The Wiggles Celebrate 30th in 2021
What do they attribute the success of The Wiggles to? Partly the foundations in early childhood learning principles that The Wiggles have and, of course, the extraordinarily infectious songs that they have written.
The children who first enjoyed The Wiggles and watched them perform are now bringing their own children to see the fabulous group! Enough said that The Wiggles have sold an astonishing 9 million books, 30 million CDs and DVDs and millions of live concert tickets.
As we celebrate their 30 year anniversary, we take a look at The Wiggles’ activities in broadcasting, consumer products and live events.
Broadcasting
New for this year is the debut of The Wiggles’ World! – a new series which will debut in March on ABC Kids. Comprising 26 x 11 minute episodes, the show features new people, new places and new songs. They even visit Le James Café where musical mayhem merges with dynamic dancing from Australian ballet star, Paul Knobloch and Broadway star, James Harkness.
The show also features The Cartoon Wiggles which is an animated version of The Wiggles who sing songs about things that are important for toddlers to know as they grow, like wearing glasses, managing allergies, road safety and more.
Staying with broadcasting and The Wiggles’ video specials for 2020 are Fun & Games, where you can go on a bear hunt or dance around the mulberry bush with The Wiggles! Both provide new opportunities for imagery, themes and, of course, new product lines.
The Wiggles’ specials and series will be broadcast in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA and other countries throughout the world.
And if this wasn’t enough, during the first half of this year, ABC Kids will host The Wiggles’ World, Wiggle, Wiggle Wiggle!, Lachy, Emma Series 1 & 2 and Ready, Steady Wiggle! in rotation, creating a huge volume of entertainment for Australia’s children.
The Wiggles Channel on YouTube
Preschoolers and young families around the world are increasingly embracing YouTube as a major entertainment platform and, over the last year, The Wiggles have further developed The Wiggles’ YouTube Channel.
The Wiggles are busy making dedicated content for YouTube including brand new Emma dance classes that will tie in with the latest iteration of the ballet barre and mat. There is also storytime with The Wiggles which features the Here to Help Series of books about pro-social topics and safety.
In all, The Wiggles YouTube Channel has experienced triple digit growth in all areas – 120% growth in watch time, 175% growth in views and 147% grow in the number of subscribers. And clearly there is much more to come. The USA, a market that has embraced YouTube as a medium, is now The Wiggles largest subscriber base.
Live Events
During 2019, The Wiggles performed to an amazing 450,000 people with 244 shows throughout Australia and New Zealand and 90 shows in the USA and Canada.
The Wiggles are the only successful group that tours every state and territory in Australia. They have a hugely active presence in regional Australia, performing 183 shows to 140,000 people.
With The Wiggles annual Big Show selling 144,000 tickets across 41 shows, clearly The Wiggles are one of the few acts, in any genre, able to do this kind of business year in and year out.
Bringing the story up to date and in 2020, The Wiggles will perform 180 live shows across regional and metro areas of Australia and New Zealand between March and July and, of course, they will return for their annual Big Show in November and December. Further afield, The Wiggles will be performing their live shows across Canada, the USA and the UK with tours and promotional events.
Consumer Products
With more than 35 partners around the world, The Wiggles have a broad cross category placement in all retail channels. The consumer product program continues to flourish and grow with a product range that actively encourages healthy role play and early childhood activities, all learned through the fun of music and dance.
Recently, licensee and retail partnerships have been strengthened by The Wiggles’ innovative approach to showcasing new products and themes to their very engaged, and very large, social communities.
A number of retail promotions were developed over the last year, all of which complement The Wiggles’ style guides and asset development. Recent promotions include Baby Week (featuring The Little Wiggles), Australian Reading Hour, The Wiggles Toilet Training module and, most recently, The Wiggles Here to Help educational book series which was headlined by a Big W 2.5 million Free Books for Kids giveaway.
Happy Birthday!
To celebrate the 30th birthday of The Wiggles, a new logo has been created that will be used across all The Wiggles products and communications.
The long history of the band is being celebrated and events don’t stop there. There will be a worldwide celebration of the birthday, starting with an updated version of The Wiggles documentary entitled, Everybody Clap, Everybody Sing! and a Big Birthday international tour. There will also be a range of exciting activations, such as the Rewiggled album where contemporary artists recreate their own versions of The Wiggles songs. There will be commemorative products such as coins, retro and contemporary apparel and toys and other events and promotional opportunities will exist for current and future license partners and retailers
