Toys "R" Us brings Geoffrey the Giraffe on world tour to revive brand excitement

share on

twitter /
facebook /
linkedin /
- email
- telegram
- whatsapp
- wechat
- pinterest
- line
- snapchat
- reddit

Toys "R" Us has unveiled its plans for a 360-degree global marketing campaign - a first for the brand. The campaign will launch in June and centres around Toys "R" Us' mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe. Geoffrey's World Tour kicks off at the brand's global flagship store in the US, followed by planned visits and activations in London, Madrid, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Dubai, as well as markets across greater China, Japan and Southeast Asia.

Each stop on Geoffrey's World Tour will be hosted by a local Toys "R" Us child ambassador and feature in-store, eCommerce and social media activations, including a sweepstakes to win a shopping spree. The campaign will conclude with the launch of a global YouTube series that captures Geoffrey's visits from the child ambassadors' perspectives. In the series, Geoffrey will be shown with the ambassadors in their city as they share kid-friendly fun facts about their communities, and their experience at the Toys "R" Us store event.

Toys "R" Us said in a statement that the Geoffrey's World Tour campaign will serve as the cornerstone in a series of several global brand initiatives, including the formation of the Toys "R" Us Kids World Council which will launch in 2023, and cement a child's point-of-view into all brand positioning and content around products, celebrations, advocacy and more.

Kim Miller, global CMO at Toys "R" Us, said that as Geoffrey visits many of the brand's key global markets, its cherished mascot will be welcomed by generations of adults who affectionately remember him from childhood and their children who are eager to show off the cities they live in and their local Toys "R" Us Stores.

Meanwhile, Jo Hall, chief commercial officer, Toys "R" Us Asia, added, "Geoffrey the Giraffe has always played a leading role in bringing the excitement of our brand to life for parents and children alike, so we're thrilled to be hosting Geoffrey here in Asia as part of his magical World Tour, helping to spread the joy of play and fueling the imagination of children everywhere."

In Asia, Toys "R" Us Asia named Adyen as its online payments provider across multiple markets. Adyen said then that with its direct connections to card schemes and local payment methods, Toys “R” Us Asia can bring new markets online as Adyen can process payments in all local currencies. Adyen's payments solution can also add new local payment methods as they become available. Moreover, the integrated back-end, centralised customer relationship management solution of Adyen offers Toys “R” Us insights for business and marketing plans.

That same month, Toys "R" Us' parent company WHP Global partnered with NFT platform Ethernity to launch the toy brand's first NFT collection. The limited-edition NFT collectibles feature the brand's iconic giraffe mascot Geoffrey. Titled "Geoffrey Through the Years", the NFT collection was created by digital artist Bryan Lopez, better known as Exacto. The collection includes six separate editions in pop-art style, Warhol-inspired modern portraits of Geoffrey, each one a reflection of the mascot's look from 1960 to present day.

The store hasn't had the easiest of times in recent years. It previously filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for a certain of its US and Canadian subsidiary in 2018, after it attempted to deal with with its debt maturities by “evaluating a range of alternatives”, according to media reports. This came after news of its potential bankruptcy emerged in September 2017.

share on