Company Profile - Jazwares

Cuddle up with Jazwarwes

Bolstered by yet another standout year for Squishmallows, Jazwares comes into 2024 on a strong footing and with a slate of licensing deals that’ll offer something fresh and new to fans of the brands it works with. Toy World’s Rachael Simpson-Jones sat down with Holly Oldham, managing director UK & Nordics at Jazwares, to discuss how the company’s collaborations, new launches and focus on both people and culture continue to provide opportunities for retailers and consumers alike.

In a year like 2023, you’d have wanted a brand like Squishmallows in your portfolio: an award-winning, year-round, global best-seller with a huge, passionate fan base and massive retail presence. Against the backdrop of an undeniably tough 12 months, with its particularly challenging Q1/2, surprisingly hard back end and very late Christmas, Squishmallows played a big part in delivering Jazwares’ 11th consecutive year of growth.

“Although it’s not come easy, we’re absolutely delighted to have outperformed the industry in 2023: we wrapped up Christmas in great shape,” says Holly. “There’s no doubt a significant portion of our growth stems from Squishmallows: in fact, as I sit here today, we’re close to selling our five millionth unit of Squishmallows and Squishville here in the UK, which, once again, represents massive year-on-year growth. We’ve had amazing support at retail, with our partners throwing themselves into experiential activations. We’ve invested in amazing displays for Squishmallows and taken a varied approach to marketing, including bespoke digital campaigns and exclusive launches. Our retail partners have also really helped us expand our out-of-aisle presence, which has been a massive driver of success for the brand.”

Squishmallows has also had a huge year on the licensing side, with new Disney, Pokémon and Harry Potter ranges launching in 2023, while Squishmallows HugMees, which skews towards a younger demographic, partnered with pre-school favourites including CoComelon in 2023. Bluey launches in the UK in 2024. Holly calls these the ‘cherry on the cake’ (the cake being the core range) - and speaking of food, Squishmallows’ tie-up with McDonalds on seasonally-themed Happy Meal campaigns went down a treat with fans, while Panini’s Squad Vibes! Sticker Collection likewise sold out at record speed. There’s also more to come from the Jazwares Pet division, which recently partnered with Pets at Home for the exclusive launch of its sell-out Squishmallows dog bed range. You could say Squishmallows was at the ‘pawfront’ of the pet industry.

“Social media really is behind all this: it’s where the fans live and Squishmallows culture thrives,” Holly explains. “To date, there have been over 13b social media impressions across all platforms and the fanbase is growing all the time.”

In January 2023, Jazwares unveiled BumBumz, a range of cute plush with weighted bottoms Holly refers to as ‘the cheeky younger cousins of Squish’. The response during previews was overwhelmingly positive, but trend-led plush is a competitive category and Jazwares knows it has to nurture this range, to build it out in an authentic, considered way to ensure longevity in the marketplace. Wave 3 arrives in the first half of this year, followed by Wave 4 and a new scale that joins the existing 4.5” and 7.5” sizes. All will be supported by substantial marketing that will captivate newcomers to the brand as well as existing fans. Let’s face it: the company’s team has a wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to building out a collectible plush brand and if anyone can ensure BumBumz becomes the next big thing, Jazwares can.

So, what else does 2024 hold for Jazwares? Firstly, the company’s Pokémon range, which in 2023 enjoyed double digit YoY growth in the UK (in part due to the Squishmallows collaboration), welcomes a ‘magnificent’ 24” Charizard plush for autumn/winter this year. Holly says those who saw the new toy in LA were ‘absolutely blown away by it’. Plush makes up a decent portion of the Jazwares Pokémon range, which tends to lean into collectability. That said, an upcoming brand extension will see a new battling play-pattern introduced in the form of a Battle Spinner Arena that gives fans a new way to engage with the brand - one that is very true to the core of the property.

“The Pokémon Company International does an amazing job of unapologetically protecting its brand and doing right by it, which is why licensees such as Jazwares continue to see such huge success with it,” says Holly. “Yes, our product development is amazing, but behind that is the absolutely brilliant relationship we have with Pokémon. We’re united in ensuring everything we add to our toy range is purposeful, meaningful, and reflects what Pokémon stands for.”

Total Anime, the result of a partnership with Crunchyroll, sees Jazwares move into a whole new area with a whole new demographic. Product development is spearheaded by a global team of ‘superfans’ that have injected their passion for all things anime into the new autumn/winter 2024 launch of high-end collectibles. As anime continues to grow in popularity, so too will the Total Anime range.

Elsewhere, Jazwares’ Spidey and His Amazing Friends pre-school toy range is performing very well in a challenging category and will expand significantly this year. Bolstered by the evergreen appeal of superheroes and top-notch animated content, which can be streamed on BBC iPlayer and Disney+, product innovation is paired with value offerings that make the toys accessible to even the youngest fans.

One of Jazwares’ most highly anticipated recent launches was Adopt Me!, based upon one of Roblox’s biggest games. The gaming space is crowded and complicated, with numerous games all vying for a piece of the action and the toy industry racing to keep up. Jazwares has been a Roblox licensee for over five years. It knows how to navigate its way around the platform and its games to offer exactly what fans want. Adopt Me! is all about collecting pets and playing with them in a nurturing way and so is the toy range, which has been developed with a close eye on faithfully translating digital play to physical play. The range has been advertised within the Adopt Me! Roblox game, while future product launches will tie into game updates as they roll out.

“We’ve got a proven track record of working with gaming properties, including Fortnite and Roblox, and we’ve always been ahead of the curve in terms of bringing those games to life in toy form,” Holly says, when asked why Jazwares is so widely considered a licensing partner of choice. “Naturally, great product is at the heart of a strong licensing partnership, but we’ve earned ourselves a reputation for being brand managers. We’re always thinking about how to drive longevity while also keeping licensed toy ranges fresh and we often outperform expectations and our competitors. Credit must go to our licensing team for building amazing partnerships and bringing in fantastic new opportunities year after year.”

These qualities are the reason Jazwares was recently appointed master toy licensee for another Roblox game, Royale High, the biggest fashion-based property in gaming. The deal will see Jazwares develop a new range of game-inspired collectibles and fashion dolls for autumn/ winter 2024, which will let kids lean into fashion role-play and style expression. Royale High has a huge social media following, boasting 9b digital impressions, which make it a unique proposition. This will also be a huge boon when it comes to promoting the toy range at launch.

Jazwares sits on both sides of the licensing table, being licensor as well as licensee. The company’s ambition has always been to transform Squishmallows into a global lifestyle brand and 2023 bore witness to the first major steps toward this goal. Partnerships covered everything from Apparel, Accessories and Beauty to Homewares and FMCG. One of the most exciting collaborations announced in recent weeks has been the 42-piece Squishmallows x H&M capsule collection of clothes and accessories for kids and pre-teens. Holly explained: “The launch exceeded all our expectations and we look forward on building on this in 2024”.

Further high-end licensing collaborations are also coming through for 2024: one of them is with the iconic global sports apparel and accessories brand Puma. Several major deals were borne off the back of Brand Licensing Europe 2023. The booth was made up to look like a high-end boutique and demonstrated to attendees not only how stunning the brand is, but also the wealth of areas into which licensees can take it. Holly says Squishmallows has reached the point where people ought to be thinking of it as far more than just a toy, and that the new partnership with H&M will demonstrate to prospective licensees the scope of the brand.

With that scope comes aspirations for further significant growth. To achieve this, Jazwares is placing a renewed emphasis on collectability and really leaning into #squishmallowshunting. The Squishmallows retail tour is also coming to the UK following a successful US debut, which Holly tells Toy World will take the brand to fans like never before. As alluded to earlier, there will also be a great many more licensing collaborations announced. Holly adds: “We’ve got the blueprint; we know what works. Now it’s just about going wider and deeper.”

Saving the best till last, Holly then reveals that Jazwares will be kicking off 2024 with Squishalongs, the range Holly is most looking forward to showcasing at Toy Fair. An extension of the Squishmallows brand, and slated for launch in autumn/winter 2024, Squishalongs is billed as a reimagined Squishmallows world in a completely unique format: 1” soft and squidgy Squishmallows characters based on Jazwares’ extensive back-catalogue. There will be hundreds of these adorable toys to collect, trade and play with on the go, which will appeal strongly to younger Squishmallows fans and collectors of all things tiny.

At the same time, Jazwares anticipates 2024 will be another challenging year at retail. With consumer spending remaining more considered than ever, the company will have to ensure its retail partners have the right offering at the right price. But it’s also operating under the old ‘if it isn’t broken…’ adage, by, quite simply, doing more of what’s working and introducing newness into existing hit brands that will keep consumers coming back time and again.

Jazwares is also continuing to put people front and centre of its business strategy. Holly says the company benefits from a highly talented team that’s laser focused on doing right by Jazwares’ partners, which have built up a high level of trust. After all, it takes a huge team effort to deliver some of the licensing collaborations we saw from Jazwares in 2023: these things don’t happen by chance.

Holly also explains how Jazwares is centralising some of its functions to improve its planning and agility. This will mean the company can react to emerging market trends more quickly, and pivot to meet consumers ever-evolving needs. Coming into 2024, operational improvements will become part of the company’s success story – a story that promises significant growth for a 12th consecutive year.

“While some of our competitors are cutting back, Jazwares is pushing forward, which makes this a very exciting place to work,” Holly says. “I think it’s that excitement that fuels our team. Our team is the beating heart of Jazwares. We know things are tough out there and we’re constantly grateful to have a portfolio of powerhouse brands and incredible partners on both the licensing and retail side that continue to support and enhance everything we’re trying to do. We cannot thank them enough for their continued support as we grow together.”