The entertainment/character-driven portion of the subscription box industry to date has been dominated by so-called “geek-and-gamer” properties—videogames, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, comic books, anime, adult-focused animation, and the like—with end users skewing toward male teens and adults. A number of kawaii-themed boxes also exist and tend to appeal to women. While there is some spillover attraction for kids in both of these segments, the sweet spot has been older consumers.
Increasingly, subscription box marketers whose business models rely on entertainment/character licensing have been diversifying to appeal to new customers in an ever more crowded market, even as property owners of all types are becoming more interested in exploring opportunities in subscription boxes. As a result, many of the leading box marketers in the geek-and-gamer and/or kawaii segment have been adding products for children:
- Fan Blocks and its Nerd Blocks brand offer Jr. Boys and Jr. Girls boxes, featuring licensed products tied to properties such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and My Little Pony, respectively. The company also produces Gamer E boxes focusing on video game properties rated E for Everyone, in addition to its Gamer M box for mature gamers. The Gamer E boxes include merchandise tied to Five Nights at Freddy’s, Sonic, Plants v. Zombies, and Rock Band, among others.
- Loot Crate markets branded boxes for Sanrio, Minecraft, and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter; it should be noted that these properties are more all-ages than youngster-specific, appealing to kids and collectors alike.
- CultureFly, a division of Isaac Morris Limited, has recently launched or announced boxes tied to kids’ properties including Animal Jam, JoJo Siwa, and Shopkins. It already produces all-ages-friendly boxes such as The Nick Box and The Despicable Box, as well as kawaii-style crates (Pusheen) and geek-and-gamer products (DC Comics).
- Funko added a Disney Treasures box to its subscription offerings earlier this year, which is likely to lean a bit younger (and more female) than the company’s Marvel, DC, and Star Wars boxes.
All four of these companies, along with their competitors, continue to produce a wide range of boxes for their core older audience, in addition to testing the prospects for children’s boxes. And more players are entering this core segment for the first time as well. Licensee ThinkGeek, for example, introduced its first subscription box, ThinkGeek Capsule, this May, featuring properties such as Fallout, Harry Potter, Legend of Zelda, Dungeons & Dragons, Game of Thrones, and Star Trek.
Outside of the entertainment-licensing arena, there are a number of subscription boxes intended specifically for children, such as those focused on STEM, arts and crafts, children’s books, baby items, and other themes. Licensed products are occasionally spotted within their assortments, but the presence of licensing has been relatively rare overall.
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