Kim Miller Olko, global chief marketing officer at Toys\u201dR\u201dUs and president of Toys\u201dR\u201dUs Studios, showcased the toy retailing giant\u2019s new strategy and highlighted how it boosted engagement with brand mascot Geoffrey via a YouTube series at MIPJunior today.<\/p>\n
\u201cKim is reimagining this iconic brand for a new generation with a strategy that embraces content, AI, early testing on YouTube and TikTok, alongside initiatives around mental health,\u201d RX France\u2019s Lucy Smith said in introducing the award-winning producer and marketeer.<\/p>\n
The retail giant hit a rough patch, filing for bankruptcy in 2017. \u201cNow, we\u2019re back and we\u2019re growing,” she said. “We have 1,560 stores in 35 countries and growing by leaps and bounds\u201d under new owners, WHP Global.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe former Toys\u201dR\u201dUs big-box store model was no longer working,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was an outdated business. WHP Global takes brands that have names that resonate with consumers. But this was a business issue. So, it wasn\u2019t that the name and the brand weren\u2019t loved; they needed a new model. So, this is a licensing model. WHP licenses the brand to companies throughout the globe. All these different partners have the brands, get the products, run the stores and then we support them on a global level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller Olko added: \u201cIt\u2019s the same magic, new method.\u201d<\/p>\n
As an example, the song, \u201cI\u2019m a Toys\u201dR\u201dUs Kid\u201d was \u201cmodernized with more of an R&B sound,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s said that every millennial was a \u2018Toys\u201dR\u201dUs Kid,\u2019 so now these millennials are Toys\u201dR\u201dUs kids for every age, but they also have the joy of sharing this brand with their children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller Olko discussed brand mascot Geoffrey the giraffe, seeing its potential thanks to her deep entertainment and content heritage. \u201cHe is a star on TikTok. He has 1.1 million followers. He was in the Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving Day Parade. At Comic-Con, the first year I brought Geoffrey, I saw a bunch of grown men crying when they went to hug him. I said, We have to build him out as a character.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company provided him with an age (9 and a half) and a birthday (October 17), which can be linked to marketing campaigns and stunts, with Geoffrey\u2019s World Tour<\/em> available on YouTube.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes to content and building out from the new method, it\u2019s not super juvenile. We have made Geoffrey and his brand relatable for children, but also cooler and more relatable for adults. One of the reasons we\u2019ve done that is the \u2018kidult\u2019 trend. More adults are consuming toys than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n Miller Olko added: \u201cThe old Toys\u201dR\u201dUs had millions of dollars to put into marketing and content. Right now, we\u2019re building the plane as we\u2019re flying it, so it\u2019s been really important for us to align with the zeitgeist,\u201d including via marketing partnerships with the likes of MrBeast.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Geoffrey\u2019s Vision<\/em> is a new digital-first series for YouTube that has 48 episodes available and voiceovers that are easy to translate, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn bringing back the brand and this character, we\u2019re always looking for opportunities to partner. Storytelling is a major part of marketing. And we also have Toys\u201dR\u201dUs Studios, which is a content part. What\u2019s the difference? Marketing\u2019s ultimate goal is to sell. So, when you look at storytelling related to marketing, you\u2019re looking to sell. Get people in your store and online. When we\u2019re doing content, from that perspective, we\u2019re looking to have the consumer and the viewer looking at the brand\u2019s soul, feeling the brand and really being inspired and understanding it. As we\u2019re building up Toys\u201dR\u201dUs Studios, we\u2019re separating it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n Via a range of brand alliances for Geoffrey, \u201cit\u2019s kind of free testing as we\u2019re deciding who the character is and how he\u2019s built out and what he does,\u201d she said. \u201cThese are other opportunities at low cost or no cost to get a wide press campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n Miller Olko and her team executed a social media campaign around the release of the feature film The Roofman<\/em>, a feature film based on a true story about a prison escapee who lived in a Toys\u201dR\u201dUs store for six months.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole thing was that he wasn\u2019t going to be able to hide out in today\u2019s Toys\u201dR\u201dUs. It got the attention of Paramount and the team doing The Roofman<\/em>. We were able to do a stunt with Channing Tatum, the star of the movie, in our store. Great brand awareness. The promotion we\u2019re getting for it is incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n All the major toy companies now have studio operations, she said, \u201cso how do you distinguish yourself? The umbrella of Toys\u201dR\u201dUs Studios is play. And we\u2019ve put it into three buckets: human development, mental health and togetherness.\u201d<\/p>\n The venture created Geoffrey\u2019s World Tour<\/em>, meeting kids around the world in Toys\u201dR\u201dUs stores. It\u2019s planning a \u201c2.0\u201d extension, she said. \u201cMeeting kids from all over the world, talking about their food and their interests and connecting the world through children. We\u2019re also creating a kids council where there\u2019s a child from each one of our 35 countries that comes in and teaches us and each other about their lives now.\u201d<\/p>\n Toys\u201dR\u201dUs also aligned with Nickelodeon on the digital game show What a Mess<\/em>. \u201cIt was a fun little combination of Toys\u201dR\u201dUs taking the content that we made globally and then adding all that Nickelodeon has to offer, including the slime and being on their YouTube as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Miller Olko also highlighted the brand\u2019s AI-created brand spot, made with OpenAI\u2019s Sora technology, which went viral, she said.<\/p>\n Plans are in the works for a live-action feature film, with collaborations with other content companies high on Miller Olko\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Kim Miller Olko, global chief marketing officer at Toys\u201dR\u201dUs and president of Toys\u201dR\u201dUs Studios, showcased the toy retailing giant\u2019s new strategy and highlighted how it boosted engagement with brand mascot Geoffrey via a YouTube series at MIPJunior today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":30669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n