face-to-face
Planes, trains and automobiles
Hornby is making positive steps to refocus on the core values of its offerings. Using clever licensing and the desire to build credible toy propositions as a means of moving forward is the principle focus for 2013, and Paul Chandler, marketing manager Scalextric and Toy Market, is leading the way. Tom Roberts reports...
Can you explain your new role in Hornby, and what it means for the company as it moves forward into 2013? Over the last two or three years there has been a conscious shift to extend our brands into more than just hobbies and collectibles. All of our brands started out offering toys; then simply grew to become collectible lines. We are now taking hold of where our brands started, looking at the clever use of licensing, among other things, to create credible toy propositions. I was fortunate enough to be asked to spearhead this project, and now I look after PR, both trade and consumer, Scalextric, Breyer and toys; managing the principle focus of how we can position Hornby as the credible toy company we know we are (as well as a credible collectible and model company).
What does the new position involve? It’s about cherry picking the various toy propositions from the core brands that we control; from conception, to product development, and delivery. I’ll be working with my colleagues to underpin the core brands with compelling toy propositions. It’s about identifying something we’ve always had in our offering, repackaging it and, in some cases, extending it with the clever use of licensing. A case in point are the lessons we learned from the Olympics project. We acquired the Moshi license, and, using the skills learned from the project, repurposed the skills of creating die-cast pinbadges and die-cast vehicles to make the Moshi pin badges and the Moshi bus. We will sell over a quarter of a million units in our first quarter.
How will your teams work together? It really is a whole new way of working for us, and it’s still very much a period of change. We have a dedicated toy team in Development that will be encouraged to let loose and be creative. We have historically worked by brand up to now and this is an area which is going to see a very significant shift of dynamic. We’re going to try to replicate this new mindset within the Marketing team also. The teams will be focused on the three- pronged attack of hobby brands, the application of clever licensing, and toy products.
Can you tell us about the main drive behind this shift in focus? Really the idea is to take what we already do, and the lessons we’ve learned doing it, and repackage it. We’re
never going to forget our traditional hobby lines, and our heritage, but we are trying to appeal to the next generation. The new showroom highlights that within our own four walls we have an extremely compelling offering at toy level, and the aim is to ensure that Hornby goes beyond being a fine collection of brands that people remember – we want to make the brands current, even more contemporary. Planes, trains and automobiles is what Hornby is all about; we are not going to deviate from doing what we know.
So what sort of things will that entail? An example is the master toy partnership we have with Olly The Little White Van (under the Corgi Toys sub brand). We were the chosen partner even before Olly went on TV, so we are committed to be in it for the long-term. Our view is always to retain the core values of making quality toys. We will actively work to use our expertise and skills where they can be applied. For instance, with Olly we’ve taken our die-cast skills and applied them to the Olly toys. It’s very much the same with Grandpa In My Pocket (another master toy partnership for Hornby in 2013); Grandpa is an established TV show we have acquired the master rights to, and again the show has a wide array of vehicular content – perfect for toy execution from Hornby (under the Corgi Toys sub brand). So again, you can see that we’re not deviating from our core skills, but applying them to the licence.
How will the new showroom help with Hornby’s future business? The new toy showroom was repurposed from the Olympic project. It has been segmented and tailored; with one dedicated area designed specifically for Major Accounts, and you’ll see that we have picked all of the best toy offerings from the core brands and created replica in-store merchandised displays. What we want to get across to visitors is what we do from a toy perspective. We want retailers to see the key items, how they will fit together on a shelf, and also to show them how Hornby can penetrate the toy market. This is really just the first chapter – a sign of where we’re heading. We’re focusing on the traditional business, of course, but here’s where we want to move forward. We’re taking the best of what we do, and realigning it to recruit new consumers. Hornby; reconnecting with the next generation.
102 Toyworld
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