Geomagworld
Trade and Channel Marketing
Selling a Swiss toy brand through UK retail buyers and distributors
Focus:
Trade and channel marketing for a magnetic construction toy brand: account planning by retailer, distribution and product planning by market, and consumer campaigns timed to sell-in. Client since 2017.
The Challenge:
Geomagworld is a Swiss magnetic construction toy company, founded in 1998. The last person in the chain is a parent choosing a birthday present. Before that, the brand has to be sold to the people who decide whether it reaches the shelf at all: the buyers at Smyths Toys and The Entertainer, the independent toy shops, the distributors in each export market, and the online retailers. Each of them wants a different range, a different price point and a different promotional calendar, and each has a hundred other brands asking for the same space. When I started, Geomagworld was building its UK business a new UK direct sales distribution office and a two-person team. The UK MD ran sales. I ran marketing, as his right hand, and the two jobs met in the account plan.
They needed:
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A proposition for each retailer, not one pitch for everyone, because what wins a listing at Smyths loses it at an independent.
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Distribution and product planning per market, so the range, packaging and pricing fitted the channel it was going into.
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Consumer demand timed to sell-in, so that when a buyer took a range, it sold through.
The Strategy:
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Built the account plans with the MD: range, proposition and pricing by retailer, with the marketing support written into each plan rather than bolted on afterwards.
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Planned distribution and product by account, working with distributors in on which lines, which pack sizes and which price points suited each channel.
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Produced the trade marketing behind the sell-in: retailer presentations, range catalogues, trade show support at Toy Fair, point of sale, retailer-specific promotions.
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Planned the consumer campaigns that made the sell-through happen: TV and AV planned with the media agency that did the buying.
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Later, as the UK business changed shape, moved the trade conversation onto LinkedIn and made it the home for Geomagworld's B2B and sustainability messaging, alongside the consumer channels.
The Results:
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Nine years on the account, across trade marketing, distributor support, consumer campaigns and social, which is the longest client relationship in the business.
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LinkedIn followers grew by 35% in 2024 once it became the home for trade and sustainability messaging, with consistent content across Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Client Words
“When you are setting up a new UK office with a small team, you don't just need a marketer, you need a true partner. For nearly a decade, Nikki has been that. Nikki could be trusted to figure out exactly what would make buyers at national accounts or independent shops say yes, and how each of those conversations and offers should differ. Nikki genuinely cares about the business, understands the pressure of sales and how they weave into marketing plans. I’ve trusted her completely to protect and grow our brand in the UK since 2017.”
Ignacio Ramos, International Sales Director, Geomagworld
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