Feature - Pre-Christmas Marketing Campaigns

Multiple marketing choices equals multiple opportunities

To the average Joe, the idea of discussing the C-word (Christmas) seems outrageous at this time of year, but as we in the toy industry know, the cogs of that festive machine are already turning, and major advertising campaigns will soon be kicking off across screens both big and small. Toy World – with more than a little help from its friends at SuperAwesome, KidsKnowBest, Generation Media and Havas Entertainment – looks at how the marketing space continues to evolve and how toy companies can ensure they’re continuing to reach kids where they watch and play.

According to Rob Lough, chief brand officer/ co-founder at KidsKnowBest, the discussion surrounding digital vs. social vs. TV is over. The advertising industry, he says, has adapted to the fragmentation that once had so many second guessing, and though the space remains complex, it has matured in recent years: there hasn’t been a breakout platform like TikTok or Roblox in the last 12 months, though the likes of BeReal and Threads have tried.

Be that as it may, the fragmentation that exists, the ongoing decline in linear TV (one of our experts suggests it will account for less than 30% of toy brand spending in Q4 2023) and increased scrutiny on metrics such as Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) and advertising effectiveness mean getting on kids' wish lists is arguably more challenging, yet more crucial, than ever before. Charlie Brownless, head of Toys and Entertainment at SuperAwesome, says he’s seeing toy brands react to this by taking fewer, bigger bets. Smaller properties are having to rely more heavily on organic coverage, with more emphasis being placed on big IPs to drive toy companies’ bottom lines.

When asked what changes he’s seeing in the space, Jonathan Chambers, director of Investment at Generation Media, says it’s noteworthy that no one has mentioned the word ‘metaverse’ in the past 12 months. “This indicates that brands have decided not to jump into the metaverse en masse, like we saw them do with the explosion of influencers a few years back. Instead, they’re choosing to continue the developing effective gaming strategies used in the market for several years now. We expect gaming to continue its growth trajectory, and - dependent on target audience - rival the likes of linear and connected TV for budget.”

Jon also says this year’s buzzword is AI, something that’s becoming ever more prevalent in the media landscape. Gen Media has been using AI for the past three years to inform its suite of planning and buying tools, Optimus AI, and the solutions it offers are becoming more and more sophisticated. He adds: “From content curation and discovery on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, through to content creation, its influence is increasingly apparent. In fact, our next development in Optimus AI is Optimus Create, taking advantage of AI to simplify the creative process from rapidly re-speccing ads for the multitudes of formats we now employ, through to adjusting the colour of creatives based on performance.”

So is it possible, as things stand, to identify the most effective platform for toy and game companies looking to reach kids? It’s not that simple. Companies are opting for blended campaigns that span multiple media platforms, driving audiences along multiple paths to purchase. Some platforms are particularly efficient when it comes to certain elements of marketing, however: it all depends on what you’re trying to achieve. Jon Chambers says YouTube still offers one of the cheapest ways to reach children with video assets in a COPPA and GDPR-K compliant manner (he feels TikTok still has some safeguarding work to do) when managed by premium publisher partners (eg: BBC Studios), brand safety tech partners, or Data Management Platforms such as Gen Media’s Optimus Buy platform. Linear TV might be on its knees, but over 60% of YouTube views the agency manages appear on TV sets, helping to improve consideration and purchase intent.

Tristan Brooks, managing partner at Azure, Havas Entertainment, says YouTube has replaced kids TV for maximising reach, being a great platform for driving awareness and product. That said, the likes of gaming apps and digital platforms can be more effective at engagement. The power of both approaches is reflected in Moose Toys’ strategy for Q4 2023, as Maddi Tiscoe, marketing manager UK, explains.

“Whilst remaining flexible with our marketing is as important as ever as we enter into a Q4 period, several factors have remained on a similar trajectory this year,” she says. “The impact of pure children’s TV has continued to decline, with YouTube still of central importance as the most popular commercial platform for kids. We have significantly upweighted our digital-first approach, especially to audiences over five years old, and gaming has become a key - if not the key - touchpoint for reaching kids. Immersion and entertainment opportunities IRL and in a digital space are key to grabbing attention, and for quite a few of our brands and products, co-viewing and parent targeted advertising remains a key part of our planning.”

Moose has been working with SuperAwesome on its campaigns, and Charlie is pleased with the results of the partnership. When asked for an example of a standout campaign from this year, he says Moose has been doing some really interesting things with its Magic Mixies brand and that it’s been incredible to see the brand continue its meteoric rise. He adds: “I am a big fan of great storytelling, and Magic Mixies is a fantastic example of utilising both episodic content and digital innovation to tell a compelling narrative. I can’t wait to see how its entry into the Doll category goes this year.”

f course, it’s hard to talk about successful marketing campaigns without mentioning a certain pink-loving doll – and indeed, all our experts tip their hats to the Mattel team on its remarkable marketing execution for the Barbie movie and wider brand. Tristan Brooks says: “When fun, crazy, innovative pink ideas are coherently stitched together and executed so expertly across paid and earned media, it’s a delight to behold and genuinely mind blowing considering the effort and co-ordination required to deliver such quality at scale. Our latest figures show a 60% YOY surge in brand revenue on Amazon, so it’s obviously been effective for selling stock. Oh, and a $150m budget helps!”

Our experts were also keen to highlight other companies getting it right on much smaller budgets (even if there is a certain element of client-bias). Rob Lough tells us that what Darran Garnham and his team at Toikido are building with Smashlings is exciting from a brand perspective: the company puts an emphasis on understanding where its audience is and how to engage with kids authentically on each platform. “There will always be an element of luck involved when trying to build a mainstream IP, but Smashlings is ticking all the right boxes with its rollout strategy,” he adds.

Bandai UK is focusing its Q4 marketing efforts on digital, social media, cinema and out-of-home activations, as well as PR events to secure Christmas press coverage. This is step change from years gone by, according to Kirsty Mackenzie, head of Marketing at Bandai UK. Previously, the majority of the company’s spend was targeted towards linear TV advertising, but has moved away, in favour of digital platforms, as parents and kids do likewise. Kirsty adds: “We have had several new brands launching this season and so our campaigns will look to amplify the activity we have run during the summer and back to school period. Pinky Promise, Dragon Ball, Shashibo, Sonic Prime and Miraculous will all have campaigns running on VOD, TikTok, YouTube and in-app gaming. We’ve made sure we have engaging content available across all our key brands to keep consumers engaged over the period. Tamagotchi will benefit from a season-long cinema campaign, in addition to an exciting out-of-home experience planned for October. We hope that all this great activity will result in excellent Christmas sales.”

Gen Media, meanwhile, recently partnered with Asmodee on its portfolio of board games (Dobble in particular) across multiple touchpoints. The tentpole for this campaign was a partnership with Absolute Radio’s Bush & Richie – largely due to the former’s love of board games - which comprised on-air promos as well as social media coverage, including an emulation of Ticket To Ride by the hosts. The partnership culminated in a hosted event, Bush and Richie’s Board Game bonanza, while other activity included wrapping the teacups at Thorpe Park to turn it into the Dobble Tea Party Family Ride.

Looking over these various campaigns, you can’t help but wonder how on earth marketers actually manage to put together plans. There are numerous ways to market to consumers now – TikTok, Roblox, YouTube, VOD, linear TV, gaming, Instagram, Facebook, radio, cinema, the list goes on – and SuperAwesome’s Charlie says this increased level of choice and audience fragmentation is undoubtedly causing headaches for traditional TV buyers. While he does note that choice brings with it the opportunity to learn, optimise, innovate and iterate, he also asks: “When planning is not just about managing multiple channels, but even multiple ad formats within each channel (take digital as an example), where do brands even start? Understanding what's moving the needle and then optimising against that data is really where brands will win.”

One of the biggest challenges for toy brands is measurement and attribution, so SuperAwesome has invested heavily in a suite of new and improved performance-led tools to help its partner brands understand the landscape. For example, the company has enlisted a set of new measurement solutions and ROI partners to help it understand what's working and driving ROI. SuperAwesome then uses this information to inform its set of recommendations and optimisations to help eliminate wastage, means it’s constantly learning across all its campaigns.

Wastage is also a key consideration for KidsKnowBest, which advises companies to invest upfront in understanding their audiences. Platform fragmentation and dual audience advertising can lead to a lot of budget wasted on the wrong strategy, if companies lack this crucial insight: who the audience is, where they are, and how to reach them compliantly. After that, Rob says, it’s simply a case of building a strategy to engage with that audience consistently and authentically. “Getting that media mix playbook right for your IPs is something you can rinse and repeat across numerous brands,” he says.

Tristan at Havas agrees that gaining audience insight is one of the best ways to cut through the noise, and that getting this right early on should guarantee success. “Approach your audience first - establish who they are and what makes them tick, from category behaviours to media engagement and attention across the path to purchase,” he explains. “Think about what makes your product unique and what they’ll engage with most. By taking the time to do this everything else should fall into place. There’s a lot of noise out there, so think about how to gain attention, from the media you use to the messaging and experience of the advertising itself. Combining media placement with the right message at the right time for the right audience maximises the impact of campaigns – but this sounds easier than it actually is. We can’t think of media independently of the creative message. The two need to work in harmony and feel native and engaging on the platforms that creative is delivered.”

Clearly, there’s no one better than our experts to offer top tips to toy companies on how to navigate the world of marketing in the months ahead. So, that’s exactly what we asked them to do, and as usual, all were generous in sharing their knowledge with Toy World and its readers.

Charlie at SuperAwesome says companies need to focus on creating meaningful and immersive digital experiences, and to combine these with the tried and tested video placements. This, he explains, is where they’ll ultimately find success in driving ROI and brand recall. He also highlights the importance of clarity when it comes to brand goals: this allows media partners to set up campaigns that will deliver a specific outcome. SuperAwesome, for example, may focus on awareness, recall or intent to purchase as the key drivers of success, even if the solutions for achieving each objective differ. SuperAwesome has seen exciting new opportunities arise in the form of gaming and social but urges caution - as with any rapidly expanding industry, it's still easy to get it wrong. Charlie says toy companies should zero in on their goals, evaluate all the options to find the right tactics for success, and properly vet their partners for brand safety and compliance. SuperAwesome’s engagement tools are both kid- and brand-safe, as well as effective in all the most popular digital environments that target audiences spend time in.

Rob Lough brings maths into the equation. KidsKnowBest is in the business of building the brands of the future, so his top tips focus on long-term IP growth. “I'm a huge believer in two rules - the 60:40 rule and 50:30:20 rule,” he tells us. “The 60:40 rule is a pretty simple framework which can be tweaked depending on the audience. This methodology, which was devised by Les Binet and Peter Field, shows that the most effective advertising is split 60:40 between brand building and conversion. But in our space, we have an additional layer which means we need to be splitting this between users and gatekeepers (kids and parents). This is where consumer research becomes so important again.”

“The 50:30:20 rule means 50% of your budget goes towards proven tactics that have worked for you in the past,” he goes on to add. “30% is put on calculated risk plans and - this is the fun part - 20% goes towards experimentation on new platforms, new territories, new messaging and so on, which might either completely fail or really pay off. Over time, your calculated risks should become proven tactics, and your experimentals become calculated risks. This 20% pot is important as it allows for fast decision making: for every TikTok in 2019, there’s a Clubhouse in 2021. You shouldn’t see these as failures though. Not only are you investing small money that could have a big payoff, but you’re also learning and eliminating the bigger future risks as you go.”

Havas Entertainment’s Tristan Brooks adopts a similar approach, noting that in an ever-evolving, digitally driven media landscape, the need to learn through testing is of paramount importance. His advice is to place a slightly more modest budget bet, perhaps 5% to 10%, on something untried and untested. Companies should set up a way of measuring their chosen gamble’s performance so they’re always moving forwards.

We give the final word to Jon Chambers at Gen Media. He’s got three top tips: embrace opportunity, embrace connectivity and embrace creativity in tech. “Media always has, and always will, fragment and divide attention,” he says on his first point. “Rather than see this as a challenge, realish the opportunities it provides to seek out solutions which are able to meet potentially very specific objectives. Embracing connectivity means using the rich sources of data now available to tie media channels together and make them more accountable. For example, using location data to identify when a parent has been in cinema to see a family film, then retargeting them on mobile and digital OOH with sequential messaging. And when it comes to embracing creativity in tech, AI will provide brands with the opportunity to create and manage creative assets at scale more effectively than ever before. Use this to your advantage to optimise performance and drive better results at retail.”

Over the coming pages, we take a look at the Q4 marketing campaigns in place in support a raft of major toy ranges this year, as the countdown to Christmas gathers speed.