SECTOR GUIDE: PRE-SCHOOL Little marvels
A cornerstone of the market, pretty much all suppliers have some kind of pre-school product in their portfolio. From traditional wooden lines, to licensed offerings and learning toys with an interactive element, Samantha Loveday takes a look at just some of what’s available for retailers to stock
MATTEL
Fisher-Price will unveil a brand new look for its core Little People range this year, with the introduction of new characters and a rejuvenated brand style and guidelines. A major marketing campaign will aim to engage and educate mums on the benefits of play-set play as their children develop through their early years of discovery. The campaign – Little
People… Big Discoveries – will include a celebrity mum tie-in, a bespoke hub on a parenting website, a social media push and PR. Two classic Little People
products will be refreshed for autumn/winter. The Little People Farm
play-set and the new Happy Sound Home play-set will both be taller, allowing for sitting and standing play. All play-sets in the range can be
combined with the larger sets to create a complete Little People world for pre-schoolers. Meanwhile, the
new Apptivity Farm introduces an immersive new way for children
to play with Little People play-sets. It provides both open- ended and directed gameplay, with pre- schoolers able to use the play-set features to
interact with an iPad and play around the farm with the figures and tools.
The momentum is also set to continue for Imaginext, following on from the success it enjoyed with the Batcave in 2012.
The marketing
plan for 2013 includes the launch of a special membership club aimed at boys aged four and up.
This will be supported
by extensive online
promotion and high impact retail activation. 2013 will also see the
continued roll out of Fisher- HASBRO
The Playskool Heroes collection is designed especially for younger kids who want all the fun and adventure of big kid action figures. The toys are based on favourite characters from the Transformers, Marvel and Star Wars universes. Key products will include the Web Racing Fun House (£44.99) featuring Spider-man and the Green Goblin. A new launch in the
Playskool line is Show Cam (£59.99), which is a 2-in-1 digital camera and projector. The product switches from camera to projector mode to give kids the chance to show their creations to family and friends almost anywhere. Hasbro also has a number of new launches for Play-
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Doh including the Perfect Twist Ice Cream play-set (£19.99). Other hero lines available include Play-Doh Trash Tossin’ Rowdy (£19.99) and Disney Princess Design-a-Dress Boutique (£19.99). Finally, Mr Potato Head is a classic rite of passage for most pre-schoolers and over the past 60 the timeless tater has evolved from a toy box classic into something of a pop culture icon. A race car driver, veterinarian, ballerina and footballer join the Potato head collection is a new easy play four-inch scale. Meanwhile, the Little
Taters Deluxe Assortment (£9.99) comes with a four- inch potato body and eight parts and pieces. 020 8569 1234
May 47
Price’s Thomas & Friends collection and the introduction of the new Wooden Railway. The company now has full presence across the entire Thomas Pre-school, Wooden, Trackmaster and Take n Play collections. New sets for autumn/winter will include Thomas Around Sodor from the pre-school line and Take n Play Thomas Adventure Castle. The new Bubble Guppies
range is also due in autumn/winter, while new products will join other licensed Fisher-Price friends lines including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Octonautsand Dora. All the lines will be supported with a full marketing mix including TV advertising, online and offline, plus PR. 01628 500000
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