Second Dear Zoo Apparel Range with Tesco Launches
Macmillan Children’s Books announces a new clothing range for Tesco, celebrating the classic and well-loved story Dear Zoo, created by Rod Campbell.
Following the sales success for the first Dear Zoo apparel range across Tesco stores in 2020, a new range of baby clothing has been developed by Paul Dennicci for F&F at Tesco. The babywear collection now available in-store is made up of six garments for babies aged 0-24 months, including a sleepsuit, sleeping bag, pyjama sets, vests and bibs. The new designs introduce two new colours to the Dear Zoo palette, which fit seamlessly alongside the existing and classic Dear Zoo imagery. This new range has a light and refreshing summer feel, perfect for this season.
A large social media influencer campaign accompanies this launch and will showcase sample outfits and books to over 350k consumers.
Stephanie Barton, Publisher, Preschool, Brands and Classics, Macmillan Children’s Books says: “We were delighted by the success of the Dear Zoo babywear in Tesco last year and couldn’t have been more pleased when they wanted to do a new range for 2021. They are a brilliant partner, and the clothing sits well alongside the other bespoke licensing that we have for Dear Zoo®. The classic story continues to grow in popularity each year and has now been loved across three generations of families. This new apparel gives something extra to families who really love the brand, while introducing new families to the animals and the story.”
The Dear Zoo classic storybook offers the magic of a shared storytelling experience as a variety of animals are sent from the zoo. The story brings a sense of humour, anticipation and discovery as the child turns the pages. It continues to be at the heart of families throughout the UK and around the world and was the bestselling picture board book in the UK in 2019. In 2020, it sold more in the UK than other well-known brands, such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Guess How Much I Love You and was the 24th bestselling children’s book in the UK across all categories. Around the world, growth continues in key international markets, including the USA, Australia and Asia and the story is now translated into 29 languages.
Macmillan Children’s Books will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of Dear Zoo in 2022 and plans are being laid for an extensive on- and off-line consumer marketing campaign across the brand. The Dear Zoo Live on Stage play production hopes to tour 20 venues with 80 shows nationwide in autumn 2021, depending on COVID regulations. Since its launch in 2018, nearly 85,000 children and families have already enjoyed the performances and it has also successfully toured in the UAE, Hong Kong and Singapore.
This new clothing launch continues the growing story around Dear Zoo and Macmillan is looking forward to building on its success in the soft toy, nursery, gifting and stationery sectors shortly.
