Industry Roundtable

DRIVING LICENCES

PPS invites six senior executives – Sophia Procter, ceo and founder, Munchy Play; Helen Cottrill, marketing and product director, Enesco; Liz Peters, head of portfolio UK & IE, tonies; Julie Jones, md, Redan Publishing; Jon Tilley, general manager EMEA at United Wheels UK/United Wheels Netherlands; and Zara Grindrod, director of sales and marketing, Rainbow Designs – to discuss some of their licensed product highlights, the retail landscape, challenges and where they see further growth for their licensed business.

Sophia Procter Helen Cottrill Liz Peters Julie Jones Jon Tilley Zara Grindrod

HOW HAS YOUR LICENSED PRESCHOOL BUSINESS BEEN SO FAR THIS YEAR?

Sophia: “We’ve had a really successful year to date. At the top of the year Sadiq Khan presented us with the London ‘Start-up Business of the Year’ award from the FSB, which was incredible recognition. We also launched our new Hot Wheels Car Plate in May which is proving to be a real hit. Even in these challenging times our business continues to grow at a steady pace and I’m encouraged to see that the nursery sector, in particular the toy market, showing great resilience.” Helen: “We have had an exceptional year with our Beatrix Potter Collection. We signed a new deal for Classic Beatrix Potter Plush and launched our first collection in July. To date bookings have exceeded all expectation and we have now finalised our January 2023 launch. We are also delighted to have signed an agreement with Great Ormond Street Hospital for two bespoke Peter Rabbit soft toys which raise funds with each sale. With bamboo being banned across Europe for child food use items we have developed a brand new collection under Beatrix Potter Home; this is 100% recyclable including the packaging and is also microwave and dishwasher safe. Again the reaction to this collection has been exceptional.” Liz: “It has been great! We are so proud of what we’ve achieved this year, and to be the fastest growing preschool brand in the UK is an amazing accolade. With so many stand-out preschool brands within our Tonies portfolio, we see customers coming back time and time again to buy the newest launch and add to their Tonies collection.” Julie: “The first half of 2022 has been a very challenging time for our preschool magazines. Costs in every area of the business have increased and the impact of soaring paper prices has had a profound effect, resulting in the need to adjust formats and pricing on almost a daily basis. Despite these challenges, sales have picked up so far over the summer period and we’re seeing good growth in travel outlets.”

Jon: “Our partnership with Disney kicked off at the start of the year and so far, so good. We have been supported by some great retailers and our partnership with the Disney team has enabled us to start strong. We are lucky that kids' bikes are sold all year round, so we are not 100% reliant on certain times of the year. We are now getting ready for the busy Christmas period, and this will be our first with our licensed product ranges.” Zara: “Rainbow has been here for 50 years now, and our proven strategy of working

Left: The Witches is the first Tonie in the new Roald Dahl range.

with classic brands transcends fashions and trends due to the wonderful stories, sentiment and nostalgia that these brands evoke. So, even in a time of rising living costs and economic uncertainty, our classic characters including Peter Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh and Paddington Bear, have continued to perform strongly, providing that much needed familiarity and reassurance of values and quality.” Learn Bag o’ Fun and Fun To Learn Peppa Pig Bag o’ Fun titles. We also committed to 10% of our portfolio having plastic free covermounts, which has meant the team have developed some really innovative and imaginative paperbased gifts.”

HOW ARE YOU FINDING THE RETAIL LANDSCAPE

AT THE MOMENT FOR LICENSED RANGES?

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO CONTINUE TO INVEST IN NEW LICENSED PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION?

Sophia: “It’s always important to invest in your business, your customers and your product. Licensing has transformed our business, taking it to the next level and allowing us to tap into much-loved children’s brands. Innovation isn’t just about developing new products - it’s also about finding better, more sustainable and greater efficiencies along the way. For instance, we recently invested in new robotic technology for manufacturing, and moved to a larger UK factory.” Liz: “tonies® is the leader in a brand new product category so it’s extremely important to us to continually optimise and improve our product, as well as innovate within our range. We put so much thought into our beautiful Tonie figurines: we work with our partners to create the very cutest characters and every single Tonie is carefully hand-painted, making each one totally unique. We also look for different ways to create exclusivity and variation within our portfolio: our collaboration with premium plush brand, Steiff, gives the opportunity for little ones to cuddle up with their favourite soft cuddly friend, as well as pop the Steiff Tonie on the Toniebox and fall asleep to some relaxing bedtime stories.” Julie: “As the competition for space in the preschool magazine sector increases (largely due to an overall reduction in shelf space at retail), it really does feel increasingly important to continue developing our existing portfolio and being innovative in this area, as well as investing in new licences to ensure that we have the hottest properties in our portfolio. Developing more sustainable products has also been a priority over the last year, we implemented a revolutionary, plastic free and 100% recyclable alternative to plastic bags using a uniquely styled, cardboard wrapper for our Fun To Zara: “Market conditions are tough all round, but in a particularly difficult economic environment, that is set to decline further, retailers have held their confidence in classic licensed ranges, over non-licensed products. Classic licensed ranges with strong heritage and longevity have a proven track record at retail and continue to deliver.” Jon: “There no denying that it is a tough marketplace at the moment and licensed seems to be performing well compared to our non-licensed products. We are offering a comprehensive range of over 40 licensed bikes and battery ride-ons via our new drop ship programme, so retailers who want to take the opportunity of the strong bike business can, without massive investments in stock holding.” Helen: “Well known licensed collections are definitely our best performers in the current climate - again it comes down to consumer confidence and brand awareness. Retailers are absolutely playing it safe with a reluctance to try anything brand new, so having the added benefit of a brand name gives us a USP.” Julie: “It’s very tough and fiercely competitive especially with, as previously mentioned, the retail space available being squeezed all the time. Magazine buyers tend to give most licences a go in range but with space tightening, they are being more selective.”

WHAT CHALLENGES LIE AHEAD IN THE LICENSED PRESCHOOL SPACE?

Sophia: “Only last Christmas the industry faced challenges around supply chain issues with delays and problems importing goods from abroad. It’s one of the reasons why our products are manufactured in the UK, as consumers expect high quality products with quick dispatch. This will continue to be a priority for all businesses especially in the run up to the festive season.” Left: Rainbow Designs is launching new products in its Adventures of Helen: “The biggest challenge we face is Paddington range this year the economic uncertainty and the impact

Below left: Redan will be looking for new opportunities with new and existing contacts at BLE. this has on the families with preschool aged children. This sector will be the Below: Huffy has seen good success worst hit by the increased cost of living with its Lighting McQueen ride-on. and interest rates, so they will spend their money wisely. We need to ensure that we are offering great value, quality functional products that stand the test of time. Gifting in this type of economy tends to shift to more functional items and our Beatrix Potter, Disney and Scion collections have been created with this in mind.” Liz: “Challenges in supply chain and rising costs of raw materials will continue

to have an impact on the licensed preschool space. Rising rents, storage costs and other warehouse fees have caused certain retailers to reduce sku counts with some brands. Inflation and cost of living is, of course, a concern for parents, with the potential for households to spend less on non-essential items.” Zara: “The licensed preschool space can be very crowded, full of great licensed products but it is going to get even more competitive thanks to the taxing economy we are experiencing. Many consumers are already starting to feel the pinch, and when it comes to choosing presents for preschoolers, for many it will become a choice of one product or another, rather than multiple purchases. So the strength and popularity of the licensed brands, innovative product development and sales support at retail are all going to play a vital role.”

WHERE DO YOU SEE FURTHER GROWTH COMING FROM FOR LICENSED RANGES WITHIN YOUR BUSINESS?

Helen: “There are so many categories that we can develop into. Sustainability is a key part of our future and also looking to develop product within the UK and Europe.” Sophia: “There are so many opportunities and different routes available to take. We’re keeping all options open, but

Above: Enesco has enjoyed an “exceptional year” with its Beatrix Potter collection. Above right: Partnering with Mattel on Thomas & Friends has been a major highlight for Munchy Play. keen to expand into new territories, as well as look at new variants to bolster our existing collection.” Liz: “Globally we have sold over 3.7 million Tonieboxes and 44 million Tonies, and we continue to grow exponentially. New markets will be key for us in the coming years: tonies® is a global phenomenon and bestselling licensed Tonies will play an important role in our international growth. On average, a child collects 20 Tonies over a period of 4.5 years, if not more.” Jon: “Our primary goal is to continue to grow our Disney partnership across the EU, so new retailers, new markets and new products that are specific to each market. We are working on some exciting new launches to coincide with movies and events in 2023.”

LICENSED PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS

Sophia: “Undoubtedly, the biggest highlight has been partnering with Mattel. From the get-go the vision was to get Thomas & Friends on board, and within a year of launching we did just that. It’s also wonderful to be recognised by our community – we’ve won several awards and shortlisted in many others, including the Progressive Preschool Awards. Seeing our small businesses alongside well-established names is always humbling.” Helen: “Our Disney Baby Collection won a UK Mums TV silver award, this is judged by consumers and we really value this positive feedback from our end users. We were also Highly Commended in the Collectable Category for our Beatrix Potter by Jim Shore Collection at the recent Gift of the Year Awards. Earlier in the year we signed an agreement with Scion for several gift collections. Our first offering launches on 1 September and will be shown at the Kind und Jugend show in Cologne. Scion is a brand we have admired for many years and we are so happy to be able to create this collection with them.” Liz: “We have launched almost 40 Tonies so far in 2022, from much-loved classics like Mr Men & Little Miss, educational content like our National Geographic and Horrible Histories series, to strong entertainment licences like CoComelon, Octonauts and Bing. We were so excited to announce our partnership with the Roald Dahl Story Company, launching The Witches as our first Roald Dahl Tonie. Our total portfolio is almost 200 Tonies strong, many of which are preschool brands, and we continue to see success with evergreens such as Peppa, PAW Patrol, Gruffalo and our Disney Tonies.” Julie: “The introduction of a new magazine special for our longstanding licence Peppa Pig. The first issue launched in July and focuses on colouring, sketching and doodling. The second will go on sale in October and has a story focus. There are more planned for 2023 too, which will expand our presence on shelf and complement our existing Peppa Pig magazines.” Jon: “Spider-Man seems to be performing strongly and we are seeing an increased demand for licenSed battery ride-ons, our Lighting McQueen car in particular. We also worked on some new products for the recent Lightyear launch that performed very well in Europe.” Zara: “Paddington has had an exceptional year with fantastic brand exposure, headlining with afternoon tea with the Queen to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee, as well as being the focus of a McDonald’s Happy Meal promotion. Paddington has always been a strong performing range for us, but this brand exposure helped raise the awareness of Paddington amongst the youngest of children, supporting a significant uplift across all our Paddington collections, in particular our bestselling Adventures of Paddington range of preschool toys based on the awardwinning TV series.”