Playmobil - Rise up!

The cover star of this month’s issue, Dino Rise is Playmobil’s latest theme. A battlebased mashup of human heroes, daring dinosaurs and radical robots, the range offers figures, play sets and animated content that offers retailers a cohesive and exciting new offering for their customers. Rachael Simpson-Jones spoke to Jamie Dickinson, head of marketing at Playmobil, about the launch plans for Dino Rise, and what else the company has in store for this year.

Playmobil has entered 2021 ‘full of positivity’, Jamie tells me, having fared well during a challenging 12 months that left the company just as pleased with its own performance as that of the wider toy industry (which finished the year +5% up).

“We had a much better year than we’d anticipated, meaning we’re coming into 2021 in a strong position,” Jamie explains. “We’re hoping for more of the same; continued high demand from consumers for toys, and innovative, adaptive sales tactics from retailers. I’m also hoping that we come out of all these lockdowns with a little more breathing room, which will allow physical stores to go back to doing what they do best - selling toys – armed with all the new skills they’ve embraced over the past year. We’ve got lots of exciting new launches coming through, as you would expect from Playmobil, some of which is brand spanking new, and some of which joins existing brands and themes as refreshes or extensions.”

The biggest new launch this year, and a decidedly different take on the evergreen dinosaur play theme, Dino Rise offers kids a new battling experience with good versus evil at its heart. The diverse and representative group of largely teenage characters – Ian (the leader) Kaidan, Jaden, Samu, Ayla and Matt (plus Uncle Rob) - work together with their dinosaur mounts, which include a Pteranodon, T-Rex, Spinosaurus, Saichania, Triceratops and Deinonychus, using friendship, teamwork and courage to overcome the challenges that stand in their way – the evil robot fighting machines from the Comet Corporation.

“We know that dinosaurs are loved by kids, and always have been,” says Jamie. “Dino Rise not only adds to existing dinosaur toy ranges, and all the fun they offer (including how to pronounce their names), but also introduces the unique element of humans and dinosaurs teaming up to take on the bad guys, who are piloting robots in

an effort to steal the energy crystal. Safe to say, our human and dinosaur heroes aren’t having any of that, and are ready to save the day.”

The launch range comprises seven SKUs, with price points ranging from pocket money to £69.99 play sets, offering accessibility for a range of budgets and gifting occasions. All sets come complete with at least one character as well as a posable dinosaur and battling accessories; the bigger the set, the more play possibilities are on offer. The 84-piece T-Rex: Battle of the Giants set, the largest one in the launch range, includes the fearless Ian and his mighty T-Rex, both with removable armour plus weapons including cannons and a barrel catapult, a bad guy and robot fighting machine, and much more. Like all Playmobil offerings, all sets are compatible with one another, which will encourage kids to collect all the characters and their respective dinosaur buddies.

As readers will know, Playmobil’s in-store display options are hugely impressive, and the assets available for the Dino Rise May launch will be no different. Retailers can opt for a bay with a 2D background display showing Ian and his T-Rex, plus the other characters. Bold window displays will attract the attention of passers-by on the street, and FSDUs come complete with dinosaur footprints for the shop floor, that lead consumers from the entrance right to the Dino Rise display. Keen to also support online retailers, and mindful of the high-street uncertainty still presented by Covid, Playmobil has also created Dino Rise banners, videos and imagery to capture consumers in other channels besides bricks & mortar. Strong TV campaigns will run throughout the year from launch on pre-roll and digital channels, in addition to press advertising (trade and consumer), and a PR push with bloggers and influencers. With the full support of the German Playmobil team behind it, it’s likely we’ll see even more activations and campaigns supporting Dino Rise; ideas from retailers are being actively welcomed, and support will be provided to any that want to run competitions or social media contests.

An animated Dino Rise series is also on its way to YouTube and YouTube Kids, with seven 7-minute episodes detailing the arrival of the dinosaurs, how the team works together, and its battles with the robots. Shorts from the series will also be available for in-store display on screens, boosting awareness of the brand and the excitement it offers even further by showing kids the dinosaur/robot fun the episodes demonstrate.

“The animation side of things came about a few years ago, when we started producing one-off shorts for themes such as Egyptians or Pirates, and then moved onto the likes of Ghostbusters,” Jamie tells me. “Playmobil figures lend themselves really well to animated content as they’re true to life and in human form, and the animations produced both in-house and via our agencies are incredibly high quality. Watch one, and you can immediately see how they really bring the toys to life. There’s a real benefit to creating animated content; it’s not cheap to make, but it looks wonderful once it’s finished and the fans love it. Novelmore, for example, started out in an episode format and has gone on to form a franchise that follows the characters and that good versus evil theme. You’ll probably see more of this as Playmobil continues to launch new ranges. Children are consuming digital content in a very different way nowadays, living so much of their lives online, so it’s becoming more and more important to deliver a fully fleshed out backstory, with themes, content, characters and plots for them to enjoy, which ties into our physical product.”

Autumn/winter will see the arrival of a new Dino Rise play set, a hero £100+ offering that will bring both the good guys and the bad guys together to duke it out in Dino Rock, a focal location within the animated series. Packed with additional features to discover, this big-box play set, which will surely be finding itself under many a tree this Christmas, will let kids retell the adventures they’ve seen on YouTube or create their own from the comfort of their own homes.

Away from Dino Rise, Playmobil is also bringing through numerous other new ranges and theme extensions for this year. Adventure Zoo hit shelves in February, marking one of the company’s biggest launches this year. Animals have long been one of the most popular aspects of Playmobil’s range, and Jamie is confident that with summer ahead, lockdowns (hopefully) lifting and zoos once more bringing in throngs of visitors, this modular assortment will be a bestseller. The Police theme, which sits within the City Action range, has also been expanded with new cars and a police station set, plus mission packs that let kids enact crime fighting scenarios such as on- and off-road car chases, bike pursuits, helicopter searches and prison breaks. There’s even a police robot ready to capture wrongdoers in the act. A new Beach Hotel is also on its way, as well as a Princess range that includes a huge new castle, while Novelmore sees the introduction of new kingdoms and realms, and with them new stories and characters. On the licensing side, Back to the Future and Scooby-Doo fans can look forward to new toys too. Both ranges launched in 2020 to hugely positive receptions and demand for product remains high, particularly as classic films such as Back to the Future have enjoyed something of a resurgence in popularity while new movie releases have been disrupted by the pandemic. And speaking of classics, toy vehicles produced in partnership with the German carmaker VW, the iconic Campervan and Beetle, were also unveiled in January, immediately striking a chord with parents who knew and loved the originals in their real-life forms. The introduction of these items has opened up the kidult market to Playmobil like never before, and their success could herald similar partnerships in the future.

“One of the most exciting things for us this year is our 1.2.3 range, which celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2021,” Jamie enthuses. “This is a fantastic entry into the world of Playmobil for kids aged 18+ months, but it’s a range we’ve never made full use of as it’s been an ongoing challenge to situate it in the right area in-store, with good visibility. We’ve got a brand-new relaunch happening this year that we think gets right to the bottom of why parents should buy Playmobil1.2.3, highlighting the developmental benefits of the range and what it offers younger children in terms of play and learning. Core messages are tailored to the parents, as obviously it’s them choosing and buying the toys, not their toddlers, and those messages will tell the story of the range in a way that feels totally fresh.”

Looking towards the rest of this year, Jamie is optimistic that Brits will be in a celebratory mood once lockdown is lifted, and is hopeful that this will translate into toy sales as parents reward their kids for coping with a uniquely challenging set of circumstances. Jamie has two children, one of which is of school age; he tells me that they miss their friends and would much rather be running towards the school gates than sitting down in front of a screen for another day of remote learning. He also thinks there will still be restrictions around going abroad, while a lot of people may be wary of taking a foreign holiday even when it becomes an option. This, he says, will be a boost to toy retailers in coastal regions, as holidaymakers take breaks in the UK, even if just for a couple of days. He adds: “I think parents will be wanting to treat their kids to toys and games for being so good about everything, to make up for missing their school friends, and to make holidays in the UK even more fun. We’re in a good place as a nation, and there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”

Jamie finishes: “We’re keen to support all our retail partners as best we can, as we want everyone to have a successful year. We’re here, we’re listening, and we wish all our retailers and consumers the very best for the year ahead.”