE), India's first and most influential brand licensing show on August 23-24 2018 at Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) Mumbai,Participation from 500+ global and domestic companies is expected. The expo is supported by LIMA.

Renowne brands such as Viacom18, Femina Flaunt, Miss Diva, Miss India, Film Fare, Green Gold Animation, Adlabs Entertainment, JCB, We love Characters, Celebrities Entertainment, Angry Birds, ChuChu TV, Dream Theatre, Bandai Namco, Cartoon Network, WWE, Toki Doki, Purple Turtle, Kuber, Toon Mart, Ack Media, DQ Entertainment, Bradford License India, Animantz, Axis, Adarsh Publications, Rovio, Reliance Animations, WWE, Celebrities Entertainment GmbH, JCB, Spykar, Madame, Welspun, Adlabs, Spaces  among others are likely to be a part of the expo.

The event will include a conference program lead by global thought leaders, including MauraRegan,President, LIMA, Dan Frugtniet, VP, Licensing Business Development, Nickelodeon Viacom Consumer Products, SimoHämäläinen, SVP – Brand Licensing, Rovio, Ulf Vespermann, Managing Director, Celebrities Entertainment, SandeepDahiya, Director and Business Head – Brand Extension, Bennett, Coleman& Co Ltd., SanjeetMehta, Executive Director & Head - Consumer Products, Disney India, Jiggy George, Head of LIMA India, Founder - Dream Theatre Group, Founder & Managing Director – Mojostar, Dhimant Bakshi, Jt. CEO, Adlabs Imagica, Smita Maroo, Senior Vice President – Licensing &Merchandising, Shemaroo Entertainment, , SwetaAgnihotri, CEO - Content Syndication, Reliance Big Entertainment andmany more will share their insights on licensing industry.

Gaurav Marya, Chairman, License India said, “We have been successful in establishing India Licensing Expo as a dedicated hub for licensing professionals. Pegged at $1476 million, the licensing industry in India is definitely on an upward trajectory and through ILE 2018, we intend to bring global understanding to the Indian landscape and further propagate this business model. After the successful first edition of Licensing Expo last year, we are ecstatic to inaugurate our second edition of the event. The licensing industry is growing by 40% YoY and with second edition; we hope to close deals worth INR 2000 Cr. India Licensing Expo is a dedicated hub for industry business across diverse verticals like cinema, music, apparel, character, and sports licensing all under one roof.”

The expo will culminate with an awards night across categories. Supported by License India, the forum gathers the perspective of the emerging Indian Licensing Industry for networking to explore prospects to grow greater and quicker in the given peripheries. About 500+ global brands have confirmed their entry in the consumer space either through licensing or franchise model.

He further added, “This platform will also bring together voluminous brand opportunities, elaborate knowledge forums, exclusive licensing appreciations, fun character parade and many more. In the scenario, where India is a brand-hungry market, we see a natural inclination towards licensing as an effective retail strategy. Brand licensing has been well accepted as a retail strategy in India, and through ILE 2018, we bring the universal perception to Indian landscape. The owners of intellectual properties (IPs) comprising the major character, entertainment, celebrity and corporate brands are keen to enter the Indian market. Everyone wants to tap the 1.3 billion customer-base that the country has, especially when the consciousness of brands among consumers in 900+ cities are very high.”

Maura Regan, President, LIMA said, “LIMA is committed to the continued growth and expansion of licensing around the world, and we are proud to support this show dedicated to licensing in India.”

“It is important for the advancement of our business to come together in India, make connections and learn about this active market that is poised to achieve great things in the coming years. India is an incredibly dynamic market. Between the rapidly growing middle class, leapfrogging technologies, and an appetite for both local and international brands and content, licensing is the smart way to grow your business and engage with your audience,” she added.

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ESPN India Commends the Performance of LiveU's LU600 HEVC at the FIFA World Cup™ in Russia

LiveU has always earned its reputation by delivering cutting-edge technology solutions and flawless performance in even the most testing of circumstances.

At this year's FIFA World Cup Championship, LiveU managed to break all its previous records. LiveU released its live broadcasting figures for the FIFA World Cup™ in Russia with 485 units onsite used by customers from over 40 countries. The numbers have doubled, and even tripled, since the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ – including over 15,000 hours of live broadcasting, over 30,000 live sessions and 36TB of live transmission – with LiveU's LU600 4K HEVC solution enabling customers to broadcast more hours with less data.

With numerous interviews of players, fans and spectators and exciting behind-the-scene captures, LiveU has successfully grasped the essence and atmosphere of this truly global event with daily live feeds.

One of the biggest sports broadcasters – ESPN India – was present in Moscow to catch all the live action of FIFA WC 2018 with the LU600 HEVC.

Live feeds captured on the ground needed to be sent back to India to be broadcast live on Sony Pictures Networks India. Flexibility, mobility and signal reliability were the three main requirements and LiveU was able to pass with flying colours. 

"We used LiveU units throughout the tournament to capture live feeds that were sent back to India to be broadcast live on Sony Pictures Networks India. Our experience was really good – even at crowded locations where there were issues of network congestion. Sending live feeds back to India was seamless with no technological glitches," said Suketu Mehta, a Multimedia Producer with ESPN, India.

The other two features of the LU600 HEVC that were highlighted were its form-factor and cost effectiveness.

"There was a time when the live TV experience involved the use of heavy and bulky equipment and a huge crew. Now it has been replaced by this small, portable, easy-to-carry solution that fits in a backpack. The compact chassis is what makes it one of the most portable solutions. You can literally carry it anywhere," Mehta said. "Thank you LiveU for your rock-solid support!"

LiveU was able to provide customers with bandwidth guarantees for superior connectivity in the 11 host cities. The offering provided a special add-on priority SIMs package for streaming high-quality live video, enabling customers to reach 20Mbps uplink and deliver HD live feeds even from the most crowded locations. LiveU had a dedicated technical team on site, managing the logistics and providing 24/7 support, with two designated distribution centers in Moscow and St Petersburg.

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500 Years of Timeless Fashion

Ever imagined a fabric so fine that wrapping it around you feels warm and luxurious all at the same time?

Appropriately called the "soft gold of Asia", Pashmina is the art of Handcrafting distincitve pieces of luxury with fine Himalayan Cashmere. It has withstood the test of time & have been around for more than five centuries. From being draped by the European nobility to now being the ultimate fashion accessory, this ancient art has gone through a whirlwind of a ride in the last few decades.

There's a flood of fast fashion today and most brands have jumped on to this bandwagon. Even when it comes to Cashmere, most brands are selling "affordable products" in the name of machine-made and blended varieties. Since Cashmere is regal and a symbol of opulence, consumers (because of the lack of awareness) go in for such tall claims and later pay a heavy price for their choices.

This is where we have stepped in to revive the lost glory of Pashmina. This royal art has its roots in the picturesque valleys of Kashmir and for us, maintaining its pristine beauty is paramount. At Pashmina.com, we believe in the adage 'less is more' and propagate sustainable luxury through all our offerings. Each of our products is painstakingly hand-crafted: hand-woven & hand-embroidered by the gifted artisans of the land of Kashmir.

For a piece so timeless and which is a repertoire of rich history, we strongly work towards quality & craft authenticity, each of our pieces – shawls, hijabs, stoles & scarves, wraps, blankets – go through stringent testing by the Crafts Development Institute, which is under the aegis of the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.

Though the art of Pashmina has a rich history, it is the artisans who are the real stars. They painstakingly create masterpieces that reflect the highest level of craftsmanship. To cater to varied tastes of our consumers, we offer two distincitve lines, one of the timeless pieces with Bold, Weaves & Hand Embroidery to the contemporary line of pashminas with Ombre, Swarovski Crystals, Prints & Chantilly Laces.

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A tête-à-tête with World Traveler Alex Chacon on His 5th Visit to India

If there is one video on the internet that is hard to miss is ‘Around the World in 360 degrees- 3 years epic selfie’ video which was released in 2014 and has already crossed over 200 million views across online platforms. The video was shot by Alex Chacon, a Texas-based Medical student who sold all his belongings in 2012 to fulfill his dream of traveling. Since then, Alex has traveled lakhs of kilometers on a motorcycle and has explored over 50 countries and 5 continents. He is a guy whose bucket list is not any specific destination but the experiences and he strongly believes that riding a motorcycle is like meditation for him. On his visit to Mumbai, we met with Alex to understand the story behind his adventures and how he inspires lakhs of people around the world to travel.

THE STORY OF THE EPIC SELFIE VIDEOS

After graduating from college, Alex decided to sell everything he had and start traveling. His first big trip was from Alaska to Argentina on a motorcycle. He had no idea back then what was going to work in his favor and what would not. So he started experimenting with his GoPro camera and tried to shoot his adventure in various ways and angles. The one that worked for him was obviously the selfie shots he took at different locations. The fun fact about the epic selfie video is that selfie sticks did not even exist in 2012. Alex’s creative brains were at work and he dismantled the legs of his tripod to actually make a 5kg selfie stick by tying up his camera on one end. 

Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTlXttQL_Yk&t=84s   to watch the video. After he uploaded this video on the internet, it immediately caught people’s attention and went viral making him a famous traveler across the world.

A DAY IN ALEX CHACON’S LIFE

No matter how glamorous and adventurous Alex’s life looks on the internet, but the effort required to put all this together is way higher than a 9-5 corporate job. He has not taken a day off for the past 7 years and is working 24 hours around the planning and execution of his travel. Even after returning back home his day is tied-up with changing his camera gears, buying the stuff he requires for the next trip and selling the ones not required, organizing and planning the next trip and the challenge. But the good part about his job is that it brings new surprises and experiences every day. One such surprise he recollects is randomly meeting a traveler in the southern part of a country and seeing her again after eight months in the northern part of the country without any communications. Such experiences he says make you realize that the world is actually a small place.

ABOUT HIS TRIP TO INDIA AND ADVICE TO RIDERS

As people say, “Once you visit India, it keeps calling you back”. This was Chacon’s 5^th trip to India and he was busy meeting his fans in different cities and collaborating with fellow YouTubers and Influencers to inspire a lot more people. After a series on meet-ups in Mumbai, he headed to Ladakh- the mecca of motorcyclists across the world. His advice to riders going to Ladakh this year is very simple. He believes that more than the physical strength it’s the mental conditioning of the rider that matters in Ladakh and other high altitude places. If a rider is determined to reach his destination than he can any motorcycle with any gear to any place in the world. He says that if you are riding for the first time in Ladkah you need to go slow as it is not similar to the style of riding in the cities.

CHALLENGES OF RIDING ACROSS BORDERS AND DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

Alex has traveled to over 50 countries on a motorcycle, backpacking using local transport and has also enjoyed some luxurious trips after being invited by governments of different countries to promote tourism. He affirms that every country comes with a new set of challenge. But all the travel plans can be simplified, if we do a little bit of research and plan everything ahead. One of the best ways to do that is to thoroughly go through the government’s websites. “I never show up to a border unprepared.  I make sure that I have all my documents, visas and all other local formalities sorted before arriving”, says Alex.

RURAL VILLAGES MAKE A COUNTRY REAL

After years of traveling, one thing that Alex has realized is that the deeper you go in some country the better it gets. The further you go from the big cities you meet genuine people who look a lot happier and simpler than most of us. He has one great story when he was in a village an hour away from Chandigarh. There was a school having a class in the outdoors and all the kids were just so happy to see a western foreigner in their village. Within minutes he was surrounded by over 100-150 children all trying to get in one frame for a picture. They followed his motorcycle in enthusiasm for a few kilometers until he was out of the village. Luckily, Alex Chacon has found this one thing very common in all parts of the world.

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