Feature - Stationery & Art Supplies

Don’t write off Stationery!

School essentials need not be boring as more suppliers are introducing a playful element into their products – many ideal to range into toy outlets. Sam Giltrow finds out how the sector is being made more fun.

For many kids, filling a pencil case for a new school term school signals the return back into the classroom after a long summer of fun – something not always looked forward to. However, many stationery suppliers are incorporating a playful element into their product in a bid to make learning more enjoyable.

This change in emphasis – from functional to fun – also makes the category more appealing to toy retail stores and departments. And what’s more, bringing parents and their kids through the doors to stock up on stationery and other school-related supplies increases the chance of add-on purchases in areas such as collectibles, trading cards and other items that are destined for use in the playground.

Relative newcomer to the toy and stationery market, Haico, which launched at the start of the pandemic, has spent time identifying gaps in the market which it has utilised to launch its own IPs and ranges. One of them is the Kiwi brand, which will see a huge Back to School promotion when it launches with a major UK retailer on 1st August.

As commercial director Hayley Leacock explains, the range covers stationery, arts and crafts and homewares such as water bottles and lunch bags, all with a toyetic approach. “It’s an overarching brand: the acronym stands for ‘Kids in the World of Imagination’, which is why it’s applicable to all kinds of products,” she explains. “The demand for this type of stationery is bigger than ever. Kids love to have something to fidget with and play with when they are at school; it can make learning more fun.”

When the collection launches this summer, pupils will be able to get their hands on co-ordinating notebooks, stationery sets, pencil cases, erasers and pencils, backpacks, water bottles and lunch bags – everything a kid would need for school, some of which can be customised to make them more personal and easily identifiable in a busy classroom. “What is different about the range is that everything has a playful element, such as the notebooks which have shakers on them,” says Hayley. “My background is in toys, so I always find a way to add that into the product that we design.”

A new line that Haico is launching for this year is pens based on the on-trend BFF ‘best friends forever’ concept: two pens on a backing card that kids can tear off and share with their BFF. Hayley says that Haico has also gone quite ‘tween’ in its offering for this year with Leopard, Neon and Camo collections, but has maintained a playful element in these older ranges which includes items such as moulded highlighters with leopard heads. For younger children, dinosaurs and unicorns remain popular themes and Haico offers stationery ranges featuring both, with the unicorn range featuring charms and elements that double up as jewellery or bag charms, adding extra play value.

Also keeping schooldays fun is Blue Sky Studios, which has announced a new licensing deal with Paramount, covering multiple properties such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Nick ‘90s among many others. The deal spans multiple product categories for school including stationery, school bags, lunchware and hydration.

“I’ve never seen our design studio so busy, but also so excited, working through all the product development and style guides right now,” commercial director Gavin Holden told us. “ It’s buzzing with creativity and a fun place to be, seeing all the new SpongeBob concepts come to life.” He added that the studio’s 3D/resin printers are “on overdrive” at the moment. “Our commitment to this new deal, from a product development perspective, is significant,” he says. “There will be several new unique, tooled products coming through for each of the properties.”

Gavin says the initial response from retail has been “extremely encouraging”. “Even whilst being limited to very early product concepts, buyers have really engaged with the properties and have given very positive feedback. We especially see big momentum building around SpongeBob for 2023.” He adds that the depth and rich content of the Nick ‘90s properties is also a huge opportunity for Blue Sky, with ‘90s pop culture popularity surging. “We can see some fantastic capsule ranges emerging from those classic ‘90s cartoon shows,” he adds. “This new Paramount deal gives our property portfolio a significant boost going into 2023 and beyond.”

Stationery brand Stabilo brought in former Clementoni country manager Shahbaz Khan as market director UK & Ireland in April. “Since having Shahbaz join us earlier this year, we are looking to expand the sales of our pens, pencils and colouring instruments to different retail channels,” explains UK marketing director Vanya Hunter. “The toy sector is one that Shahbaz knows very well and one in which we hope to see strong growth.”

The company will continue to refresh its core lines (10 on-trend pastel shades have been added to its Stabilo Boss Original highlighter collection, now available in 23 colours) and will also be supporting retailers with its Easy range of handwriting pens and pencils with an online campaign to target kids, overlayed with a campaign to target parents on social media. Alongside this, POS displays are available to help products stand out in-store and there are opportunities for retailers to work with Stabilo on joint social media activities.

Over the following pages, we take a look at the stationery and colouring ranges kids could be taking back to school this September.