Company Profile
Schleich
Schleich where stories begin Following an exceptionally strong 2021, Schleich has unveiled a major new global brand strategy aimed at paving the way for more imaginative play and an even stronger presence at retail. Toy World’s John Baulch and Rachael Simpson-Jones paid a visit to the company’s new UK head office to meet up with Schleich GmbH CEO Dirk Engehausen and managing director Udo Rother, Schleich UK’s country manager Thomas Randrup and marketing manager Paul Dearlove – plus a very special guest.
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n January 2022, Schleich announced that the company had enjoyed its best year in its entire 87-year history. In 2021, its turnover grew by 39% in both the US and France, and by 21% in the UK, while in its home market, Germany, Schleich recorded sales growth of 17%. This performance not only vindicated CEO Dirk Engehausen’s predictions for the period, it also continued into 2022, resulting in a very strong Q1. However, when speaking with him in May, Dirk noted that global markets were slowing and that he expects this year’s performance to be more on par with those of pre-pandemic years. However, given that 2021 marked Schleich’s eighth consecutive year of growth, this would still represent a significant achievement. Schleich GmbH MD Udo Rother believes that consumer preferences are changing once again, with shopping habits starting to swing away from eCommerce. Schleich benefits from strong retail listings across a range of channels and territories,
meaning this shift hasn’t impacted sales. And with Q3 and Q4 2022 set to be particularly strong for the business, thanks to a raft of new product launches and other major developments, Udo is optimistic that 2022 will yield significant further growth. Looking specifically at the UK & Ireland, Schleich UK has doubled its turnover during the past three years, despite the many challenges the toy market has faced (not all of which are yet resolved). March’s NPD YTD figures showed Schleich UK up +81% while the rest of the market was down -12%. Clearly, things are going well. You’d therefore be forgiven for wondering whether Schleich’s new, recently unveiled global brand strategy was truly necessary. As the old saying goes: ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. But Schleich has good reasons for the overhaul, and Dirk is adamant the second half of the year holds what he calls a once in a lifetime opportunity to elevate the brand to the next level. The most consumer-facing elements of the new
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brand strategy are a redesigned logo and packaging, and new visual language. The Schleich logo has been modernised and simplified, now emulating the shape of a thought cloud as a nod to the spirit of ‘What if?’, while the new tagline – ‘Where stories begin’ - is a short, memorable expression of the new brand essence. The logos of the six product lines have also been revised to appear fresher and more playful. The brand’s digital channels are also being modernised, including a relaunch of the Schleich website at a global level. Via new calls-to-action embedded throughout its brand elements, Schleich will invite fans worldwide to share their own stories inspired by playtime with its characters, using the hashtag #wherestoriesbegin on Instagram or Facebook. However, the Schleich team is keen that the new brand strategy isn’t watered down simply to the new logo, revised colour scheme or reinvented strapline: there’s a much higher purpose at play here. Since 2019,
