Feature - Plush

On the plush side…

With many children needing the reassurance of a ‘best friend’ to comfort them, plush has never been so popular. Sam Giltrow speaks to suppliers and retailers about the soft toy category.

After a year of uncertainty and missing contact with loved ones, the comfort, companionship and cuddle factor that a soft toy can bring has never been more important.

“It’s a product that offers consumers more than just a toy, as plush toys often give someone an emotional or sentimental attachment that you don’t necessarily get with some other toy categories,” says Lauren Shipman, group brand & marketing director at Posh Paws. “Children can play with a soft toy by themselves and with other toys, but will also cuddle up and sleep with it, as well as carrying it around with them everywhere they go. Soft toys are very comforting for children, and you’ll often see that they are a child’s first best friend.”

However, with the very nature of plush being so tactile, promoting soft toys during periods of lockdown when bricks and mortar stores had to shut their doors presented retailers with a big challenge. “Consumers being able to physically pick up and feel the quality of plush products will always be important and something we rely greatly on,” Lauren explained. “However, we’ve also been seeing strong growth in online sales since stores were forced to close for so long.” Indeed, in some ways, this was a plus for the category. “During the lockdowns, we have been able to open new retail channels and promote our products to new audiences because of the shift to online sales, although it’s great that physical stores are driving plush sales once again.”

One of Posh Paws’ current best-selling lines is its new Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous dinosaur soft toy range. The company expects the popularity of this collection to continue to grow, as the Netflix animated series continues to be a top-rated kids and family series on the streaming platform. For 2022, with the release of big blockbuster movies like Jurassic World: Dominion, Minions 2: Rise of Gru, Sesame Street and Sing 2, Posh Paws will be partnering with licensors on high profile activations to ensure its product is at the heart of their consumer and retail marketing.

Zara Grindrod, director of sales and marketing for Rainbow Designs, agrees that despite the past year being challenging for retailers, it has presented opportunities for the plush category. “Plush can sometimes prove difficult to sell online. However, we have worked hard on our online assets and content, and we are definitely seeing this translating into sales. That said, it is important to be able to touch and feel tactile products; now that retail has opened up, it is great to see customers back in stores, experiencing our collections as we would want them to.”

Rainbow Designs has seen particularly strong sales across its classic characters range, which includes Paddington Bear, Peter Rabbit and Winnie the Pooh, while other strong nostalgic licences include Guess How Much I Love You, Snoopy and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “These characters really have stood the test of time and are as loved today as much as they were when they first arrived,” says Zara. “They bring a sense of familiarity and reassurance, which is very welcome in today’s uncertain world.”

Despite the penchant for familiar characters, Rainbow Designs is continuously introducing more contemporary takes on its heritage products, to ensure they remain fresh and appealing to the current marketplace. One of the new additions joining the company’s successful Adventures of Paddington range this autumn is a Talking Paddington Soft Toy, while another launch planned for later this year is the new collection for Disney’s Winnie the Pooh; Always and Forever, which marks Pooh’s 95th year.

The collection focuses on sustainable materials – something which Rainbow Designs is extremely passionate about. The company is working towards ensuring the stuffing within all of its soft toys is made from recycled plastic bottles, that packaging is all FSC sourced and, where possible, plush fabric is being upgraded to recycled plush. The company is also working with Babybanks UK, so people can pass on soft toys they no longer want.

“There is a lot more that can be done, and we are giving ourselves goals and targets to improve, in the interests of our planet and our consumers,” says Zara. “Sustainability is not just a trend, but definitely something that more and more people are asking about.

Zara says Rainbow Designs has worked hard with retailers throughout the lockdowns and since the reopening in April, offering support via the company’s social media channels and lower minimum order levels: “Retailers have to compete with enhanced online and delivery services that have really come to the fore during the pandemic. We are helping them create instore theatre with POS and FSDUs. Our stockists are very adaptable and innovative, and our experienced sales team are in regular contact with them, building and strengthening those relationships and helping them to navigate the remainder of this year and into next.”

Phil Hooper, commercial director UK at Spin Master believes plush toys remain popular because they are timeless and loved by both gift givers and receivers. “Plush toys are ageless. They are often the first toy you receive as a baby and stay with you throughout your childhood and into your tweens. Plush toys are the forever friend that bring comfort and companionship no matter your age.”

Spin Master’s Gund brand is selling well at the moment and Phil believes one of its key strengths is that the range offers something for everyone, from the new Hello Baby line for newborns, the upcoming Paw Patrol Movie plush selection, which is set to be a big hit with pre-schoolers, through to the new P.Lushes Pets which launch later this year, aimed at the tween market.

To support retailers with their plush purchases, Spin Master will continue to provide strong marketing plans over the next few months. Campaigns will include multiple digital and social media platforms, and Phil says that in the coming months, Spin Master will also be working with both smaller and A-list global influencers in a highly targeted manner.

“We have launches in both mass market and speciality markets so there are excellent options for everyone on their way,” says Phil. “We are optimistic that the rest of 2021 will be positive for Spin Master and the toy market as a whole, but with the plush category performing well and with a selection of new launches coming in the autumn, we believe it will be an especially positive year for our plush range.”

Jonny Swallow, sales director, Ty UK, says many of its products, including the well-known Beanie Babies line, are often bought on impulse, so the company is pleased toy stores have re-opened to enable customers to touch and see them again. Ty has a strong following of collectors, and Jonny says there is also a personal aspect to the products with poems and birthdays which can be matched to customers. Beanie Boos and generic plush are always solid sellers for Ty UK, which continues to expand its range with new introductions including the new Squish-a-Boos, which come in three different sizes. Jonny revealed that the company will also be launching new licensed Squish-a-Boos, starting with Peppa Pig this August.

Katie Eckerley, director of operations at the Old Railway Garden Centre in Brecon, Wales says plush toys have sold extremely well throughout the pandemic: “I think people were buying online to send them as gifts when they weren’t able to see loved ones. Even though we are now back open, grandparents in particular are still buying plush and other toys to treat their grandchildren and make up for not being able to see them. I am sure it will remain a popular category.”

Meanwhile, in this month’s column, Toy Barnhaus owners Mark Buschhaus and Stephen Barnes link the recent success of Plush with the surge in popularity of fidget toys, sensory toys and other products which help with stress relief. In particular,

like many retailers across the globe including Toy World’s American retail columnist Rick Derr from Learning Express, they have been selling huge quantities of the Squishmallows range from Jazwares: “There is a global shortage, so whatever we get sells out in minutes in stores. We expect this demand to continue for the rest of the year, and even the giant ones are popular,” they explained. “Reversible octopus plush also continues to sell very well.”

Squishmallows has been one of the major success stories in the plush sector in recent years, with the brand on track to reach the incredible milestone of 100m global sales in the coming months. The brand has also welcomed its own animated YouTube series: a new episode will be released every Saturday until the end of October 2021. There are currently more than 800 Squishmallow characters to collect in a range of sizes, from collectible minis to giant plush.

Other brands have also entered the ‘squish’ arena, including Happy Line Toys’ Beamies range which is now being distributed in the UK by Mookie Toys.

Elsewhere in the category, licensed plush continues to sell well, with evergreen properties such as Harry Potter, Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol competing with hot licences such as The Child from Disney’s The Mandalorian for shelf space. Feature plush also continues to offer retailers valuable incremental sales opportunities, especially during the festive season; here at Toy World, we were particularly taken by Vivid’s gorilla mother and baby Tiki & Toko, the latest addition to the company’s Animagic range. We also love Moose’s new Scruff-a-Luvs SKU, Cutie Cuts, which gives kids the fun experience of pretending to be a real dog groomer, complete with clippers that make a buzzing sound.