Wondery’s chief brand officer, Nicole Blake, and podcaster Guy Raz, host of How I Built This and Wow in the World, are set to keynote Licensing Expo.
Nicole Blake
Licensing Expo has announced its second keynote, featuring Wondery‘s chief brand officer, Nicole Blake, to discuss franchise development opportunities from podcast IPs, alongside How I Built This and Wow in the World co-creator and host, Guy Raz, as podcasts signal the next hotbed for brand extensions.
On Wednesday 22nd May, the keynote, “Is Podcasting Where the Next Hit Franchise Will Come From? Sounds Like It.”, will explore how Wondery Kids, along with Guy and the rest of the team, is evolving Wow in the World, a top kids and family series created by Tinkercast, from a podcast into a global lifestyle brand. Nicole, a franchise development veteran, will examine Wondery by applying a Hollywood-style approach to franchise building and consumer products to develop podcast IP.
Guy, renowned for in-depth interviews on How I Built This and a co-founder of Tinkercast, provides unique insights into how companies can create a culture of innovation and wow-worthy stories about how Wow in the World, the No.1 podcast for kids and their grown-ups, is going from podcast to play. How I Built This features interviews with entrepreneurs as they share the origin stories of some of the world’s biggest companies and most iconic brands.
Amanda Cioletti, vice president Content and Strategy, Informa Markets Global Licensing Group, said: “Licensing Expo is the global stage to highlight the multifaceted business of licensing, and one of the areas we have identified for discovery and growth is from the podcasting space. Wow in the World’s origin story is a fantastic example of the endless opportunities audio-based properties have in the consumer product space, as Nicole and Guy, each respectively celebrated for their industry leading perspectives and expertise, challenge us to think about licensing in a fresh way – like from podcasting.”
Guy Raz
“We are incredibly excited to be working with some of the best companies in the industry to grow podcasts like Wow in the World into true lifestyle programmes, with touchpoints across audio, live events, consumer products and more,” said Nicole Blake. “We believe podcasts hold as much potential for franchise building as traditional Hollywood IP, and are thrilled that the licensing industry is eager to explore audio-first IPs’ untapped opportunities with us.”
“Our kid and grown-up listeners are so committed to what we do and are constantly looking for deeper ways to connect with Wow in the World,” said Raz. “Creating products that align with our values and our audiences’ was a natural step for us to take, and we couldn’t ask for better partners than the experts at Wondery Kids as we enter the consumer products space.”
Licensing Expo will take place 21st-23rd May at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV. For more information or to register to attend or exhibit at Licensing Expo 2024, visit www.licensingexpo.com.
