20-21-23-25 Licensee Feedback.qxp_NEW LSB 2008 GRID 23/09/2020 18:28 Page 2
LICENSEE FEEDBACK
Martin Withers, sales director, Pyramid International “The biggest challenge facing our business is uncertainty from the COVID situation in relation to what may happen from a lockdown rules point of view, and what could happen to movie release dates as a consequence. We are constantly adjusting our plans, but equally we are adapting our products and designs to reflect the changing face of retail. We have a strong and varied portfolio which means we can manage that risk well. Innovation on how we interact with licensors, retailers and consumers is key and we are constantly evolving our strategy. The biggest positive has been how the Pyramid team has responded to the crisis; productivity and commitment has been really high and we have also moved into new product areas that have seen great success. We have made some brave decisions that will put us in a strong position for Q4 and we will take that momentum forwards into 2021.”
Elliot Peckett, director, Smiffys “The biggest challenge for our business and the wider industry has undoubtedly been the lack of celebrations and events that are able to take place which normally create the demand for our products: festivals, hen and stags, fancy dress parties, sporting events, etc. The entire industry is desperate for a bumper Halloween to maximise the opportunity of it falling on a weekend for the first time in a while. Despite the recent ‘rule of 6’, retailers are remaining positive as there is enormous pent up demand to celebrate Halloween at home. Our retailers have preordered almost the same value of forward order as they did this time last year, so they are still gearing up to maximise a weekend Halloween sales opportunity. In terms of the biggest positives to take from the year, we made a conscious decision early on in lockdown to say that all the sales team and senior management needed to ring customers and ask “how are you?”. It wasn’t about asking for orders or for bills to be paid, it was just to be there for them and say “we’re all in this together”. We were the first company to have reps visit stores when lockdown ended and stores re-opened; the goodwill and gratitude we have had back from this has been phenomenal. We’re in our 126th year and you don’t get there by merely being transactional. It’s about the rapport and relationships that we have managed to build up over the years and that shouldn’t falter because there’s a pandemic. In fact, it has cemented those relationships – we’re a family business and that extends to our customers, as well as our staff.”
Above: Rapport and relationships shouldn’t falter because there’s a pandemic, says Elliot.
Lisa Shand, md, Blueprint Collections
Above: Pyramid’s Stranger Things VHS notebook was a winner at this year’s Stationery Awards. Martin believes the company is in a strong position for Q4.
“Our biggest challenge is anticipating the level of sales on the high street and being able to predict what the growth of footfall will be and, therefore, managing stock holdings to reflect this. A positive take from the year is that where shopping is convenient - the grocery sector and online for example consumers are still willing to spend. Sales to customers with a strong online presence have been good, and this has shown us more quickly which lines are suitable for this and we have been able to include more of these types of products into our 2021 developments.” Above: Lisa says a key challenge is anticipating the level of sales on the high street and managing stock holdings. Right: An appetite for consumer products has remained throughout the crisis, says Ben.
Ben Woodman, commercial manager, GB eye “As a company, being able to quickly adapt to the changing consumer habit of online retail has been a huge positive for us. It’s great to see that there has still been the appetite for consumer products even through such difficult times; it’s actually meant that our Q3 turnover for 2020 is well up on 2019. Our development of in-house and UK manufactured products has ensured we have avoided any stock ordering issues, which puts us in a great position to fulfil demand from retailers through Q4. The pandemic has accelerated the development of our eco products and we are really excited to be launching these later in 2020 and into 2021. The last few months have really highlighted the importance of strong, sustainable relationships with all our partners in the industry. We look forward to strengthening these as we go into the New Year.” LICENSING SOURCE BOOK EUROPE 2020