Company Profile
One for Fun
Introducing One for Fun
Nearly four years after acquiring H. Grossman, Tobar has unveiled a major rebrand, complete with a name change and new logo, that will bring all its best-selling brands under one roof. Rachael Simpson-Jones spoke to David Mordecai, CEO of what is now One for Fun, about what the move means for the business, its past challenges and future opportunities. customers,” David explains. “So, we sat down and came up with a new name that we believe completely mirrors who we are and what we do as a company. We’ve also shut the Norwich office; Glasgow is our HQ now, that’s where our showroom is and all our products. All along, I’ve been saying we’re one company, and I’m pleased our name now reinforces that too.” That name, One for Fun, also tells customers what they can expect from its brands and products. It was no mean feat coming up with a name the company felt ticked all the right boxes: David tells me with a laugh that the rebrand would have been announced much (much) sooner had the team been able to narrow down its many ideas earlier in 2021. But all’s well that ends well, and One for Fun was chosen for its encapsulation of what the company offers. Having decided on a name, the strapline ‘The fun starts at one’ soon followed, as did a colour scheme and a corporate logo that would further enmesh all its brands - owned brands HGL, Ozbozz, Tobar and Kit for Kids, and distribution brands Maisto, Bburago and Zuru - under the new One for Fun banner. Keen to avoid the bold primary colours often used by the brands it sells or distributes, One for Fun has opted for teal, giving it a point of difference. The logo will appear on product packaging but won’t replace the logos of the brands being sold.
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It’s fair to say there’s been some trials and tribulations over the past four years, but now, with this name change, we feel we’ve taken a massive step in what we’ve wanted to achieve for a long time now,” says David. The change stems right back to the acquisition of H. Grossman in April 2018, a move bolstered by the purchase of educational company Kit for Kids in March the following year. The three companies had spent the past few years continuing to trade as individual entities, but with Martin Grossman, founder of H. Grossman, leaving the company in 2019, Tobar began to look in earnest at bringing
them all under one roof for the first time. The first big step towards achieving this was taken at the start of 2020, when the companies moved under the H. Grossman Ltd. trading name. But while the name is well known within the trade, David felt that it didn’t reflect what the company stood for or where it was going. “Ultimately, we had a name that didn’t represent us the way we want to be seen, brands that didn’t quite sell themselves the way they should, team members with completely different endings to their email addresses, two offices, one in Norwich, one in Glasgow – and added up, that created a lot of confusion for our
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“We’re now a company that sells brands,” says David, drilling down into why the name change and company overhaul has been so highly anticipated. “Everything is properly registered, and we have the domain name and website too. The landing page features all our brands, so again, it’s very clear what’s what and who’s who. We hope that going forward there will be much less head-scratching. I can’t tell you how nice it is for everyone to have the same ending to their email addresses.” The amount of time it took for the name change and rebrand to be finalised has ultimat ely proved to be fortuitous for One for Fun, bringing the big reveal right to the doorstep of London Toy Fair. The company will be exhibiting under its new name on stand E39, meaning existing and prospective customers alike will be able to drop by, say hello, and find out about the toys it offers. The plan had originally been to finalise the rebrand in time for Autumn Fair, but, as David notes, Toy Fair is a superior show at which
