ZAG is ramping up its efforts in the toy department.
Following the recent news that the global animation studio has opened a new toy division, the company hired industry veteran James Nunziati to serve as its head of global sales.
Nunziati joins the company from ZURU where he spent the past seven years as vice president of sales and marketing for North America. In his new role, Nunziati will report to Helena Perheentupa, senior vice president, ZAG Play Toy Division.
“At the new ZAG Play Toy Division, we are committed to the development of a broad range of innovative toys that are deeply tied to the DNA of our brands and that are complementary to products created by our trusted licensing partners in the toy space,” Perheentupa says. “As we gear up to present our first original broad product range at [Spielwarenmesse] Nuremberg Toy Fair at the beginning of February 2023, James’ wealth of expertise and relationships will be invaluable to support our launch.”
The ZAG Play Toy Division is part of ZAG Play, the division of the company led by Julian Zag, executive vice president, global operations and head of consumer products.
“I’ve been observing ZAG’s phenomenal growth over the last couple of years and am delighted to be joining the company at such a transformative time,” Nunziati says. “ZAG has developed amazing content, and it will be exciting to create and deliver imaginative toys that will empower children through aspirational play, supplementing products developed by ZAG’s trusted licensing partners to keep the company’s brands highly visible at retail.”
Prior to joining ZURU, Nunziati held roles at Yvolution USA, Mattel, 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Starz Media, and more.
At launch, the ZAG Play Toy Division will focus on toys inspired by Miraculous — Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, Ghostforce, and the upcoming animated feature film, Melody.
