Victoria Lozano, Executive Vice President, Marketing at Crayola, shares insight on changing play patterns, diversity, and location-based entertainment in this extended edition of The Toy Book’s 2023 State of the Industry Q&A roundtable. Want more insight from the all-stars of the toy industry? Click here to explore this year’s lineup!
The Toy Book: Over the past few years, Crayola has seen innovation in how activities and traditional play patterns can come together in new ways, such as the Scribble Scrubbie line. How is the company working to build upon that this year?
Victoria Lozano: While Crayola is best known for its iconic Crayola Crayon, first introduced in 1903, the brand has grown to a broad portfolio of innovative products and exciting hands-on creative experiences. At its core, Crayola is about innovation. Our teams are constantly focused on identifying new insights, developing new concepts and ideas, exploring new technologies, finding new applications, and coming up with innovative new products that will delight kids and enable them to creatively express their thoughts and ideas. Scribble Scrubbie is one of our very successful creative toys, one that still has a lot of growth potential, but there are so many others. The beauty of Crayola’s innovation is that it’s evergreen. We are going to continue to innovate within our core products and through new creative toys, as well as look for ways to grow the category by keeping kids engaged longer and drive incremental usage occasions through unique and fun experiences that kids want to do again and again.
TB: How has the Colors of Kindness brand grown and how is its licensing program shaping up?
VL: The Crayola Colors of Kindness product line is a great example of consumer insights, trends, and science coming together to expand our pallet and help consumers relax, live mindfully, and express kindness colorfully. According to Parents, kindness is the most important value parents want to instill in their children, topping intelligence and a strong work ethic. Within the 24-count box of crayons launched in 2021 and the newly launched markers and colored pencils, kids will find positive messages tied to a soft color pallet — macaroni and cheese with “life is gouda” or granny smith apple paired with “kind to the core.” It’s a perfect way to relax through coloring or send messages of love and support to those you care about.
Crayola Colors of Kindness grew sales 158% in 2022 in the U.S. In fact, U.S. households purchased 3.5 units of Crayola Colors of Kindness products every minute of 2022, an increase of 84% versus the prior year. Building on that success, Crayola is now extending the franchise through licensing. The new Crayola Colors of Kindness merchandise will amplify the core message of spreading love through creativity and will be featured across multiple product segments including kids’ health and wellness, fashion, publishing, gift, and social expression. The licensing program will launch in March with soon-to-be-announced fashion collaborations and will build throughout 2023 and into 2024.
TB: How will the growing footprint for Crayola’s location-based experiences help to complement sales and fuel demand in the years ahead?
VL: While Crayola is certainly most well-known for its innovative creative products, we have been focused on growing our portfolio of location-based experiences over a number of years now. We believe that these experiences enable us to curate how consumers engage with and immerse in the Crayola brand. We know that families spend as much as 3-4 hours engrossed in hands-on creative experiences while having fun and creating great family memories. We believe these experiences are important to bring the Crayola brand to life, help kids build a creative mindset, and showcase our amazing products and technologies. It’s a great way for families to discover all that the Crayola brand has to offer by engaging our consumers on a deeper level and fueling incremental purchase occasions and creative experiences at home. We believe location-based experiences will continue to play an important role in our future and intend to continue actively expanding our portfolio of these experiences both in the U.S. and globally.
TB: What are your overall predictions for the state of the toy industry and toy retail this year?
VL: Like any business, the toy industry is not immune to what is happening in the broader economy. Companies are dealing with significant challenges, and many are adjusting their business and operating models to respond to those challenges. However, the toy industry has something really special: parents’ and caregivers’ unyielding desire to care for their kids. So, while the industry will certainly be affected to some degree, I don’t anticipate a far-reaching impact on consumer demand over time. I think this industry is more resilient because creative play is good for kids’ development. And for a brand like Crayola, whose mission and purpose are focused on providing hands-on, creative experiences that help kids develop a creative mindset, there will always be a place for our products in kids’ lives. In fact, we see evidence of that even as the economy struggles with recessionary trends. The Crayola portfolio has a wide range of products at low price points, offering exceptional value and making these experiences accessible for all consumers. So we need to stay focused on executing our strategic playbook with excellence: delivering great quality and fun creative products that kids want to play with; creating immersive, interactive experiences that fuel incremental consumption; and developing engaging content that expands consumer interaction with and loyalty to the brand.
A version of this Q&A was originally published in the 2023 edition of The BIG Toy Book. Click here to read the full issue! Want to receive The Toy Book in print? Click here for subscription options!
