TOY FAIR 2016 PR MANUAL 24-­‐26 January 2016: Grand Hall, Olympia, London Welcome to the Toy Fair 2016 PR Manual – we hope that it answers your queries about the PR opportunities available to you as a Toy Fair exhibitor. As Toy Fair’s PR agency, our aim is to secure coverage about the fair, its exhibitors and their products in the trade, consumer and national media before, during and after the event. Last year, more than 300 journalists attended Toy Fair, including The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Independent, The Times, Daily Mail, The Sun, The Evening Standard and the BBC radio network. We’d love to match this for 2016 and you can help us achieve this. All you have to do is complete the forms online and we’ll do the rest. If you have any questions about PR before the show, please don’t hesitate to contact Ravi Vijh, Matt Bowen or Dean Barrett at Bastion on 020 7269 7900. Or you can email us at toyfair@bastion.co.uk CHANGES FOR 2016 Press Day For 2016, press day will be Monday 25 January, the second day of the show. Please be aware that press day will not be the first day of the show as in previous years due to the show starting on a Sunday. All our main press releases and media communication will be slated for Sunday. While we will not deny entry to press attending on Sunday, the Bastion team will be actively encouraging media and placing stories for Monday. Child licenses Toy Fair runs a strict policy on child attendance at the show. There is no admittance for children unless they are working and have a child licence. If, as an exhibitor, you would like to have a child on your stand to demo your products, both the child and the chaperone MUST be fully licensed and that licence shared with the Bastion team before the show begins. If you are inviting press who may bring children, please make them aware of our policy as our team will need to be in possession of the press children’s licence before they enter. Press children will only be permitted on press day, Monday 25 January. TOY FAIR PRE SHOW 2016 PR OPPORTUNITIES Exhibitor and PRs open day The exhibitor and PR open day took place at Olympia on 17 September. If you would like to receive a copy of the PR presentation, please email toyfair@bastion.co.uk Ask the Media Ask the Media is a video created specifically for Toy Fair exhibitors. For this year’s campaign Dan Jones from The Sun, Jess Bulman from ITV and Beau’s Toy Farm will all be interviewed and asked questions about how best to approach them for stories around Toy Fair. The video will be available on the Toy Fair website in October. To see talks from last year’s Meet the Media visit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEBqPEF7uuknrgLe7znpHtQ/videos Media invitations Email-­‐able media invitations are being created by the BTHA to allow you to invite media to Toy Fair directly. We will send these to you as soon as they are ready. In the meantime, if there are any media that you would like us to invite to Toy Fair on your behalf or you would like us to add to our press centre to receive Toy Fair updates, please email toyfair@bastion.co.uk . Media comic The media comic is a document created by the BTHA to show off new products launching at Toy Fair in a fun and friendly way. Products are presented in a comic book style like the Beano (see image). The comic will be sent to everyone on the media list in early January to encourage them to register for the fair. If you would like to be featured in the comic, please make sure that you send us information about your new product launches by 11 November 2015 to toyfair@bastion.co.uk. Remember you are selling the story of your brand/product to the media – NOT BUYERS. To attract the media to your story hint at hooks, angles, exciting launches of brands/companies and accompany them with good quality images We use as many as we can but may need to pick the best if we run out of space. New Product Guide The new product guide is created each year to send to the media before the show, encouraging them to cover the show, attend the event and seek out your product launches once they are in the hall. The new product guide will also be placed online from the first day of the show. To be included in this document, please complete PR Form 3 by 4 December 2015. We will include a maximum of three entries per exhibitor. VIP Christmas goody bags We will be sending Christmas boxes of toys to our top 20 media this year, including the likes of; The Sun, The Mirror, The Daily Mail, ITV. This is a fantastic opportunity to get your brand in front of VIP journalists on the national newspapers and key parenting magazines. If you are interested in providing toys (we need 5-­‐10 toys from each exhibitor, toys must be no bigger than 20x20x20cm and reasonably lightweight) please email toyfair@bastion.co.uk by the 27 November 2015. We will endeavour to mail out all toys, but if there are any leftover we will take them to Toy Fair and donate them to Toy Fair’s official charity, to be announced in October. Toy Trades Previews All three of the toy trades will be writing previews on Toy Fair 2016 for their issues that come out in January. To suggest your product for potentially featuring in the magazine, contact the following people by the given date: ToyNews: Billy Langsworthy (blangsworthy@intentmedia.co.uk ; 01992 535646) or Rob Hutchins (rhutchins@intentmedia.co.uk ; 01992 535646) Deadline: TBC ToyWorld: John Baulch (john@toyworldmag.co.uk; 01442 502407) Toy Fair preview Deadline: 3 December (January issue) Toys ‘N’ Playthings: Mairead Wilmot (Mairead@lemapublishing.co.uk; 01442 289930) or Mirella Cestaro (Mirella@lemapublishing.co.uk; 01442 289941) Deadline: TBC Toy Trade Features Throughout the lead up to Toy Fair, the PR team at Bastion place features with the trade press. Bastion will contact all exhibitors throughout the campaign to ask for information for inclusion in these features. SOCIAL NETWORKING Toy Fair PRs’ Facebook page A Facebook page specifically for Toy Fair PRs can be found at http://on.fb.me/nV3ayM or search for Toy Fair PRs -­‐ we keep this page updated with PR news, media opportunities and information from the fair. We will also email you these updates. Please send up to date contact information to toyfair@bastion.co.uk. If you do not wish to receive these updates, please let us know. When requested to join the page, please note that you must make your request from an individual/personal account and not a company/group/page. Toy Fair is on Twitter Please follow us at https://twitter.com/toyfair2016. If you would like to post Tweets about your Toy Fair activity before or during the fair please send 140 character Tweets to toyfair@bastion.co.uk. You can join in the conversation using #toyfair16 AT THE SHOW 2016 -­‐ PR OPPORTUNITIES Toy Fair TV Presented by Anna Williamson and Gavin Inskip, Toy Fair TV is an opportunity for your stand and products to be broadcast on 24 screens around Olympia and streamed live through the Toy Fair website. Information will be sent out later in the year on how you can get involved and you will be contacted by Matt Cummins, the Toy Fair TV producer, in January. To look at highlights of last year’s show check out the Toy Fair website – www.toyfair.co.uk Toy Fair Demo Zone The Demo Zone is a programme within Toy Fair TV broadcast in the Toy Fair TV studio next to the press office (see below). The zone will be hosted by TV presenters Anna Williamson and Gavin Inskip and will give exhibitors the opportunity to demo a product they are launching at Toy Fair 2016. There is also a selection of kids available on the day to help demo and give their opinion on the toys. Each programme is 30 minutes long and dedicated to a particular category. Exhibitors will have the chance to book a two minute demonstration within a relevant category during each day of Toy Fair and the timetable will be organised on a first come first serve basis. You will be contacted in due course when the timetable opens. Please note: All toys submitted to the Demo Zone must be presented by a member of your team at the allotted time. The presenter will not be able to demonstrate your product for you. Please arrive five minutes before the Demo Zone session starts and you must be available for the full demo slot as we cannot guarantee the exact time your demo slot will be. Please arrive with your toy assembled and ready to demo. Broadcast media If you are inviting broadcast media to Toy Fair please let us know so that we can send them the broadcast information pack. We can also email this to you to pass on. Please contact us at toyfair@bastion.co.uk for your information. BBC Breakfast In the past, Toy Fair has been featured on BBC Breakfast and we will encourage a return to filiming Toy Fair in 2016. To help make the prospect of filming more attractive, we’ve set out a plan to have toys available on the day for the presenter to play with. If you have a toy that would look good/work well on TV please contact toyfair@bastion.co.uk and we will ask you to bring them to the press office on build up (Saturday 23 January 2015). Please note: There is no guarantee that the BBC will come to Toy Fair. If they do, there is no guarantee your toy will be used. This will be a purely editorial decision by the presenter and the producer on the day. If a product needs to be demonstrated by a member of staff, you are more than welcome to come into the hall at 6am to be on standby, but this must be confirmed with Ravi at Bastion and again there is no guarantee you will feature on BBC. (Click on video to hear from BBC’s Steph McGovern) Press clippings If you are launching a product at Toy Fair or holding an event with mass media appeal and would like a record of coverage, we recommend that you book a press clippings agency such as Durrants (part of the Gorkana Group) or Cision (formerly Romeike) to track this for you as Toy Fair does not have the resources to make clippings available to exhibitors. Toy Fair Best New Toy Awards 2016 The Toy Fair Best New Toy awards, judged by a panel of independent retailers, are open to any exhibitors who have products at Toy Fair 2016 that are launching at or after the event. Go to the PR Form 2 to find the entry form and be sure to submit a new form for each product, up to a maximum of three. The deadline to submit your entries is 13 November 2015. Winning companies will be contacted before Christmas under embargo, sent a certificate and logo and required to supply a sample product for display at Toy Fair. Winners in each category will be announced in a press release on the opening morning of the show and will be displayed at the front of the press office. The press office More than 300 journalists visit Toy Fair each year, and the press office is where they find out what is happening, what is new and what they absolutely cannot leave without seeing. Admission Access to the Toy Fair press office is restricted to journalists on press day (Monday 25 January). Holding meetings with journalists On press day please use the café areas or your stand to hold meetings as there is no space in the press office. On days one and three please check with reception for availability. Internet access The press office has a Wi-­‐Fi network available for journalists. After press day, it may be possible for exhibitors to have limited access. Please enquire at reception. ISDN line The press office has an ISDN line for high quality radio interviews. To use this facility, please contact Matt or Ravi at Bastion on 020 7269 7900 before the show or ask at reception. Displaying company media packs We recommend you bring 50-­‐100 media packs to Toy Fair to be displayed in the press office. The BTHA is keen to make Toy Fair a socially responsible event and we would ask that, where possible, you help us to reduce our carbon footprint by creating environmentally friendly press packs. Please do not bring catalogues to the press office. Journalists never take them. Please note: Media packs need to be delivered to the Toy Fair Press Office at Olympia by 4pm on Saturday 23 January 2016. Toy Fair 2016 we will have dedicated facilities to display USB press packs. Please bring these by the time noted above. There is limited space in the press office but we can store up to one box per exhibitor. We will ensure your packs are replenished throughout the show, but please label them with PR contact details and stand information so we can contact you if they run out. Unused media packs can be retrieved from the press office from 4pm on Tuesday 26 January 2016. Any packs remaining at 6.30pm will be disposed of. We do not allow exhibitors to take copies of other companies’ press packs. Onsite PR briefing Bastion will hold an onsite PR briefing at 4pm on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 January 2016, when we will show you around the press office, outline which press will be in attendance, what press events are happening when, and discuss the show’s marketing messages. If you would like to attend, simply turn up. Press events diary The Toy Fair press events diary is a list of all press events taking place at Toy Fair and is sent to journalists ahead of the fair, allowing them to plan their visit. If you would like your event to be included in this schedule, please complete the simple form in the PR Manual -­‐ Form 4 by 12 January 2016. Accessing the Toy Fair press events diary Please note – this is very important: Times are allocated on a first-­‐come-­‐first-­‐served basis. However, due to the limited number of time slots available during press day compared to the volume of exhibitors on site, it is NOT possible for Bastion or Toy Fair to guarantee that your event will be the sole occupier of that time slot. We will advise you if any events crop up post-­‐booking that clash with yours so that you can choose to make alternative arrangements. However, it’s important to note that, due to the last minute nature of event confirmations at Toy Fair, we may not become aware of this until days – sometimes even hours – before the show opens. VIP media goody bags (onsite) Each year we create goody bags for the VIP media to take away with them. If you would like to be included, please bring between 5 and 20 toys to the press office on Saturday 23 January 2016 before 12pm. Please do not bring large, heavy toys or toys contained in a large box. Please use common sense when providing gifts for the goody bags. Heavy toys cannot be used either. Toy Fair Daily News The Toy Fair Daily News is the onsite Toy Fair daily paper produced, by Lema Publishing, on each of the three days of Toy Fair. The paper contains only news from Toy Fair exhibitors and is distributed throughout the hall for visitors to read. Toys N Playthings is responsible for writing the Toy Fair Daily News. Please contact the editorial team: mirella@lemapublishing.co.uk; mairead@lemapublishing.co.uk Deadlines for Toy Fair Daily News Day One – TBC Day Two – 12pm Sunday 24 January Day Three – 12pm Monday 25 January The post show press release Each year we write a post-­‐show release to send to the media telling them about the three days. If you would like to submit a comment or quote from your company’s experience at Toy Fair 2016, or some news about orders/leads achieved, for potential inclusion in the post-­‐show release, please contact toyfair@bastion.co.uk by 4pm on Monday 25 January 2016. Toy samples Toy samples will be on displayed in the Toy Fair TV studio, as well as being used as a backdrop; media often use them as a background while filming at the fair. If you would like your toys to be included in this display, please provide a card to accompany each toy that can stand next to your products that details your contact name and onsite phone number, company name, stand number and information about the product including price. Please note: Toy samples need to be delivered to the press office on Saturday 23 January 2016 by 12pm and it is your responsibility to retrieve the toys once Toy Fair has closed. Any toys left over at 4pm will be donated to the official show charity KidsOut. Photography If you would like to book the official show photographer to take shots of your stand, please contact and book your requirements via the exhibitor show manual. Costume characters Toy Fair welcomes you to bring costume characters to the show free of charge. Please note: All costume characters must be pre-­‐registered so that we can send them an entry badge in advance. Please book an exhibitor pass for them and their minder so that they can gain access to Toy Fair before 9am when the show opens. If you would like to bring a character, please contact toyfair@bastion.co.uk or call us on 020 7269 7900 so that your character can be included in the annual photo shoot. We do ask that you also inform us in advance if you need space in the changing area for your character. If you would like a character created please contact Rainbow Productions on 020 8254 5301. The character line up will take place on Monday 25 January at 11:15. Photo wall There will be a branded photo wall in the Toy Fair TV studio with the Toy Fair logo on. Please feel free to use this as a backdrop for your own photography. Children at Toy Fair Toy Fair operates a strict trade only policy and is restricted by health and safety regulations. In light of this, the decision has been taken to prohibit children between five and 16 from entering the fair. Children under the age of five are permitted when accompanied and supervised by an adult. Children should be kept in pushchairs where possible. Proof of age may be requested. Prams and pushchairs are allowed at Olympia. The reason behind this decision is to protect prototypes that many exhibitors bring to the show as well as to maintain a business environment for all exhibitors and visitors. There will be no crèche provided at the Toy Fair in 2016 but the website – www.toyfair.co.uk – has details of local crèches in the area. Please note: A special consideration will be made on press day – Monday 25 January – when pre-­‐
registered publicity children are allowed to attend for the purposes of demonstrating product only. To apply, please contact toyfair@bastion.co.uk. All children must be licensed by their local council and this licence must be shared with Bastion and the BTHA before entry can be permitted. If the child requires a chaperone, the chaperone must be licensed as well and the BTHA and Bastion must be in possession of this licence before entry is permitted. Please note: Children are not allowed into the press office on press day due to health and safety considerations, except under exceptional circumstances. Please note: Toy Fair will not be able to provide children for press events. Any press children hired by Toy Fair will only be available for Toy Fair specific activities. No children between five and 16 will be allowed into Toy Fair without the required licence. The Toy Fair has a legal responsibility to uphold this requirement.