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The youngest generation


pre-schooltoys


The Pre-school Toys category remains the bedrock of the toy trade and 2014 will see the sector remain as competitive as ever. Tom Roberts reports.


Chicco Vtech O


ver the last three years, the performance of the Pre-school toys super category has been solid. The rise in year-end value between 2011 and 2012 was signifi cant, 2013 charted only the slightest of drops, and 2014


is looking like it will bounce back strongly, with NPD statistics showing the sector 2% up year-to-date at the end of February. Pre-school character-licensed toys, a major part of the category (and looked at in detail on page 64), enjoyed a strong 2013 with licences such as Sofi a the First and Doc McStuffi ns being among the most popular new introductions. So far this year, growth is being driven mainly by the infant toys sector and huge consumer interest in pre-school tablets such as LeapFrog’s LeadPads and VTech’s InnoTabs. There are so many sub-categories in this sector that it only takes one or two to excel to boost its overall value, just look at the impact Figures and Playsets, and Electronic Learning had on the sector in 2012; together they added more than £30m to its year-end results. And from what you’ll see over the following pages, 2014 is going to see a massive amount of new and engaging products launched into the market across all of the sub-categories.


The year ahead One company that covers more than one sub- category is Tomy, and looking at the sector Matthew Woolf commented: “The pre-school category accounts for over one fi fth of the toy market and sits at the heart of the Tomy business. We offer a range of licensed and Tomy-branded products to satisfy all market segments and price points. Our licensed ranges include Chuggington StackTrack, which combines classic train play with action-packed adventures based on the popular CBeebies TV show. Dinosaur Train continues the successful theme and was named as one of the top 10 new properties for 2013 in value according to NPD data. Then our range of John Deere tractors goes from strength to strength, reinforcing the fact that this traditional toy and play pattern remains as relevant as it ever was for today’s pre-schoolers. “But we are particularly excited about the launch


of our Infant and Toddler Toys. The new Infant and Toddler brand brings together Play 2 Learn and Aquafun under the new brand name with distinctive new packaging. The range will also include new and innovative lines for 2014, such as the recently launched Luke The Loop, which helps children learn to count. The whole range combines high quality materials and great features, and will provide hours


of fun for younger children.” Matthew went on to explain that because the company’s products are aimed at parents and gift givers as well as children, Tomy is utilising a wide variety of tools to get its message across. TV advertising plays a large role in Tomy’s marketing plans this year. For example, Dinosaur Train will be receiving strong support at Easter when its television advertisement airs. Matthew added: “We are increasingly fi nding that our consumers are researching and buying products online, so it is important that we have a presence in this channel too. In addition, we are focusing on how best to communicate our brand messages in-store and are keen to work with our retail partners to address this challenge.” Chicco Toys enjoyed a successful 2013 and is also looking forward to forging forward in 2014. Guiella Toselli said: “The Pre-school category is a very good area of the toy trade for us, with some sub-categories where we outperform and own a good share of the market. In 2013, for example, we continued growing in the RC segment and we almost doubled our sales in the educational talking toys sector. Chicco Toys is going to launch almost 60 new toys in 2014, and working on an ongoing rejuvenation of our Pre-school offering. The year


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