Acamar Films and Brown Bag Films are joining forces with BBC Children in Need to inspire young children with this year’s fundraising efforts, as flagship character Bing prepares to feature alongside Pudsey across a range of activities, merchandise, and more for 2021.
The cast of Bing will all be donning their own Pudsey ears and feature alongside the popular BBC Children in Need mascot for a range of fundraising activities, offering preschoolers a host of imaginative ways to participate and help young people across the UK this year.
Activity packs filled with easy and creative ideas – including dressing up, playing musical statues or going on a Bing treasure hunt will be made available through the collaboration, while the BBC Children in Need website will host Bing colouring-in sheets, craft activities and recipes to download.
Exclusive Bing BBC Children in Need product will also be available from September on The Bing Store, a one-stop-shop for all things Bing. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the charity. The specially designed range for Bingsters and grown-ups will include apparel, an apron, mug and towel.
The campaign will drive fundraising ahead of the 2021 BBC Children in Need Appeal night in November and will include highlights from the early years fundraising campaign.
“We are thrilled that Bing has been chosen by BBC Children in Need,” said Mikael Shields, CEO and producer and series voice director at Acamar Films. “The values that make Bing so important to our Bingsters, such as kindness, empathy and looking after one another, fit seamlessly with BBC Children in Need and we are delighted to see Bing and Pudsey inspiring young children in support of this wonderful cause.”
Claire Hoyle, commercial director at BBC Children in Need, commented: “We are delighted to be partnering with Acamar Films to bring Bing and Pudsey together this year for our nursery and pre-school fundraising campaign. Bing is so well-loved by children and we’re really excited to be offering them lots of fun Bing inspired activities they can take part in this BBC Children in Need day.
“Partnering with such a beloved programme will inspire our youngest supporters to get involved in fundraising and help make a positive impact on young lives in communities across the UK.”
Acamar Films’ flagship preschool property, Bing is heading to ZSL London Zoo this autumn to bring a host of family activities to visitors and fans. The new partnership is the latest expansion of Bing’s live events and experiential licensing portfolio.
Under the new partnership, ZSL London Zoo will host a variety of themed activities, free to its visitors, from September 20th to October 31st. These will include storytime sessions throughout the day for children to join Bing and Flop in learning about animals.
There will also be a themed self-led Activity Trail around the zoo which features a series of clues and interactive activities at each station. At the end of the trail, families can celebrate their visit with a photo opportunity alongside Bing and his friends.
Kirsty Southgate, director of promotions and partnerships at Acamar Films, said: “It’s an exciting time for Bing and we are thrilled to welcome ZSL to the programme. We hope our Bing experience at London Zoo will encourage young children to build a lasting connection to animals and the natural world.”
ZSL London Zoo chief operating officer, Kathryn England, added: “We’re delighted to be welcoming Bing and Flop to ZSL London Zoo this autumn, supporting our mission to engage the next generation of young animal lovers with the importance of wildlife.
“Bing fans will be invited to go on a journey of discovery, exploring the value of nature, surrounded by more than 20,000 animals – while making lasting memories during a fun-filled family day out.”
Acamar Films is extending the reach of its multi-award-winning preschool series Bing with the launch of a new interactive Amazon Alexa Skill, Bing Time.
Developed in partnership with voice design agency Voxly Digital, Bing Time aims to bring together new script writing, high production values and technical innovation to deliver exclusive audio stories and play-along games, in addition to a selection of Bing music and songs.
The Skill has been designed to respond to the rhythm of a child’s day; encouraging movement and active play during the morning and afternoon, while offering calmer bedtime stories and soft music in the early evening.
Jodie Morris, chief content and audiences officer, Acamar Films, said: “We are thrilled to be able to launch Bing’s fantastic new Alexa Skill with Amazon’s Kids+, and can’t wait for Bingsters to start exploring our new digital innovation.
“As with everything we do, we have designed Bing Time to serve the needs of our treasured young audience, and – working alongside the wonderful team at Voxly Digital – I think we have succeeded in delivering something really quite exceptional; providing children with a brand new, immersive way to deepen their relationship with our stories and characters.”
In its 2020 research, Voxly Digital identified that families make up a big proportion of regular voice users in the UK, with two out of three of them actively using their voice-assistants together.
Ravi Lal, CEO of Voxly Digital said: “We wanted to design an experience which was fun and easy for the whole family, so we created a fluid and easily navigable voice app, which gives users what they want quickly: amazing Bing content.
“Behind the scenes, the team put a lot of thought into creating an incredible user experience. Working with Acamar Films, we’ve really pushed the capabilities of the Alexa platform; leveraging videos, animation and recorded audio to bring the world of Bing and his friends to life.”
The Bing Time Alexa Skill is a further extension of Acamar Films’ successful digital programme for their pre-school property, which also includes the mobile app Bing: Watch, Play, Learn. First launched in the UK in September 2019, the app has now exceeded 1 million downloads across the UK, Italy and Poland.
Bing Time will be exclusively launched via Amazon Kids+ from 21 July, with a general audience release scheduled for December 2021.
Acamar Films’ free premium app, Bing: Watch, Play, Learn is expanding its global reach with upcoming launches in Spain and the Netherlands, in a move that the firm states is ‘indicative of Bing’s accelerating global growth.’
Initially launched in September 2019, the app – which has been downloaded over 1 million times across three territories (UK, Italy and Poland) offers safe, ad-free viewing of all Bing episodes, in addition to Bing learning games and activities, designed to help children develop their imagination, creativity, and motor skills.
The Spanish app, Bing: Mira, Juega, Aprende, launches at a time when awareness of Bing in the territory is at an all-time high thanks to multiple content platforms and the launch of the CP programme.
The Dutch app, Bing: Kijk, Speel, Leer, is launching in the Netherlands, where Bing is enjoying ‘phenomenal master toy success.’
Across all territories, localised versions of the app offer selected episodes and learning games for free – with users given the option to subscribe, for a small monthly or annual fee, to unlock the full content offering; featuring all episodes available in the market, plus all available games.
The Spanish app will be available from Google Play, Apple and Amazon App stores with the Dutch app available from Google Play and Apple App stores.
Claire Brossard, Acamar Films’ director of digital product, said: “Bing: Watch, Play, Learn has enjoyed exceptional success since its launch just over 18 months ago and we are thrilled to continue our international roll-out in Spain and the Netherlands. Spanish and Dutch languages are natural next steps for the app, as we look to move and delight more families, enabling them to interact with Bing like never before, whenever and wherever they want.”
The English-language version of the app has also recently launched in Canada and Ireland as part of the global roll-out. A key part of Acamar Films’ extensive commitment to world-class, audience-centred digital content, Bing: Watch, Play, Learn sits at the centre of Acamar Films’ multi-platform approach to building audiences.
Acamar Films’ free premium app, Bing: Watch, Play, Learn is expanding its global reach with upcoming launches in Spain and the Netherlands, in a move that the firm states is ‘indicative of Bing’s accelerating global growth.’
Initially launched in September 2019, the app – which has been downloaded over 1 million times across three territories (UK, Italy and Poland) offers safe, ad-free viewing of all Bing episodes, in addition to Bing learning games and activities, designed to help children develop their imagination, creativity, and motor skills.
The Spanish app, Bing: Mira, Juega, Aprende, launches at a time when awareness of Bing in the territory is at an all-time high thanks to multiple content platforms and the launch of the CP programme.
The Dutch app, Bing: Kijk, Speel, Leer, is launching in the Netherlands, where Bing is enjoying ‘phenomenal master toy success.’
Across all territories, localised versions of the app offer selected episodes and learning games for free – with users given the option to subscribe, for a small monthly or annual fee, to unlock the full content offering; featuring all episodes available in the market, plus all available games.
The Spanish app will be available from Google Play, Apple and Amazon App stores with the Dutch app available from Google Play and Apple App stores.
Claire Brossard, Acamar Films’ director of digital product, said: “Bing: Watch, Play, Learn has enjoyed exceptional success since its launch just over 18 months ago and we are thrilled to continue our international roll-out in Spain and the Netherlands. Spanish and Dutch languages are natural next steps for the app, as we look to move and delight more families, enabling them to interact with Bing like never before, whenever and wherever they want.”
The English-language version of the app has also recently launched in Canada and Ireland as part of the global roll-out. A key part of Acamar Films’ extensive commitment to world-class, audience-centred digital content, Bing: Watch, Play, Learn sits at the centre of Acamar Films’ multi-platform approach to building audiences.
The popular kids’ property and pre-school series, Bing is continuing to expand its UK licensing programme, building on the success the IP has seen across the toys and wider consumer product space to date.
Last year, demand for Bing products enjoyed an 11 per cent year on year increase, while this year, Acamar Films – the London-based studio behind the IP – has welcomed strategic new categories to the portfolio, dialing the UK licensing programme up to 25 licensees in total.
Not only will 2021 Bing move into bathtime and dental products with Solent, but also launch onto the children’s audio system, Tonies, as the platform prepares to deliver an audio storytelling experience for all Bingsters, slated for a 2022 release.
It follows a string year of sales growth across Bing’s master toy range with Golden Bear, a line that saw sales increase 115 per cent year on year in 2020. Golden Bear will be expanding the collection with the introduction of Nicky, a new character from the latest series, as well as siblings Coco and Charlie.
New lines for Autumn/Winter include a musical dancing Bing and a large play-set of Bing’s House. For the very first time, bath toys will be available for Bingsters with the new wind up Bathtime Boat set to make a splash at retail.
Meanwhile, 8th Wonder boasts a raft of new wooden toys and games to add to their Bing range, marking the Bing Skittles and Carry Along House as high performers, while MV Sports will be widening its retail footprint with additional listings of its wheeled and outdoor toys.
In publishing terms, Bing continues to perform well for HarperCollins, who witnessed a 62 per cent year on year net sales growth in 2020 and has nine new titles scheduled for release this year.
Juliet Matthews, publisher, media and brands, HarperCollins Children’s Books, said: “Thanks to strong support across retail and increased range space, Bing’s backlist continues to perform well alongside exciting new titles such as Bing and the Fire Engine and the timely vaccination picture book with stickers, Doctor Bing. Our single sound novelty title The Rainybow Song is a stand out title, selling 1k copies consistently every week.”
Softlines have also expanded across daywear and outerwear from licensees Fashion UK and William Lamb. There will be a specific growth in girlswear to match the boyswear offering and new lines include dresses, sweatshirts, joggers, trainers and rucksacks.
“We are excited to see the growth of Bing across our girlswear, boys and unisex lines,” said Hannah Miles, joint managing director at Fashion UK. “The trend guide collections bring fresh opportunities to tailor creative to each retailer and offer gorgeous designs to our consumers and their Bingsters.”
Aykroyds and TDP continue to build their business year-on-year and Smiffys has introduced an additional girls’ dress up line to their range with Sula, which launched exclusively with Tu at Argos/Sainsburys ahead of World Book Day 2021.
Continuing the focus on Acamar Films’ direct-to-consumer relationships, e-commerce hub The Bing Store will be expanding its product offering further in 2021.
Louise Simmonds, head of UK licensing and merchandising at Acamar Films, said: “It is wonderful to see steady growth across our consumer product programme for 2021 and the support from our partners during such tough times.
“Bing’s timeless and relatable core values, alongside the growing audience engagement we are seeing across our content, digital and social platforms, provides a reliable and trusted foundation for the year ahead.”
Roy’s Boys is expanding its portfolio and slipping into the pyjama space with a range spanning leading children’s entertainment and sport brands including Hey Duggee, Bing, Baby Shark, a portfolio of football clubs, and more.
It’s the latest move from the sock specialist to diversify it product portfolio which now encompasses quirky fashion socks and leggings, as well as pyjamas. The firm has teased that more “exciting additions” to the range will follow in due course.
“The personalised pyjamas are a great addition to our range,” said Hannah Lowe. “We are continuing to tap into the online market that the bricks and mortar retailers do not have the capacity to reach, with bespoke gifting. We are building on what we do best and what Roy’s Boys is all about – giftable products at a high quality.”
Over the past year, Roy’s Boys has grown to a reach of over a million customers and is planning to significantly increase its following further over the next year. Marketing is the key to online success, a mix of posts and ads through the Roy’s Boys platforms as well as additional organic posts from licensors has contributed to an uplift in sales.
Anita Majhu, senior licensing manager, BBC Studios, said: “I am delighted that Hey Duggee is part of our valued partner’s expanding product range. Our customers have responded really well to Roy’s Boys’ new nightwear and it’s great to be able to reach our customers in such a fun and personalised way.”
Roy’s Boys’ Ben Lowe, added: “After only launching the personalised pyjamas at the start of this week, they have gone wild already and with Father’s day looming we are anticipating a busy one. After the past year, 2021 is looking incredible for us and the buzz around the office is so great to see. Roy’s Boys is growing at a phenomenal rate – a silver lining to the pandemic.”
Acamar Films’ hit pre-school series, Bing, is continuing to gather momentum in the Benelux region, having seen significant success across its master toy range from Spectron and totaling 18 active licensees now on board for the territory.
Bing is fast being established as a top pre-school property across the region, with new products and continued expansion in the digital space.
The Dutch cosmetics company, Caresse BV is the latest partner to join Bing’s best-in-class licensees for the region, set to produce a range of health and beauty products. The new deal follows recent renewals with Vadobag (bags, cases and umbrellas), Aymax (bedding) and Veldkamp (meet & greet).
TM Essentials has also widened its Bing portfolio to offer bath accessories and kids room furniture. Meanwhile, master toy partner Spectron is expanding its range and is launching hero lines Bing’s Squeaking Talkie Taxi, Bedtime Bing with Owly and Train & Mini House Playsets for spring/summer 2021. Spectron has seen booming sales to date, with Bing stocked in all major toy retailers in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Bing is broadcast in the Netherlands on NPO Zappelin where it is a top show among its age group. In Belgium, Ketnet launched the new series dubbed in Flemish in January this year, attracting a flood of Bingsters, with Bing achieving a majority audience share in its timeslot.
Laura Clarke, head of EMEA licensing and merchandising, Acamar Films, said: “We are delighted that Bing moves and delights an ever-growing number of fans in the Benelux region. Bing has been warmly embraced by audiences and retailers alike and we are working hard to continue its growth, especially looking forward to the brand new Bing live show coming this Autumn. We also have more very exciting news in the months ahead – watch this space.”
The children’s audio story-telling platform, Tonies, has detailed the addition of two high-calibre pre-school IPs to its expanding library of licensed figurines, welcoming Bing and In the Night Garden to its portfolio.
In a new partnership with Acamar Films, Tonies will be bringing the studio’s flagship pre-school property, Bing, to the platform in 2022. Meanwhile, an In the Night Garden Iggle Piggle figurine will join a trio of new launches this month, developed to help children sleep better ahead of World Sleep Day on March 19th.
Designed for children aged three and upwards, the In the Night Garden: A Musical Journey Tonie has a running time of 47 minutes and will follow the CBeebies favourites, Iggle Piggle, Upsy Daisy, and friends on their adventures through the Night Garden. Its charming and gentle songs and stories will help promote sleep and comfort to little ones.
The Bing Tonie will launch to retailers next year and promises to deliver new audio entertainment to children.
Liz Peters, portfolio manager, Tonies UK, said: “We are so excited to partner with Acamar Films and we love that Bing finds the big stories in the little moments, helping pre-schoolers navigate the everyday challenges they experience.
“Bing is a firm favourite for little ones across the UK and we are sure that Bingsters and Tonie-fans alike are going to love this addition to our stellar roster.”
Natalie Harvey, executive director of sales, Acamar Films, added: “Collaborating with Tonies is a fantastic opportunity for more pre-schoolers to engage with Bing stories in an innovative way.
“The importance the Toniebox places on storytelling, language development and imaginative play is in perfect alignment with Bing and we are delighted to be a part of their ongoing success story, delivering audio experiences children will love.”
The park is pretty empty when Barry Hughes, managing director of Golden Bear, logs on to catch up with Australian colleague at 7am. An early start to marry-up the time zones means that they have the place to themselves, before the next slew of visitors start populating their allocated slots.
With just a few clicks, Hughes can navigate the park’s greenery, cross the river, and showcase an entire portfolio of Hey Duggee toys in a room buried in a bristling bush. It all sounds a bit Mary Poppins, doesn’t it? It’s not; it’s simply what Toy Fair season looks like in the midst of the 2021 pandemic.
This is Golden Bear’s virtual toy fair platform, a digitally constructed journey through a colourful park area, populated with break-out rooms featuring the firm’s latest toy products. It’s from here the company can showcase its wares to a global network of customers, any time of the day, every day of the year. This isn’t just toy fair season, this is Golden Bear’s latest phase of international expansion.
By 8pm that same day, Hughes is guiding customers from California around the same platform. While the pandemic has wrapped its fingers around the usual annual travel to Spielwarenmesse, New York, and London’s Olympia this year, Golden Bear’s ability to network with its international customer base is by no means diminished.
But then, ask Hughes how Golden Bear has managed to find such success over the course of 2020 and he’ll tell you that this is a company that has managed to stay ahead of the curve for some time now. The team was among the first to spot the en masse shift to online retail and click and collect before the pandemic rendered it a necessity, and as such was a team well positioned to adapt to the changes that have swept the landscape in the past year.
Meanwhile, it’s not enough that Golden Bear already held the toy rights for some of the country’s best-loved pre-school IP, including Bing and Hey Duggee, but combine this with a diversification of product that has successfully taken the company into the outdoor sector, as well as the Escape Room trend of the gaming space, and the winning formula that Golden Bear possesses begins to shift into view.
Barry Hughes, Golden Bear managing director
“Obviously the bedrock of what we do is pre-school licenses, and our pre-school licenses on the whole did well,” Hughes tells ToyNews. “They benefited from kids being locked down at home; programmes like Hey Duggee were suddenly being watched by parents who might not have seen it otherwise, so that IP did particularly well.
“But where I like to think we have been ahead of the game compared to a lot of competitors is with regards to our online insights and supporting our retailers with their online sales assets. In the shift to online, we were ahead of the curve.”
Over the past year, Golden Bear has strengthened its team in the online operations space, built its own in-house photo studio in order to create image and video assets quickly, and has by and large, been ‘geared up for the digital switch’ long in advance, a presiding factor that has in recent years, won the company its expanding trophy cabinet of industry awards.
Not only that, but it is Golden Bear’s portfolio – a carefully curated clustering of high calibre properties and products – that has played directly into the strengths of the toy industry this past 12 months. This is a company that found its niche in both the outdoor market and gaming market right at the right time; just before the pandemic’s social restrictions thrust the sectors directly into the consumer’s consciousness.
“The Smart Ball Football and the Speed Ball Football came about through insights. Our USP is that we put a lot of stock into our insights,” says Hughes. “We are investing more into that area now, and with being a smaller company we can be more agile, which is a good combination for the toy industry.
“We had identified a gap in football gifts. My son, who was eight at the time and mad on football, got a load of football Guess Who? Games for his birthday. We quickly realised that the footballers were out of date, retired, or at the wrong clubs.
“But at the same time, we’d spotted a surge in searches for football gifts across various age profiles. We felt the need to fill the gap in the market, and now we have a host of new things coming in development for that range, too.”
Golden Bear’s new digital touring platform doesn’t just go the lengths to showcase what this product looks like this year, while doing its best to ‘put the product in the hands of customers,’ without them being in the same country, let alone room, but also to showcase who Golden Bear is; a digital home of the company’s recent re-invention.
The firm kicked off the year with the unveiling of a new logo, coupled with a new messaging that would go on to amplify Golden Bear’s image as a firm at the cutting edge of today’s trends in toys. With the launch of the company re-branding, the message was clear – this wasn’t only a company built on reliability and quality in the pre-school space, but pioneers of innovation across its key sectors – and seriously, take a look at its upcoming Hey Duggee and Bing portfolio if you want to see innovation in the pre-school sector this year – powered by its insight led business.
“The majority of our sales are in non-plush items, which tends to surprise people,” says Hughes. “We wanted to make the best of the past and combine it with the best of our future, and give it all a more modern feel.”
This even extends to the consumer message that Golden Bear promotes, and the changing sensibilities of the modern day shopper. And that includes in its approach to being a sustainably responsible toy company.
“We are a company that quietly goes about doing things and doesn’t shout about it much,” explains Hughes. “Sustainability is a good example of that. For instance, the stuffing in our plush has been made out of recycled bottles for years. We have actually now been moving our product lines to make the skins from recycled polyester, too.”
That move will be kicking off with Golden Bear’s Hey Duggee range this year. As well as that, this is a company that now confidently boasts its zero to landfill policy (one that has been in place for a number of years), as well as the installation of solar panels this year, and the switch of all company cars to hybrid and electric.
“We are liaising with licensors and retailers, and we like to think that we are right on the forefront of this movement,” continues Hughes. “We have set out our values and pillars and where we want to be as a company in three years’ time. Everything is underpinned by insights and sustainability, and we are making sure that everything we do has got sustainability and insights as its centre.”
It’s with that messaging now front and centre that Golden Bear will continue to exact its plans for global expansion. A digital platform open to customers 24 hours a day, every day of the year has helped tighten the screws on the firm’s international network, while advanced discussions are ongoing with partners in the US for some of the company’s own IP.
“It was always our plan, pre-pandemic, to grow internationally,” says Hughes. “We are just maximising that opportunity, instead of travelling to overseas fairs, to tap into our contacts via the virtual toy fair platform, and spend more quality time with people, albeit virtually.”
Via the medium, the response from global customers has been consistent; Golden Bear in on to a strong 2021. Tapping into emerging trends in the Escape Room gaming space, pushing the envelope in pre-school innovation, and making a success of the Outdoor sector in a year that will likely be recognised as the summer of the staycation once again, there’s little that Golden Bear offers that doesn’t just seem to fit.
“One of the most pleasing things that I have heard from buyers through this toy fair season is that there is a reason for every product to exist,” states Hughes. “That for me is a real testament to the team; that there has been a thought process and reason behind everything we have done.
“The end of the year was a real time to reflect for everyone. Our warehouses have remained open through the year, and the vast majority of our staff have been working from home. I am so proud of the whole team, given everything that has gone on,” he concludes.
