The latest BrandTrends survey, conducted globally over 42 countries, has revealed some surprising results, particularly when it comes to how key licenses are being sold to young girls – and where many leading brands are missing sales.
From the latest findings it results that the entertainment brands that ranked high on the Brand Popularity Index (BPI) for French girls aged seven to nine included: Minions, Ice Age, Lego, Playmobil, Lego Friends, Disney Princess and Frozen. These all scored between 45 and 55.
In terms of future purchase intentions (FPI), more than 75% of girls would like a Frozen product (the favourite brand overall), and around 70% would push for a Disney Princess item. This is perhaps unsurprising given the way these brands are marketed towards young girls. However, despite brands such as Minions, Ice Age and Lego all ranking high on the brand popularity index, they didn’t perform so well when it came to the girls’ future purchase intentions.
For example, less than 45% of girls would consider purchasing a licensed product with the Minions on it, despite it being the second most popular entertainment brand. At Kidz Global, they would expect this number to be more around 65%. This is a stark difference. The same can be said for Gulli, which is 2nd most popular and in almost the same position as Minions. For Ice Age, this number was just shy of 50%, despite it coming in 4th place for its popularity. In fact, the only brand that ranked higher in popularity than these four was Frozen, and this was in a vastly different place on the FPI ranking.
The brands that girls were more likely to purchase included the likes of Frozen, Disney Princess, Lego Friends, Barbie and Disney Fairies/Tinkerbell, despite the fact most are not as popular. So, what has happened here to cause this?
‘This has happened because Minions, Ice Age and Lego brands are not being stocked on shelves with the same quantity of licenses as the other brands targeted at these girls’ told Philippe Guinaudeau, CEO of Kidz Global. ‘These brands aren’t covering as many product categories with their licenses – for example: toys, lunch boxes, drinks cups, clothing, footwear, pyjamas, stationary, food and technology. This is possibly because many toy stores are divided into gendered sections, and these brands are often seen as more inclined towards the young boy market’ he added.
The data highlights to us that products are missing on the shelves, so while girls are hugely enthusiastic about these brands, the licensed products are not there for them to choose or acquire. Leading brands are missing key opportunities by assuming their female customer is not interested in a wider scope of brands and product categories. It is important to have these admired products on the shelves while a brand is so popular, otherwise major revenue opportunities are being lost, as well as wider brand appeal and awareness. There are high sales potentials for many licenses, which are yet to be tapped into effectively.
‘From the BrandTrends research, young girls would be keen on buying into brands such as Minions, Ice Age and Lego if they had the same access to them as boys across a wide variety of product categories, which they currently don’t’ said Guinaudeau. Instead, space is likely being taken up by brands that actually ranked less popular with the French girls interviewed, including My Little Pony, Minnie Mouse, Hello Kitty and Disney Fairies/Tinkerbell. It may be surprising that these were some of the least popular, despite the prevalence with which they are featured across a range of different markets and aimed at young girls.
Thanks to BrandTrends, leading entertainment brands targeting children throughout the world can improve their strategy, sales and product selection through utilizing our comprehensive, detailed and accurate data into their approach. The research is conducted twice a year over 42 countries globally.
Thousands of children and their parents are interviewed on a range of questions, with both closed and open-ended questions incorporated, to get the most complete, wide-ranging and all-inclusive results. Due to their recent partnership with Junior City, Kidz Global can enhance the knowledge of this quantitative survey with subtle findings from additional qualitative research.
