Viewpoint

New year, new movies. Will the toy industry benefit?

Nick Gibbs-McNeil - Boasting 20 years’ experience in publishing, journalism, sales, marketing, advertising and sponsorship, Nick Gibbs McNeil has a particular interest in the kids’ space and the film industry and is publisher/editor at Kidzcoolit.com and youthgottit.com.

We all need a bit of escapism in our lives, and with a new year comes a wealth of hotly anticipated theatrical and streaming releases. But what impact will the cost-of-living crisis have on our entertainment consumption; how will this affect muchneeded recreational activities like visiting the cinema, or subscribing to streaming services?

Now, I don’t want to be all doom and gloom. But the likelihood is that in 2023 - and possibly even 2024 – many people will probably have less cash to spend on the things they love to do. The consumer won’t consume if they don’t think something is worth the outlay. That’s not to say the public won’t spend at all – far from it. It’s just that they may need a little more convincing to prise their precious cash out of their hands.

So, with big movie sequels such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Mission Impossible, Fast and the Furious, Puss in Boots, Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Indiana Jones, Super Mario Bros and Dune all hitting the big screen over the next 12 months, the question is whether these films will make their expected targets at the box office, and what knock-on impact that could have on licensed merchandise associated with these movies.

The answer to that question is a massive ‘maybe’. The reality is that the average punter has changed their spending patterns over the past few months, due to the sudden changes in the financial climate. And with a change in the consumer comes a need to change how we promote and market everything around us. We need new ideas. We maybe even need to go back to some old style ‘roll up your sleeves and get our hands dirty’ marketing plans that have been discarded in recent years. These strategies worked for decades, but in some cases, we chose to fix what arguably wasn’t broken.

Either way, selling anything over the coming years will likely require more effort and flexibility. Just having an influencer or content creator say “This is great” on TikTok won’t be enough to get bottoms on seats in cinemas.

Punters are likely to listen a little more carefully to reviews from trusted outlets, as this may be the only night out they can afford that month.

And how does all of this affect the toy market? Well, of the movies I’ve mentioned so far, there will be a huge selection of products coming to market to coincide with their releases. The success of these products will be very much dependent on the movies performing well at the box office.

If youngsters (and kidults) don’t go to the cinema to see these films, they won’t head to stores to buy the merchandise. If they wait to see these movies when they drop on digital channels a few months later, they’ll probably be buying the toys at a discounted price when retailers are looking to offload them as sale items, meaning a massive loss in revenue for all parties involved.

If you’re sitting there thinking you’ll be able to work as you have in the past through 2023 and 2024, here’s an alarm call - you won’t. But - and this is a MASSIVE ‘but’ - there will still undoubtedly be some movie saviours for the toy market over the next twelve months.

For the first time in forever (probably not since the 80s), there will be a whole host of movies coming out that originate from toy ranges. Films such as Dungeons & Dragon: Honour Among Thieves, Barbie, Trolls 3 and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will bring a different element to the toy and game market.

In theory, because these were toys before they were movies, fans should buy into purchasing the products as a given, with a view to then seeing the movie at the cinema as an added bonus. This is a marked contrast to what we’ve been used to over the past three decades, when punters watched the films and then bought the toys if they liked what they saw on the big screen.

Quite how this all translates to the toy market in 2023 remains to be seen. But what’s obvious is we will all need to work a little harder for any form of success, and our targets for that success might need to be a little lower than our past expectations.

When I was fresh out of university and started my first job in media, I was still in college mode, reading and absorbing everything like a sponge as I formed the direction of my career. I remember an interesting article about marketing during the Great Depression of the 1920s. One part of this article will always stay with me; it simply said that the companies that reduced their advertising spend were no longer around post the Depression - and those that did advertise came out the other side stronger than ever before.

We’re all going to need to be a bit more creative over the next two years and if you reduce your marketing spend and look for easy ways to promote what you’re selling, no matter how good that product is, you’re sealing your own fate.

Anyway, there are some cracking movies out in 2023. Enjoy them and see you all on the battleground.