Q&A - Ravensburger

A piece of the action

Sindy Randall, senior Product manager, Puzzles, has been with the Ravensburger puzzle team for 20 years and today manages the company’s full puzzle portfolio for the UK, including the commissioning and development process for all locally designed puzzles. Here, she tells Toy World about the strengths of Ravensburger’s puzzle portfolio and what there is to look forward to in 2024.

How is Ravensburger’s Puzzle segment currently performing?

Puzzles are a cornerstone of our business. We’ve maintained the No. 1 position across 2D Adult, Children’s and 3D puzzles. 2023 marked our fifth consecutive year as leader in adult puzzles, and with over 200 new items coming this year, we’re planning on continued growth in this area.

Coming into 2024, what are the standout puzzle highlights for the year ahead?

The year ahead marks 50 years of our Ravensburger blue triangle logo. This symbol is recognised the world over as a sign of Ravensburger quality and we’ll be marking the occasion in the UK with two special edition items. Our best-selling 3D Eiffel Tower puzzle will be available as a glow-in-the-dark limited edition, complete with anniversary-themed packaging. And as the year also marks our 20th Christmas puzzle with artist Roy Trower, it will be a double celebration with a very exciting anniversary edition reprint of Roy’s first Christmas puzzle with us: Christmas Village.

We’re also continuing to grow our portfolio of local artists. This year, six fabulous new illustrators have joined our line-up. We’re always looking for new and talented artists to grow our offering and complement the international designs we cherry-pick from the wealth of designs available to us in our global Ravensburger portfolio.

The breadth of our range does make it tricky to choose highlights, but I have to say I am really excited about the 2024 portfolio. I’d spotlight the launch of the 11th puzzle in our popular My Haven series of 1,000-piece puzzles, and the 10th in our Leisure Days range. We have also expanded our offering of large-piece format puzzles and in licensed puzzles, we’re really pleased to be introducing the hotly anticipated Wicked movie to the puzzle shelf later this year.

Games & Puzzles is currently one of the strongest categories for the booming Kidult market. How important is Kidult spending to your puzzles segment?

We can see the impact of this, particularly in our licensed offering. In our popular Challenge adult puzzle series, we see what may be considered more kid-centric licences performing well: for example, Super Mario, Pokémon and Squishmallows editions have been very successful. Likewise, Disney licensed puzzles are always a hit and enjoy a strong adult following.

How are your kids’ puzzles performing? What are the biggest properties, themes and piece counts?

We pride ourselves on presenting both retailers and consumers with a comprehensive line-up of children’s puzzles. To ensure each licence is translated into an unbeatable puzzle experience, bespoke artwork is created. Our range includes all of the top 20 kids’ licences and we’re proud to maintain 75% of the kids licensed puzzle market. Bluey, Pokémon and Super Mario are among our strongest performing licences currently, and we’re excited to be welcoming on board a raft of new properties including Jurassic World Explorers, Despicable Me 4, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and more in the coming year.

What can you tell us about the redesign of Ravensburger’s puzzle boxes?

From the second half of this year, Ravensburger puzzle fans will notice changes to our puzzle pack design. This major redesign will contribute to our ongoing commitment to sustainability, with reduced pack sizes across our 500-, 1,000- and 1500-piece formats delivering several benefits. With a 90% fill rate, the formats ensure less air in the box for shipping and sizes are also optimised for display. We also no longer include shrink wrap. As well as changed pack sizes, the look of Ravensburger puzzles will be refreshed across the full offering too.  The new design will reflect a modern and contemporary brand feel and will ensure the puzzle image is showcased in the most effective way.

What sets Ravensburger puzzles apart in the marketplace?

This is probably a question for the many brand fans out there! But what we hear from puzzle aficionados at consumer events is that they are passionate about the quality of our Ravensburger puzzles. Our manufacturing process features handcrafted cutters, ensuring unique puzzle pieces and a perfect fit. The attention to detail in our puzzles has remained the same throughout our history, in every aspect of our puzzle production process. From design to manufacture and onwards, we want the experience with our puzzles to set the standard. The breadth of our offering caters to every age, interest and skill level, from beginners piecing together their first puzzles to avid fans wanting to test the limits of their hobby with jigsaws composed of many thousands of pieces.

How does Ravensburger help its retail partners make the most of their puzzle ranges?

With the depth of our range, we aim to provide a product selection that will meet the needs of every retailer and their audience. We offer a range of flexible merchandising solutions, and we would encourage our partners to discuss merchandising opportunities with our team.   

What kind of marketing will Ravensburger’s puzzles benefit from this year?

Our customer magazine Positively Puzzling will continue to showcase new products and engage puzzlers in the stories behind the range and our artists. On a global level, we are once again the exclusive sponsor of the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship. This offers a wealth of marketing opportunities. Our PR and digital marketing campaigns will continue throughout the year, and we’ll also continue to keep the range front of mind through consumer events, print partnerships and more.