Company Profile - Commotion

Ticking all the boxes

Commotion has been selling educational toys for over 40 years, and the rigorous criteria it imposes on its own design and development, as well as how it chooses new brands and selects specific products, is key to the company’s global success. Toy World’s Caroline Tonks sat down with CEO, James Shepherd, to find out about Commotion’s ranges, its move into the retail sector and more.

Commotion is dedicated to providing the global market with high-quality, educational products that inspire creativity and learning in children. Originally an educational supplier to schools and nurseries, it continuously innovates and improves its products to meet the ever-changing needs of children and parents, with product development the highest priority within the company. Now, Commotion is branching out into the retail market, with increasing success.

So far this year, sales have increased, as the brand develops a strong reputation in the industry. According to CEO James Shepherd, there are positives and negatives to being a global business. “Our core business in the UK is performing well, particularly with our key accounts, so we are really pleased,” says James. Commotion is also seeing growth in the US, Canada and Australia, but is finding it tougher in Europe, where changes in the Italian market have had a significant impact.

“The Italian side of the business has been difficult because last year, the Italian government received funding from the European Union for children in nurseries and schools, which was about €200m,” he explains. Nurseries and schools make up a significant part of Commotion’s core clientele. “When I speak to my colleagues in different businesses, they say the same thing, that Italy has become a major challenge.”

Despite this hurdle, it’s been a strong year for Commotion, albeit a transitional one. The company has invested heavily into organisation and logistics and is starting to see the fruits of its labour, looking at a wide variety of new distribution opportunities in preparation for the next three years.

“There are two parts of our business,” says James. “We have our own Tickit brand and we also distribute other companies’ products, such as PolarB by Viga, with whom we’ve had a relationship for a number of years.”  When selecting new distribution ranges to add to its portfolio, Commotion looks for key features such as educational value, durability, safety standards and unique design. “We picked around 35 products to distribute that we think are the best from Viga, and these sit very well within our business and alongside Tickit,” James adds. Commotion is already taking orders for PolarB, which is set to land on 1st September.

The Tickit range offers a wide variety of educational toys that cater to different age groups and learning needs and is focused on innovative and engaging designs that capture children’s imaginations.

Commotion tests every product in real-life nursery settings. “When you go into a nursery environment, you will often find that kids play with your products in a very different way than you’d anticipated,” adds James. “Whatever we think children will do with our product, they end up doing something different, which is really beautiful and great for us. It’s encouraging to see multi-play, with lots of children using, and in a way abusing, the products.”

To stand up to such robust usage, the quality needed is beyond what would normally be found in a retail store for everyday use in the home, and the team at Commotion want to make sure this level of quality is communicated to consumers. “We don’t price it that way, but we feel it’s important to reinforce the educational components of our products and their high quality,” says James. “We don’t get product sent back to us. I believe when you’re producing toys for children, they have to be at the highest level.”

As Commotion works closely with nurseries and schools to test its products, consumers can be confident they do exactly what they’re supposed to. And although the open play process allows children to use its products how they choose, there are still core educational benefits. “We get lots of product feedback and try and ascertain what people are really looking for,” says James. “We’re constantly looking at what we have that we can extend and what we can move into. We’ve worked on a lot of range extensions and will continue to do so.”

Commotion relaunched Tickit at the back end of last year, and at the next Spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg, the company will unveil a new booth and all new packaging, along with the latest development of its product range, all designed to appeal to the retail customer. “We need more people to have access to our products; that’s been a big push for us this year and will continue to be for the next three years,” emphasises James. “The new packaging we’re introducing will open up our business to additional stores and distribution.” Commotion has taken its old packaging style - a plain carboard box with a simple design on the front - and elevated it with lots of colour and imagery.

With a focus on expanding into retail, consumers will soon see more of Commotion’s products on shelves in stores. “We love working with all our partners and there will be lots of branded initiatives with them – we’ve got various campaigns up our sleeves,” adds James. “Fundamentally, we wanted to make sure we were in a position where if somebody wanted to stock the product and put it on the shelf where customers could touch it, feel it and buy it, they could.” By the end of this year, the majority of Commotion’s key products will be available in the new store-friendly packaging.

James wants to continue the push to increase awareness of Commotion and Tickit, investing in marketing channels including digital advertising, social media campaigns and collaborations with influencers. “We’ve changed our branding, redesigned the website and we’ve started to work much more closely with our key partners, producing partnership brochures and trade brochures; something we’ve never done before to promote Tickit,” he says. James wants to continue this forwards momentum and engage with customers at the source and through trade partners. “Supporting the trade, not just promoting our products on our website, is so important. Our partners have really appreciated that.”

James is keen for the team to focus not just on performance, but improvement. He tells us: “Some businesses have a tendency to sit on what they’ve already done and think that’s enough. We always want to know what we can do better. How can we give a toy more educational benefits?” To this end, Commotion has extended its team in Europe to gain connections and speak to more people. “We’re at more shows than we’ve ever been before - and not just from a UK, but also a European point of view. From forging these connections, we’re asked to produce new lines, because people have faith in what we do. Sometimes it’s a product that is already available on the market, but the quality isn’t at the right level, so we’re asked to develop it. It’s all about making sure we’re close to the consumer.”

Commotion receives a lot of feedback, not only from nurseries, schools and fellow companies, but also from parents, who say they appreciate the quality of Commotion’s products and the longevity they offer; toys that will be passed down through the generations. “This feedback is something we consider when developing our products and explaining what they do,” explain James. “It’s a valuable resource. The amount of information we get back through our social media platforms is amazing.”

Sustainability is of the utmost importance to Commotion when choosing ranges to add to its portfolio. It strives to work with suppliers who prioritise eco-friendly materials and production processes and is committed to reducing its environmental impact and promoting sustainable practices in the toy industry.

“It is important that all our products are ethically sourced. We know our factories, we know the people who work there, and we know how our products are made,” James explains. Commotion produces most of its product offering in China, and he is not ashamed to admit that. “A lot of people look down on it, but we have worked with these factories for many years and have somebody who works for us who lives in China, visiting the factories on our behalf.”

Commotion believes in its products in terms of quality and sustainability, and its range has just been FSC-certified. “We’re dealing with customers and markets that absolutely require it,” states James. “If you want to trade and do business in France or the Nordics, then the reality is that you have to show that your products are ethically sourced and you are an ethical business, and we most definitely are.”

The company is also on the acquisition trail at the moment, so is looking for more businesses that align with its core values that it can bring into the Commotion family. “We’re excited to see what we’re going to do there,” James concludes, “but suppliers we work with have to tick all of our boxes, including sustainability and all the things we’ve been working so hard to achieve.”