In an industry dominated by fashion, five signs toys With a history of 50 to 100 years and not leaving the ‘top 10’ for years. Since at least 2015, they’ve practically been at the top of the US list. British consultancy Brand Finance assessing which toy brands have more or less value in the eyes of the market. The ranking also acts as a thermometer for figuring out which is king on store shelves. EAE Business School professor marketing specialist Eduardo IrastorzaThere is a clear parallel between the most valuable toy brands and the best selling toy brands. Therefore, although the ups and downs are obvious when crossing the top ten places on this list, the field is clearly ‘old school‘.
undisputed leader LegoThe aim of the study, which has been in the first place in the series since 2015, is; So they took second and third places. fisher price (known for baby toys) and Barbiethose who remain in these ‘top 5’ despite being one place down due to their appearance bandai namco in 2017.
That year, who was responsible for the brand value of this Japanese company. Tamagotci and a good part of the universe dragon ball it rose sevenfold (from $136 million to over 1,000) from fourteenth to second place. Reason? We started to use bandai namco formula – Adopted when both companies merged in the early 2000s – not only in corporate and internal channels, but in public. The fifth position was and still is: Nerf darts and water guns. And the seventh HasbroIt has been completing the ‘top 10’ group for eight years, but it will be the group that will close it in 2023.
Irastorza exemplifies this: “The value of the brand is very important, because kids are so brand-oriented: if you have an architecture, but it’s not Lego, it’s not the same thing.” “You can have an obscure brand for a while and survive, but ultimately you have to be in the market. 7 list” points to a theory that suggests that the brain can only spontaneously remember 7 brands from each category, except in industries in which we are very dominant.
But the continued success of these toys is not only due to this. “The key is ability to reinvent oneself and responds to two unavoidable factors: technology And fashionand it is going at a dizzying speed”, completing this expert. The Lego example is once again paradigmatic: It started out as a traditional toy but soon realized it needed a dimension. images, movies And video game or join the trends by launching inspiring series, for example. Harry Potter’s or in Star wars.
Finally, your ability to retain your audience over the years also affects this. “Toy brands become permanent over time as long as they meet the necessary conditions. loyalty of adolescents and adults: there Lego Star Wars collectors 30 or 40 years old and barbie collectors Irastorza finishes with 70”.
The influence of fashion
In any case, the Brand Finance ranking is also an example of how heavy fashion is in this industry. According to the consultant’s data, this year hot wheels, Pop (one of funkos), dragon ballletters Magic: Dating And HasbroThe names ranked sixth to tenth on the 2023 list were only eight years ago. kindergarten, Mobile Team GundamHE Monopoly or Power Rangers People who were in the second half of the top 10 and have now disappeared. These latest babies actually don’t even appear on the general list.
It is also included in the list of 25 toy brands with the highest market value attributed. my little ponyJudging by the graph curve, it slumped to thirteenth place this year, which rose like bubbles between 2017 and 2019. From their own perspective, transformers they don’t stop swinging: they started at number 19 and now reach number 18, but peaked at number 13 in 2019 and dropped to number 20 just two years later.
hello kitty It does not appear in any of the previous eight rankings, but this year it does; the Disney princessesSame, except for one particular look in 2017; And monster highOnce in the top ten, it disappeared in 2019.
Another interesting thing is this: Star warsEntering this competition for the first time this year at the 15th place, it also leads the list of Brand Finance’s measures of brand strength (a metric that passes with this metric). marketing investmentwith balance of ‘stakeholders’ And work behavior). The consultancy concludes, “The brand has benefited from a large number of successful movies and TV shows in recent years, resulting in a strong brand equity as well as toys with a high reputation in the eyes of the consumer.”