The
company is confident that the products, hugely popular
worldwide, will appeal in India and hopes to garner
a market share of over 20 per cent in the growing
organised Rs 150 million category of 3-9 year range
of toys for girls.
Funskool
would be importing the Disney Princess products and
distributing them in India. They also will be manufacturing
board games and puzzles from their facility at Goa
in India.
This
move represents another step in The Walt Disney Company's
business strategy in India. With demand growing for
contemporary cartoon based toys in Indian market,
this arrangement would prove beneficial both to Disney's
famous 'Disney Princess' range that are very popular
in the international markets and to Funskool.
The
young girls' lifestyle brand continues to expand into
more categories and countries, and is on track to
become the largest global girls franchise in 2006
with 40 per cent growth in 2005 and 300 per cent growth
over the last three years. The eight princesses -
Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Mulan, Pocahontas,
Sleeping Beauty and Snow White - were brought together
under the same marketing umbrella by Disney Consumer
Products in 2000.
Disney
Princess boasts platinum status on Billboard's Children's
Chart and has three titles in the Top 25 chart with
the "Disney Princess Collection" from Walt
Disney Records; it reigns as the number one licensed
Halloween costume assortment for 4 years in a row;
has garnered 10 million worldwide circulation with
30 editions of its Disney Princess magazine,
available in 75 countries. Having crossed $3 billion
in worldwide consumer retail sales, the brand continues
to be the fastest growing, nearly universally recognised
brand Disney has ever created.
Funskool
is also planning innovative Point of Sale (POS) materials
to promote the toys and to bring out the excitement
and variety of the Disney Princess collection in retail
shops. To add to it, Funskool has a strong distribution
network covering 5000 outlets across India, which
would be
helping in the sale of the Disney Princess collection.