80-81 David Riley.qxp_NEW LSB 2008 GRID 17/09/2018 17:58 Page 80
RILEY’S CHAPTER AND VERSE
The partworks industry is one that has always prospered by reinventing itself, with the business model being a unique mix of product innovation, continuity sales and community management. David Riley checks in with some category experts to find out more.
Inset: Partworks companies listen to consumers’ needs and aspirations to develop unique series that enhance the way they engage with what they love from films through creative hobbies. Below: De Agostini launched a scale model of Luke Skywalker’s iconic Red Five X-wing Starfighter this year.
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Skywalker’s iconic Red Five X-wing Starfighter. Here’s Isabelle Giggins, global licensing director at De Agostini: “The partwork model is a very unique combination of product innovation, continuity sales and community management. There is no set product definition. We are monitoring trends and listening to our customers’ needs and aspirations to develop unique series that enhance the way consumers engage with what they love from films through creative hobbies.” Over the years, Hachette has launched partworks with Marvel, Hello Kitty, Warhammer, Assassin’s Creed, Dr Who and Peppa Pig. Here’s Helen Nally, editorial director of Hachette: “We research and develop a lot of DRA DR RAW AW WT THE TH HE ideas and through a process of desk research, focus groups and Area Tests WAY WA AY (where we test four issues of a collection in a small area so we can extrapolate the sales of issue one, the sales curve and the subscription rate) we eventually launch a product with a PIN large investment in TV advertising.” PI NGP NGP NG IIN KIN KI K In spite of this, the partworks industry is shrinking. In 2017 the global partworks market was worth €780m dollars, down 7% on the previous year. Changing consumer attitudes to magazines, lower footfall at INS SPIRA ATIO TION ON ARTl TllS ST PORTF TFOLllO OS
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et’s talk about partworks. Nine times out of ten this statement seems to be met with a blank expression, so maybe I should start with an explanation. There are three major partwork companies in the UK, all responsible for a wide range of internationally successful licensed products – De Agostini, Hachette and Eaglemoss. If one word could define their product offering, that word would be ‘collectability’… but that’s where the simple definition ends. Licensors usually lump partworks in with publishing (because there’s often a strong book or magazine element in the product offering), but the industry really sits somewhere between publishing, toys, craft, home and 29 gift. Yep, it’s a real hybrid. The end product can be a set of figurines, a scale model of a vehicle, a set of DVDs or a complete guide to baking, knitting or calligraphy. De Agostini has a licensed portfolio across all categories from large scale models (Thunderbirds, Jaguar, Valentino Rossi, Easy Rider, Fast & Furious) to collections (Moomins, Volkswagon, Dinky and Marvel) and kid’s educational series (Playmobil, Smurfs, Barbie and Disney). It has released scale models of R2D2 and the Millenium Falcon and this year it launched a scale model of Luke