The Toy Book - 2016 NY TOY FAIR EDITION

State of the
Industry
LAURA ZEBERSKY
Chief Commercial Officer,
Jazwares
The toy industry was up approximately
7 percent in 2015.
What are your expectations
for 2016?
Jazwares grew more than 20
percent in 2015 and we expect
another great year for the entire industry in 2016. Consumers
are thrilled with the diverse product offerings
in the toy aisle; there seems to be a hot brand for everyone.
The great lineup of content, including movies,
TV shows, digital entertainment, and video games,
coupled with high value, great quality, and innovative
product in the toy aisle, will continue to drive purchases
higher in 2016.
What were your top-selling toys last year? Any
surprises?
Our top-selling toys of 2015 included all of our
Peppa Pig items, but the Peppa Pig Deluxe House led
the way along with our Minecraft figures. The pleasant
surprise was how quickly our newest intellectual property,
Tube Heroes, rose to the top of our point-of-sale
data in a very competitive market for action figures.
This brand cements the relevance of digital talent in
the toy aisle.
What categories drove sales in 2015? Which categories
will flourish this year?
We expect the preschool category to continue
growing in 2016. Jazwares will be especially focused
on preschool, and we expect significant growth in Peppa
Pig and Chuck and Friends. New for 2016 will be
the re-launch of Weebles.
How have consumer expectations changed over the
past few years?
Consumers expect the best quality and value and
don’t settle for less. The availability of product reviews
and ratings truly empowers all consumers.
JOHN GESSERT
Chairman of the Board of Directors,
Toy Industry Association;
President, American Plastic Toys
Record numbers of shoppers used mobile
devices to make holiday purchases in 2015.
How will you address the needs of mobile
shoppers this year?
The shift of consumer spending via mobile
devices from traditional brick-and-mortar stores has been shocking. We
all knew that this was going to happen, but the shift in the Black Friday
sales to Cyber Monday sales was more significant than most people expected.
We did a complete re-work of our website in 2015. One of the
mandates from the beginning was to make all content mobile friendly.
Even as a smaller company with a relatively simple product line, we
recognized the importance of being mobile device-friendly. We felt that
it would hurt consumers’ first impression of us if we did not endeavor to
make our web presence mobile-friendly.
The toy industry was up approximately 7 percent in 2015. What are
your expectations for 2016?
While I am hopeful that the industry will have another banner year,
I am reluctant to predict that 2016 will be as strong as this past year.
There are several factors that will affect our industry in the coming year.
The strength of licensing after the Star Wars hangover will be interesting.
It will be very interesting to see how the Disney Princess license
will be managed and promoted by Hasbro compared to Mattel. This
shift will not only have effects on two of the world’s largest toy companies,
but the ripple effects will also be interesting. I expect that 2016
will end with a small to moderate increase after being a bit of a roller
coaster year due to the elections, the year after the Star Wars release,
and new product success.
We’re beginning to see more innovation and risk-taking in new
product introductions than in recent years. Are you introducing any
new products or lines that take play to a new level?
Our product line and relative play patterns are relatively basic. However,
we still see the need to be aggressive in investing in new products
that push some of the traditional conceptions in the marketplace. We
have a couple of new products that some might consider too “this”
or “that” that have really resonated with the buyer during early presentations.
Aside from the critical importance of new products to a toy
company’s success, we are introducing new products that strive to take
even the most basic play patterns to a new level.
70 THE TOY BOOK | FEBRUARY 2016 | TOYBOOK.COM