Nico Blauw is President and CEO of BOTI, Ltd., and BOTI Europe, BV. Nico has an impressive resume, having founded BOTI and serving as the CEO of Upper Deck International BV/Upper Deck Europe BV. He is an outspoken advocate for the toy industry.
In our company (BOTI) we have both a product development & manufacturing division as well as (3rd party) distribution business. When it comes to our own products we have the beautiful opportunity to offer our products to a global audience. For our distribution business, besides selling our own products we also supply 3rd party goods to the Benelux, German and French speaking market. Together these 3 markets cover a population of over 200 milionl people.
Both from a global and a domestic supply point view, we a have decent sense of what is going on in the consumer business. We provide and receive tons of data and market information from all over the place. I am not negative about the opportunities of the BOTI business and moreover the global toy industry. To my rather humble opinion there are tons of opportunities for our toy industry, if we would just open our eyes, have a little more self-reflection and respect for today’s consumer. The world has changed a lot in the past years, while our industry acts (in some cases) as if it is 2014 instead of 2024.
It is no secret the toy industry is having challenges. Now, our industry complains a little too much about the economy to my point of view. I do not believe it is ‘the economy’. That is an easy excuse. Sure, we cannot deny consumer buying power is shrinking, but at the same time an economic crisis tends to be good for toys sales, at least history tells us. No, I believe our industry has a responsibility to take a good look in the mirror prior to pointing the finger at the economy.
Today’s consumer is a global consumer thanks to the internet, streaming services and global communication tools. Remember the old days? Pokémon started in Japan in the 90’s and years later was introduced to the USA before arriving in Europe. In the days I was involved in the Yu-Gi-Oh! business, by the time we picked it up for North America and Europe, the show and merchandise was already on fire in Japan for a couple of years. Everything was depending on the broadcast of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Animation. For each country TV broadcast deals had to be closed before we have even had a chance of launching product. No TV in let’s say Italy, meant no opportunity to sell product in Italy. This is less than 20 years ago. How different the world is today.
Back to 2024: what sells well for BOTI Europe in Benelux, Germany and France? Merchandise related to videogames and influencers! This is our top 12 of best selling items (in random order) for Q1 2024:
- Our very own Doctor Squish-Squishy Maker (going in to year 3 and still growing, Doctor Squish is a popular social media influencer)
- Lankybox (influencers)
- Aphmau (influencers)
- Blox Fruits (online video game)
- Rainbow Friends (online video game)
- Pet Sim (online video game)
- TMNT (movie/animation/legacy brand)
- Pokémon (movie/animation/legacy brand)
- Poppy Play Time (onlien video game)
- Five Nights at Freddy’s (online video game/Movie/netflix)
- Stumble Guys (online video game)
- Sonic Prime (Netflix/video game)
And then we are yet to launch Alphabet Lore, Doors, One Piece, New Empire, Skibidi Toilet and few more.
Out of the top 12 brands, 9 relate to influencer and/or video game merchandise. In terms of weekly unit sales, we sell more Blox Fruits then Pokémon or TMNT. That is a statement, people! And we are very happy with our TMNT and Pokémon. Now eat that for lunch.
But here it comes…when we introduce(d) these new brands to the trade, the vast majority of toy buyers have no idea what we were talking about. That is kind of a concern if one has little to no understanding what a significant group of consumers are looking for, right? But at the same time, in defense of these buyers, it is not that easy either. It is all happening “behind the scenes”. There are no public announcements and little media coverage its all in the, and there we go, traditional media. This call for needs of business & market intelligence resources.
A little self-reflection: In all fairness till about 3 weeks ago, I had never heard of Skibidi Toilet. Yet in a period of 12 months this brand gained 41 billion (!) views. When this brand was presented to me, my first response was: ‘OMG! This is so absurd this cannot be serious. How do we explain this one to retail’? The first thing I always do is ask my kids in my family and of course they know it all. My 6 and 8 year old cousins are big fans and have asked me to reserve a 40ft container of Skibidi Toilet merchandise just for their personal use, so they can show off to all their friends at school.
It is very hard to keep track of this, let’s call it, “new toy economy”, yet all information is readily available online. How many players, where they come from and how long they play at any give time. Just google it. We are talking globally accessible content, allowing merchandise to hit globally at the same time. And equally nice with a very broad target group: kids, teenagers and adults. That is opportunity, people. With very little history, it is hard to get a grip on how big this category this, how long it will last and this obviously brings some risk to the table, but isn’t’ this what our business is about?
And that opportunity here is for brick & mortar retailers: most of these brands have sku’s selling in the 7,99-14,99 range. The price points online giants as Amazon don’t master very well. This means opportunity for mass market and specialty retail to bring more traffic to stores. Well, if it was only that easy…. the consumer looking for these type of brands seeks instant gratification…but most retail chains are like oil tankers…it takes them very long time to turn the corner. So while the opportunity is in front of them, many have to deal with internal processes, procedures and buying committees. By the time a decision is made, months of opportunities have been lost. In the meantime the winners are those retailers able to make quick decisions and putting much wanted newness on the shelf starting the first week of the year. For those retailers we can apply the 1+1 = 3 rule. Newness means more traffic, more traffic means opportunity for incremental sales and last but not least one wins consumers’ loyalty. It is no secret those retailers who are fast to market are the winners of today.
Obviously for quite a big group of merchants moving fast, acting against the status quo is an almost impossible task. Especially if toys are not a priority in the scheme of all business or it the category becomes simply to complex to manage. At the same time, some of the traditional big box toyco’s have a hard time dealing with the new consumer dynamics, adding just more concern for these merchants. Take a look at Tesco, who outsources its entire toy management to The Entertainer. That is writing on the wall.
So after years of dealing with growing impact of online platforms, discounters, supermarkets getting into toys, taking shares away from the specialists, perhaps now it is the moment for specialists to make a come back (but don’t wait to long).
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