This weekend (8^th/9^th December), LEGO Group will let families step into a world of brick-built Christmas wonder at the ‘LEGO Imaginarium’ – a unique space where the iconic brick brings imagination to life. Marking an end to celebrations for the 60^th anniversary year of the LEGO brick, the LEGO Imaginarium will combine Augmented Reality with physical play.

The one-of-a-kind, free entry experience, taking place at Observation Point on London’s Southbank, will let children and adults alike come face-to-face with digital brick-built dragons, pirates, fairies and more, whilst using the endless creative play possibilities of real LEGO bricks to build their wildest wishes.

It will be unveiled by celebrity mum Stacy Solomon with her kids Zach, aged 10 and Leighton, aged 6, who said: “My kids love getting creative with LEGO, and it always amazes me when I see what they’ve built after being let loose on a box of bricks! We are all excited to visit the LEGO Imaginarium this weekend, take part in some building with fans and experience an AR world filled with LEGO wonder and creativity.”

The Imaginarium opens as figures from LEGO’s Play Well report – a survey of 13,000 parents and children across nine countries – shows that 96% of parents believe play is a key factor in helping kids develop their creativity.

93% of parents say construction toys such as LEGO bricks help their child be creative and ‘creativity’ has risen to become amongst the most sought after of the essential life skills. Studies by the World Economic Forum highlight the rapid change in the perception of creativity as an essential skill, moving from 10th place on the list of Top 10 Skills for success in 2015 to projected 3rd place by 2020.

Marius Lang, Head of Marketing for LEGO UK & Ireland, said: “Families have been getting together and building with LEGO bricks for 60 years and Christmas is a special time when imagination and creativity can be brought to life in a thousand ways.  The enduring appeal of the LEGO brick is its ability to become anything kids or adults want – to let them build whatever they can dream of through its endless creative play opportunities. That’s why we’re building the LEGO Imaginarium this weekend, it’s a chance for people to step into creativity and imagination with LEGO and bring their wildest wishes to life in brick form!”

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McDonald’s has signed a deal with The Smiley Company, master licensee for the Rubik’s Cube, for the iconic 1980s puzzle toy to feature in McDonald’s Happy Meal offers in multiple countries.

In a deal brokered by global customer engagement agency The Marketing Store, which has worked closely with McDonald’s for many years, the multi-territory promotion will appear in McDonald’s restaurants across various European countries, the Middle East, Africa and North America.

The campaign launches in France this month (July 2018) and will then roll out across other territories from August through November 2018, including Italy, Spain, Austria, UAE and Canada, amongst many others.

It is not clear yet whether it will be running in the UK, where restrictions are in force on the use of toys and licensed characters to promote food and drink products. Promomarketing has asked McDonald’s for clarification on this point.

Unusually, the Happy Meal Box will be transformed from its traditional tented ‘house’ design into a Cube shape to mirror the Rubik’s Cube for the duration of the campaign.

Children enjoying a Happy Meal at participating McDonald’s will have a choice of four different bespoke Rubik’s Cube toys; including square 2×2 cubes and rectangular 3×2 cubes as well as rounded versions of these, with a total of 12 different toys to choose from.

The unique promotion will also feature a product mash-up between Rubik’s and a major Hollywood animation film studio’s properties appearing on the toys alongside the iconic Rubik’s Cube colours and trademark twist and turn mechanism.

Nicolas Loufrani, CEO at The Smiley Company, says: “We have worked closely with The Marketing Store and the whole team at McDonald’s and are really pleased with the innovative and high quality content of this campaign. From the robust mini Cubes and the unique Rubik’s Cube shaped Happy Meal box to the TV ads and bespoke games created for the Happy Studio app, every aspect of the promotion has been crafted to perfectly leverage the Rubik’s brand mission of encouraging children to PLAY SMART and further our goal of bringing intelligent play to kids of all ages.”

The Smiley Company will be leveraging the partnership with McDonald’s to drive the ongoing Rubik’s brand extension program and “to realise our plans to take the brand to new consumers, with particular emphasis on engaging the brand with children aged from 3-8 years old, as our brand mission continues to focus on creating new toy partnerships for this age group,” Loufrani adds.

To support the promotion’s launch in the markets where it will be appearing, there will be a 360° marketing campaign, supported by a TV advertising featuring the Happy Meal mascot ‘HAPPY’ playing with a Rubik’s Cube in a 26 and 13 second spots. There will also be series of ‘How to Solve’ short video tutorials launched on social channels to help kids solve the bespoke Happy Meal Rubik’s Cubes, and a McDonald’s Happy Studio app takeover.

Additional marketing materials will include in-store POS, branded balloons, colouring sheets, wall stickers and window decals which will help amplify the Rubik’s brand identity throughout the promotion.

The launch of the activation in France is being supported with an influencers’ campaign while other national markets will also see major marketing initiatives.

The Smiley Company is a brand licensing company which originated in France and which holds the intellectual property rights to the classic smiley face symbol face symbol in more than 100 countries (although not the United States, where the symbol originated).

In addition to the smiley symbol, it also holds licensing rights for Rubik’s Cube and related properties, and recently launched a major brand extension program for Rubik’s. This draws on Rubik’s iconicity, rich heritage and archive and the resurgence of retro gaming and geek culture, while utilising Smiley’s own industry leading design studio and world class distribution channels.

The company says global demand for Rubik’s is now at the highest levels since its launch in 1980 and a number of industry leading partners have already signed up across categories including apparel, back to school, gift, live events and attractions, partworks, promotions and publishing.

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EPOCH making toys – the company behind collectible toy brand Sylvanian Families – is launching its new Town range by creating the world’s smallest fashion show, unveiled at Hamleys Regent Street on Thursday March 22nd. A UK-wide experiential roadshow tour with intu shopping centres will follow in April.

The fashion stunt, devised by Bath-based agency Highlight PR, comprises two miniature automated catwalks on which Sylvanian Families figures (just 9.5cm tall) will model 40 ‘petite’ haute couture outfits.

Handmade by EPOCH’s R&D designers in Japan specifically for the launch, these eye-wateringly small outfits feature couture quality details and will be presented as ‘the debut Spring Summer Collection’ of the Town’s main character, Stella the fashion designer.

Over 30 London fashion press and guests attended the Hamley’s launch, together with child look-alikes of Anna Wintour, The Queen and Karl Lagerfeld on the FROW (Front Row).

While one catwalk is part of a double window display at Hamleys Regent Street until May 2nd, the second catwalk will tour the UK as a key attraction within EPOCH’s experiential roadshow – a national partnership with intu shopping centres to launch the Town across the UK.

Devised by Bournemouth-based brand communications agency, Mad River, the Sylvanian Families Town roadshow kicks off at intu Trafford Centre on 31 March (Easter Saturday). It will comprise a branded area with purpose-built life-size replicas of the Town buildings’ facades and street lamps.

Once inside, Sylvanian fans and intu customers can see and play with the new products, watch the new Town characters perform on stage and admire the miniature fashion show. To drive consumer engagement, there will be a themed selfie corner and craft activities, with a competition to become ‘Stella’s intern’ by designing a dress for her next collection.

The roadshow will also visit intu Metrocentre, intu Merryhill and intu Lakeside during April.

Yuki Otsuka, Marketing Manager at EPOCH making toys, comments: “This is the largest product launch in the history of Sylvanian Families, so we wanted to create maximum awareness not just amongst our core customer base but also within a broader target audience to attract the next generation of fans. We’ve therefore designed an integrated campaign across multiple channels, and we hope our unique miniature catwalk will be an exciting element, from a PR, experiential and consumer engagement perspective. As a fashion-lover myself, I’m amazed by the details of the tiny, couture outfits within Stella’s collection – I’m sure everyone is going to love them too!”

To support the launch and the roadshow and drive sales, EPOCH is running a TV campaign from now until 8 April. Ads will promote the Town’s hero products comprising the Grand Department Store, Designer Studio (run by Stella Chocolate) and Ride Along Tram.

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Heinz Pasta has partnered with Play-Doh for an on-pack promotion offering the chance to win one of 50 Play-Doh “Playful Pies” Playsets every day over an eight-week period.

Kraft Heinz and Hasbro, owner of the Play-Doh brand, stress that both brands are long-time family favourites – Play-Doh was launched in 1956 while Heinz Pasta has been available for many decades.

The promotion will include limited edition labels featuring the Play-Doh brand and characters across all Kraft Heinz Pasta multipacks.

To enter the daily draw, consumers have to purchase a promotional product from and submit their details and an image of the receipt for the purchase at www.HeinzPlayDohPrizes.co.uk.

As well as running on Kraft Heinz multipack products, the campaign will be promoted across the Heinz UK website as well as Play-Doh and Kraft Heinz social channels, with the packs available on shelves up until December 17th.

The giveaway features on an assortment of Heinz multipacks, including the Heinz Hoops 4-pack and 3-pack, the Heinz Hoops No Added Sugar 4-pack and 3-pack, as well as the Heinz Spaghetti 4-pack.

Brook Aspden, Brand Manager for Heinz Pasta, comments: “This exciting partnership combines two brands that are already well-loved by UK families. Play-Doh is the perfect partner to help us deliver more smiles at mealtimes! We hope that the limited-edition packs will create great shelf stand-out appealing to the gatekeeper at point of purchase.”

Craig Wilkins, Marketing Director Hasbro UK & Ireland, adds: “We are thrilled to be teaming up with such an established brand as Heinz to give families the chance to enjoy both the creativity and nostalgia of two family favourites.”

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Discount supermarket Aldi has brought back the star of last year’s Christmas advertising campaign, Kevin the Carrot, and given him a love interest Katie, with proceeds from plush Kevin and Katie toys sold in store going to charity Teenage Cancer Trust.

Picking up from where last year’s campaign ended, Aldi’s new advert opens with Kevin as a snowman’s nose, before being dislodged by the rumbling of an approaching train. Jumping aboard, Kevin discovers this isn’t just any train, but a luxurious sleeper complete with a dining car brimming with Aldi’s amazing Christmas feast.

In the distance Kevin spots Katie, and it’s love at first sight. But he has to brave flying Champagne corks, cheese towers and giant turkeys to reach her. This year’s ad has suspense, murder, romance and sumptuous food and drink in a setting reminiscent of classic films.

Adam Zavalis, Marketing Director at Aldi UK, says: “We launched Kevin last year with the line, heroes are grown, not born. And Kevin really did grow into our hero. Our customers took him to their hearts and enjoyed watching his escapades in the run up to Christmas. We just had to bring him back again this year.”

Oscar winning actor Jim Broadbent also returns to narrate the story, backed by the Edward Scissorhands soundtrack.

Kevin and Katie will also be the stars of 14 product oriented sub-campaigns running as 20 and 30 second TV executions as well as being delivered across digital, social, outdoor, press, cinema, radio, door drop and in-store.

Plush Kevin The Carrot and Katie The Carrot soft toys be launching in stores from November 23rd for £2.99, in support of Aldi’s charity partner, Teenage Cancer Trust.

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The My Little Pony Friendship Tour, an experiential roadshow celebrating Hasbro’s iconic girls’s toy brand, My Little Pony, returns to the UK this summer with a refreshed look and feel to celebrate the upcoming release of My Little Pony: The Movie.

The tour will be visiting cities across the country this summer, welcoming fans aboard the toy range’s signature pink double-decker bus, where they will be able to explore Equestria, the magical world of ponies, and celebrate the positive power of this unique children’s brand.

New for 2017, children will have the chance to ‘Get Ponified’ with free cutie-mark face painting at one of the tour’s new Ponification Stations.

Kids will be able to play with the latest toys, watch clips from the new movie, and enjoy a series of unique My Little Pony experiences including creating their own My Little Pony Selfie GIF with scenes from the new movie or favourite locations from the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic TV show.

Visitors will also be given an exclusive Friendship Points code to use online at the My Little Pony Friendship Club.

The tour started in Liverpool on July 26^th, 2017, and finishes at The Big Feastival at the end of August. In addition to Liverpool, it has already visited the Bullring, Birmingham; Fosse Shopping Park, Leicester; Cribbs Causeway Retail Park, Bristol; Castlepoint Shopping Park, Bournemouth; Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth; Two Rivers, Staines; Gallions Reach Shopping Park, London; Bluewater; and the Bristol Balloon Fiesta. Its next appearance is at the St. David’s Centre, Cardiff on August 15^th, followed by Middlebrook Retail Park, Lancashire (August 19^th), Ravenhead Retail Park, St. Helens (August 20^th) and The Big Feastival at Alex James’s farm in the Cotswolds (August 25^th-27^th).

More information is available via the My Little Pony UK Facebook Page.

Experiential agency iD created and is managing the activation on behalf of Hasbro.

Hasbro is a global play and entertainment company with interests including toys and games, television, movies, digital gaming and consumer products. In addition to My Little Pony, Hasbro also owns iconic brands including NERF, Transformers, Play-Doh, Monopoly, Littlest Pet Shop and Magic: The Gathering.

iD is a multi-award-winning specialist experiential and retail marketing agency established in 1993 which delivers large scale sampling campaigns, road shows, and immersive brand experience campaigns for clients including Hasbro, Britvic, PepsiCo, Mars and Unilever.

Additionally, iD provides teams of highly trained expert demonstrators in retailers throughout the UK for clients including; Nespresso, Microsoft, Revlon, Elizabeth Arden, COTY and Sage Appliances.

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Hasbro toy brand, Nerf, has launched a new nationwide roadshow, The Nerf Test Centre, which will tour the UK from 28^th July.

The Nerf Test Centre sees the shipping container which Nerf has used for previous promotional roadshows transformed to feature a never-before-seen photo opportunity area with suspended cars.

Consumers can try out the new Regulator blaster from the Modulus range and can experience its new SwitchFire technology, while car-crazy children will be able to try out the latest Nitro MotoFury blaster, a brand-new range of Nerf guns which shoot miniature toy vehicles instead of darts.

Those entering the Nerf Test Centre will be able to learn about the evolution of Nerf, discover fun Nerf facts and will have the opportunity to test out vintage Nerf products. All consumers will leave the Nerf Test Centre experience with their own Nerf wristbands, driving licenses and sticker sets.

The brand experience was created for Nerf by award-winning brand experience agency, i2i Marketing.

The tour will visit six locations nationwide, including: Wimbledon Piazza (July 28^th – 29^th), Smithy Row, Nottingham (August 3^rd – 5^th), Bristol Balloon Fiesta (August 10^th – 13^th), Briggate, Leeds (August 18^th – 20^th), Trafford Centre, Manchester (August 22^nd – 28^th) and The Bullring, Birmingham (September 1^st – 3^rd).

Lucinda Taylor, Senior Account Manager at i2i Marketing, says: “We are very excited to be continuing our great work with Nerf. This year, we have given the shipping container its biggest revamp yet and have added some great assets to make it an open 360° experience for our consumers.”

i2i Marketing is a multi-award-winning boutique brand experience agency that specialises in connecting brands and people through memorable shared experiences. Founded in 2000, i2i’s clients include Philips, Hasbro, Genius, AG Barr, and R&R Ice Cream.

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Hasbro’s PLAY-DOH brand is visiting cities across the UK this summer with its Imagination Tour roadshow, encouraging families to have fun and be creative with the PLAY-DOH brand through a number of hands-on activities.

The tour, created for PLAY-DOH by experiential agency iD, started in Southampton on April 19 2017 and will be visiting six different locations:

• Geronimo Festival, Warrington – May 27-29
• Westfield, Stratford – July 26-30
• Metrocentre, Newcastle – August 2-6
• Bristol Balloon Fiesta – August 10-13
• Birmingham Bullring – September 13-17

The interactive event has been designed to give curious thinkers and little explorers the opportunity to experience creative play with PLAY-DOH compound, Hasbro says. Entering through a giant PLAY-DOH tub, children can head straight to the play tables where they can create anything they wish with endless pots of PLAY-DOH compound at their fingertips.

Next, they can test their culinary creativity at the Kitchens Creations station where they can make wacky food creations. Once complete, they can share their culinary masterpieces at the photo board for a special picture with the Doh-Doh brand character as a keepsake.

They will also have the chance to try out PLAY-DOH TOUCH, the immersive app that brings sculpted PLAY-DOH creations to life in a new virtual PLAY-DOH world.

Hasbro is a global play and entertainment company which makes toys, games, television, movies, digital gaming and consumer products including Nerf, My Little Pony, Transformers, PLAY-DOH, Monopoly, Littlest Pet Shop and Magic: The Gathering, as well as premier partner brands.

iD is a multi-award winning specialist experiential and retail marketing agency which delivers large scale sampling campaigns, road shows, and immersive brand experience campaigns for clients including Britvic, PepsiCo, Mars and Unilever. Additionally, iD provides teams of highly-trained expert demonstrators in retailers throughout the UK for clients including Nespresso, Microsoft, Revlon, Elizabeth Arden, COTY and Sage Appliances.

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Lego is set to become the first client to capitalise on Primesight’s new ‘Primespot’ technology which takes the traditional ‘gold spot’ advertising seen on-screen before a film into the foyer, maximising exposure to the target audience.

The technology will revolutionise how digital cinema advertising is sold, serving the ad exclusively for 15 minutes in the foyer ahead of a specific feature film. The average cinema goer spends 14 minutes in the foyer ahead of watching their film, which means that ‘Primespot’ minimises wastage and targets the desired audience at a moment when they are most receptive to the message.

Aniskha Fernando, Senior Client Manager at Posterscope, said: “Cinema foyer advertising has always been a great format for us to target LEGO’s audiences, and through Primespot we are now able to be more niche with our targeting and dominate foyer presence during the all-important 15 min lead up to the show.

Lego have purchased 1,750 hours across Primesight’s cinema portfolio of digital 6-sheets, which will run daily before showings of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, at 120 cinemas in a nationwide campaign. The Lego spots will be served directly before what is set to be this year’s festive blockbuster and will feature Lego’s Star Wars range. As one of the biggest films of 2016, Rogue One is expected to take £80 million at the box office.

Dan Sharp, Head of Digital at Primesight, commented: “Through Primespot, we hope to reach out to audiences when they are at their most receptive, to build upon brand engagement at the first touchpoint: in the foyer of a cinema. Our first campaign with Lego is one we are very excited about and is the first step in showcasing just what brands and advertisers can creatively do in this space.”

2016 was another record year for UK cinema, which defied expectations to continue to deliver on the impressive growth of 2015. The total UK box office crossed £1bn in record time, hitting the figure by October 8th, and beating last year’s record by nearly three weeks. Increasing footfall and spend in cinemas around the UK means that engaging audiences in the time they spend before watching the film is even more important, which is why Primesight developed ‘Primespot’.

Primesight is one of the UK’s largest suppliers of out of home (OOH) solutions.  Its product portfolio reaches audiences in a range of environments including Roadside, Airports, Cinema, Retail Convenience, and Subway transit.  The operation of the largest UK network of fully interactive screens allows touch, sound and gesture engagement as well as mobile connection through touch points.

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Hasbro is running a shopping centre tour across the UK in the run up to Christmas to showcase the cutting-edge motion technology in its new Bop It! game, giving consumers the chance to try out its 10 new ‘moves’ and share the fun through social media.

Bop It! delivers a series of commands that players must follow to win. The classic pull it, twist it and bop it actions have now grown to include a whole new range of moves, such as Whip It, Drink It, Selfie It, Answer It, Hammer It, Sing It, Golf It, Cradle It, Comb It and Saw It! And the autumn 2016 Bop It! experience, created and run by real world marketing agency Sense, challenges shoppers to try the new actions and ‘prove they’ve got the moves’.

“The central feature of this fun and cheeky 10-week tour is the ‘GIF It A Go!’ booth, where visitors can try out the latest Bop It! moves and have them turned into a funny GIF video for social sharing,” explained Sense Senior Account Director Nick Swift. “Those who share their GIFs online get a chance to win their choice of Hasbro Gaming games, while a partnership with toy retailer The Entertainer pushes consumers in-store to collect their prizes.”

The Bop It! experience will be live at UK shopping centres across October, November and into December.

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