ABSTRACT
The first part of this chapter revisits LIMA/LI’s relocation to Las Vegas through the prism of the field’s internationalization and LIMA/LI’s efforts to guide that process. It explores how floor plans and booth design work to establish, navigate, and negotiate the parameters for what a global licensing industry ought to be. In so doing, It demonstrates how the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas prepares its members for the field’s expansion by framing expectations for how global brands function in relation to consumer markets still defined within national political, economic, legal, and cultural boundaries. The second part of the chapter explores how LIMA/LI has sought to export its own brand (and the values associated with it) into emerging licensing markets via replication of the Licensing Expo experience abroad. Analyzing promotional materials for Licensing Expo China reveals how the organization has framed the future direction of the field in ways that normalize the importance of Western brands paving the way for other nations to develop their own transnational properties. LIMA/LI positions non-Western countries as sites rife with opportunity, but also risk for Western brand owners (with LIMA/LI providing services intended to mitigate these concerns).
