Special Feature - Paramount

A big year for Paramount

With eagerly anticipated new movie and series releases for some of its hottest properties, this year will be a busy one for Paramount. Sam Giltrow chats to Venetia Davie, VP Consumer Products, UK & Ireland, ANZ & Israel to discover how the company’s rich vein of content is boosting toy sales.

2023 is set to be a huge year for Paramount as it celebrates some significant milestones, including the return to the big screen of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a second movie release for one of the hottest pre-school properties around, PAW Patrol.

It is also set to ramp up content for its Paramount+ streaming service which arrived on screens in June this year. It’s a move which has been highly successful, Venetia Davie, VP Consumer Products, UK & Ireland, ANZ & Israel explains, as she discusses how streaming is becoming incredibly important in terms of sharing content. “We are building that global footprint and we are really using the power of our network to drive streaming. For instance, we talk about Paramount+ on our Nickelodeon channels and Channel 5 and we are building a great home for content,” she tells Toy World. “We know that when you have kids’ content, it brings that family audience together so it’s a real point of difference. Paramount+ really helps us to position ourselves as a global entertainment company.”

One of the most exciting developments for Paramount in 2023 will be the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, Mutant Mayhem. The ‘heroes in a half shell’ celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2024 and Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo continue to garner a new audience to add to those generations of loyal fans who have been supporting them for decades. “This is the ultimate relaunch for the ultimate boys’ brand,” says Venetia. “What we are super excited about is the fact that it’s not just all about toys and kids – it is such a multi-generational franchise, and we are so excited about celebrating 40 years of the brand in 2024. It’s an incredible achievement.”

Paramount has carried out global consumer research on the brand and found that more than half of adult Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans have children between the ages of 6 and 11. “So we have a demographic that loves Turtles – they grew up with it and remember it – and they also have in their family that direct demographic that we are looking to target,” states Venetia.

There has already been a consumer product collaboration with skate brand Supreme and, in the toy space, there have been collaborations with Stranger Things, a co-branded toy line for adults with Cobra-Kai, and with Street Fighter. “We have been seeding this market for the last two years and in toys, our collector business grew about 150% over the last year, so we already know that people are starting to buy product,” enthuses Venetia.

Other important areas are video games – Paramount launched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, a relaunch of a classic game, achieving 1m downloads in first six weeks – and publishing, which, Venetia says, demonstrates how strong the core fanbase is. “Now we are really turning our attention from that shift of the adult audience back down to the kid audience,” she adds.

The CG-animated movie, directed by Seth Rogen, will hit UK cinemas on 11th August 2023. “You could not ask for a more relevant director to appeal to both adults and kids. The movie has humour and a vibrant New York aesthetic,” Venetia tells us. “It plays back to all the things that cool about the Turtles and has a brilliant animation style.” When details of the name, director and release date were revealed, it was announced with a New York graffiti style poster, which attracted over 50m impressions on social media.

Venetia adds that while Paramount already had a brilliant long-term master toy partner in Playmates, it also has an exciting new distribution partnership with Character Options to look forward to in 2023: “The Character Options showroom in Manchester looks so impressive, and the team has done a phenomenal job. They are the perfect partner to bring the toy programme to market in the UK.” Reactions at previews in Los Angeles and the UK have been extremely positive, and the full range will be on show at Character Options’ stand at the London Toy Fair.

The roll-out programme will extend beyond the movie with content on every platform and some big video game releases. “As you would expect, we are looking at using the power of our network, whether that is Nickelodeon, Paramount+ or Channel 5,” explains Venetia.

With 2024 being the 40th anniversary, there will also be some big fashion collaborations in the works, along with a whole year of celebrations.

2023 will also be a huge year for the hit pre-school property PAW Patrol (produced by Spin Master Entertainment), which includes a second feature film debit, a spin-off series, all as the brand celebrates its 10th anniversary. “It’s a phenomenal feat for a pre-school brand that had such a peak when it hit the market. We had never seen anything quite like it,” says Venetia. “What has developed is a new evergreen brand.”

She adds: “It’s a phenomenal moment for us to celebrate with our partner Spin Master, the creators of PAW Patrol. We’ve truly worked hand in hand to build this incredible brand and bring it to pre-schoolers around the world. I think the reason why we are still here 10 years later is because the brand is so fresh. Together, we create two to three new themes every year with innovative toy creations. On top of that, we have amazing ways of communicating and connecting with kids and families through our marketing activity, whether that’s toy-based or brand-based through our channels.”

Aside from the anniversary, there are two key content developments happening next year - the second theatrical PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, and the new spin-off show, Rubble & Crew. The first movie had a huge impact on consumer product sales in the year of the movie release. “What we have with PAW Patrol is a brand that we are not trying to sell movie merchandise with. Rather, the movie is elevating the brand as a whole. Yes, there were SKUs which specifically tied into the movie, but we found it elevated PAW Patrol in every aisle across every retailer. It created more consumer demand and put PAW Patrol front of mind,” says Venetia. The first movie took more than $150m at the box office, with over £10m of that coming in the UK.

The new film, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, is set for UK release on 13th October 2023. In the film, a magical meteor crash lands in Adventure City and gives the PAW Patrol pups superpowers, transforming them into The Mighty Pups. For Skye, the smallest member of the team, her new powers are a dream come true. Veteran animation director Cal Brunker will return to direct the movie. “We saw a lovely uplift in our girls’ business last year with the Skye and Liberty characters, so this year is exciting for us, especially in our softlines business where we see a lot of girls picking up accessories and apparel,” outlines Venetia. “We will, of course, have a wide range of toys featuring Skye as well. The retail response from the movie release has been phenomenal and I think we are seeing some broadening of that retail appeal as well.”

Paramount, Nickelodeon and Spin Master are also gearing up for the release of spin-off show Rubble & Crew, a new extension of the core PAW Patrol show, which will see content aired in the US in February and in the UK later in 2023.

Again, content is key and Paramount will continue to put content onto its PAW Patrol YouTube channel, social and Nick Jr. channels. It also creates a lot of original content for partners such as Sky. Next year, to mark PAW Patrol’s 10th anniversary, the theme is going to be around ‘One Big Celebration’ at retail.

Last, but by no means least, is SpongeBob SquarePants. What started as a Nickelodeon show can now also be found on Paramount+ as well as multiple content touchpoints including memes going out across socials such as TikTok and YouTube. “In terms of social media engagement, SpongeBob is the brand that gets one of the most impressions,” states Venetia. “When I look at other markets on SpongeBob, it never ceases to amaze me how unbelievably he performs in consumerpackaged goods and food. We have taken some key learnings from other markets and have some exciting new projects launching in this space in 2023.”

In the last two years, the brand has moved more into fast fashion and its recent collaboration with Sideman in the UK was very successful. “What I love about SpongeBob is that he is an icon for positivity. You could not get a more positive role model,” Venetia enthuses. The brand is also involved with social initiatives such as Operation Sea Change, a new global ocean conservation and sustainability initiative from Paramount Consumer Products and Nickelodeon. The initiative aims to help remove and divert 5m lbs of ocean plastic over the next four years by funding clean-up projects. Paramount Consumer Products will also work with current SpongeBob SquarePants consumer products partners to drive more sustainable practices and reduce singleuse plastic in products, as well as curating partnerships with new brands to create innovative product lines.

Venetia also mentions there will be some other “very exciting partnerships” that will hit the UK from next summer through 2024 and 2025. “It is a brand that will just keep on going,” she concludes.