Farshore is marking further success within the annuals category – with data from Bookscan showing it achieved seven of the top 20 titles in the category this week, with a 35% value share.
The company publishes a wide range of annuals in partnership with key brands including Pokémon, Disney, Minecraft and classics such as Rupert the Bear.
New titles added to the stable for this year include Match Attax, Encanto and PAW Patrol, which are all performing strongly. In addition, Farshore publishes a number of unofficial annuals including 100% Unofficial Fortnite and 100% Unofficial Roblox.
Gaming annuals continue to deliver strong performances, with Farshore’s Minecraft Annual 2023 delivering sales of 28,000 year to date and ranking number three in the category this week and number 14 in the overall kids market. The Pokémon Annual 2023, meanwhile, has had an exceptionally strong performance this year with sales increasing 10% year on year, with Pokémon being the second bestselling title in the category.
Retailer support also remains strong, with all major booksellers, grocers and toy retailers listing Farshore’s titles.
“Our annuals have got off to a great start with Minecraft being one of the top three annuals for the past ten weeks,” commented John Packard, publishing director at Farshore. “I was raised on the Beano and Oor Wullie therefore I am really proud we do so well in this category with our diverse portfolio. We know from our research how important loved brands and characters are.”
Research shows that two and a quarter million 5-10 year olds prefer to read about popular brands, making annuals from popular brands a great way into reading for pleasure (Nielsen BookData, Understanding the Children’s Book Consumer, 2021).
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