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Tickets for the 2013 Toy Industry Awards taking place on 21st January 2014 at London’s Science Museum are now available. The Science Museum in London’s South
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2013 Toy Industry Awards tickets now on sale
Kensington has been selected as the new backdrop for the 2013 Awards evening. The prominent venue is easily accessible, being in close proximity to Olympia, and will provide an outstanding setting for the industry to network and celebrate the best in toy retail and product for 2013. Guests will have the option of free one-way coach travel from Olympia to the Science Museum on the fi rst evening of Toy Fair. The event will start at 6.45pm in the Making the Modern World gallery with a drinks reception and a hot standing buffet. The awards ceremony, which will take place in the museum’s Imax theatre, is planned to fi nish by 9.30pm and will be followed by a free bar and desserts. The ticket price has been held as per 2012 and will be charged at £75+VAT. Guests are encouraged to book early to secure tickets as they are expected to sell out quickly. Groups and individuals are welcome and tickets are offered on a fi rst come, fi rst served basis. For any sponsorship enquiries or to purchase tickets please contact Matt Jones by email to
Matt@btha.co.uk or call 020 7701 7127.
DreamWorks Animation acquires Chapman Entertainment’s library
With Chapman, DreamWorks Animation adds to its growing library Fifi and the Flowertots, Roary the Racing Car, Raa Raa the Noisy Lion and Little Charley Bear. The Chapman UK-produced titles add to the iconic family entertainment brands that the company gained through its acquisition of Classic Media last August. The Chapman programmes will be distributed through DreamWorks Animation’s UK-based TV distribution operation. Little Charley Bear is sold in nearly 100
countries (52×7), including CBeebies in the UK. Raa Raa the Noisy Lion (52×10) is sold in nearly 100 countries and is under licence with CBeebies, where Raa Raa continues to be a ratings winner. Fifi and the Flowertots airs in the UK on Milkshake, where it is the second most popular show with girls and third most popular with boys, and on Sprout from Nick Jr., who originally co-commissioned the show. The series is sold in over 200 countries (52×10 for the fi rst and second seasons, and 13×10 for the third season). Roary the Racing Car is sold in nearly 100 countries (52×10), and can be seen on Sprout in the US and Milkshake in the UK.
newsanalysis:
Survival of the fi ttest Children’s’ tablets were amongst the hottest items last Christmas, and the category is clearly going to be hugely successful again this year. But it’s a fast-moving sector and plenty has changed already this year. Toy World caught up with David Martin from Inspiration Works, which produces the best- selling Kurio range, to fi nd out what’s been happening in the tablet world.
A couple of companies which were selling children’s tablets through toy channels last Christmas seem to have dropped out of the market this year. What happened? It’s a case of survival of the fi ttest; if you’re going to succeed in this market you’ve got to have a quality product and infrastructure to back it up. We have a quality, branded product which the consumer wants, and an excellent after-sales service company with a team of fully-trained technicians who can deal with every query or question. We also spent a small fortune on marketing and TV activity which helped establish Kurio as the number one family android tablet in the UK and ROI and we don’t expect that to change.
Do you expect other companies will come into the sector this year? Absolutely. Samsung is coming into the market with a product which I’m sure will be technically very good. We’re very happy to be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Samsung whenever that
happens...their brand will raise consumer awareness and add credibility to the tablet category. The range of tablets on offer over the coming months will also be better in terms of quality for sure.
Why do you believe Kurio will continue to lead the way in sales of dedicated children’s tablets through toy channels? Because we’re delivering a localised bespoke product which is targeted at children in the UK and ROI. Our developers and engineers create different Kurio options for other countries and we are now succeeding with varying formats around the planet. Here in the UK we’re working with licensors and app providers to add fabulous value with content which is appropriate to the UK and ROI. The new S series of Kurio tablets will have over 60 pre-loaded premium apps including today’s most popular games, educational apps, an exclusive Disney app pack, e-books, a video store, plus the Kurio webstore which has over 350 apps and growing daily.
How important are the technical specifi cations of the various tablets in the fi nal purchasing decision? A quality spec is important and Kurio has a quality spec, but we didn’t come into the market to take on the consumer electronic giants purely on specifi cation, that would have been stupid. The iPad is a great product which is aimed at grown-ups but can be used by kids. Kurio is a great product aimed at kids but can be used by grown-ups. There is a world of difference between the two. We’re not advertising quad core processors and 8GB of memory in the TV ads, the kids don’t want to know about that. They expect a quality screen, a machine that works fast, and features like cameras, and you get that with Kurio. But what we add is a host of top applications and games, video stores, and music which have mass appeal with today’s children and represent fantastic value. We advertise this via TV and social networking and that is why Kurio has been so successful in the toy channels. We are being constantly approached by toy suppliers, manufacturers, and even retailers to include their digital content on Kurio, so it’s an ever evolving and growing entertainment experience for children, and you can even enjoy it yourself once you’ve de-activated the time-lock switch and sent the kids to bed.
Wizard Limited, Wizard House, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 8DR phone 0208 943 0121 Fax 0208 977 9074
sales@wizardtoys.com
16 Toyworld
@toyworldmag
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