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IT’S NICE to kick off the year with some good news. Away from the worrying over Christmas trading figures and the constant rain, UK toy retailers have delivered us some brightness. In our first ever retail survey, we
asked 101 stores for their views on 2012 and how they expected 2013 to pan out. Encouragingly, three quarters of our respondents said they were confident about 2013, and almost half of those we spoke
to enjoyed a good 2012. Toy independents are a savvy bunch – they know how the customer thinks, behaves and how to get them in-store, something which is more critical than ever in today’s competitive trading environment. There are some great examples out there – with Toy Retailer of the Year nominees Melton Toys, Midco and Toy Barnhaus being just three who are surging forward as a new breed of indie, mixing traditional forms of marketing to boost footfall with a solid presence on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
“Toy indies are a savvy bunch – they know how the customer thinks, behaves and how to get them in-store, something which is more critical than ever in today’s competitive environment.”
Check out pages 35-38 to read the full findings of our
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July 1st 2011 to June 30th 2012.
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retail survey. Speaking of Twitter, also in this bumper issue, you’ll find an industry who’s who of the main companies, retailers, execs and industry personalities to follow (pages 51-53) in our first instalment to the toy Twitterverse. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg: we highlight some of the industry’s young talent in our annual 30 Under 30 feature (pages 41-44) – in association with Gameplan Europe – while also bagging the first interview with Simon Philips since his promotion to general manager of consumer products EMEA at Disney (pages 46-47). And as you’ll discover, even a traditional behemoth such as Disney isn’t averse to trying out some new tactics. We also talk to LeapFrog CEO, John Barbour (pages 69-70), as the firm comes out of another solid year of growth thanks to its pre-school tablets, as well as taking a closer look at just what makes 2012 chart topper Furby tick (pages 66-67). Of course, the issue wouldn’t be complete without a comprehensive look at both Toy Fair (page 123) and Spielwarenmesse (page 93), outlining where the key firms will be and what they will be showing. We’ve also provided some handy tips on how to survive show season and come out the other side still smiling. So welcome 2013, let’s try and keep the good news coming. Samantha Loveday