The BIGS of the toy industry DO NOT MINGLE with the smaller, less important companies. In fact, if you were not on the press tour, you probably wouldn't even know that LEGO, MATTEL, and PLAYMOBIL are even here. These are the stands that are OFF-LIMITS, as in CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC. To get to this super special area you take a bus ride to a pavilion you have to look extra hard on your Fair venue map to even find (oddly enough, it is enormous).
What are they thinking? What is their vision? Any women up there? These were the kinds of things we wanted to know.
We were not on the guest list, which had about 20 names on it, but we got past the first control at the entrance of the building with our press passes by telling the man checking that we were bloggers and had not registered. He let us in.
We passed the LEGO section on the way. Closed. A security guard outside.
We get to the entrance of the Playmobil stand, which is hardly a stand, rather, it is a museum of modern art, two display areas are in the shape of a playmobil person’s head. The face is rounded glass sliding doors with the ultra recognizable two dots for eyes and smile etched into the glass. We are in the big leagues.
A woman named Judith (nametag with name, no title. All staff have nametags, none with a title) is there to meet us with a check list and sees we are not on it. We say we are bloggers and did not register. She gives us a smile full of appreciation (unexpected). BLOGGERS! She says.
She gets us the press pack with information in English and asks two others to move over for us so that Klementina and I can sit together. This is the first of a long string of thoughtful acts that communicate something at a very deep and fundamental level about this company. They have values. Everyone seems to understand what they are and are consistent with them.
During the press conference, when not speaking, Judith (Corporate Communications Executive. I know this from her card) comes up behind us and translates the key points of the speeches into English (German company, German fair, German talks).
The talk starts with a look at performance over the last two years. Significant growth while the toy industry in general is in crisis. The distinctions they highlight are the importance of allowing kids to role play, quality of their products which are made in Europe only, brand identity (who doesn’t recognize THAT FACE, THAT HAIR?) and the value added of their toys.
There is a lot to learn from this company. For our purposes let’s consider them the Warren Buffett of the toy world. A good mix of a philosophy of doing the right thing and good business sense.
The company focuses on one product. These are play figures in different “Play worlds” The value of Quality is repeated everywhere: the museum-like atmosphere of their “exhibit”s. Products are on display in transparent cases. Oversized Playmobil people are placed around the space, even up high, like statues. But they all smile.
We are offered orange juice, water, or coke in wine glasses the moment we come in.
The press materials are of the highest quality with interesting info and pleasing to look at.
The food and birthday cake is beautiful and delicious.
We are offered orange juice, water, or coke in wine glasses the moment we come in.
The press materials are of the highest quality with interesting info and pleasing to look at.
The food and birthday cake is beautiful and delicious.
Guests are treated like royalty. My sense is they treat EVERYONE this way. It is not fake at all. They all talk to you with sincere interest and respect.
The company pays attention to the details that kids and adults notice.
They really focus on the end-users: children.
Their toys encourage kids to play an active part in the fun.
They TALK about children, creativity, development, play, fantasy during their talks and afterwards.
They TALK about children, creativity, development, play, fantasy during their talks and afterwards.
They get their ideas from the suggestions they get from the children themselves.
There is constant innovation without forgetting the past. They take products out of production and bring them back later creating scarcity, familiarity, variety.
They offer new products every year.
They concentrate on being the best.
They know what their competitors are doing.
The make-up of their 4.000 employees is 54% female.
The make-up of their 4.000 employees is 54% female.
Women are in positions of power.
While the products were targeted towards boys in 1974 (three characters then: construction worker, Indian, Police man?), girls now take up a 50% position in use. Toys cross the gender divide.
After the conference, there was a photo op and a chance to ask questions in an informal way. I interviewed the CEO of Marketing, R&D, and Sales. I asked her three questions.
1. How do you manage internal communications?
We do a lot of communicating, training, workshops. Our working language is English. It has to be. But we are methodical. We are German, after all.
2. What are the Values of the company?
Quality and long-term thinking. We are not interested in selling anyone anything. We want our customers to be HAPPY and to come back to us. We focus on giving added value. We think about the kids.
3. What is your target age?
Our target age is 11/2 to 10. We also have adults who are collectors, but they are not our target.
I decided to talk about gender, as I have been surprised by how many more men are at this fair than women. She said she was surprised too. She told me Playmobil takes this issue seriously and that the 50-50 commitment is also reflected in management positions.
Klementina and I left that place starstruck. Besides the fact that the information was interesting, I think about how kind it was of this woman to talk to me. No unnecessary hierarchies. Quality of products aside, the companies that really make it for me, are the inclusive ones who remember that it’s not about the products, it’s about the relationship with the customer.
Even a company with revenue of 552 million euros/year.
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