Coming from Val-d’Oise, the success of Phryge, this mascot of the Games which had been mocked

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If you have children or if you have had to offer a cuddly toy, the brand must mean something to you!

One in two cuddly toys in France comes from Doudou et Compagnie

One in two comforters sold in France is made by Doudou et Compagnie, founded in 1999 by Alain Joly.

Born in Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, the entrepreneur heads a group that employs 110 people (80 at the headquarters in Saint-Leu-la-Forêt and 30 at the production plant in La Guerche-de-Bretagne, in Ille-et-Vilaine).

Alain Joly started in the toy business with his parents in 1975, he was 22 years old

Alain Joly started in the toy industry in 1975, when he created, at the age of 22, Creation diffusion Joly (Cdj) with his parents.

Long shared between Taverny and Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, the company now has its headquarters in Saint-Leu-la-Forêt (Val-d’Oise).

Doudou et Compagnie has undoubtedly pulled off a masterstroke by landing the contract of the century: to be the mascot for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It took nine months of research and development to design this Phryge, this iconic object that many will treasure. Initially mocked, some seeing it as an image of a clitoris, the Phrygian cap, symbol of the French Revolution, was able to seduce the public!

One and a half million Phryges produced by Doudou et Compagnie, of which 120,000 were sold in China

How many Phryges did you sell?

Alain Joly: We’re going to land at 1.5 million but we’re continuing to sell them. Today, we don’t see any drop, at least in the Paris region. This morning for example (Friday, September 12, Editor’s note) on our site, we sold another 1,000. With the parade at the end of the week (Saturday, September 14, Editor’s note) we intend to relaunch sales!

“The start was late”

Did you expect such success?

– Yes, but the start was late. The success of this adored and adored mascot started on July 26th, when the Games opened. The product was promoted so much before that the rebound effect was spectacular.

“I was only moderately surprised by the criticism”

At first, she was mocked. She was compared to a clitoris. It got off to a bad start.

– It didn’t start off badly. The networks are the networks and the French are the French. I was only moderately surprised by the criticism, because we also had criticism tenfold on the organization of the Games. The start-up took much longer. We thought we would do 30% of the business a year before the Games and in fact we were barely at that figure when the Games started.

Did that worry you?

– Yes and no. The project was so ambitious that we couldn’t afford to be worried. The risk-taking was very significant. It was quantified in the project setup. We would never have expected to sell so many mascots during the Paralympic Games. We thought that from August 9, it would drop a lot and in fact no.

“It’s the riskiest operation but it’s the dream of a lifetime”

Do you think the Olympic effect will last?

– I think so. The image of the Games and the notoriety linked to the creation of this mascot are just extraordinary and the repercussions will be positive in any case. I think that there will still be Phryges at the foot of the tree and that this image will make us sell other products.

“I think there will still be Phryges at the foot of the tree”

There was criticism, initially, about the proportion of mascots made in France compared to those made in China.

– We will have produced 350,000 pieces in France, out of 1.5 million, or 25% of the total. In each product, there is an hour of manufacturing, of labor, so we cannot do everything in France, otherwise each product would cost between 70 and 100 euros (compared to an average price between 20 and 34 €, Editor’s note). The profitability of made in France is extremely low. We must have prices for all consumers. If everyone did like me, several million jobs could be created in France. The problem is that many talk and very few do. We, in the group, dared to reopen a factory in France.

What are the financial benefits for Doudou et Compagnie?

– I don’t know at all. We paid colossal rights to the Olympic Games and participated in financing the Games, in the end. The landing, with all the contracts in progress, we will have it on December 31. We have invested a lot, 3.5 million euros for the factory in Brittany, plus investments related to the mascot, in research and development.

Is this the most exceptional deal for you?

– In 49 years, it is the riskiest operation. But it is the dream of a lifetime to be the mascot of the Olympic Games, for an entrepreneur who makes toys. Otherwise, we are not passionate about what we do. We sold 120,000 mascots in China, or 8%, it is huge.

“Within 5 years, we plan to relocate 10% of our products”

Will there be any changes for the company?

No. The Saint-Leu headquarters is generously sized. There are no reductions in staff. The factory in La Guerche-de-Bretagne is now manufacturing a new brand called l’Ours français. A little bear that perpetuates French know-how in teddy bears for newborns. We will make approximately, as for the mascot, 1,000 pieces per day. Within 5 years, we plan to relocate 10% of our products (in the Brittany factory, Editor’s note), or 400,000 of the 4 million that we make. We perpetuate know-how by exporting to fifty countries.

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