Miffy (Nijntje) in America
Toddler’s Bunny or Tween’s Fashion Icon?
The continuing story of how a little bunny rabbit survives on the global market.
- The changing face of Nijntje/Miffy
Miffy was created as Nijntje (for “konijn”, meaning rabbit in Dutch) in Holland 1955 by Dick Bruna. She immediately won the hearts of toddlers and preschoolers in the Netherlands and Dutch-speaking Belgium, and soon she conquered the rest of Europe and the world, mostly as Miffy.
As Miffy conquered other countries, she also began to appeal to other age-groups. The two to six-year-old girls and boys were joined in their enthusiasm by older girls: pre-adolescent or so-called tweens. Miffy still appeals to them as a cute and childish character, but also as a fashion icon.
No wonder that in order to win and endure on such a complex market, Miffy needed to adapt and change. Nijntje/Miffy’s profiling on the American market, where she has only recently been introduced, is a good indication of the complexity of this issue.
- Miffy in America
Nijntje is a relatively new phenomenon on the North American market and as such she is still staking out markets and wooing several target audiences. Bruna made an earlier effort to introduce her here, but after a couple of years it failed. For the new attempt, he passed Miffy on to Big Tent Entertainment.
Her renewed introduction in 2003 was a stroke of innovative genius and an immediate success. She became “New York City’s Family Tourism Ambassador”, through her appearances in a guidebook for children, titled Miffy Loves New York City!
- Miffy on television
Miffy’s decisive introduction followed in 2003, when she appeared on American television. Her show, called “Miffy and Friends,” now airs daily in the US on Noggin, Nickelodeon’s preschool network, and on Treehouse in Canada.
This Miffy is a changed rabbit. She is no longer the “Classic Nijntje,” a minimalist and 2D cartoon bunny in 6 colors, but a “Modern Miffy”, who is 3D and more colorful, and even shows her profile. Compared to the stories in the original books, the plotlines for the television episodes are longer, more complex, and less poetic.
- Miffy books
Another indication that Classic Miffy no longer seems to appeal to the youngest in America – that even they demand a more modern look – seems clear from the fact that American shoppers will have a hard time finding the translations from the original Nijntje story books.
These were released, with a lot of fanfare, by Big Tent in 2004. Search on amazon.com now, and you will find these books only with the second-hand booksellers.
- Plush Miffy
So it might be time to move Miffy over to the tweens, exclusively. An indication of this is Big Tent’s approach to Miffy merchandizing. Their Miffy plush, apparel and accessories lines feature a lot of pink and purple. Pink, one must keep in mind, is the color of which Bruna once said (in a reaction against the comparison between Nijntje and Hello Kitty) that “it isn’t even a color”!
In an interview, Big Tent CMO Rich Maryyanek revealed that this move was indeed geared toward the tweens. He adds that the toddlers and preschoolers won’t have to go without their plush, but that line will only be released in 2008. Maryyanek also specified that the toddler plush will feature Classic Miffy of the original story books, but this, and its success if it happens, remains to be seen.
- Who will survive?
The battle of the rabbits has not yet been won. There is still hope for the Classic Nijntje/Miffy: she and her Friends still appear in ecards, games, screensavers, art activities and video on koljunior.com, the AOL service for children 2 to 5 years old. The Classic Miffy plush line may still happen.
But which of these Miffy-versions will survive, will be decided by which age group the big distributors will want to bet on, which market segment will adopt her most readily, and which consumer I willing to spend the most money.
- Read also: Miffy, Nijntje and Hello Kitty. From Classic Toddler Books to Modern Fashion Icon.
