• Tech News
    • Games
    • Pc & Laptop
    • Mobile Tech
    • Ar & Vr
    • Security
  • Startup
    • Fintech
  • Reviews
  • How To
What's Hot

Elementor #32036

January 24, 2025

The Redmi Note 13 is a bigger downgrade compared to the 5G model than you might think

April 18, 2024

Xiaomi Redmi Watch 4 is a budget smartwatch with a premium look and feel

April 16, 2024
Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest VKontakte
Behind The ScreenBehind The Screen
  • Tech News
    1. Games
    2. Pc & Laptop
    3. Mobile Tech
    4. Ar & Vr
    5. Security
    6. View All

    Bring Elden Ring to the table with the upcoming board game adaptation

    September 19, 2022

    ONI: Road to be the Mightiest Oni reveals its opening movie

    September 19, 2022

    GTA 6 images and footage allegedly leak

    September 19, 2022

    Wild west adventure Card Cowboy turns cards into weird and silly stories

    September 18, 2022

    7 Reasons Why You Should Study PHP Programming Language

    October 19, 2022

    Logitech MX Master 3S and MX Keys Combo for Business Gen 2 Review

    October 9, 2022

    Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen10 Review

    September 18, 2022

    Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Chromebook, 16-inch+120Hz

    September 3, 2022

    It’s 2023 and Spotify Still Can’t Say When AirPlay 2 Support Will Arrive

    April 4, 2023

    YouTube adds very convenient iPhone homescreen widgets

    October 15, 2022

    Google finishes iOS 16 Lock Screen widgets rollout w/ Maps

    October 14, 2022

    Is Apple actually turning iMessage into AIM or is this sketchy redesign rumor for laughs?

    October 14, 2022

    MeetKai launches AI-powered metaverse, starting with a billboard in Times Square

    August 10, 2022

    The DeanBeat: RP1 simulates putting 4,000 people together in a single metaverse plaza

    August 10, 2022

    Improving the customer experience with virtual and augmented reality

    August 10, 2022

    Why the metaverse won’t fall to Clubhouse’s fate

    August 10, 2022

    How Apple privacy changes have forced social media marketing to evolve

    October 16, 2022

    Microsoft Patch Tuesday October Fixed 85 Vulnerabilities – Latest Hacking News

    October 16, 2022

    Decentralization and KYC compliance: Critical concepts in sovereign policy

    October 15, 2022

    What Thoma Bravo’s latest acquisition reveals about identity management

    October 14, 2022

    What is a Service Robot? The vision of an intelligent service application is possible.

    November 7, 2022

    Tom Brady just chucked another Microsoft Surface tablet

    September 18, 2022

    The best AIO coolers for your PC in 2022

    September 18, 2022

    YC’s Michael Seibel clarifies some misconceptions about the accelerator • DailyTech

    September 18, 2022
  • Startup
    • Fintech
  • Reviews
  • How To
Behind The ScreenBehind The Screen
Home»Startup»The Startup Building A Global Business In The Branded Toys Sector
Startup

The Startup Building A Global Business In The Branded Toys Sector

January 17, 2023No Comments5 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
The Startup Building A Global Business In The Branded Toys Sector
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

Darran Garnham, CEO of Toikido

Toikido

If you have children – or indeed if your memory stretches back to your own childhood days – then you’re probably aware of the symbiotic relationship between the entertainment industry and the toy manufacturing sector.

Pick just about any major film, TV series or game that appeals to children or young adults and the chances are that branded toys will be available in retail outlets worldwide.

This is lucrative territory for the world’s big toy brands – the likes of Lego, Hasbro and Mattel – and is also good for entertainment producers. Estimates vary but according to Grandview Research, the global toy market was worth $291 billion in 2021, rising to $308 billion the following year. Branded toys are an important component of the overall total.

Those are figures that ought to whet the appetites of entrepreneurs and investors alike. There is, after all, nothing more attractive than a large market. But there is another question to consider. Is the branded toy market open to disruption in any way? Is there a space for entrepreneurs to step in, do things differently and ultimately carve out their own niche?

Darran Garnham is CEO of Toikido, a two-year-old British company that creates toys for entertainment industry brands. As things stand, it is selling into 100 markets around the world through 70,000 or so points of sale.

When I spoke to Garnham, I was keen to ask him about the realities of being a young business competing with well-established toy manufacturers while also having to negotiate with entertainment companies about rendering their two-dimensional assets into three-dimensional products.

A Track Record

As Garnham acknowledges, breaking into the branded toy space is a lot easier if you already have an industry track record. “Prior to starting the company, I worked in retail, entertainment and toys. I ran the Universal Studios brand team,” he says.

So why leave a high-profile and presumably well-remunerated job?

Well, as with so many modern entrepreneurial stories, the pandemic was the catalyst. That was partly because Garnham began to reassess his own priorities, asking himself if he wanted to remain in a job that required a lot of travel away from home and family. But there was a more practical reason. “Big companies were responding to the crisis through furlough schemes and job restructuring. It was a good time to be assembling a team,” he says.

All well and good, but how does a nascent business begin to make a dent in a long-established market? Garnham says his approach was to offer something different to potential partners.

In practical terms, taking a toy concept from design to retail outlet typically takes around 18 months, he says. That’s probably not surprising given the number of balls that have to be juggled. The studios who own the intellectual property have to plan their own campaigns. On top of that, toy deals have to be negotiated and design and manufacturing time have to be factored in.

“We set out to streamline that process,” Garnham says. “And we run Toikido like a tech company.”

So a lot of internal processes have been accelerated, with meeting times kept to a minimum and decisions made quickly. But that leaves the other side of the equation. To reduce time to market by 6-8 months, the IP owners also have to move quickly. Perhaps more quickly than normal. Is that a problem?

More Speed

Garnham says entertainment companies are themselves looking for more speed. He cites a project for Netflix based on a show called Back to the Outback. “They chose us because we were the only ones who could deliver in four months,” he says.

To date, Toikida’s list of media partners includes the aforementioned Netflix, Apple, Roblox and Skydance Animation.

In addition to developing toys with partners, the company is also about to market assets based on its own IP in the shape of Pinata Smashlings, in partnership with PMI and Character Options.

So how has all this been financed? Garnham says he initially sold shares in Calm, a company he invested in. Since then, the business has attracted investment from Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of U.S,-based media agency, Vaynermedia. The relationship was about more than investment. “We did a project with Gary which saw us putting product into every Macy store in America using his brand,” says Garnham.

All of which sounds ambitious for a business with a small team. The key to getting things done has been relationships with three manufacturing partners and a network of distributors. Again, a background in the industry helped Garnham and his team establish those relationships. Last year sales came in at £60 million, delivering a £4 million profit.

And Garnham sees room to grow. “We would like to be a 200-300 million dollar business by 2025,” he says.

The toy industry is both huge but also – at least in terms of entrepreneur activity – under the radar. But there are, it seems, opportunities to build profitable businesses quickly. That said, for would-be branded toy producers, a background in the sector probably does no harm at all.

Source link

See also  Why Lifelong Learning Is The Key To Entrepreneurial Success
Branded building Business global sector Startup toys
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

Multiple Milestones As New Majority Capital Boosts Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition

September 26, 2023

Getty Images Plunges Into the Generative AI Pool

September 26, 2023

3 Hot Startup Opportunities In Augmented Reality

September 26, 2023

The ChatGPT App Can Now Talk to You—and Look Into Your Life

September 25, 2023
Add A Comment

Comments are closed.

Editors Picks

Top 10 Marketing Strategies For Startups

March 5, 2023

Prophia, which extracts info from commercial real estate contracts, raises $10.2M – Startup

December 5, 2022

Twitter’s attempt to monetize porn reportedly halted due to child safety warnings – DailyTech

August 31, 2022

Bambu A1 review

January 3, 2024

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest news and Updates from Behind The Scene about Tech, Startup and more.

Top Post

Elementor #32036

The Redmi Note 13 is a bigger downgrade compared to the 5G model than you might think

Xiaomi Redmi Watch 4 is a budget smartwatch with a premium look and feel

Behind The Screen
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Vimeo YouTube
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
© 2025 behindthescreen.uk - All rights reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.