Objectives

Since Playmobil was launching Sky Trails as a completely new brand for a whole new target group, it was essential to generate attention and brand awareness as quickly as possible. The new brand really started from scratch. 

At the same time, the entire market was under pressure due to changes in consumer behavior. That's why, in addition to rapid brand building, it was also necessary to achieve equally rapid sales effects.

Insight

With a target group moving into online games and digital worlds, combined with a slightly dusty image – the toy market was facing serious challenges. For the iconic brand Playmobil, one thing was clear: It was time to act, not react.

In response to the difficult market situation, Playmobil launched Sky Trails – a completely new brand and physical toy that deliberately breaks away from the classic Playmobil universe. Reaching out to a completely new and highly demanding target group: Generation Alpha.

But how do you excite kids aged 7 to 12 who are already living in digital gaming worlds and social media? Especially for a fully analog product? We knew: To get Generation Alpha into the Sky Trails world, Playmobil had to enter their world first.

Idea

The Roblox Unbox: the first product experience – without the actual product. We let millions of kids play Sky Trails before they even held it in their hands. To make this happen, we created an immersive online game, identical to the physical product, but placed right inside Generation Alpha’s digital playroom: on Roblox.

Strategy

We knew one thing: If we wanted Generation Alpha to enter the world of Sky Trails, we first had to enter theirs. A Roblox experience was the perfect solution. Not only because it enabled a native and playful first interaction between the target group and the product, but also because this digital trial contact was far more scalable than trials with the physical product could ever be. This allowed us to excite millions of kids about Sky Trails within a very short time.

Strategically, the Roblox experience didn’t just serve as a short-term activation – it created a long-term digital community for a physical product. Sky Trails will benefit from this bridge into the digital reality of its target group for a long time to come.