36 SUPPLIER FOCUS IMAGINATION GAMES Ahead of the game
Katie Roberts talks to Imagination Games’ managing director, David Snow, about his first year at the helm and the company’s plans for the immediate future...
DAVID SNOW took the reins at Imagination Games at a rather difficult time for UK business as a whole – smack bang in the middle of a recession. But despite a challenging year for everyone, the MD has emerged positive.
“My first year as MD was really
exciting,” Snow tells ToyNews. “Not only have I experienced some of the toughest market conditions in my time in the toy industry, which has taught me a great deal, I have had to learn and understand a great deal more about running a UK and European business. “This has been a challenge especially as Steve Reece (previous MD) made it all look so easy. Given the market conditions, Imagination had a good year and remained profitable.” Moving forward, there are big plans. Snow explains: “We are planning to expand, so watch this space. On the games front, we are committed to the category; we love the fact that games and puzzles really can deliver fun, education and most importantly social interaction on many different levels.” Imagination Games has looked carefully at gaps in the market and developed a range of products for 2012 and beyond. New launches include Trivia Box – a range of licensed trivia games; Ruckus – a US card game; Burping Burt – a game based around a sometimes gross plush monster and a distribution line of games and puzzles from a Spanish manufacturer, Educa Borras. “The plan is to build on these core brands and develop the brands for 2013 and 2014 as well as always looking at new products to distribute.” There are clear short and long- term goals in place with the whole group, covering numerous territories and a diverse range of products both in and outside the games category. “Brand development and creating value in intellectual property is really important to us, so between now and 2022, we hope to have brought
MARCH 2012
SNOW: “Plans for 2012 are strong; we are planning to expand, so watch this space”
numerous innovations and paradigm shifts to whatever space we jump into, as well as continuing to work with strategic partners who are like- minded,” Snow continues.
It sounds as though new categories are in Imagination’s future, but will one of those be the growing app- based or tablet-based game sector? “This is a really interesting area within the games market we have been looking at since around 2009, not just the app/tablet market, but also looking
Brand development and creating value in intellectual property is really
important to us. David Snow, MD, Imagination Games
at new technologies such as AR to make games that are compelling enough to buy into. At present the penetration of iPhones/tablets/ smartphones is still at an infancy level and whilst early adopters will and can make product for and profit from this market, we are looking longer term to see which technologies are right for us to invest in.”
New technologies are also changing the face of retail, which again, Snow sees as a positive development: “The great news for us is that most bricks and mortar
customers are now expanding their internet offering which opens up the range for Imagination and allows retailers to try products they would normally have space for.” And in general, Snow sees big change ahead: “I believe the traditional ways of shopping on the High Street will still be around, it’s just the way of buying product that might be different. By that, it might mean showrooms popping up on the High Street with goods being directly delivered to your home. We will also see more pop-up shops appear.”
Remaining on the theme of technology, Imagination uses a range of tools to market its products, including TV, PR, print, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, competitions, sponsorship and more. Snow furthers: “We also
introduced QR codes on our product in SS10, which gave consumers the opportunity to see a ‘how to play’ video at fixture. This was interesting as we could capture usage data and use it for later campaigns.” So, with a strong show season now over for the firm, which Snow said “went very well” with “a great deal of interest in all of our titles and the order book looks strong for 2012 already”, the plans are in place for a bumper year ahead.
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