From humble beginnings, BMS Brands has come from supplying promotional products and remainders to developing and distributing key brands in educational products and toys to a variety of retailers, in Australia and globally. Today, The Toy Universe speaks to David Smith (Managing Director) and Josh Bonello (Sales Director) at BMS Brands (Wholesale) about the business, how it has developed and what is on the horizon for the remainder of 2022 and beyond!
Hi Josh and David. What has been happening since we last heard from BMS Brands in The Bugg Report, Edition 41?
We have been very hard at work with production schedules and planning for 2023! Our craft ranges seem to be getting so much interest from the market, not just with Play-Doh Air Clay, but in all areas of craft. We are really happy with the results from the first release of our wooden jigsaw puzzles, which we launched late last year and have a second release hitting the market in August… This will be one of our core lines, considering how solid they have been. And of course we are dusting off our Christmas hats and firming up our commitments for Christmas 2022.
I believe you are expanding BMS Brands into the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Can you tell us about this?
We opened the UK Division at the beginning of the year with offices and warehouses in Hamel, Hemstead. It has been going well considering it’s a tough market, but we have had a great start and had lots of enthusiasm from UK retailers, in particular with our Construct It ranges. Our office & warehouse in New Zealand has only just officially opened, with the showroom and warehouse located in Auckland. It is already really exciting to see how well received our products have been over there.
BMS Brands seems to be a business that caters for both the Major Retailers and Independent Stores as well. How do you manage this across the business?
One word. Relationships. BMS started predominately supplying to the independent book trade, as this was where our founder had been involved for many years prior to starting BMS. In BMS’s infancy, David saw the potential in creating brands that would cater to both the toy and book trade (independent and major) and with that came the expansion into mass market. This is how the business has managed to sustain real growth. Both trades are as important as each other, because it gives us coverage. How we manage this is simple, we have structured our reps to cover all of the independent trade, and there is plenty. We cover our majors through myself and David, whilst guiding the reps with our combined experience.
Whilst you have been a domestic operation (inside Australia) predominantly to-date; how do you see your expansion into the market as a global business progressing?
We have yet to conquer the US domestic market. We have been working with some ideas and currently supply FOB to various customers from our UK operations. We are still growing domestically and are really just getting underway in the UK and NZ. Our focus is to master these markets before we expand further.
As we read about here, BMS Brands are now a real destination for brands. What does the future hold in terms of brands and how you will work with them throughout your operation?
Creating and having brands is largely where we have seen the most success. Brands are everything. We have so many long term customers, some of which took a real punt on Construct It in its early days, and we have seen the numbers grow from there. The future for us and our brands is to just keep developing them and evolving them. We have developed trade partnerships with major US brands like Creative Kids and we work very diligently with them to ensure that the content is relevant to our market.
After recently speaking with Josh, I believe you are looking at ABC “The Deep” lenticular puzzles? Can you explain a bit about this?
We have taken a licence for The Deep to produce puzzles, games and stationery. We have developed a range of lenticular puzzles to start, and are in talks with a few key people in the trade so we can give it the right traction. It is actually very exciting because like our brands, we see the value in having a licence for successful production in Australia. The Deep Seasons 1-3 were a hit show around the globe, and Season 3 in Australia the 3rd best performing iview program to date by VPM. The show went to number one upon its launch in the UK on CBBC. We are very confident that merchandise for The Deep will perform solidly and expect to have products released this September.
Last time we spoke, BMS Brands were looking forward to the upcoming launch of Play-Doh Airclay and Construct It. How are things progressing with these brands?
Play-Doh Air Clay has been a great journey so far, we have seen so much support from both majors and independents. The launch date is nearing and we are really grateful for the support everyone has given the brand. We have had our challenges, but everyone who has supported us and the brand have the same attitude towards it that we do, and that is that it will be a success in our market. Construct It has been on a similar and exciting journey, as we have been commissioned by a government body to develop a kit specifically for them. We have also been commissioned by the Imperial War Museum in the UK to develop a Spitfire model.
For retailers looking for new brands and product options, not only in Australia but globally, what does BMS Brands offer and how can they get a conversation started?
As a business we are agile, which gives us the ability to work really closely with our trade partners and facilitate things that might be overlooked by already embedded brands. We are also highly approachable. We never shy away from these kinds of conversations, after all, it is how we have managed to grow the business. If our customers and trade partners have an idea, we are always happy to look at how we can cater for it.
You recently exhibited at the ATA Toy Fair Mid-Year Previews. I trust the response to your brand and product offering was positive?
It was so great to finally be amongst it again! We think it was a great success and the turnout was fantastic. It was wonderful to see everyone together again after the previous two years of cancelled events.
What is coming up in the second half of 2022 and beyond?
Well, as mentioned we have new product launches for Play-Doh Air Clay and our puzzle brands already lined up from August onwards. As for Construct It, we are really going one step further with the launch of a new Buildables range aimed for the younger age group. We have done a soft launch on the beginner kits, with the full range being available in September. We are eager for 2023 as we have new craft brands in development now, and we are just finalising details.
