2023-09-03 08:32:39
In a sector deeply dominated by fads, there are five toy brands with between 50 and 100 years of history that have not left the ‘top 10’ for years. At the very least, they have practically led since 2015 a list drawn up by the British consultancy Brand Finance to assess which toy brands have more or less value in the eyes of the market. The ranking also works as a thermometer to know which are the kings on the store shelves, because, as stated by the professor at EAE Business School marketing expert Eduardo Irastorza, there is a clear parallel between the best value and best selling toy brands. So, although the to-and-fros are obvious once you get past the top ten positions on this list, the dominance is clearly for the ‘old school’.
The undisputed leader is Lego, which has remained in first place in the series since 2015, the subject of the study. Then, the second and third positions were occupied by him Fisher-Price (known for its baby toys) and Barbiewhich continue in this ‘top 5’ even though one position below due to the irruption of Bandai Namco the 2017.
That year, the brand value of this Japanese company responsible for the Tamagotchis and much of the universe Dragon Ball it multiplied sevenfold (from 136 million dollars to more than 1,000), and jumped from fourteenth to the second position that it has held ever since. The reason? Have started using the Bandai Namco formula – adopted when the two companies merged in the early 2000s – facing the public, not only in corporate and internal courses.
The fifth position was and remains for the Nerf water and dart guns. And the seventh for Hasbrowhich completes the group of those that have been in the top 10 for eight years, although 2023 will be the one that closes it.
“The value of the brand is fundamental, because children are tremendously Marxist: if you have an architecture but it’s not Lego, it’s not the same», exemplifies Irastorza. “You can have a not very recognized brand for a while and survive, but in the end you need to be in the list of 7», points out this professor with reference to a theory that states that, except in sectors that we have a lot of control over, the brain can only spontaneously remember 7 brands from each category.
However, the continued success of these toys is not just about that. “The key is the ability to reinvent oneself and respond to two unavoidable factors: the technology and the modes, which go at an increasingly dizzying speed”, completes this expert. The example of Lego is again paradigmatic: it started as a traditional toy, but immediately understood that it needed a dimension in images, movies i video games and add to fads by launching, for example, series inspired by Harry Potter in a Star Wars.
Finally, it also influences the ability to maintain your audience over the years. “Toy brands are perpetuated over time also to the extent that they obtain the loyalty of children who become teenagers and adults: hi ha Lego Star Wars collectors 30 or 40 years old and Barbie collectors amb 70”, concludes Irastorza.
The effect of the modes
In any case, the Brand Finance ranking is also a sample of how much fashion weighs in this industry. According to the consultancy’s data, this is being the year of Hot Wheels, Pop (that of Funkos), Dragon Ballthe maps of Magic: The Gathering i Hasbrowhich are the names that occupy the sixth to the tenth position on the 2023 list, while just eight years ago, it was Playschool, Mobile Suit Gundamhe Monopoly and the Power Rangers which were in this second half of the Top 10 and have now disappeared. These last dolls, in fact, do not even appear in the general list.
It also appears in this list of the 25 toy brands to which the most market value is attributed My Little Pony, which, judging by the graph’s curve, rose like foam between 2017 and 2019, only to fall to thirteenth place this year. For their part, the Transformers they don’t stop oscillating: they started at number 19 and are now at 18, but have gone up to 13 in 2019, and down to 20 just two years later.
Hello Kitty it appears this year on the list when it had not been on any of the previous eight; the disney princesses, the same, with the exception of a one-off appearance in 2017; and the Monster Highwhich reached the top ten, disappeared in 2019.
Another curious case is that ofStar Warswhich enters this competition for the first time this year at number 15 and which also happens to lead the list with which Brand Finance measures brand strength (a metric that crosses the investment in marketingwith thebalance of stakeholders and the business behavior). “The brand has benefited from a large number of successful films and series in recent years, which has resulted in a strong brand value in the eyes of the consumer together with highly prestigious toys”, concludes the consultancy.
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