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IN CONVERSATION WITH… TOMY
It was one of the fastest growing toy and games companies in 2019, and TOMY is confident of continuing this momentum throughout 2020, too. Coming out of a strong trade fair season, and with a raft of new launches planned across its Lamaze and Toomies brands, plus the introduction of new licensed IP Ricky Zoom, PPS chats to general manager for the UK and Ireland, Mary Wood, to find out more.
2020 vision
T
OMY is on something of a growth curve within the nursery and preschool space at the moment. Despite 2019 being a tough year for the market, TOMY achieved growth on its core brands, specifically the preschool brand Toomies, as well as games, nursery brands Lamaze and Boon, plus licensed farming toy brand, Johnny Tractor. Some of the company’s biggest successes have come from Drumond Park, which grew 6.7% in a market of just 1% growth, achieving number one in the adult category and securing five out of the top ten games. In the kids’ games category specifically, the market was down 16.4% but TOMY and Drumond Park combined were up 19%, becoming the number two manufacturer. Mary Wood, general manager for the UK and Ireland at TOMY, tells PPS that the popular Toomies brand saw 16% growth at retail in 2019 considering the difficult market. “This is due to new product development within the range, focusing on the Toomies Hide & Squeak Eggs range, its bestselling line for 25 years and the number one
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selling toy in its category in the UK in 2018, alongside heavyweight marketing and media plans to drive sell-through in-store,” says Mary. This forward momentum is set to continue in 2020, too, with a host of new launches waiting in the wings. Mary continues: “We have some brilliant new launches in
Above right: Mary Wood, general manager UK and Ireland, TOMY. Below: The Lamaze 3 in 1 Airtivity Center will launch in July.
PROGRES SIVE P R E S C H O O L
Left : The Toomies brand is going from strength to strength with new launches in 2020 including the Eggventures range.
2020 from our core brands such as Lamaze and Toomies, as well as Britains, with unique play patterns and innovations which have gone down well with our trade partners. Lamaze will be launching the Lamaze 3-in-1 Airtivity Center in July, supported with heavyweight digital media, which has patented technology allowing babies to experience moving air to stimulate their curiosity and awareness of the world around them. “In autumn/winter, Toomies will be launching the ‘Eggventures’ range, supported by a TV campaign, with the hero of the range being the 2-in-1 Eggventure Train that encourages a variety of play patterns. We’re also looking forward to our new launches from Ricky Zoom, the new licence roaring onto UK TV screens in 2020 where our master toy line hits the shelves in autumn/ winter. We are excited about the year ahead and looking forward to translating these efforts at toy fairs into sales for our customers.”
15/03/2020 14:27