Is There THE European Market For Toys?

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Is There THE European MarketFor Toys?
2013 RG Marketing Ltd. All rights reserved.

• Steve Reece
• steve.reece_at_vicientertainment.co.uk
• www.stevenreece.com

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About Steve

• Background in Toy Game Brand Commercial
  management, with Hasbro, Activision
  Imagination.
• Run Toy industry Consultancy.
• Career Toy industry Sales of 255m. Last 2 Toy
  Industry ventures went from 0-50m 0-3m .
• Last 2 Brand Portfolios worked on sold for in
  excess of 130m.
• Managed Hasbro Brands across 43 European markets.
  Set up new Distribution company into 22 European
  markets. Today work across all European
  countries.
• Toy Industry Blog www.stevenreece.com
• Virtual World Licensing Blog www.VirtualWorldLice
  nsing.com

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Brands Worked With / For Include
N.B. All trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
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Comparative Context
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BUT
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European Markets
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European Markets

• Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium,
  Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus,
  Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
  France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,
  Republic of Ireland (Eire), Italy, Latvia,
  Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Republic of
  Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro,
  Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
  Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia,
  Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine,
  United Kingdom, Vatican City.

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Languages - Parlez-vous Sprechen English? -

• 40 Major European Languages (!)
• Albanian, Basque, Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian,
  Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English,
  Estonian, Finnish, Flemish, French, German,
  Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Irish, Italian,
  Latvian, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Macedonian,
  Maltese, Moldovan, Norwegian, Polish, Portugese,
  Romanian, Russian, Scottish Gaelic, Serbian,
  Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian,
  Welsh.
• Practically - work with 99 of distributors in
  English, and many Northern European countries in
  English, but Southern Europe likely to need
  French, Spanish, Italian etc.
• Product wise, this makes things tricky if you
  have text heavy products i.e. board games, expect
  multiple language versions.
• Some Toys can have 17 languages on (where only
  legal lines needed).

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The Conclusion
Europe is a large, but highly fragmented region!
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A Winning Approach
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Key Toy Companies In Europe
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Retail Structures

1. Germany very decentralised, thousands of
   independent stores, department stores etc.
2. France dominated by Hypermarché, followed by
   Toy specialist chains/groups.
3. UK Argos No. 1, followed by Grocery, Toy
   Specialists, online.
4. Spain Hypermarché, plus El Corte Ingles a major
   department store
5. Italy Hypermarché Toy Specialists, with a Toy
   company owning a significant age of the Toy
   retail market (GP).
6. Scandinavia very decentralised, and varies
   between countries, but Toy specialists key.

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UK Toy Retail
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France Toy Retail
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Germany Toy Retail
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Product Differences

• Germany traditional i.e. Construction play
  (Playmobil/Lego), higher quality, less Licensed.
• UK very license driven, price more important
  than quality!
• France global products plus local media driven
  products.
• Spain license driven. Everything TV advertised.
• Italy license driven, vehicles.

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Currencies

• Fortunately most of Europe (in commercial terms)
  uses the uro.
• Most notable exception is the British who retain
  the .
• Other markets who have local currency include
  Denmark, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland.
• Most Toy companies will be working in USD, Euro
  and GBP.

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The European Union

• In practical, commercial terms, The European
  Union regulates and harmonises so that good can
  move freely across the European Union
  countries.
• (Theoretically at least!) no import tariffs with
  the European Union.
• Still quotas tariffs for goods entering the EU
  from outside.
• Practical commercial law combination of local
  country and EU wide.

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So is there THE European Market?
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The Practical Guide To Doing Toy Business In
Europe

• Virtually impossible to give a good understanding
  of a complex market such as EU Toy market via
  short presentation.
• For more depth, insights and hints on how to get
  things done, our published report is available
  here http//www.toymarketingacademy.com/practical
  -guide-to-doing-toy-business-in-europe/

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Is There THE European Market?
2013 RG Marketing Ltd. All rights reserved.

• Steve Reece
• steve.reece_at_vicientertainment.co.uk
• www.stevenreece.com