NEWS
Dragons’ Den result to help Pants on Fire to biggest year yet
Firm became the first board game company to secure an investment in the Den in the history of the hit BBC2 show
by Billy Langsworthy
PANTS ON Fire made history when it became the first board game firm to receive investment on Dragons’ Den, and the company is now expecting its best year yet as a result. The firm - with games including Liar Liar, Marmite: Love it or Hate it and Who Put the Marmite in the Fridge? - left the Den with £50,000 backing from Dragons Duncan Bannatyne and Peter Jones. It believes the publicity, as well as the
investment, will help them achieve a bumper Q4. “I’d say that half the people that go on there don’t need the funding, they just need the publicity,” director Richard McLuckie (pictured below left), told T
oyNews. “We
needed the money as well because we have got huge plans for this year. For 2014 we’re looking at probably five times the turnover we got last year. This Christmas is going to be manic for us and that can only be a good thing.
“The investment is
allowing us to do some PR. You can have the greatest game in the world, but if no one knows about it, you won’t sell any into shops. Dragons’ Den has got us over that hurdle.” As well as getting
the games out to wider audience, McLuckie has also seen buyers take note as a result of getting on the show. “When we were talking about going on Dragons’ Den there wasn’t much interest,” added McLuckie. “When we said we are
going on, they said ‘this is interesting, come and see us once you’ve been on.’ The fact we got investment and guaranteed time on TV, suddenly all the buyers are interested. WH Smith took around ten times the number of games that they took last year.” Pants on Fire: stuart@
pantsonfiregames.co.uk
Famosa outlines Q4 TV ad plans
Pinypon and Nenuco key focuses heading into important period by Samantha Loveday
FAMOSA IS planning to unleash a heavyweight TV advertising schedule to further boost its Pinypon and Nenuco brands throughout this year’s key fourth quarter. Both brands launched in January, and Famosa has been thrilled with the success achieved to date. Sales out across the full Pinypon range,
06 September
for example, indicate that around 20,000 units of dolls and accessories are in consumers’ hands already. The Campervan and
Pinypon Hotel play-sets are the focus on TV, with 1,000 TVRs across key satellite and terrestrial channels including Nickelodeon, Boomerang, Milkshake and CITV. Four to six year old girls will be targeted in two bursts – from September 1st to 22nd and then
again from October 6th to November 10th. Meanwhile, Nenuco
Happy Hiccups will benefit from 1,500 TVRs across satellite and terrestrial. There will be three slots: September 1st to 22nd, October 13th to November 10th and November 24th to December 8th. “With marketing
investment four times larger than any previous investment, Pinypon and
Vivid eyes next playground craze with Disney
Wikkeez launch Full-scale marketing and blockbuster films will fuel demand for the range
by Robert Hutchins
VIVID HAS revealed its marketing plans to help its new range of Disney Wikkeez become the next playground craze. The firm has partnered with SuperAwesome for a sampling campaign, delivering the new collection to over 12,000 children through its Box of Awesome and Box of OMG initiatives this summer. In line with the back
to school season, the firm has also teamed with various popular kids’ magazines, including T
and Go Girl in a sampling campaign reaching over 160,000 young fans. “We have very high
expectations for Disney Wikkeez,” Kira Mutimer, assistant brand manager at Vivid, told T
oyNews.
“We have secured excellent distribution for the brand and we will also be running a commercial in the back to school season to make sure that Wikkeez is making a noise during this key period. “We are hoping that the back to school season will help to fuel a Wikkeez craze and become a new playground must have.”
Nenuco are sure to be front of mind to fans everywhere this Christmas,” said Nikki Jeffrey, UK marketing manager at Famosa (right). As well as TV spots,
Famosa will be supporting the brands with print advertising and PR activity. This will include a full supplement magazine for Pinypon and cross promotion with parenting press for Nenuco. Famosa UK: 01623 237433
www.toynews-online.biz oxic
Aimed at kids aged five to nine, Disney Wikkeez features a mix of popular Disney characters. The firm aims to drive the collectability of the range with new additions tying in with the latest Disney blockbusters, as well as a host of new faces to feature in its upcoming Series Two launch. “The key for a
successful collectable is to keep bringing appealing characters into the mix,” continued Mutimer. “We are thrilled to be working on a future series and will be launching new collections in both spring/ summer and autumn/ winter 2015.”
Vivid: 01483 449944
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