ZAG is making a bigger move into the toy department.
The independent animation studio rebranded its ZAG Lab as ZAG Play and launched a global toy division to live alongside licensing and merchandising, promotions, and gaming within it. The company tapped Helena Perheentupa, former vice president of ZAG Central-, Northern-, Eastern Europe, and Russia to lead as senior vice president.
“We tell stories at ZAG that feature fresh and relevant superheroes to inspire children to love themselves and to discover themselves through the story,” says ZAG Founder and CEO Jeremy Zag. “At the new ZAG Play Toy Division, we will leverage our unique point-of-difference as both an animation content powerhouse and a high-quality toy company to develop state-of-the-art products that empower children to see themselves as heroes through imaginary and aspirational play.”
ZAG Play will develop toys that the company says will “offer synchronization between storytelling and the physical and digital world that will be deeply tied to the DNA of the company’s brands.” In her new role, Perheentupa will work with the content development team and screenwriters to integrate their stories with physical play.
”We will continue to work closely with Playmates, our master toy partner, and other trusted licensees in the toy space as we develop imaginative and complementary products that keep our brands highly visible at retail,” Perheentupa says. ”Among the products we develop will be toy lines that due to economies of scale, for example, are not viable at the regional level for licensing partners, but with global retail placement, we will reach critical mass to manufacture them. Together with our partners, our new ZAG Play toy division will offer a wider range of inventive and original toys for fans to engage with our brands.”
While toys based on Miraculous — Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir and Ghostforce will be the first priority, ZAG Play will also develop products based on the upcoming animated film, Melody — created and directed by Jeremy Zag and set to star Katy Perry — and films that are part of a multipicture deal with Cross Creek Pictures.
ZAG Play will unveil its first toy lines at Spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg, Germany, Feb. 1-5, 2023.
