Kids football app Aniballers has been crowned the winner of the 2023 Kelvyn Gardner License This! competition, with three runners up also celebrated.
The winner and three runners up in this year’s Kelvyn Gardner License This! competition were announced on Wednesday at Brand Licensing Europe, which runs from 4-6th October at ExCeL, London.
Dubbed ‘the football training adventure for kids,’ Aniballers features six animated characters in a colourful world that take kids along a gamified training journey. The animation is interspersed with video clips of real 3–6 year-olds in a 3D rendered brand world setting, presenting drills and AR-filters so kids can feel immersed in the game.
With 50 unique challenges suitable for indoor and outdoor play, Aniballers has been developed by UEFA approved coaches and follows EYFS key developmental learning areas so kids (and parents) can feel like they have a football coach in their pocket.
The Kelvyn Gardner License This! judges praised Aniballers’ ‘great concept and characters’. They also loved the underlying exercise message, its gender neutrality, the ‘stand out’ logo and branding and the fact that Aniballers could work well across multiple sports.
Aniballers was conceived during lockdown by dad Matt Wilson and his daughter Veda, and family agency Kids Industries is the creative and technical brains behind the app, sharing valuable insight into children and families throughout the entire creative process.
Matt Wilson, Aniballers founder, said: “In a world where childhood mental and physical health problems are common, we believe the first five years of life are a window of opportunity to establish the foundations of a love for sports and active play. Aniballers is a magical world designed to help parents introduce and engage their kids with active play.
“We have a portfolio of digital and physical products in mind that all point toward encouraging and rewarding active play. Winning the Kelvyn Gardner LIcense This! Award will help us develop a dialogue with new partners who can help us to help families over the world to raise healthy, active kids.”
Raj Pathmanathan, Kids Industries creative director, added: “I’m delighted that Aniballers has won the Kelvyn Gardner License This! competition – its potential as a licensable brand was apparent to us at KI from the start, and as we supported the development of the identity and building the digital product, the brand opportunities were always in the back of our minds. It’s great to see a brand that enables children to participate in sports through storytelling and tech get the spotlight. We’re excited to see where Aniballers takes off in the future.”
The three 2023 runners up are (in no particular order):
1. Bobby Hollie (Danielle Lambert)
2. Campus to Canvas (Steph Coathupe)
3. Cheeky Legends (Arrthi Little)
Organised by Brand Licensing Europe and License Global, the Kelvyn Gardner License This! competition propels illustrators, publishers, designers or animators with unlicensed brands into the spotlight, helping them break into the lucrative $340+ billion global brand licensing industry, secure new deals and/or agent representation.
Matt Wilson and Aniballers will receive over £7,000 of free exposure and promotional support to help develop their brand, and the three finalists will receive promotional support and mentorship opportunities,
You can read more about the Kelvyn Gardner License This! competition here.
