LOS ANGELES — One of the oldest preschool entertainment and toy franchises, Thomas the Tank Engine, is about to get a new marketing push.
Will parents get on board?
Mattel agreed last year to pay a hefty $680 million for Hit Entertainment, the British owner of Thomas, a cheery blue locomotive first introduced in a 1946 book. Starting in January, the toy manufacturer hopes to turn the talking train and his friends — Butch the Tow Truck, Engine Emily — into a property on par with Hot Wheels and Barbie.
“It’s been a brand that has been pretty bereft of investment,” said David Allmark, executive vice president of Mattel’s Fisher-Price brands. “We really believe that we can grow this on a worldwide basis, particularly in Latin America and Asia.”
Thomas is hugely popular, with global retail sales totaling about $1 billion annually, according to analysts. Barbie has annual worldwide retail sales of $2 billion, while Hot Wheels is closer to $1 billion. Hot Wheels, however, has stronger brand recognition in North America than Thomas and is a better seller in the toy aisle.
Still, expansion of the Thomas franchise in Europe and North America is difficult because of gender and age constraints. Analysts say the character appeals to both boys and girls ages 1 to 3, but then girls tend to split off into dolls and dress-up; boys stick around until age 5, then lean toward more complicated toys and stories.
The effort to reposition Thomas includes new toys, in particular an expanded and enhanced line of wooden trains, and a new one-hour animated movie called “King of the Railway,” which will be released in the spring on DVD by Lionsgate and supported with “blue carpet” premieres in the United States and Europe. Mattel will also produce at least three more seasons of the “Thomas & Friends” television series, shown on PBS and Sprout.
Allmark said the chubby-cheeked Thomas — which was created by a British clergyman named Wilbert Awdry while trying to soothe his son, Christopher, who was sick with the measles — will continue to espouse “innocent, sweet life lessons.” But Allmark added that Mattel thinks a few minor changes — faster storytelling, for instance — can make the anthropomorphic train more relevant to modern children. “Some of it needs livening up a little bit,” he said.
Devotees who like Thomas for his simplicity may find those to be fighting words, but Mattel and its new Hit unit plan to back up their efforts with a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign called “Anytime Is Thomas Time.” Plans also call for a new online portal devoted to Thomas, more live events (look-alike trains steaming into cities across North America), and possibly a balloon in the next Macy’s Thanksgiving parade.
“When you are successful for as long as Thomas has been, you can become part of the woodwork,” said Shari Donnenfeld, head of Hit Global Brands. “We need to reinforce the brand by reminding people why they love it and introducing new content.”
Mattel needed a preschool franchise to reinforce its Fisher-Price business, analysts say. Last year the division lost an important Sesame Street license to a rival, Hasbro, and is coming off a few difficult years marked by recalls.
Allmark called Hit, which also owns characters like Barney, Angelina Ballerina and Bob the Builder, “a pretty rare diamond.”
Thomas has been a brand in flux in recent years. In 2009, Hit dropped the old-fashioned animation style that had been the TV program’s hallmark in favor of computer-generated images.
The trains also began to speak on the televised show for the first time. The changes risked alienating some parents, but ratings in certain important demographics have increased 30 percent, according to Nielsen data.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.