FOREVER FRIENDS PLUSH
Anatomy of a blockbuster toy: Forever Friends plush
Since gracing Hallmark greeting cards, the bears of Forever Friends have made the massively successful leap from paper to plush. Billy Langsworthy talks to Hallmark licensing director Richard Hollis about how the cuddly Friends have remained popular for 25 years
FOREVER FRIENDS is one of the most well known greeting cards brands in the UK.
Since arriving 25 years
ago, Forever Friends is now worth nearly £65m at retail in the UK. More than 20m Forever
Friends cards gifts were sold last year and the iconic brand can be found in over 8,000 UK stores. Richard Hollis, Hallmark licensing director states that it didn’t take long before the plush side of the brand became just as vital as the greeting cards. “Although Forever Friends started out in an illustrative style, based on a generic teddy bear, within the first couple of years it moved
34 November
into plush and took off as a gift phenomenon from there,” he tells ToyNews. “If you’ve got something that can take a good slice of the teddy bear market, that’s always going to be a winner. “So the plush absolutely became as important to the brand as greeting cards.” Hollis believes the way the plush range is refreshed each year has helped it to remain a consistently strong seller. “The bears are familiar and the look has been consistent. But with a brand that has been going this long, it’s vital to keep giving it a twist every year to keep it contemporary,” he adds.
“We are forever updating the materials; improving the quality and generally making the look of bears keep pace with what else is in shops.” As well as constant
innovation, Forever Friends stands out from many of its plush pals through simplicity. “In some ways, the bears
are a bit of a blank canvas,” says Hollis. “They don’t have any names, they don’t have a particular place where they live, and they are not recognised individual characters. So they are able to take on the identity of the emotions that the consumers buying them want them to.” But in an age where apps and technology have been
embraced by everything from Furby to Play-Doh, Hollis maintains Forever Friends plush will not go down that route. “At the heart of the
brand, it’s about the simple direct appeal between you and the bear and you can’t improve on the standard soft toy. “However clever toys get,
you always come back to the same favourites of construction toys, scooters, trains, jigsaws, dolls and teddy bears. “We’re keen to not throw out the appeal of that traditional basic toy.” Hallmark is now
branching out in both directions, with tween and baby ranges on the way.
“We’re exploring the opportunity to develop the bears into the tween market. We’re looking at ways of coming up with icons and simplified graphics that would make them relevant to seven to ten year olds,” said Hollis. “We also see baby and nursery as a big growth area. When a brand has been around for 25 years, you’ve got support not just from parents but from grandparents as well. It’s a real hook for us. “It’s a new plush range for
this year, which focuses on that baby look. “It’s backed up by licensed products like baby clothing, greeting cards and furnishing.”
www.toynews-online.biz
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