Q&A - Zapf Creations

Rockabye, baby

Ellie Moore, sales director at Zapf Creation UK, tells Toy World all abouts the company’s latest launches as it prepares to celebrate Baby Annabell’s 25th anniversary.

Why do Zapf Creation’s doll brands resonate so much with today’s kids?

Baby Annabell and Baby born, both of which have decades-long legacies, maintain the No. 1 and No. 2 positions in the UK nurturing doll market, which is testament to their continued popularity amongst children.

Zapf Creation is a leader within the industry and our products are truly loved by children. Play patterns have remained the same throughout both brands’ histories, and both the Baby born and Baby Annabell dolls are designed to encourage nurturing role-play and build on children’s imaginations. Our Baby born 43cm Magic dolls and Baby Annabell 43cm dolls provide children with an array of lifelike features. The Baby born Magic 43cm dolls have 10 functions, from magic eyes that open and close to drinking and eating features. Similarly, the Baby Annabell 43cm dolls boast an array of functions such as crying tears and realistic mouth movements.

How do this year’s launches evolve the Baby Annabell and Baby born brands?

We have some exciting launches coming up this year, as Zapf Creation continues to build on its current portfolio in the toy market in line with current trends. We aim to maintain our leading presence in the nurturing UK doll market, whilst providing customers with products that offer even more options for role-play and support cognitive development.

Baby born is delving into the ever-growing plush space with the launch of Baby born’s new best friend, the Baby born Bear. Launching later this year, Baby born Bear offers children creative role-play and dual play experiences within the existing Baby born Magic doll range.

Baby Annabell introduces new products to the toy space, including a new Baby Annabell doll with more interactive features than ever before, and some new accessories. The new Baby Annabell Interactive dolls will retain all the most loved features from the last 25 years, but an innovative baby gym feature will bring more nurturing play to life. Baby Annabell’s 25th anniversary, meanwhile, will mark the celebration of the Baby Annabell brand and its successful evolution. We will continue to support retailers throughout this exciting period with PR and marketing campaigns, including influencer engagement, social media activity and TV.

At this year’s Toy Fairs, Zapf Creation showcased a new range of cute collectible dolls and accessories: Baby born Minis. What is the thinking behind this brand extension?

We want to continue to keep producing quality toys whilst staying on top of trends. When looking at data and analysing growing trends, we could see the mini category was one which would resonate well with our audience.

The Baby born Minis range is an extension of the much-loved Baby born brand, which is aimed at older children. We hope the new Minis range brings kids hours of fun to by allowing them to take their Baby born adventures anywhere they go. The range has been really well received at trade shows.

What info can you share on Zapf Creation’s ongoing sustainability commitments?

In January 2021 we made a commitment to care for children and the planet with the roll out of our plasticfree packaging initiative across both Baby born and Baby Annabell. As part of this pledge, we made the move to create packaging made wholly from plastic-free materials. We’ve even managed to maintain this pledge within the new collectible Baby born Minis range.

Since the start of our sustainability initiative, Zapf Creation has cut production of single-use plastic by over 65 tonnes. This year we have introduced new showbox packaging – unique packaging without the need for a traditional plastic window. The design of the box allows children to see and touch the doll before buying, offering a heightened buying experience for children and parents. However, it was important for the brand to be as sustainable as possible across all areas of production. Therefore, packaging sizes have also reduced, increasing efficiency and cutting down the environmental impact of transportation and storage of Zapf Creation products.

What advice do you have for retailers on ranging and advertising your doll brands in-store and on their websites?

We know that our customers love our dolls. It is important for retailers to stock products that truly resonate with children. To offer the full Baby born and Baby Annabell brand experience, retailers would benefit from ranging our varied assortment of accessories and clothing alongside the dolls.

Additionally, we recommend retailers stock our brands prominently on the shelves with the open box packaging displayed. This allows customers to get a real feel for the products they’re purchasing, whilst also being able to shop more sustainably.

Finally, product that enhances the child’s play experience is key to ensuring customers are satisfied. Baby Annabell provides children with a range of options which are ideal for nurturing routines such as bedtime routines with the Sweet Dreams collection, whilst Baby born is ideal for imaginative role play with fun products such as the Baby born Bath Time range.

Finally, what single new launch are you most excited about for this year?

That’s a tough question, given the amount of exciting brand extensions we’re launching. I’ll pick two: the Baby born Minis and Baby born Bear. Both are new sectors for us and mark a huge step forward for Zapf Creation as a brand.