TALKIN’ TOYS TB: You recently won New Zealand’s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. What was it like receiving this award, and what does it mean to you? NM: Being acknowledged for what my siblings and I achieved within the New Zealand business scene was incredibly special. The fact that I could be there with my friends and family was unique and a moment I will never forget. I think the most exciting thing about the award was the wider idea that it was celebrating entrepreneurship within the New Zealand community. To me, thinking that our story may have the chance to motivate just one person to start his or her own journey is more rewarding than any trophy. The fact that I get to represent New Zealand on the world stage in Monaco next year on behalf of the team at ZURU is equally exciting and a great honor! TB: What accomplishment are you most proud of from your time running ZURU? NM: I’m incredibly proud that ZURU now employs more than 5,000 people worldwide. We take immense pride in how we look after our staff and truly believe in the importance of supporting our employees to truly unlock their potential. Given how important mentorship was to me early in my career, I take great pride in mentoring those at ZURU to pass on my experience from years of mistakes and triumphs that shape how the company operates today. The other thing I’m most proud of is that we’ve never taken outside funding—either investment or from banks—to grow and develop ZURU. We started with a small loan from our parents, and we self-financed everything from then on, which certainly helped us stay laser-focused on driving efficiency and value from all parts of our operations. ZURU is unique in our business strategy to any other toy company and is leading the way in automated manufacturing in toys. We want to disrupt large, stodgy categories through a more efficient and innovative manufacturing and distribution approach. ZURU is taking on multiple categories and looking to drive both retailer margin and consumer value in these categories. We are also bringing dozens of incredibly innovative products and brands to market each year as well. Our approach is unique, but it reflects the way we are building our business out of China and our unique advantag-
es over other companies. We have lower operating costs, are vertical with four of our own factories, and are automating. All of this leads to us being able to deliver on tighter margins and deliver far more value and quality than our competitors. TB: What is your process for finding and developing new products? What do you look for in new toys? NM: The single most important thing within any successful business is the necessity for open communication with your customer. This is even more important with toys, given the trend-based nature of the industry. At ZURU, we obsess over how we can improve our systems and processes to better understand consumer trends, ensuring our fingers are constantly on the pulse of what kids want. Because of this, we invest a significant amount of time talking directly to our customers, as well as scrolling through YouTube to ensure we continue to provide on-trend products that people want. The most recent example of this is ZURU’s Rainbocorns. Our new product development and branding teams saw a gap in the market to develop a brand that integrated every hot trend in the marketplace. We really tried to include everything possible—unicorns, plush toys, reversible sequins, giant surprise unboxing eggs, babies, pets, and even collectibles—and then deliver it at an exceptional price of $24.99. Sales results are phenomenal, with ZURU Rainbocorns flying off store shelves globally. We had a 66 percent sell-through on Amazon in the U.S. in just over a week, and it is currently the most tracked item on The Tracker app worldwide. Alongside this, ZURU Rainbocorns have a five-star average rating from our customers and picked up numerous accolades, including being named a plush finalist in the 2019 Toy of the Year awards. TB: In your opinion, what is ZURU doing more effectively than other toy companies? NM: Our core business divisions are all centralized at our business headquarters in Shenzhen, China—from global marketing, creative designers, and product and automation engineers to our merchandising and legal teams. Having all staff under one roof enables us to maximize our speed and agility, something which really separates us from our competitors. Given that we’re also one
of the few toy companies in the world that vertically integrates by investing in automation and manufacturing, we’re able to drive incredible value on shelf. The combination of our organizational agility and manufacturing automation provides ZURU with a competitive advantage, in being able to take an idea, design and manufacture it, and ultimately deliver the end product to the market faster than any other toy company in the world. The creator of Bunch O Balloons acknowledged this advantage, when the inventor ultimately decided ZURU was the best partner to help bring his revolutionary toy idea to market. Within six months, we developed the automation machines that now make more than 270,000 bunches every day! TB: ZURU expanded to more than 120 countries. What advice do you have for companies that are looking to expand their global market? NM: I think the key thing here is that just because your business works in one country, doesn’t mean it’ll work for every market globally. Being complacent and thinking you can apply the same business model to every market will most definitely limit your international success. At ZURU, we spend a significant amount of time researching the market dynamics and speaking to the right people to truly understand market nuances. The power of simply engaging with those who understand each market is certainly underrated, and is key for our international success. TB: What does the future hold for ZURU? NM: Our relentless drive for constant improvement means there’s no sign of us slowing down. Within toys, we see ourselves expanding further into long-term, value-orientated toy categories. We see this strategy as the perfect springboard to continue to also invest in research and development for new and innovative trend-based toys and consumer products. From a sales perspective, we identified a number of European markets as high growth opportunities. We are also applying our creative and manufacturing expertise to disrupt stodgy fast-moving consumer goods categories outside of toys, and are already having huge success. This is a project exceptionally close to my heart, and something I am building out of our newly opened ZURU New Zealand office. I am truly excited by this, so be sure to watch this space! »
toybook.com | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2019 | THE TOY BOOK 63
