Mukesh Jagwani
CEO & MD
With over two decades of leadership experience across large corporate concerns & startups, including over a decade in the toys, games & entertainment industry, Mukesh Jagwani, the CEO startups in India in the kid's consumer products category. In an exclusive conversation & MD of WinMagic Toys, has been instrumental in establishing and leading a couple of profitable n with CEO Insights, Mukesh spoke about his aim of building a house hold toy brand.
Tell us about the Winmagic Toys' inception story. What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
The birth of WinMagic is a typical example of a problem being turned into an opportunity. The majority of Win Magic's early team members were employed by another foreign toy firm in its Indian headquarters, which we helped establish. However, to focus on their other more established markets, the company opted to exit India, leaving the management team and Indian employees in the lurch. It was at this point that I, along with the rest of the founding team, decided to start our own toy company, WinMagic Toys to pursue our dream of building a global toy company. We quickly attracted strategic investors and embarked on a voyage into the future that had previously been planned.
WinMagic's first focus was on launching international brands in
India, and the largest problem was gaining acceptance of the distinctive but premium toy brands with Indian retailers and parents, who had previously had a conservative attitude toward toys. And they favored simple toys with some use or instructional value over the exciting, stylish, tech enabled, and collectable toys introduced by WinMagic. Fortunately, Win Magic's efforts directly resonated with kids, and the pester power worked to persuade parents, and WinMagic quickly began to dominate store shelves in the categories for which it is renowned.
What different roles have you been undertaking at Winmagic Toys?
The toy industry, as fascinating as it is, is also one of the most dynamic and difficult to comprehend industries. Imagine one of the most challenging professions, especially for parents, being to understand the mindset of children. One of my main responsibilities at WinMagic is to educate the team about the industry and, where necessary, the TG. At WinMagic, we believe that our people are our company's future and that everyone should reach their full potential in both their personal and professional lives. My top priority and emphasis are to maximize the efficiency of performance and talent, as well as to transform and support people in becoming responsible leaders for our country.
While teams and HODs focus on their functions, it is my responsibility to bring all of the moving pieces of the puzzle together as one aligned whole on a quest to achieve our co-created vision at a rapid pace. Along with our skilled team, I also manage investor and major customer, supplier, and licensor connections, as well as create important objectives and goals.
With over two decades of industry experience in a variety of fields and sectors, how does your extensive knowledge assist you in planning the company's business operations?
At WinMagic, all the pieces seemed to fall into place. Throughout my career, I have led and facilitated startups to establish production, distribution, and teams in India, as well as managed brand strategy, marketing communications, corporate & direct sales, licensing,
At WinMagic, we believe that our people are our company's future and that everyone should reach their full potential in both their personal andprofessional lives
What different roles have you been undertaking at Winmagic Toys?
The toy industry, as fascinating as it is, is also one of the most dynamic and difficult to comprehend industries. Imagine one of the most challenging professions, especially for parents, being to understand the mindset of children. One of my main responsibilities at WinMagic is to educate the team about the industry and, where necessary, the TG. At WinMagic, we believe that our people are our company's future and that everyone should reach their full potential in both their personal and professional lives. My top priority and emphasis are to maximize the efficiency of performance and talent, as well as to transform and support people in becoming responsible leaders for our country.
While teams and HODs focus on their functions, it is my responsibility to bring all of the moving pieces of the puzzle together as one aligned whole on a quest to achieve our co-created vision at a rapid pace. Along with our skilled team, I also manage investor and major customer, supplier, and licensor connections, as well as create important objectives and goals.
With over two decades of industry experience in a variety of fields and sectors, how does your extensive knowledge assist you in planning the company's business operations?
At WinMagic, all the pieces seemed to fall into place. Throughout my career, I have led and facilitated startups to establish production, distribution, and teams in India, as well as managed brand strategy, marketing communications, corporate & direct sales, licensing,
brand & category management, visual merchandising, customer & trade marketing, and customer & trade marketing. I can't think of a better match because WinMagic puts all of my previous experience to good use. Most of these roles are now led directly by HODs and teams so the difference is probably that I now support them.
Tell us about your accomplishments at Winmagic Toys, as well as the business transformation you have led as a result of them.
My career with WinMagic Toys began in 2018 when we launched with only five brands, but we have since achieved outstanding success. We became the number two seller at Hamleys in 2019, only our second year in business, and introduced the LOL Surprise (#1 toy and doll brand) and PJ Masks toy lines in India. We grew from five brands to over twenty and earned Spin Master's ‘New Distributor of the Year'award.
We were able to launch our label Bubble Magic, WinMagic Games and WinMagic Impulse between 2019 and 2020. With such successful launches and Co Vid, we have risen to become one of Amazon.in's top five vendors. We then secured Disney, Marvel, Baby Shark, Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, and PJ Masks licenses. We have built up a new product development team in 2021 that will focus on bringing out and launching our own IPs, so expect to see Magic 4, our newest forthcoming brand, very soon. With Co Vid still in place, we've risen to No. 4 on Amazon and No. 5 on Flipkart.
We were the No. 4 vendor on Amazon.in, Hamleys, Toys R Us, and even General Trade as of September 2020. We now have a warehouse of over 40000 sqft, have launched over 400 SKUs, sold over 713k toys, and have a sell through of over Rs. 200 crore after only four years in the system. We also have tremendous numbers on the digital front that are extremely overwhelming Over 9 million views and 40 thousand verified followers.
Mukesh Jagwani, CEO & MD, Winmagic Toys
Before his present position as CEO and Managing Director of WinMagic Toys, Mukesh was the Managing Director of Winning Moves Toys & Games. Mukesh is a people's person who inspires his employees to be their best selves by setting an example.
Tell us about your accomplishments at Winmagic Toys, as well as the business transformation you have led as a result of them.
My career with WinMagic Toys began in 2018 when we launched with only five brands, but we have since achieved outstanding success. We became the number two seller at Hamleys in 2019, only our second year in business, and introduced the LOL Surprise (#1 toy and doll brand) and PJ Masks toy lines in India. We grew from five brands to over twenty and earned Spin Master's ‘New Distributor of the Year'award.
We were able to launch our label Bubble Magic, WinMagic Games and WinMagic Impulse between 2019 and 2020. With such successful launches and Co Vid, we have risen to become one of Amazon.in's top five vendors. We then secured Disney, Marvel, Baby Shark, Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, and PJ Masks licenses. We have built up a new product development team in 2021 that will focus on bringing out and launching our own IPs, so expect to see Magic 4, our newest forthcoming brand, very soon. With Co Vid still in place, we've risen to No. 4 on Amazon and No. 5 on Flipkart.
We were the No. 4 vendor on Amazon.in, Hamleys, Toys R Us, and even General Trade as of September 2020. We now have a warehouse of over 40000 sqft, have launched over 400 SKUs, sold over 713k toys, and have a sell through of over Rs. 200 crore after only four years in the system. We also have tremendous numbers on the digital front that are extremely overwhelming Over 9 million views and 40 thousand verified followers.
Mukesh Jagwani, CEO & MD, Winmagic Toys
Before his present position as CEO and Managing Director of WinMagic Toys, Mukesh was the Managing Director of Winning Moves Toys & Games. Mukesh is a people's person who inspires his employees to be their best selves by setting an example.