IMC Toys Hires Playtime PR As Retained UK Agency

Following a competitive pitch process earlier this year, IMC Toys has appointed Playtime PR on a retained basis.

Signalling IMC Toys’ commitment to the UK market, Playtime has been hired to devise and implement creative launch campaigns for new extensions to the popular Cry Babies Magic Tears brand, as well as launches for new brands joining IMC’s growing portfolio of toys. In addition, Playtime will handle all UK corporate communications and provide a full Press Office facility.

Sue Barratt, UK Country Manager, commented: “The UK is a hugely important market for IMC Toys and we want to enhance our PR and marketing to both the toy trade and consumers. In our search for a PR agency, we wanted to find a partner with a solid understanding of both the UK toy sector and the media landscape. It was important for us that we could work with experts who would tailor campaign ideas to deliver realistic results, as well as providing the all-important corporate comms support and well-managed Press Office function.

“We presented a fairly complex brief which Playtime responded to with absolute confidence, ticking all our boxes and more, and it’s clear they are experts in their field. We are now working together to evolve the original plans to fit the post-Covid world and we’re excited about new developments which we feel will give us an even better chance of success in the UK with our brands throughout 2020 and into next year.”

Playtime’s founder, Lesley Singleton, added: “We’re ecstatic to have landed the IMC Toys’ PR account in the UK and – as with every client we represent this year – we know that plans need to be more agile than ever before, in order to fit the new world we find ourselves in.

“Being a virtual PR agency, we were already working remotely and flexibly when lockdown hit, so that transition to a new working style has been pretty much non-existent for us, meaning our time and energy has been fully invested in continuing to adapt campaign plans, monitor the media agenda and changing media landscape, and future-gaze around potential consumer behaviours and the new retail world. The original plans we presented to IMC Toys are being evolved to fit the new ways the target audiences will consume and we’re excited about bringing the creative ideas to life.”