Branded and licensed ranges are particularly popular with consumers in our marketplace - Teletubbies, Charlie and Lola, Thomas, Disney, Winnie the Pooh - favourites old and new from the world of TV and books, or dreamt up by manufacturers keen to create themed ranges for retail reflect a continuing trend in favour of these types of products. Nowadays its often the parents who sow the seeds of brand loyalty - bringing baby home to a nursery decorated with mum's favourite book or cartoon character and filled with matching products; picture frames, soft toys, bins, bibs, bottles and dummies. From here on in, parents, relatives and friends will want to keep adding to the range, which could mean months and years of custom for good retailers like you. After all, it's all about creating an ideal, a fairytale environment in which baby will feel happy and content.

At just six months old, when children begin to imitate simple sounds such as "ma-ma", babies are already forming mental images of corporate logos. According to studies, a child's awareness of brands - and a loyalty to them - may begin as early as two. In an article entitled ‘She knows what she wants', Liz Hollis reveals that 31% of three-year-olds remember having seen the Coca Cola logo, 69% McDonald's and 66% Kinder, noting that a brand often becomes a generic term for a whole product category. Clearly then, its not just the parents that will have a good idea of what products they want when they visit your shop, the chances are their children will have already contributed toward the final purchase decision.

An excerpt from Naomi Klein's No Logo, published in The Guardian in 2000, explains the power of branding:  "The astronomical growth in the wealth and cultural influence of multi-national corporations over the last fifteen years can arguably be traced back to a single, seemingly innocuous idea developed by management theorists in the mid 1980s: that successful corporations must primarily produce brands, as opposed to products." Using the likes of Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Microsoft and Intel, she highlighted a move by many of the best known manufacturers to buy products and "brand" them with extensive advertising and marketing campaigns. Although a harsh critic in the world of advertising and marketing, she was correct in the observation that by linking up with cultural phenomenons and creating an image of the perfect lifestyle, manufacturers and retailers could indeed make a lot of money.

In April last year, BBC Worldwide confirmed that In the Night Garden, produced by Ragdoll, was the biggest licence in the Total Licensed Toy and Game market. The latest NPD data also revealed that master toy licensee Hasbro's In the Night Garden products dominated the Top 20 Best Seller list with four products including the 12" talking plush and mini plush assortment.

 On the appointment of a number of new licensees including Golden Bear, a spokesperson commented: "The deal with Golden Bear, our tremendously successful licensee on Charlie and Lola, is further testament to the pedigree of licensees we attract with this property and we hope that with them and with Crayola, DanJam and other new and existing licensee partners we will continue to achieve this success with In the Night Garden."

This is a fine example of the way in which a brand has linked up with  a range of product manufacturers to ensure a presence in every category of the pre-school market. Savvy retailers realise that the demand for branded and licensed products is there from the moment of birth, growing steadily thereafter as attachments are made to brands and characters at different stages of a child's development.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---