Toy News

PRODUCT SPEND (March '08)
Postion > Advertiser > Product > Spend Share

1. RC2 - TAKE ALONG THOMAS RACE SET (3.83%)
2. MATTEL - CUDDLE & COO DOLLS (2.90%)
3. CHARACTER OPTIONS - BOYS 1 (2.88%)
4. MATTEL - BARBIE MARIPOSA BUTTERFLY FAIRYS (2.73%)
5. HASBRO - NIGHT GARDEN IGGLEPIGGLE (2.69%)
6. MATTEL - BARBIE MARIPOSA DOLL (2.68%)
7. MATTEL - HOT WHEELS TORNADO TRACK (2.61%)
8. MATTEL - BARBIE MARIPOSA KARAOKE WING (2.52%)
9. MATTEL - POLLY POCKET PET MOBILE (2.47%)
10. MATTEL - HOT WHEELS TRICK TRACKS (2.46%)
11. FLAIR - GORMITI (2.21%)
12. MATTEL - POLLY POCKET SPARKLIN PETS (2.09%)
13. MATTEL - BARBIE TOTALLY HAIR DOLLS (2.06%)
14. HASBRO - NERF DART TAG (2.02%)
15. MATTEL - BARBIE TOFFEE DOG & PUPPIES (1.98%)
16. TOMY - CELLA (1.76%)
17. MATTEL - GIRL TECH PASSWORD JOURNAL (1.75%)
18. MATTEL - HOT WHEELS CRASHERS CROSS ROADS (1.69%)
19. MATTEL - POLLY POCKET GLITTER GARAGE (1.66%)
20. HASBRO - LITTLEST PET SHOP VIPs (1.60%)
21. HASBRO - MY LITTLE PONY PONYVILLE (1.56%)
22. HASBRO - STAR WARS (1.56%)
23. BANDAI - TAMAGOTCHI (1.51%)
24. MATTEL - BARBIE RC ROLLER GIRLS DOLL (1.46%)
25. HASBRO - COSMIC CATCH (1.46%)
26. FLAIR - STICKER SCRATCHERZ (1.44%)
27. VIVID IMAGINATIONS - I LOVE PONIES (1.43%)
28. VIVID IMAGINATIONS - ANIMAL HOSPITAL (1.42%)
29. MATTEL - BARBIE PRINCESS DOLLS (1.41%)
30. MATTEL - CARS LIGHTING STORM (1.40%)

The big two dominate again with 23 campaigns from each picked up by the Thomson monitoring system.

The early Easter brought many advertisers out of their new year slumber and saw campaign expenditure in March up on February by a factor of nearly six.

A strong mixture of girls’ brands such as Polly Pocket and the current Barbie Mariposa incarnation, along with several Hot Wheels’ executions saw Mattel cover its bases with gift-giving ideas for Easter.

Hasbro, meanwhile, is still pushing pre-school hard with its In The Night Garden Iggle Piggle and Spin and See, plus a Playskool range campaign. In the boys category, possibly hoping for a bit of Easter sunshine (rather than snow) the spend was behind its Nerf Dart Tag campaign, which is also being well supported by a road-show tour.

RC2’s Take Along Thomas Race Set saw the biggest spend on a single campaign, ahead of Mattel’s Cuddle and Coo dolls and Character’s ads for its boys’ product range, placing it in a rare position at the top of the product spend list. Always a big pre-school favourit, RC2 is displaying great confidence in the Thomas Race Set adding weight to the argument you need to push hardest when the market is at its slowest.

Flair continues to drive on with its Gormiti boys’ collectables ranges and it will be interesting to see how its recent purchase by Gormiti owner Giochi Preziosi affects its spend going forward. Hopefully, it will mean a more sustained presence and an increased number of TVRs across its range. Elsewhere it has put Shaker Maker, Cool Cardz, Aqua Beadz and Sylvanian Families Bakery on air.

As for next month’s figures, who knows what affect the recent retail meltdown will have on budgets? Trading conditions were already tough, which often results in more vigorous marketing effort, but now they have become entirely uncertain, and that usually sees budget-holders preferring to keep their powder dry and their money close. A problem for media owners as much as the market in general.

TOP SPEND BY ADVERTISER (March '08)

MATTEL
1. Cuddle and Coo Dolls
2. Barbie Mariposa Butterfly Fairy Friends
3. Barbie Mariposa Doll
4. Hot Wheels Tornado Track
5. Barbie Mariposa Karaoke Wing

HASBRO
1. ITNG Iggle Piggle
2. Nerf Dart Tag
3. Littlest Pet Shop VIPs
4. My Little Pony Ponyville
5. Star Wars

FLAIR
1. Gormiti
2. Sticker Scratcherz
3. Cool Cardz
4. Shaker Maker
5. Aqua Beads

VIVID
1. I Love Ponies
2. Animal Hospital
3. Doodle Daisy
4. Roary the Racing Car
5. Fifi and The Flowertots

SPEND BY ADVERTISER (March '08)
Position > Advertiser > Spend Share

1. Mattel – 38.67%
2. Hasbro – 25.32%
3. Flair – 9.35%
4. Vivid Imaginations – 8.64%
5. Character Options – 4.71%
6. Bandai – 4.34%
7. RC2 – 3.83%
8. Tomy – 2.73%
9. Zapf Creation – 1.40%
10. Drumond Park – 0.54%

STATION MARKET SHARE SPLIT (March '08)

Multi-channel – 46.25%
Five – 34.37%
GMTV – 16.94%
ITV – 2.43%

Figures supplied by Thompson Intermedia PLC