Domestic and overseas markets are both complicated in the year of 2009. No exception is for toy industry, which encounters with lots of uncertainty. Changing in market pattern and sales channels, trend of animation and comic toys and domination of prevailing toys are what industry concern. Writer of the following article advances his views and makes analyse. We will read it in two issues. Here is the second half of the article.

 

Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf Movie hit the screen at the beginning of this year. Only around 6 million yuan investments finally generate nearly 90 million yuan in box office, which inspires hibernant animation and comic industry with hope.

 

      First of all, let’s forgetting about its production quality. It is a success in business pattern. To put it in a simple way, it has reaped good profit from long-time show with episodes and licensing broadcast. Afterwards, it has expanded its brand influence through low-cost movie production and gained box office income and grown its licensing business. Box office of Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf is founded by family consumption, which can be spread.

 

      And then comes after licensed merchandise. Plush toys are seeing good sales. Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf acts as a successful business operation in animation and movie industry. We can find that such cooperation between toy and animation is boasting with wide prosperity.

 

      2009 will still see another animation movie in summer- Shenbing Kids. Would it be another booster for related toys to new sales peak? Let’s wait and see.

 

Channel is a focus that every business strives for. Toy companies that develop domestic market can forget brand creation or marketing, but no one can neglect the construction and expansion of his sales channel.

 

      Distributors with constructed channel remarkably have higher status now. In particular, those have healthy network and promotion capacity are who toy makers scramble for.

 

      Vice versa, when makers want to attract high-quality distributors for their own sales system, they must provide good product incessantly and guarantee sales with strong marketing program. A kind of supplying-and-selling chain constructed with a pure aim of “selling goods” can no longer meet long-term and sustained demand. The foundation for long-term community between maker and distributor in current days is “developing market”, which is centralized in “consumers’ demand”.

 

      Therefore in order to enable consumers to see and buy affordable toys and even experience toys, both makers and distributors must intensively cultivate their regional channel and make it more accessible for consumers. Only by this way can they get closer to and known more about their consumers.

 

      Growth of developed foreign toy retailers with good experience in China, such as Toys R Us, explains us that, in domestic major and minor metropolises have basically get developed market for toys. Meanwhile, it is the best time to seize strategic height when domestic toy retailers have not grown up yet. But it is anticipated that, local toy retailer chain will soon grow up and develop, just like electric giants such as Gome and Suning.

 

Kids channels had not been developed substantially until CCTV’s Kids’ Channel was established in December 2003. And the year of 2004 and 2005 sees rapid growth, when 24 provincial TV stations set up their own kids’ channel and 33 channels in this realm were opened in 2009.

 

      To toy companies, kids channel with strong region influence and coverage, as well as its prime period during 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm, are both “area of strategic importance” when they are going to promote their products. At the same time, toy sales see obvious seasonal trait. From Labor’s Day to Children’s Day, and from the end of a year to Spring Festival are both brisk season for toy sales in China. Who can air its professional animation series during prime period in key channels might dominate toy market in the region and at the time.

 

      Two animation series-Bakugan and Go For Speed, for instance, are now airing on Southern Television’s Kids’ Channel. Certainly, it is of high investment to air animation in major channels in such an important time.

 

      So far as toy business is concerned, it is a principal for media arrangement to figure out a scientific, reasonable and feasible strategy and plan according to media traits and broadcasting rule, which can finally both boost sales in maximum and save on expense properly.

 

      Kids’ channel is state-owned asset, which belongs to neither commonweal pattern nor industrial pattern. Various factors inside its system restrict development of industrialization. Moreover, these channels have been attentive to toy companies’ sales of merchandises related to animation on show. Therefore, there are more uncertainties, greater difficulties and higher threshold for professional animation series’ show on kids’ channel.

 

Toy companies are most perplexed for how to protect Intelligence property right. We do not believe that, a market without fairness and order can develop in a sustainable way.

 

      It is of a future trend that we see increasingly more products under our own independent IPR, especially theme products with animation series. Before an animation or comic production is rolled out, there would be one or two years’ development ahead. Therefore, early R/D and shooting cost a huge investment. However, pirate products only require production cost. Highly-developed mold make it a fast process for pirating, which is undoubtedly a great impact on officially-licensed products. Distribution channel is immediately affected when distributors in lower levels dare not to make stocks.

 

      Greater challenge on protection of IPR comes in the following aspects. Profit out of pirate is always higher than risk cost. Secondly, cracking down pirated products require high cost on both time and money, as well as obstacles. Thirdly, makers of copy suspect always make some improvement on official version, which can hardly be dealt with.

 

      It is known that, Alpha Animation and Culture Co., Ltd, the largest animation and toy company in China is going to be the first listing company with animation and comic-related toy as major production.

 

      It can be considered an iconic event for toy industry. Its significance lies with that domestic toy maker is getting rid of the mode of developing slowly with its own funds and beginning to gain rapid growth through financing in capital market. Further more, it means that, management system, profiting pattern, business scope and lots of other aspects would turn over a new leaf out of conventional concept. As other owner of China’s Well-known Trademark, Huawei Toys Craft is also positively preparing for its listing. All this news show that, toy industry is now embarking on a period of rapid growth, welcoming a brand new era.

 

      We are all along expecting Lenovo, Haier in toy industry. As listing of the first team of makers, we see bellwether in China’s toy industry. They will export corporation culture and management concept, establish industrial marking pole and take on the responsibilities to improve the image of China’s toy enterprise。

 

      An old Chinese saying goes like this: no matter how good is a market, someone will lose; no matter how bad is a market, someone will gain profit. Facing financial crisis, we should take it easy and devise correct strategies. We are fully confident in turning “crisis” into “opportunity” and fight against adverse current. As a rising industry, toy business has not ever ceased its market development and has not seen the vitality as now.