Jiggy George launches Beebop

His company will deal in toys and infant accessories for 0-5 year olds in the country.

Jiggy George, former executive director, South Asia, Cartoon Network, has launched a brand called Beebop, which will roll out products for the young ones.

George had rolled out an entertainment company, Dream Theatre, in June. Beebop is an extension of that company and its motto is 'Cheers to the wonder years'. The latter will introduce 47 products by January 2011, of which 36 products will be launched this year.

Talking about his new venture, George says that of the overall Rs 1,500 crore toy market in India (which is growing at a rate of 12-15 per cent), 30 per cent is organised and the remaining 70 per cent is unorganised. "However, the good news is that this Rs 400 crore strong organised market is growing at the highest rate. Of this, the fastest growing segments within the toy arena are infants' products." He adds that today, the infants category is Rs 225 crore strong and is growing at the rate of 30 per cent per annum.

"The organised toy market will pave the way for quality products in India," he says. Beebop will be available in 800 stores by the end of this month. George aims to reach the mark of 1,250 stores across metros and mini metros of India by March 2011, including Shopper's Stop, Crosswords, HyperCITY, Pantaloons, Lifestyle outlets and others. The infant accessories will be available in pharmacy stores as well. The cities that are on Beebop's radar include Kochi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Goa, Pune, Surat, Ahmedabad, Delhi & NCR, Punjab, Kolkata and some parts of Northeast India.

The distribution and marketing of Beebop products is being handled by Toy Triangle, which will launch the pre-school brand across India. Toy Triangle also distributes Ben 10, Power Rangers, Dragon Ball Z and many other brands. According to George, Dream Theatre chose to partner with Toy Triangle because the latter had a huge gap in the pre-school category of products and with Beebop, that gap could be filled.

The infant toys will have a price range of Rs 79-1999, whereas accessories will be available in the range of Rs 99-499. To promote the brand, Dream Theatre will try to build connection with moms through the Internet and activations at malls and paediatrician clinics.

Beebop is eyeing a turnover of Rs 8 crore in 2011-12 and Rs 13 crore in 2012-13. Soon, it will launch publishing and theme story based products that will merge playing and learning.

Dream Theatre is an entertainment start up company that uses the power of licensing to build new brands, enhance the presence of existing brands, represent companies on syndication and licensing and consult on retail and licensing projects. The company was set up by George, who has more than 15 years of experience in marketing, sales and the licensing industry. He has worked with Viacom, Turner and the Times Group.

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