Playmobil wants to launch a toy featuring Taylor Swift

A figurine of the singer Taylor Swift? Playmobil is thinking about it very seriously, while the American pop star is at the height of his success with a record-breaking world tour, albums that dominate the top of the music charts and a harvest of awards. The German toy giant, which has lost ground to Lego in recent years, sees it as a good way to boost its sales.

A playmobil featuring Taylor Swift's features “would be a huge dream,” Bahri Kurter, the brand's boss, told AFP. Contacts were made, and creative work was launched. “We’ll see how this evolves” toward a collaboration, which would be a much-needed marketing coup for Playmobil.

The German manufacturer, which revolutionized the toy market in 1974 with its small articulated plastic characters, is going through an unprecedented crisis as it celebrates its 50th anniversary. Its competitor Lego, the world number 1 in toys with a turnover ten times higher, has been able to take advantage of lucrative licenses with Star Wars, Harry Potter, Barbie in its pocket... And seduce an adult audience with a diversification of its range.

Playmobil “started late” in the lucrative partnership niche, recognizes its boss. The greatest success in German history is the more austere figurine... of the priest Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation, sold 1.3 million copies. The brand also wants to increase agreements with major museums, such as the Louvre, after the success of a collaboration with the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and the placement of 400,000 figurines of the painter Van Gogh, according to Bahri Kurter.

According to the German newspaper Die Zeit, Playmobil suffered the first loss in its history during its staggered 2022/2023 annual financial year ending at the end of March 2023. Playmobil lost “a third of sales among 4-8 year olds over the last eight years », Explains his boss. A social plan is underway, affecting nearly 20% of the workforce worldwide, or around 700 positions, half in Germany.