In a few lines, here are figures from professional reports that help to better understand the state of the current toy market in France as well as the place and strategy of LEGO.
In the first eight months of 2012, the toy market in France declined by 4% in value and 8% in volume . While the action figure sector saw a significant drop in revenue compared to 2011, the construction toy market (including LEGO) grew by 18% over the same period.
In the Action Figures market , only the Spider-Man (+380% with the help of the film), Power Rangers (+696% thanks to the return of the license via Power Rangers Samurai), Pokemon (stable), Avengers and Batman licenses are holding their own.
Regarding the Friends range, LEGO has released some figures: The LEGO brand is considered unisex up to the age of 5 thanks to Duplo. After that age, only 14% of customers remain female. This is why LEGO flooded the media with advertising in 2012 to quickly generate awareness around this new range. LEGO believes that the potential of this range is at least equivalent to that of the City range for the 5-8 age group.
From January to June 2012, LEGO was among the top 10 advertisers in France with a budget of €4.856.000 (launch of the Friends range), ranking third behind the two giants Mattel (€9.858.000) and Hasbro (€7.179.000). MEGA Brands is not included in this ranking, but the press relations manager I met at NYCC 2012 confirmed that the group would have a greater presence in 2013 to promote its licensed properties (World of Warcraft, Halo, Skylanders, Power Rangers Samurai).
LEGO's advertising budget for the same period in 2011 amounted to €3.162.000, representing a 53.6% increase in 2012. By comparison, Playmobil invested €1.194.000 in 2012, reducing its budget by 7.1% compared to 2011.
TV advertising represents 82.8% of the total advertising investments made over the first six months of 2012, all brands combined. 11.1% of the sums were invested on the internet, and cinema, radio and the print media share the rest.
The biggest advertising investors in 2011 were Hasbro, Mattel and Giochi Preziosi (Gormiti).
No reliable information for the moment concerning the licenses for 2012, but as an example, know that in 2011 the Top 3 consisted of Beyblade, Cars and Hello Kitty.
In the ranking game of the most sold licenses on the toy market and carried by a film we find Cars (2011), Spider-Man (2007), Star Wars (2011), Toy Story (2010) and Ratatouille (2008).
Regarding distribution channels, a few figures: Between 2009 and 2011 the market share of supermarkets / hypermarkets increased by only 1%, where the pdm of specialized brands increased by 7%. The biggest increase is to the credit of online merchants with + 47% pdm in 3 years.
Regarding the sale of collectible products in sachets, it is a huge market: Products under 5 € represent 40% of the volumes sold in France thanks to a price adapted to the children's budget and to impulse purchases. By way of reference, the PetShop brand launched in France in 2005 has already offered more than 2000 different references with the success that we know. Enough to whet the appetite of LEGO, Playmobil or MEGA Brands with their figurines in sachets in this segment.
