Toy News

Favourite programmes (5-14s)

1. Eastenders
2. High School Musical
3. Hannah Montana
4. Coronation Street
5. Tracey Beaker
6. The Simpsons

Perhaps the gap in the market for an Eastenders dance mat or karaoke needs filling.  A great surprise to see anything coming ahead of the ubiquitous High School Musical or Hannah Montanaat the moment, but the comings and goings of a bunch of depressed cockneys has done it. It’s written by five to 14 year-olds of course, which helps.

Favourite pre-school programmes (0-4s)

1. Dora the Explorer
2. In the Night Garden
3. Fifi and the Flower Tots
4. Peppa Pig
5. Lazy Town
6. Teletubbies

Again, a surprise to see something more popular with this age group than Ragdoll/BBC’s ITNG, but the bi-lingual pre-school explorer and her friends do it. And interesting to see LazyTown listed; the appeal of the Stephanie character grabbing the girls’ vote.

Favourite cartoon/puppet characters (5-14s)

1. The Simpsons
2. SpongeBob Square Pants
3. Hannah Montana
4. Bratz
5. Tracy Beaker
6. Shrek

Not sure what Hannah Montana or Tracy Beaker are doing on this list, but smart
money would have been on The Simpsons figuring highly.  And Shrek, boosted by the third movie last year, gives notice of the property’s endurance.

Websites visited in last month (7-14s)

1. Google
2. Bebo
3. BBC Bitesize/ReviseWise
4. CBBC
5. YouTube
6. MySpace

This mirrors very closely the boys list we published in the April Boys Market Special. Nice to see the BBC sites in there and perhaps a surprise, given the female penchant for interaction and communication (or chatting) that there are not more networking sites up there. No MSN?

Pre-school Christmas items (0-4s)

1. Dolls and accessories
2. Clothes
3. Sweets/chocolate
4. Soft toys
5. DVDs/videos
6. Stationery/Arts and Crafts

A much more traditional picture of girls’ yuletide needs and wants. Not a pink Nintendo DS in sight.

Character-based toys (0-12s)

1. Dora the Explorer
2. Fifi and the Flowertots
3. Winnie the Pooh
4. In the Night Garden
5. Peppa Pig
6. Angelina Ballerina

A strong pre-school bias to these answers suggests that many girls move on quickly from character based toys. Or it’s because the licensing programmes are not as
extensive in the older age groups.

Favourite dolls (0-12s)

1. Bratz
2. Barbie
3. Disney Princess
4. Baby Annabel
5. Baby Born
6. High School Musical

The big two fashion dolls dominate here and Mattel’s Disney Princess is not far behind. Large doll favourites Baby Annabell and Baby Born from Zapf also figure and character dolls from High School Musicalreinforce the power of the Disney licence.

Toy shops (0-12s)

1. Argos
2. Woolworths
3. Toys R Us
4. Asda
5. Early Learning Centre
6. Tesco

Only two toy specialists on this list – ELC and TRU – and it’s a shame that a bonafide toy specialist doesn’t top the list. The two bulk toy stockists, Argos and Woolies win, ahead of TRU. No indies, of course.

Information is extracted from the continuous Carrick James Child Track (5-14 year olds) and Baby Track (0-4s) surveys., conducted using monthly face-to-face research across GB. For detailed results or inclusion of your own questions contact:

Carrick James Market Research, 6 Homer
Street, London W1H 4NT
0207 724 3836 carrick@cjmr.co.uk