How Peppa Pig has conquered Christmas . . .
And made multi-millionaires of three friends from Middlesex Poly
FOR more than a decade, Peppa Pig has been a familiar sight on television screens, and her toys and books have been top of every toddler’s Christmas list.
The cartoon is loved by children and parents alike for its charming tales of Peppa and her brother George frolicking in muddy puddles with Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig.
But the smiley pink pig is also a hit among big businesses, which are cashing in on Peppa’s enduring success as a global franchise now worth £660m. Despite starting out as a television show, just 5pc of the Peppa Pig fortune comes from broadcasting licences. By 2013 the number of Peppa Pig licensing deals stood at 63. That figure is now more than 700, with 90 in the UK.
One of those licensees is Character Group, which owns the master licence for Peppa Pig toys. It is the latest firm to declare profits from Peppa’s popularity, with pre-tax profits up 73.2pc to £12.3m in the year to August 31. Group revenues rose 1.2pc to £99.1m, with sales of Peppa Pig toys alone making up a quarter of that sum.
Its Peppa toys range between £4.99 and £29.99 across six product lines, and with just over three weeks to go before Christmas some products are already out of stock.
Peppa’s success began in 2004, when the cartoon first aired on Channel 5 and Nick Jr. Its creators Neville Astley, Mark Baker, and Phil Davies, who met at Middlesex Polytechnic in the 1980s, had initially been working on a series for BBC but took the cartoon elsewhere after frustration with the broadcaster’s scheduling and ‘negative’ attitude to pitches. The programme was an instant hit, winning a Bafta for Best Pre-School Animation in 2005 and the Grand Prix for Best TV production at the Annecy Animation Festival.
Astley, Baker and Davies profited from the series and, in its first year, £1m of Peppa Pig products were sold. Peppa has helped Davies to buy his own plane and enjoy three-month-long holidays to the Maldives.
The trio’s animation company currently retains a stake in the Peppa Pig franchise, entitling them to a 5pc annual cut in royalties.
In October, Baker, Astley and Davies each made £ 47m from selling a 70pc stake to Entertainment-One, in a deal worth £141m.
The sale brought the international dist- ributors’ stake up to 85pc, and in its most recent results Entertainment One attributed its strong financial performance to the popularity of Peppa Pig.
The group reported pre-tax profits up 654pc to £18.1m in its half-year results, from £2.4m for the same period last year.
Outside of its television success, Peppa Pig licensees continue to do well. Peppa Pig World opened at Paultons Park in Hampshire in 2011, and within its first year the amusement park saw the number of visitors double to 1m, and profits rise to £7.4m. In its most recent accounts, Paultons said its net worth was £26.4m.
Peppa Pig merchandise now includes everything from PlayDoh to pyjamas, playing cards and playsets, as well as duvet covers, soft toys and jewellery. Peppa pig dolls’ houses are on the market as well as a Peppa Pig bicycle and a special Peppa Pig line of Weebles, the round-bottomed wobbly toys. Her recognisable image can be spotted on products in retailers everywhere from Hamleys to Sainsbury’s to Amazon. The character has spawned a series of books including Peppa Meets The Queen, written to coincide with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and The Story Of Prince George, released to mark the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first child.
Peppa Pig DVDs continue to sell well, and 3m apps featuring the character have been downloaded. More recently the franchise has the Peppa Pig Live Tour.
Tickets for upcoming performances of the Peppa Pig Surprise! show can be bought for up to £25 per person, with shows being held all over the UK.
Entertainment One’s chief executive Darren Throop is confident Peppa Pig will continue to be a lucrative ally of his company and plans to double the group’s size by 2020. Its chief financial officer Giles Willits is aiming to drive the brand’s worth up to £1.3bn.
Peppa Pig is set to be launched in China and Latin America, and there are plans to further expand the brand across Asia.
While some children’s crazes appear to blow over within a matter of months, it seems Peppa Pig will be a hit yet again this Christmas and for many more Christmases to come.