and that when the right opportunities arose to extend the brand, kids would be willing to transport themselves into the magical world of Harry Potter and create new stories of their own around the property. Also, kids would be eager to buy licensed consumer products as long as the visual design of the products and packaging were able to whisk them into the enchanted state. No brand understands the magic of immersive branding more than Disney. Star Wars is a great example that continues to evolve. The Harry Potter franchise has also taken a page from Disney, and so have numerous other properties that captivate audiences in a powerful manner. Their stories have been co-opted by fans who are under their spell.
THE WORLD OF SHOPKINS
Entertainment properties can create immersive storylines with ease, but what about consumer product brands? Shopkins, bucking almost every trend in the toy business—and on its way to the top as a global brand—is a great example of an immersive brand. Shopkins launched in the summer of 2014 by the Australian company Moose Toys. They aren’t tech toys; they’re plastic miniature figures and play sets packaged in pink and primarily, unabashedly aimed at the girls’ market. In spite of that, Shopkins appeal to boys as well. The brand is also unapologetically based on consumerism, everyday life, and the domestic world. The brand tagline: “Once you shop, you can’t stop”is clearly a reference to how consumerism powers Western economies. By the fall of 2015, 100 million Shopkins characters had been sold worldwide. The brand also won the Toy Industry Association’s Girl Toy of The Year Award in 2015. According to a Fortune magazine article published in January, Shopkins is the top-selling toy brand in the U.S.: “despite the strength of the film (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and the many toys associated Shopkins Jellie Bean and Lolla Lollipop
with it. There was just one Star Wars toy on the list of the year’s 10 best sellers (the Sphero app-controlled BB-8 robot, which came in eighth). Instead, the Shopkins toy line, which is phenomenally popular with both boys and girls, topped 2015 toy sales. The 12-pack of the tiny figurines of the anthropomorphized household objects ranked No. 1, while the two-pack was the year’s fourth bestseller.” “I think the key to success is a great theme,” says Paul Solomon, co-CEO of Moose Toys. “Whether it’s tomato sauce or a donut or a cupcake or a lipstick, these are objects that are recognizable to kids. We were trying to find the most iconic products to turn into Shopkins characters.” The doe-eyed Shopkins characters are cute, fanciful, and endearing to kids. They represent the mundane: supermarket staples, cosmetics and fashion items, baby, and bakery merchandise; but there’s nothing mundane about how they’re represented in toy and package design, and that enthralls kids. Because new figures are launched annually, some in limited quantities, and because they’re cute and small, they’re highly collectible. Naturally, kids love them. Remember the Beanie Babies phenomenon of the 1990s? What does all of this have to do with immersion into a Shopkins-created world? The dedicated website welcomes kids to “Shopville,” with engaging backstories of its big-eyed characters so that kids can get to know each one. Shopkinsworld.com features videos and cartoon shorts, which also appear on the Shopkins World channel on YouTube. Storylines feature Shopkins characters in the land of Shopville, but that’s not all. Consumers are uploading their own animated videos as well as toy unboxing videos, bringing attention to the Shopkins brand packaging on YouTube, and creating a following among kids worldwide. There’s clearly more than engagement going on here: kids are immersed in the Shopkins world and they are creating their own stories—placing themselves as the protagonists with the Shopkins characters as their friends.
IMMERSIVE PACKAGING SEALS THE DEAL
As Shopkins licensed products continue to roll out around the world and consumer products appear in numerous categories, I expect the immersive magic of the brand to ex-
Shopkins Food Fair Sweet Spot Playset
tend this year. On its own packaging, the brand uses verbal communication sparingly but wisely. More than anything, verbal branding comes in the form of call-outs reinforcing how many Shopkins characters, including exclusives, are included in each play set. Plus, the packaging calls out the cool interactive aspect of each set, sparking huge sales. For example, the Shopkins Small Mart play set mimics some of the fun aspects of a supermarket for kids, including a shopping cart and a checkout counter. For good measure, the set also includes a slide so that the Shopkins characters can slide their way down to the sales floor. The package structure includes cut-outs to increase visibility of the toys in each set. The package design architecture features borders filled with eye-popping color and symbols that kids love (hearts, flowers, candy, cookies, etc.), almost reminiscent of Hasbro’s Candy Land board game. The world of Shopkins feels lifelike through the highly sensory imagery surrounding the products, enticing kids to want to immerse themselves in that world. They can easily put themselves into the scenarios presented and craft their own stories because of the rich visual language created by Shopkins—and they do. New Shopkins products and packaging must continue to be immersive to keep the brand relevant for kids and to encourage them to create their own stories. For kids, it’s all about choosing to remain in the enchanted state, in the magical land of Shopkins, when so many other brands beckon. » As president and creative director of Design Force Inc., Ted Mininni sets the standard for research and design development for the consultancy, while guiding his team to achieve their clients’ goals through expert creative strategies.
TOYBOOK.COM | March/April 2016 | THE TOY BOOK 53