Families’ Fortunes

With ongoing sales and new product launches helping the brand stay in the upper echelons of the dolls category – and even growing year-on-year – 2023 is shaping up to be another strong year for the ever-popular Sylvanian Families. Epoch Making Toys’ marketing manager Matt Shaw talks to TnP about the longevity of the brand – almost 40 years and counting – and looks ahead to its latest Amusement Park range and more great product…

How has Sylvanian Families been performing in 2023?

We’ve had a very positive start to the year with re-stocking in retail channels and new SS23 product launches all helping the brand growth YoY. We remain a top four dolls brand (NPD) and the new Spring/ Summer releases have been very well received. In particular, the Floating Cloud Rainbow Train, a new addition to our Baby Amusement Park, has proved very popular with fans.

What are the reasons for its longevity?

The secret is fairly simple: the brand offers and is focused on a nurturing and loving environment that allows children to expand their imagination to create their own roleplay scenarios. With the focus on a wide array of different characters, buildings and themes to collect, Sylvanian Families gives children the freedom to explore and create their own space in the Sylvanian Village in an immersive and endearing way.

How important is collectability? How do you keep enticing new collectors and fans?

Collectability is a huge part of Sylvanian Families, whether it’s through our Families, our popular Baby Collectible blind bags - of which we released our 10th series this year - or our playsets. The introduction of new themes annually as well as the extension of existing ones are key to keeping our collectors and fans coming back for more. What’s more, our sets are highly connectible, allowing fans to grow their own, unique world of Sylvanian Families.

How has the Amusement Park series been performing?

The Amusement Park collection is celebrating its third year in the Sylvanian Village and it is very much becoming a key part of our range, proving a popular choice with fans. This is partly down to the focus of the theme being on our extensive range of Babies, Twins & Triplets collectible figures taking ‘days out’ to the park and enjoying the rides. Many of our new and updated ‘out-ofbox’ play patterns include the Babies characters to add more relevancy for children at the lower end of our key age range and allow them to be more involved with the brand.

One of our Ambassadors was apparently distraught when the specialist Sylvanian shop shut down – although it was sad, how did the surrounding publicity help the brand in terms of PR?

The reaction to the closure of the store is evidence of the special place Sylvanian Families holds in the hearts of our fans both young and old. The surrounding publicity simply worked to further communicate the love for the brand, the nostalgic feelings it stirs up and the fact that it is still, 38 years on from its launch, very much a part of playrooms across the country.

So what’s next in terms of product? What’s due out this summer and later this year?

We’re really excited to introduce the Baby Mermaid Castle to the Amusement Park collection. Designed to complement the existing range, it introduces a new attraction to the park. The set is packed with 12 fun ocean-themed features including a marine merry-go-round and a jellyfish swing and also includes three baby figures in under-the-sea outfits. It has room for more than 50 baby figures, while the dream ship can be removed and played with on its own or used as a display piece. The castle can be easily combined with the Baby Amusement Park (sold separately) using the elevator to connect the two areas of the theme park by ropeway or add the Floating Cloud Rainbow Train and Royal Princess Set (both launched in January) for a full theme park play experience!

Other new sets launching this summer include the Baby’s Toy Box Set; the Pony Vanity’s Dresser Set, part of the Style & Play theme introduced in 2022; and the Village Doctor Starter Set, which can be connected with the Red Roof Country Home to turn it in to a surgery, or the Family Picnic Van to create an ambulance. There are also three new families including an updated version of the evergreen Milk Rabbit Family and several complementary baby sets.

How is Christmas looking for Sylvanian Families?

We’ve got something for everybody this Christmas including two new, fun, festive themed families. The Penguin Family comes complete with mini ice cream cart and ice creams, which they can actually hold, and the Reindeer Family come wearing festive outfits, and with a pastel sleigh which the two babies can play and ride in. Also available will be the complementary Penguin Babies Ride ‘n Play Set and the Reindeer Twins Set; both great stocking fillers.

The Red Roof Country Home, which is always a bestseller for us at Christmas, also recently saw an update with an opening and closing letterbox and a secret attic room, which is accessed up a pop-down ladder for increased play space.

We’re also really excited about the launch of the first-ever Sylvanian Families books published by Pan Macmillan, which will hit shelves this autumn!

Are sales driven by new releases and extensions or by old classics?

It’s very much a combination of both. New releases serve to drive collectability, particularly among the hardcore fans, enabling them to build their collections through new themes and expand their own Sylvanian Families village. While our core evergreen range, such as the Red Roof Cosy Cottage and our many Families, provide the perfect introduction to the brand for new fans looking to start their collections.

Where do you hope to be by the end of the year and into 2024?

We hope to see continued growth in the specialist and independent retail channels. This is where our brands are most supported and visible to the consumer. We will also be looking to further grow our own e-commerce channel, which in particular, offers dedicated collectors a chance to enjoy products that are not available to wider retail channels.

What are the key aims when you’re introducing new product into the market?

Innovation is key! We are always thinking outside-of-the-box to understand where a heritage brand like ours can sit in what is a relatively limited but ever-changing market driven in part by playground trends, movies, and highvolume collectability. This means we are constantly looking at how we can bring newness to the range while retaining the heritage that Sylvanian Families is known and loved for. In addition, recent consumer trends have required us to ensure our range offers ‘out-of-box play’ as well as lower RRP levels, which keep the brand in front of consumers eyes.

How will you be supporting it in terms of marketing?

We’ll be supporting our range with strong, traditional TV advertising while also focusing upon increasing visibility, with more marketing across a varied digital platform base designed to maximise the opportunities to be seen.

We will be continuing with a full programme of PR, designed to grow awareness around our new product offerings and capitalise on the Christmas opportunity. This will include influencer partnerships and media-facing events.

And what about support for retailers in stores?

We work with a varied retail base across all channels and as such offer many different packages including a bespoke support service, which is available to every retail account and/or channel. Options include in-store theatre executions, simple but effective POS of various styles and functions, loyalty programmes for consumers, promotional support on brands at key periods and growth rebates.