Cinema came to the rescue of the toy. And there is nothing better to stimulate commercial activity than a good dinosaur or superhero movie. After the hiatus that movie theaters suffered due to the covid crisis, the premiere of Jurassic World: Dominion or The Batman, among others, Increased sales of licensed products by 23% since the beginning of the year, to the point where this segment already represents 30% of the total market. Almost all companies that are aware of the attractiveness of such toys have one of them in their catalogs. The difficult thing is to find the key and the chosen one is the key that finally triumphs among the children.
The licensed toy market maintains a double-digit growth rate in Spain, with progress made between January and May compared to the same period last year. Doubles where unlicensed items live, according to data provided by market research firm NPD Group. The long-awaited return of audiences and families to movie theaters after two restrictions due to the pandemic is already feeding a certain dynamism on an international scale. In the case of Spain, licenses currently represent more than 30% of jobs in the sector, i.e. highest penetration in the last eleven years.
“It’s always been said that cinema has a magic: the big screen, the sound, the popcorn… a whole ritual missed in the covid crisis despite the growth of other online formats. the power to drag audiences and create trends and fashions,” said Fernando Pérez, NPD’s director of Spain. underlines.
On these dates, three of the most anticipated movies of the year, such as Jurassic World: Dominion, Lightyear, and the new movie of The Minions, which are closely related to the toy world, are shown in theaters. In addition, so far this year, there has already been growth in items such as those from the Marvel Universe, as well as Batman-related products, whose sales increased by 70% after the new superhero movie’s release in March. increased by 92%.
Among the most advanced and best performing licenses are features such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, Super Mario Brothers or Spiderman that have been consolidated in the collective imagination after years of entertaining generations.
Along with box office releases, major studios launch an omnichannel strategy This allows them to constantly offer viewers new content on subscription and streaming platforms, with spin-offs around miniseries and secondary characters, a strategy that reinforces the appeal of franchises.
According to the NPD director, “2022 could be a record year for licensed toys, not only because of the return to theaters and premieres planned throughout the year, but also because of other non-movie content that feeds this market equally as television shows, YouTube channels, or video games”.
The industry is well aware of this, according to Marta Salmón, president of the Spanish Association of Toy Manufacturers (Aefj). “The vast majority of companies – which underscores this – are working with licensed products because they have huge potential as they are currently being shown in theaters. Here’s what you need to do now: hit with a license that finally succeeds“.
Inflation started to affect consumption negatively
The toy industry is anxiously witnessing a slowdown in sales, everything seems to be driven by inflation. According to Marta Salmón, president of the employers’ association, “after extraordinary increases, we grew only 1% in May. The problem is that the overall increase in prices is causing non-priority items to suffer.”
Source: Informacion
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