Retail News – the latest from the retail

Smyths hosts Barbie online experience

Smyths Toys Superstores partnered with Mattel last month to exclusively host the ‘Barbie You Can Be Anything Experience’ on its YouTube channel, which has more than one million subscribers. The ‘Barbie Experience’ was a digital campaign designed to inspire creative play, showcasing the inclusive and diverse range available from Barbie. The three-day event held from 26-28 March explored three themes: Expressive, Adventurous and Imaginative.

Smyths Toys joint head of marketing Sinead Byrne said: “We hope to reach and engage both new and existing audiences with this fun experience from Barbie and Smyths Toys, where you can shop the latest range of Barbie products.”

Mattel head of customer marketing Eirian Jones added: “Over the past year we’ve had to diversify our approach to retail eventing, and we are excited that Barbie has gone virtual with our ‘You Can Be Anything Experience’, hosted exclusively on Smyth’s Toys’ YouTube channel.”

The launch was supported with an integrated 360 marketing campaign including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and influencer campaigns.

LEGO lands at Moonpig.com

Moonpig introduced LEGO gifts on its website last month, in the biggest brand launch ever for the internet retailer.

The ecommerce business, which specialises in personalised greetings cards, said it “has never launched so many new gifts from a brand before, but is marking the occasion as the first of more to come’’.

The LEGO range features 50-plus products from 13 ranges: Duplo, City, Fire, Police, Friends, Ninjago, Technic, Architecture, Minecraft, Harry Potter, Star Wars, SuperHeroes, and Super Mario.

Moonpig unveiled the brand on a dedicated landing page, with content all around the site to showcase the extensive range, and has ambitions to grow the offer further throughout the year.

Wicked Uncle commissions toy survey on STEM

To mark International Women’s Day in March, online toy retailer Wicked Uncle commissioned a YouGov survey to find out which toys inspired women to pursue a career in STEM.

Of 4,016 UK adults questioned between 19 and 23 November, 2,162 were women, of which 992 worked in STEM or were educated in a STEM field.

A total of 80% of all women said they enjoyed playing board games as a child. The second most popular toys were wooden toys and jigsaw puzzles, which 65% of women cited. Surprisingly, science sets were at the bottom of the list. Just 23% of women said they played with and enjoyed STEM-related sets such as chemistry labs, science kits, and solar system sets.

Wicked Uncle MD Mike O’Shea commented: “The women that broke into the maledominated industry of STEM are an inspiration to young girls everywhere. It’s great to see the toys had such an impact on these women when they were younger.”

The Entertainer launches Play is Never Cancelled campaign

To celebrate the importance of play and provide support for families over the months ahead, toy chain The Entertainer has unveiled Play is Never Cancelled - a programme of home-friendly social activities to spark excitement and keep children busy while all is not normal.

Citing research by kids’ charity Action for Children, which shows that one in three parents have felt out of their depth over the past year, the retailer hopes to provide some much-needed relief.

The programme on The Entertainer’s dedicated Play is Never Cancelled blog includes an array of virtual play dates including talent shows, puppet shows, karaoke, Zoom art classes, quizzes, and socially-distanced scavenger hunts to encourage interaction with friends and family.

Gary Grant, founder and executive chairman of The Entertainer, said: “Play has always been a crucial part of children’s development; it’s how they learn. However, this past year has seen children miss out on a huge number of fundamental moments that aid their social learning and mental health. For that reason, it’s more important than ever to celebrate play and encourage it wherever possible. We hope families will find something for every child to enjoy playing with at The Entertainer, because play is never cancelled!”