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Sravanthi Challapalli

Chennai, Sept. 1

Cartoon Network Enterprises (CNE), which launched toys under the Pogo brand a couple of years ago, is keen on consolidating that business.

To that end, it had created three sub-brands, Pogo Wheels, Pogo Sport and Pogo Inspired, under which it plans to sell and launch over 35 products in the near future. It is also creating another sub-brand named after the M.A.D. show on Pogo channel. CNE is the licensing and merchandising division of the Turner Entertainment group in India.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Jiggy George, Executive Director, Cartoon Network Enterprises (India & South Asia), said Pogo would like to be a small but significant player in the Rs 500-crore organised toy market.

Pogo Wheels would comprise all the high-performance, action-oriented toys in the product portfolio such as cars and cycles. Pogo is launching five cycle models priced between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000 in the first week of October.

Under Pogo Sport, CNE plans to launch products for indoor and outdoor sport as well as travel versions of games such as chess and Chinese Checkers. Its movie merchandise (such as that based on Bhootnath and Love Story 2050) as well as other toys that “capture the imagination of kids” will be branded as Pogo Inspired.

CNE is launching about 40 products under the M.A.D. franchise. A board game called M.A.D. IQO has been designed by Bangalore-based design firm Axiom, Mr George said. On the lines of Pictionary and Cranium, this game has been designed specifically for India, especially with respect to price and size. It costs Rs 499. M.A.D. Magnastructures, magnetic building blocks, are likely to be launched by October 1.

CNE is very keen on building a strong business in colouring and has six books in its portfolio so far – these include books for colouring, sketching and origami, Mr George said. There is stationery, home entertainment and do-it-yourself products under the M.A.D. sub-brand as well.

Eighty per cent of the toys market is accounted for by non-character branded toys, Mr George said, adding that a big opportunity lay in that segment. CNE accounts for 10 per cent of Turner’s India revenues. Pogo accounts for 25 per cent of CNE’s income, with Cartoon Network accounting for the rest.

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