Brand Profile - Rainbow Designs / Acamar Films

It’s a Bing thing for Rainbow Designs

Rainbow Designs has welcomed the lovable pre-school favourite Bing to its portfolio of family-favourite brands. With a refreshed, innovative and enhanced toy range due to hit shelves from Q4 2025, Rachael Simpson-Jones sat down with Laura Clarke, executive director, Global Licensing, at Acamar Films, the studio behind Bing, and Anthony Temple, managing director at Rainbow Designs, to find out how the partnership came about, what it means for both companies, and, most importantly, what it means for Bing fans.

We may only just be announcing Rainbow’s new master toy partnership for Bing, but Anthony Temple’s love for the property goes way, way back. Back, in fact, to his days as a licensing agent 20 years ago, when Bing was simply a series of books by Ted Dewan, and Anthony was in talks with Mikael Shields, the founder of Acamar Films, about representing the property. In the years that followed, various conversations sprung up here and there about Rainbow Designs taking on some elements of the Bing licensing programme, but the master toy deal remained out of reach.

“I’ve always loved Bing and admired it from afar,” enthuses Anthony. “It has wonderful heritage and at Rainbow, we love heritage! We’re ‘The Home of Classic Characters’. When we found out the master toy deal had become available, we got hugely excited, and knowing Acamar Films wanted us to pick it up was lovely. I felt that it was recognition of the way Rainbow has evolved and an acknowledgement of its presence in, and knowledge of, both the Infant and Pre-School markets.”

Rainbow, too, had been on Acamar Films’ radar for many years, according to Laura, though the two companies had not actually worked together despite their obvious respect for each other. Which begs the question: why partner now?

“Over the past 12-18 months, we’d been asking ourselves some questions too,” says Laura. “Who and what is Bing? What are Bing’s USPs? And what would we like Bing to deliver from a product perspective? Toys are key for the infant and pre-school demographic. We knew that Rainbow really understands that sector and would be able to draw out key content elements in a new master toy range. Bing is a very child-centric brand, and we need its toys to offer the same wow and wonder, the same surprise and delight, that the show does.”

Bing was first broadcast in 2014. Sticking around for a decade is no mean feat for a pre-school brand, given how difficult the sector is to establish a foothold in, so to have become such an icon is truly noteworthy. Parents love Bing because the show is enormously relatable; parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles will recognise what happens within the show, probably because it’s happened to them at some point. In one episode, Bing’s enjoyment of the swing at the park is spoiled when Pando arrives and wants to have a go. In another, he’s not allowed to join in with a game. And in arguably my favourite episode, Bing helps a lost dog – but is sad when the owner turns up and he has to say goodbye.

This relatability is a source of comfort to many. It provides reassurance to those raising or looking after children that they aren’t alone on what can feel like a lonely journey, and this has helped Bing amass a large, engaged audience. The show has consistently been one of the most watched shows on iPlayer, while Acamar Films’ 37 YouTube channels have racked up over 8b views, 610m of which are on the Bing UK channel. And while the team at Rainbow readies its launch toy range, Acamar Films is currently working on new content for Bing that will feature fresh audio and music, as well as entertaining new scripting. This new content will join the 104 7-minute episodes already available.

“Bing celebrates the lovely and imperfect realities of pre-school life, with soft and very welcoming learning moments for both children and grown-ups,” says Laura. “In any episode, Bing might be dealing with emotions such as sadness or jealousy, or he might be facing an overwhelming moment at playgroup or at home. Bing is gently guided by Flop, and by the end of the episode he’s grown a little and learned a lot. This is summed up in his explanation of what’s happened. Viewers will know his summaries are sometimes a little different to what has actually happened –he’s something of an unreliable narrator, in that sense – but he’s a pre-schooler and who are we to argue with his lived experience? This is why Bing helps children as much as he does. The show also sparks conversations between adults and the children in their lives by providing a calming and safe space to explore each episode’s themes together. We say that everything in Bing is around the corner, not far away. Viewers can really relate to that.”

Rainbow Designs’ portfolio already comprises a veritable raft of heritage brands - Paddington Bear, The Snowman & The Snowdog, Guess How Much I Love You, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Disney, Elmer, Spot the Dog, Peter Rabbit, Harry Potter and more – many of which also have their roots in publishing. Bing is therefore in very good company indeed. The property’s core themes of friendship, discovery and exploration are presented in a gentle, wholesome way, which, in Anthony’s eyes, means Bing skews slightly younger than some of Rainbow’s other properties, giving the company the ability to leverage its extensive expertise in the Infant space. Anthony tells me Rainbow Designs is actually the leading supplier of Infant Plush. He adds: “Bing obviously has enormous appeal among pre-schoolers, but the biggest opportunities for innovation lie with younger fans.”

Both Rainbow and Acamar Films are committed to what they are calling a ‘smooth and seamless’ official transition between the new master toy partnership and the existing one as of 1st July 2025. This, Anthony says, will provide consumers and retailers alike (as well as well-established international distributors) with a sense of continuity even while they discover the ‘fresh take’ on Bing that Rainbow is putting forward.

“We’ve reimagined Bing with new products and new packaging, and our desire is to take Bing down through the years so children can grow and develop alongside the character,” Anthony explains, when asked what he can reveal at this stage about the new master toy range. “Expect to see innovation in design, new features and developmental benefits such as interesting textures and materials. We’re looking at how sensory play can capture the DNA of Bing; this has been at the heart of all our product development.”

The first refreshed core range will arrive on-shelf from Q4 2025, but Rainbow’s wider master toy range will roll out throughout 2026/27. When I spoke to Anthony, previews were just getting underway, but London Toy Fair will be where the range’s design concept and ‘direction of travel’ are properly revealed to the trade. A more comprehensive look, as well as sampling, will be offered at Spielwarenmesse 2025 and international distributors should make sure to book an appointment.

Laura tells me: “We know that today’s parents are looking for toys that promote open-ended play and help kids become more resilient and independent, and Rainbow’s master toy range will definitely tick those boxes.”

As someone who loves getting stuck into the DNA of a brand and relishes the challenge of turning it into toys, Anthony says the process of taking Bing from screen to shelf has so far been joyous. A little while ago, he saw a video taken by one of Acamar Films’ partners. In it are their two children. One is playing on the sofa, with the TV on in the background, while the younger child is playing behind the sofa. Bing comes on screen and the title music starts up, and within seconds, the child behind the sofa emerges and both sit together to watch the show.

“Bing creates magical moments such as these, so we’re in the process of identifying how our toys can create magical moments of their own,” explains Anthony. “When it comes to our plush ranges, that’s relatively straightforward. The bigger challenge is finding ways to embed the cuddly, friendly nature of Bing in our wooden and plastic play sets. Here, we’re taking moments like I saw in the video, that excitement when the Bing music played, and creating unique features that will spark the same level of joy in kids.”

Although the master toy partnership is still in its early days, Rainbow is already planning how the new Bing toy range will be supported at retail. Rainbow has long been known for the level of assistance it provides its retail partners, particularly independent retailers, be they garden centres, department stores, toy specialists or newsagents. Many readers will have seen the company’s Paddington movie range fixtures and POS solutions, including CDUs and FSDUs, or spotted one of its in-store installations. This will all be part of the mix, while marketing will also roll out across digital and social media.

Laura reiterates that the transition to Rainbow as master toy partner will be very carefully managed to ensure continuity for all partners and consumers. However, she’s also confident that new retailers will be keen to get on board once they see the new toy range for themselves – and most welcome they would be too.

Rainbow is, of course, not the only Bing licensee to be announced recently. Trends UK is on board for electronic learning toys, Rubies offers Bing costumes, Cloud B has created a plush nightlight, and Hearoes is producing custom Bing skins for hearing aids and cochlear implants. In addition, Pods Play is creating sensory pods and Bubbly Doo is creating personalised story books and accessories. Exploration of the Infant category, in partnership with Rainbow, also gives Acamar Films the opportunity to refresh its creative assets, which in turn will allow the company to pursue new deals in infant homewares and apparel that will complement the core pre-school offering.

“We’re genuinely so excited with the way Rainbow has hit the ground running and the fact it’s able to bring so much fresh thinking and innovation to the Infant & Toddler category,” enthuses Laura. “Our new partnership with Rainbow has given us all a boost of confidence and energy, and I can see that trickling down to our existing licensees, new licensees and retail partners. But, as important as our partners are, our connection with audiences is vital. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes regarding the distribution of Bing content, in the UK and beyond, and we’re incredibly excited to see how all of this comes together to enhance and reinvigorate the world of Bing.”

Anthony adds: “I can see the vision, now we just need to piece it together. We’re delighted to be announcing our partnership with Acamar Films. The longterm growth and expansion plans for Bing offer so much potential and it’s wonderful to be along for the ride. They say: ‘It’s a Bing thing’. And now I fully understand what that means.”