( AFP / CHRIS J RATCLIFFE )
The clumsy little bear of children’s books has transformed into a juggernaut: long known only to the British, Paddington has become a global brand in ten years, the result of a clever strategy around feature films. And thanks to the royal family.
Red felt hat, blue duffle coat and eternal smile: a wall of Paddington soft toys awaits visitors in London’s stations and airports, near souvenirs of London double-decker buses or the Royal Guard, which the character joined in the the tourist imagination of the United Kingdom.
The plush toy is a “must”. 27 million copies have been sold at least 15 pounds (18 euros) each, and sometimes three times more, since 2021, according to Studiocanal (Vivendi group), owner of the rights.
Coming from Sardinia, the Piga family has “not yet” given in. But she made the trip to Paddington Station, from which the character takes his name, for a must: a photo with the bronze statue of the bear.
“It’s one of the attractions we wanted to see”, just like Big Ben or Tower Bridge, says father Carlo, while his little daughter, who “has seen all the films”, twists her legs of his mother. “She was very enthusiastic…”
Toys, clothing, tableware, stationery, perfumes… A thousand licensed Paddington products have been developed. And 35 million books, in forty languages, sold.
“It’s a brand that was perhaps a little bit… I don’t want to say ‘dormant’, (…) but in any case, we were able to bring it up to date”, congratulates Anna Marsh, Managing Director of Studiocanal.
– Happy Meal and Queen of England –
Before the first film in 2014, the Paddington books, created by Michael Bond in 1958, were popular in the United Kingdom. Much less elsewhere.
The success of the feature film ($268 million at the box office) changed the character. And Studiocanal bought the rights to develop a franchise around the teddy bear.
Two new films are produced: “Paddington 2” in 2017 ($227 million in revenue) and “Paddington in Peru”, in promotion. As well as a series, exhibitions and soon a musical.
The character appears on the prints of the British fashion brand Cath Kidston, in the Christmas ads of Marks & Spencer or the Happy Meals of McDonald’s.
The brand partners with Airbnb, Primark, Zara and even Unicef, which raises $15 million from the sale of postcards.
Paddington is also never far from the royal family: Prince William attended the premiere of the film in China in 2015, Kate Middleton danced with him on the station platform in 2017.
But above all, he appears in 2022 on international television at the jubilee of Queen Elizabeth, in a humorous short film. A turning point.
– Harry Potter and TikTokers –
The media impact is unexpected, the equivalent of 10 million pounds (12 million euros) of advertising in the United Kingdom, according to Havas’ estimate. Not counting the rest of the world.
Anna Marsh refuses any “details on the contract with Buckingham Palace”. “No comment” also from the side of the royal family “on the relationship between the late queen” and the character, however sealed: upon the death of the monarch, hundreds of stuffed animals are placed in front of the royal residences.
For Luke McDonagh, intellectual property specialist at the London School of Economics, Paddington is today one of “the most valuable characters created by the British, alongside Harry Potter and James Bond”.
“We can reasonably estimate the overall value of the brand at more than a billion pounds” (1.2 billion euros), he adds.
A Marketcast survey makes it possible to measure the evolution of the character’s notoriety between 2017 and 2023: from 67 to 88% in the United States, from 66 to 87% in Germany, from 68 to 84% in France. And 97% of Britons know it today.
Unexpectedly, visits have exploded in the pastel alley of Primrose Hill, in London, where dozens of tourists come to photograph the blue house from the films, to the great dismay of the neighborhood.
“It’s like living in a zoo,” complains, arms crossed, a neighbor exasperated by “tiktokers”, who wait hours for the perfect video and go so far as to film through her windows.
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