Kids spoilt with choice

Cartoon characters have been the mainstay of stationery and school-based products for a very long time. Right from the ageless Disney characters, children have had a fascination for these products as it continue to grow in the current times and times to come. However, Raghu Vishwanath, MD of Brand Advisory firm Vertebrand, provides an interesting glimpse by sharing that the trends are changing more in terms of what is being licensed today. “The fad is more to do with movie-based characters, not necessarily ‘cartoons’ but space-age inspired characters like Transformers and X-Men!”, he further adds. The main reasons cited for the trend are stated to be the viewing habits and exposure of children, which is also rapidly changing in a market like India.

This season’s offerings

We spoke with few industry insiders to grasp a better understanding of what is new in this season and also their understanding of this season’s trends. Prateek Maheshwari, Founder and MD of Brand Concepts Pvt Ltd, shares his view by giving an overall insight about the market having been gloomy. “No upsurge of consumer demand was seen by the industry despite the growth observed in organised retail. Influx of spurious products was highest so far that has definitely created adverse impact on the business of licensed school bags.”

Nehal Bhimjyani, Country Manager-Licensing, Mattel Toys India Pvt Ltd avers that the trend this season has been school bags with plus play features. Elaborating on the same, she commented, “Like for Hot Wheels (HW), we have introduced a bag with a play feature, by way of an inbuilt track lane which can be attached to an external Hot Wheels track to make a racing device for boys. Other new ranges are the value for money gift sets of lunch boxes and sippers.”

On the same line, Viacom too has a whole new range to offer this season, which is comprised of school bags (with more than 15 SKUs), notebooks, lunchboxes, water bottles and table-ware amongst others. There are more than 75 products in their back-to-school range. Sandeep Dahiya, SVP, Consumer Products and Communications, Viacom 18 Media Pvt Ltd informs, “This year we’ve expanded the product range by about 50 per cent through new products, new characters and new innovative features.” Whereas, well known stationery player, BILT, has in its kitty Barbie and Hot Wheels exercise books and drawing books as the latest trend for this back to school season. BILT has introduced Teen Barbie in Youth Series range as a new added feature.

Target audience and

price range

At Brand Concepts Pvt Ltd, while the price range has been the same, the product range was larger by almost 50 per cent.  For the first time Mattel has launched Barbie and Hot Wheels note books with BILT starting at Rs 5. “This has gained for us scale as well as penetration and has made Barbie reach critical mass, specially allowing many new consumers to touch the brand for the first time,” asserts Bhimjyani.

 The initiative at Mattel includes the introduction of more variation in design for Barbie instead of giving the consumer only colour options for the same design.

Selling the most

and response

While various products, ranging from Beyblades to cricket attack cards, are a rage today, conventional back-to-school products like pencil-boxes and tiffin-boxes are passe for today’s children! There’s a healthy growth trend being demonstrated in sale of associated accessories like school-bags / knapsacks, watches and specialised sports equipment like roller-skates, etc.

“BILT’s student stationery range has grown with the licensed category and a strong consumer connect is visible. For BILT, licensing is a strategic marketing tool to extend brand touch points, create awareness, have newer customers, reinforce brand’s image, and most importantly generate additional revenues,” avers Madhur Chopra, Head-Marketing, Retail and Office Supplies Stationery Business, BILT.

While at BILT, it is exercise notebooks that are selling the most, at Viacom, Dahiya points out that all the Nick character products in this category do exceptionally well, be it school bags or notebooks. “In the last 12 months alone, there have been more than 10 million Dora and SpongeBob notebooks that have been sold,” he further adds.

Bhimjyani shared, “Licensed stationery sells the most, in terms of sheer quantity, due to the nature of the product. It is fast consuming and kids need a large range. Consumers are spoilt with choice for stationery and it is fast growing.”

“Using licensed characters for school products is a surefire recipe for successful sales, especially given the huge peer-group pressure that most children are subjected to in schools today. In a way, it is another form of ‘celebrity endorsement’ or ‘buzz marketing’ being used as a promotional tool,” sums up Vishwanath.