The Baby Club - a club for all

Becky Ash caught up with Emma Hyman, Executive Producer and Co-Creator, and Vickie O’Malley, Rockpool Licensing to talk about how The Baby Club has provided a tower of strength over the last eighteen months and how this is reflected in the growing merch programme...

“The Baby Club on CBeebies was a lifeline for a first-time mum during lockdown when all the baby groups were closed. We learnt some brilliant ideas of how to play with everyday objects and many of the songs are now our firm favourites!”

“CBeebies is continuously on in our house and one programme all three kids agree on watching is The Baby Club, they’re all under 4 so they’ve really grown up with Giovanna and Nigel.”

“You worry about your baby not being able to see people and be able to interact like they would have done in normal times - but that’s where The Baby Club has been so wonderful: normality in a very abnormal situation.”

The Baby Club has been going from strength to strength – can you highlight some recent exciting news?

VM: 2021 has been a whirlwind so far! The new podcast “Baby Bear & Me” launched in January, the first series of The Toddler Club at Home launched in February, quickly flowed by the arrival of the latest series of The Baby Club in March. Then, at the start of May, we celebrated the exclusive launch of our babywear and plush lines at Tesco. The range can be found in top 160 Extra stores, in its very own bay in the in the baby aisle (a first for a license!) and with its own Mat in a further 40 stores within F & F. We’ve supported the launch with a social media and influencer campaign and we’re pretty excited about early sales and the incredible engagement and warmth with the range has been received on socials. We’ve even seen our Baby Bear plush being re-sold on Ebay for £30!

What do you think is the magic formula that makes the show so special?

EH: We are truly passionate about helping people and this is at the heart of the success of the brand. We work with experts and academics so we know how incredibly beneficial a baby club can be and that is at the forefront of every decision we make about the show and beyond. The Baby Club community trusts that we will provide brilliant content and latterly, merchandise,.

Do you think it provided extra comfort and enjoyment during the last year?

EH: The basic premise of The Baby Club was that if you can’t get to a real baby club, we’ll bring one to you. And never was that more needed than over the last year. With support networks stripped away, parents were desperate to find new ways to feel connected and stimulate themselves and their babies. The Baby Club offers parents guilt-free, money-free, interactive entertainment for them and their babies. It also offers an opportunity for babies to watch other babies and for parents to see other parents. Anything goes at The Baby Club!

How have you kept a balance between entertainment and information/education?

EH: Having a baby in a global pandemic has tested new parents like never before. But it is still a real joy to have a baby and many families have found that with their jobs being furloughed or working from home, they’ve benefitted from having much MORE time with their babies than they would otherwise have had. We always consult our academic partners at every stage of our process and this time was no different. We made two lock-down series and one studio series during the pandemic and were acutely aware of the difficulties new parents were facing. We wanted to keep the series upbeat, entertaining and full of practical suggestions. The Baby Club has always focussed on exploring everyday household objects and during our lockdown series’, we showed home videos of families playing at home, together, in new and novel ways. We also beefed-up our social media presence, offering support, ideas and encouraging messages to our online community.

Since you began the licensing programme, have you been inundated with potential partners wanting to work with the show?

VM: It’s been a more complex journey than that! Our publishing partners, DK and Centum (adult and baby books respectively) came on board early. They inherently understood the goals and value of the show. However, with The Baby Club being a completely unique proposition; parent and baby facing and live action to boot, some potential partners couldn’t see the opportunity early on. Add in C-19, lockdown and an aversion to anything ‘unproven’ and it wasn’t all plain sailing. Happily, there were partners, who watched the show, saw the viewing figures, social media engagement, BBC commitment and thought ‘Yes! This is what we’ve been waiting for!’ It helped that infant, as a category, has thrived in lockdown and that looks set to continue with prophesies of a baby boom coming true. With so many changes to the retail landscape for baby in recent years, retailers have identified an exciting opportunity to increase their share of a growing market – all of which helped momentum for The Baby Club snowball last year.

What categories are you looking to expand into?

VM: There’s so much scope for us to extend – we’re talking to partners in infant toy, toiletries, bed and bathroom textiles, travel, feeding and gifting but the story doesn’t end with physical products. As well as promotional partnerships, the show itself was born of the idea of bringing the benefits of a baby club into the home and we can now, finally, look at opportunities to take the brand back out into real world experiences that embody the goals and values of the show. With extension of the brand into The Toddler Club, we’re able to do the same for a second property for that older, 18mth – 3 yr age group too. The potential for a brand development and partnerships is absolutely thrilling.