Will idol Taylor Swift help Playmobil relaunch? This is one of the wishes of the German toy manufacturer which is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its cult figurines at a time when the group is going through an unprecedented crisis.
A playmobil bearing the image of the American pop star “would be a huge dream”, confides to AFP Bahri Kurter, the boss of the brand which revolutionized the toy market in 1974, with its little articulated plastic characters.
Contacts were made, creative work was launched: “We will see how this evolves” towards a collaboration which would constitute a marketing coup that Playmobil really needs.
Its competitor Lego, world number 1 in toys with ten times higher turnover, shines in the licensing business with Star Wars, Harry Potter and Barbie in its portfolio.
The greatest success in the history of Playmobil is the more austere figurine… of the priest Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation, sold 1.3 million copies.
The brand also wants to increase agreements with major museums, such as the Louvre, after the success of a collaboration with the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and the placement of 400,000 figurines of the painter Van Gogh, according to Mr. Kurter.
Playmobil “started late” in the lucrative partnership niche, he admits.
Century-old company
But this is not the only reason for the turbulence experienced by the group based in the Bavarian countryside in Zirndorf, near Nuremberg (south).
A social plan is underway, affecting nearly 20% of the workforce worldwide, or around 700 positions, half in Germany, against a backdrop of eroding sales.
According to the German newspaper Die ZeitPlaymobil suffered the first loss in its history during its staggered 2022-2023 annual financial year ending at the end of March 2023.
Rising energy prices and inflation have weighed, as have the upheavals in supply chains that have not been fully resolved since the coronavirus pandemic.
The family business Geobra Brandstätter, which oversees Playmobil, also had to reorganize after the death of its patriarch, Horst Brandstätter, in 2015, and internal turbulence.
Arriving at the head of Playmobil in April 2023, Bahri Kurter must restore dynamism to the brand.
The launch of small figurines was the toy manufacturer’s lifeline 50 years ago. Born in 1908, Geobra Brandstätter was hit hard by the oil crisis of 1973.
Thanks to the discovery of mold designer Hans Beck, she managed to reinvent herself because the reduced size of the characters required less plastic, which had become expensive.
Very quickly, the three original models (Native American, knight and worker) were a hit. With a range enriched with numerous characters and accessories, Playmobil nevertheless always values the simplicity of the product, which leaves room for the imagination.
The brand has sold nearly 3.9 billion figurines in half a century, but they are less present than before in children’s rooms.
Adult market
The toy market is shaken by “the appearance of virtual universes and the numerous games that children can play on computers or tablets” from a very young age, notes Harald Lange, professor specializing in learning games at the University of Würzburg (south).
Playmobil has lost “a third of sales among 4-8 year olds over the last eight years,” explains its boss.
Nostalgic adults, on the other hand, offer a new outlet for the brand, which includes celebrities and athletes for them.
Thus Peter Bischofer, a 57-year-old Bavarian who became an avid collector in his forties, amassed hundreds of pieces at home with a clear preference for vintage models.
This reminds him of “childhood memories” and a time when figurines “were not as elaborate” as today, he explains to AFP.
In the world of toys, “sustainability and the origin of the product also play an increasingly important role,” notes Cassandra Bolz, sector expert at the market research company IFH Cologne.
“The toddler range goes to 90% plant-based raw materials” and “this is just the beginning,” promises Bahri Kurter.
Playmobil specifies manufacturing in Europe — in Germany, Spain, Czech Republic and Malta.