Toy World’s John Baulch and Rachael Simpson-Jones paid a visit to Schleich’s new UK head office to find out more.

Following an exceptionally strong 2021, Schleich has unveiled a major new global brand strategy aimed at paving the way for more imaginative play and an even stronger presence at retail. GmbH CEO Dirk Engehausen and managing director Udo Rother, as well as Schleich UK’s country manager Thomas Randrup and marketing manager Paul Dearlove welcomed Toy World to the company’s new offices, where the team was joined by a very special guest.

In January 2022, Schleich announced that the company had enjoyed its best year in its entire 87-year history. This performance not only vindicated CEO Dirk Engehausen’s predictions for the period, it also continued into 2022, resulting in a very strong Q1.

Schleich GmbH MD Udo Rother believes that consumer preferences are changing once again, with shopping habits starting to swing away from eCommerce. The brand benefits from strong retail listings across a range of channels and territories, meaning this shift hasn’t impacted sales. And with Q3 and Q4 2022 set to be particularly strong for the business, thanks to a raft of new product launches and other major developments, Udo is optimistic that 2022 will yield significant further growth.

The most consumer-facing elements of the new brand strategy are a redesigned logo and packaging, and new visual language. The brand’s digital channels are also being modernised, including a relaunch of the Schleich website at a global level.

Schleich UK moved into its new offices, where this interview was held, in November 2021. “The move reflects the ambition of both Schleich GmbH and Schleich UK,” Paul Dearlove tells us. It has given the company the room required for employees to immerse themselves in the product: the seating area is inhabited by a large white tiger model, there’s a permanent showroom that displays all Schleich’s franchises and the walls feature large-scale marketing assets created as part of the new brand strategy campaign. Our interview included a surprise visit from the utterly adorable Teddy the Shetland pony, who has set the bar very high indeed for future guest appearances at meetings.

To find out more about Schleich’s plans and latest product introductions, read the full article, which appeared in the July edition of Toy World, here.