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THE INDUSTRY’S VIEW Christine
Nicholls, Vice Chairman & Director of Product
Development, Golden Bear “We feel that overall this year’s Toy Fair was better than last year. The aisles seemed busy and visitors to our stand exceeded last year’s numbers.”
Claire McCool, Marketing Director, Drumond Park “We took a
much bigger stand this year and moved upstairs to the gallery – which worked very well and we all had a great time. The three days were very busy – the numbers of people coming to our stand seemingly go up each year.”
Simon Prest, Sales Director, Orchard Toys “Overall the show felt a little quieter than in previous years. However, we still saw many existing and new customers and order take was good. I think generally the mood of the show was far more optimistic and positive about the year ahead. The awards night was a significant improvement on the previous year.”
Paul Fogarty, MD, K’Nex UK “It was definitely better than previous years in my view. The new gallery area expansion worked very well and we saw increased footfall as a result.”
Trudi Bishop, Head of Marketing & Licensing, Cartamundi
“It was better than last year, more vibrant and with a better buzz about it. There was a more positive air about visitors and exhibitors. A part of me is wondering if it should go into a half day on the Friday.”
Frances Cain, MD, A Girl for All Time “For us it was a fantastic show and is the best we have had yet. We were really happy with the quantity and quality of people to the
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TOY FAIR VERDICT
stand, very serious potential new clients this year and orders have already started to come in.”
Lisa Dower, Trade Marketing Manager, Rainbow Designs “We had our best Toy Fair ever this year, we had a new stand location which worked well for us and more pre- booked appointments with key and national accounts than previous years.”
Rachael Wyatt, Marketing Manager, Coiledspring Games
“There did seem to be more of a buzz this year and everyone we spoke to seemed confident about 2014. Sorgenfresser being voted best toy in show in the Editors’ Choice award was a highlight, followed by the fantastic press coverage we received as a result of that.”
Thierry Bourret, Founder, Asobi “We were just overwhelmed with the success of Toy Fair 2014. We had a much better location this year and this made a big difference as the amount of traffic we had was incredible. It was our biggest show yet.”
Martin Grossman, MD, H. Grossman “[This year]
was much better; the customers who made appointments came to see us. There was a really good turnout on our stand. We were very pleased. The highlight of the show was without doubt Despicable Me and, surprisingly, a massive interest in our Mr Men range.”
Malcolm Evans, Founder, Kids@Play “I thought it was better than last year and I was very pleased with the quality of visitors. I would like to see it remain at three days.”
Katy Fletcher, Brand Manager, Re:creation “This year’s Toy Fair was excellent, so much fun and I think it’s getting stronger
year on year. I think the stands should be encouraged to be more open. We offer an open stand, whereas many of the other bigger stands are very closed off and possibly unwelcoming.”
Vicki Elmer, Product Manager/ Media Planner, Bandai
“We enjoyed our first Toy Fair in our new location upstairs and were happy to hear all the lovely compliments about our new look stand.”
Mark Hunt, Brand Manager, Character Options
“It was clear the level of support the show received from the industry was strong and our stand was equally busy as previous years, if not more. To win Toy of the Year with Teksta was the highlight of our week.”
Shaun Delaney, MD, SJD Games “This was SJD’s first Toy Fair and the amount of positive responses and general interest was huge.”
David Allan, Sales & Marketing Director, DKL “Toy Fair 2014, as always, was so well organised and a must attend event. I saw our current customers, new customers and customers from new business areas, so overall it was a success.”
Lindsay Hardy, Marketing Services Director, Flair
“This year you could really feel the optimism in the air. I think this was quite widespread and the atmosphere was more effervescent than previous years. The gap between New Year and Toy Fair needs to be a bit longer to fit in all the preparation.”
Katherine Pierce, Marketing Manager,
Jumbo Games
“The overall set up of Toy Fair this year was great and it was really well organised. We had a successful show with great press turnout and trade interest.”
Marian Trench, Sales & Marketing Manager, Ark DIY Products “I preferred this year’s fair – we were in a better location than last year and had some really great conversations with visitors to the stand. I’d maybe like to see a 5pm close on the Thursday. We always feel that numbers go way down on that afternoon.”
John
McDonnell, MD, Galt Toys “We found the show
atmosphere to be uplifting and had a fantastic time. As in previous years, we were impressed with the quality of visitors that attended the show. Every year we are impressed by how the show is run with such precision and expertise.”
Sharon Gaskin, National Account Manager, IMC Toys
“We were all really pleased; I would say everyone was of the same opinion that it was slightly better than last year. We saw pretty much everyone we wanted to see. An extension to the end of close period each night would be good, with a chance to have a 30-minute wind down.”
George Poole, Marketing & PR Coordinator, Bigjigs Toys “Attendance was great – our stand was busy from the first till the last. We saw more people than normal and garnered more business than we usually do. We will definitely be back in 2015 – hopefully bigger and better.”
Lauren Hayward, Group Brand Manager, Posh Paws
“We had our best year yet at the Toy Fair, our new stand
really showed off our existing product range and new lines for AW14.”
Ben Hogg, Marketing Manager, Esdevium Games
“On a personal level I really enjoyed the show this year. However, when you are exhibiting you only have very limited time to get around and see things. Our stand seemed to see more footfall than I can ever remember.”
Michele Marziliano, UK & Ireland Country Manager, Clementoni “This Toy Fair was definitely better than last year, we had a really good reaction to the new ranges we are launching in 2014.”
Heather Corbett, Marketing Manager, Innovation First “Hexbug had a fantastic show. The stand was really busy and we had some great quality meetings along with getting some fantastic feedback on our new product innovations for 2014.”
Debra Tiffany, Marketing Manager, Brainstorm “We had
another great show this year and I would say that our overall view matches that of last year. It is very well organised and promoted and has a great buzz about the place. We will definitely be looking at taking more space next year.”
Tim Collins, Head of Brands, DC Thomson “The first day of the show did seem the busiest, with more energy surrounding the stands and day two proving to be much slower. However, overall there seemed to be a positive industry vibe at the show, with a lot of buzz and the talk of exploring new ideas and opportunities.”
Rob Corney, MD, Bulldog Licensing “The feel of the show was very upbeat, with licensees actively looking for new opportunities.”
March 11
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