HND市场Landel Toys 案例DE3C 34.docx

DE3C 34: Marketing: An IntroductionLandel Toys A case studyBackground informationThe Landel Toy Company has a workforce of over 1,000 based in three different sites inthe UK. The company was established in the early 1980s and its marketing activities areco-ordinated from its headquarters in Chester.The original Live and Learn Toy Company the name changed to Landel in 1986 produced a limited range of wooden toys aimed at the pre-school market. Its range ofproducts was originally limited to wooden building bricks, simple wooden jigsaws and alimited selection of wooden animals. As the company became more established, theproduct range was expanded to include dolls houses and wooden train sets.In the early days the company sold through small, independent toys shops, but despitenumerous attempts, it was unable to persuade any of the large chain stores to stock itsproducts. Despite this, the company maintained a reasonable turnover, and it slowlyexpanded its product portfolio to include a range for the 58 year old market.Disenchanted by its inability to become accepted by any of the larger chains, thecompany toyed with the idea of mail order selling. A catalogue was produced anddistributed through some of the leading Sunday newspapers, and although sales increased,this was not a particularly successful venture.Mail order selling was dropped after only a year, but it did serve to bring the companysname to the attention of the public, and more importantly to the toy industry. Thecompanys image of high quality toys, made from natural products, appealed to theincreasingly vocal environmental lobby, and at last, a leading department store chainagreed to stock Landels products. This proved to be a lucrative agreement for Landel,and it helped the company expand during the late 1980s.The companys big break, however, came when the Welsh language TV channel SC4introduced an animated series featuring an assortment of animal characters collectivelyknown as the Country Cousins. Against fierce competition, Landel won the contract tomake a limited range of merchandise featuring the characters, and the popularity of theseries resulted in sales which were way beyond Landels most optimistic expectations.Following the success of Country Cousins, ITV decided to give the series nationalairing, and in the lead up to the national launch, Landel expanded and developed its rangeof merchandise. At the same time, the company also introduced Country Cousins booksand to this end, it acquired an ailing publishing company in Exeter.Landel Toys A case studyThis was Landels first venture into publishing, but by retaining the existing expertisewithin the newly acquired company, and through its own established distributionnetwork, this became a highly profitable part of the companys portfolio.The books were sold principally through toy shops and department stores as part of theoverall Country Cousins package, and by concentrating on its established toy retailersrather than bookshops, Landel did not need to employ any additional salesrepresentatives. This proved to be a successful and cost effective approach, which is stillemployed at the moment.As the business continued to expand, Landel bought over a soft toy manufacturer whichwas initially devoted to the production of Country Cousins figures.The Country Cousins phenomenon reached its peak in the late 1980s, and although thecompany is still turning in reasonable profits, there are growing concerns for its futuresecurity. The success of Country Cousins, however, has given Landel a foothold in themarket, and having firmly established its brand name and identity, Landel products arestill stocked by some of the major toy retailers.Although the sales of Country Cousins merchandise are declining, the range is still animportant part of Landels business. The range currently includes wooden figures, cuddlyfigures, wooden play houses and scenery, a series of thirty Country Cousins storybooks, a Country Cousins Annual which has been produced each year since 1986,Country Cousins stationery, pencil cases, note pads, cards etc, and Country Cousinstoiletries, including soap, shampoos, sponges, bath salts etc.In addition to the Country Cousins range, Landel still produces its traditional woodenjigsaws, wooden animals, wooden building blocks and various other wooden toys aimedat the pre-school market.A major turning point in the popularity of the Country Cousins range came in 1998when ITV decided to drop the programmes from its schedules. The popularity of theseries had been waning for a number of years, and its demise had been inevitable forsome time. In the year following the programmes withdrawal, sales of Country Cousinsmerchandise fell to 40% of the 1992 peak.Along with the decline in demand, the company has had to change its pricing policies.During the boom period of the early 1990s, the price of the Country Cousins range wasset at a premium, but in order to maintain sales, the company was forced to reduce priceto a much more competitive level. Retailers and other middlemen, realising the strengthof their negotiating position, have been able to force Landel to accept their terms andprices, and with the decline in demand, Landel has had little alternative but to accept.Landel Toys A case studyThe companys 30-strong sales team has been charged with the responsibility ofmaintaining good relations with existing outlets to ensure their continued patronage. Onoccasions this patronage has been hard won, and in recent years has involved more andmore price-cutting to ensure that the existing stores continue to stock Landels range.The industry is becoming ever more competitive, and without a leading product range,Landel is being forced to cut prices to retain its distributors, and to maintain its position inthe market place.The reduced price to the retailer, however, is not always reflected in the price charged tothe final consumer. Although Landel is selling to the middlemen at a considerablyreduced price, the retailers are tending to sell at prices on a par with those charged duringthe height of the Country Cousins boom.As sales of its traditional range has declined, the company has become involved in theown label business, and 10% of its output is now supplied to the For Toys retail chainwhich sells the products under its own name. The association with For Toys has beengood for Landel, and there is the possibility that this relationship will be furtherdeveloped in the future.For Toys is an expanding company, and although this relationship has been vital toLandel, For Toys has forced the manufacturer to produce at lower and lower prices overthe years, and because of a lack of orders from other customers, Landel has been forcedto accede to these demands. At the same time, the production of own label merchandisemay have contributed to the reduced demand for Landel branded products.The declining demand for Country Cousins has also necessitated other changes. Cuddlytoys production, which was previously exclusively devoted to Country Cousins figures,has now been adapted to produce a range of more than forty different styles and types ofbears and other creatures. Many of these are own label products for For Toys stores.Other alterations to the product mix include the introduction of larger toys such as playhouses, climbing frames and slides. The company is looking to find a way of gainingaccess to potential buyers such as playgroups, nurseries and even local authorities as wellas its established consumer market.The publishing side of the business has also had to adapt to the post Country Cousinsboom. A range of childrens stationery is available in a number of different styles, andthis is being continually updated to meet the changing needs of the market. A new seriesof pre-school books has been produced, including a range called Dolly the Dolphin forwhich the company has high expectations. The company also has plans for Dolly theDolphin cuddly toys.A new range of self-reading books has also been developed, and the company has beentrying to encourage local authorities to buy them for their schools and libraries.During the early 1990s the company did not need to invest too heavily in advertising andpromotion as the publicity generated by the Country Cousins TV series was sufficient tokeep the companys merchandise in the public eye.Landel Toys A case studyIn addition to this publicity, the companys promotional effort had been principally aimedat retailers and other middlemen, and this had primarily involved personal selling throughthe sales team making regular visits to established clients. It was believed that bytargeting the middlemen, and by getting the products in to as many stores as possible,sales would inevitably be generated. The emphasis on the sales team has been maintained,but in recent years this has been supplemented by advertising in childrens comics andmagazines, and by a limited amount of advertising on Childrens TV, particularly in therun up to Christmas each year.The company must now adjust to the post Country Cousins boom, and although somechanges have already been made, further developments are required. To do this, it isnecessary to develop the companys marketing mix, but before this is possible, thecompany must carry out some research to discover the most appropriate course of action.To date, the company has not felt the need to