Trunki Toys: From the Dragon’s Den to Monster-sized Success

Chances are you will have noticed Trunki Toys somewhere. Maybe you’ve seen them at the airport, being lugged around or straddled by an excitable toddler. Or maybe you’ve been following the Trunki Toys story on ‘Dragon’s Den’, where the company has achieved fame as one of the great successes which ‘got away’.





Designer Rob Law had a brain-wave in 1997 – one that would be a blessing to parents of small children everywhere. Toddlers and travel are usually loathed– the rushing, the long waits and the tiredness are a guaranteed recipe for tantrums. But what if you could make travel a never-ending fun ride for pint-sized ankle-biters, by creating a colourful suitcase that doubles as a ride-on scooter?





Rob Law’s design was for a bright-coloured, hard plastic suitcase with wheels, designed in the shape of a cute animal with ears and a tail, in which kids can pack their toys and when their feet get tired, they can be towed along by their parents. There are now eight Trunkis of different names, colours and personalities, from the Gruffalo and Freddie the Fire Engine to Harley and Penelope the Purple Princess.

Law took his idea to the formidable entrepreneurs of ‘Dragon’s Den’ in 2006, seeking a £100K investment to expand globally, and received a very positive (you could even say gleefully child-like) response from the Dragons...until Theo Paphitis managed to yank one of the tow-straps off a Trunki, spurring some dramatic (TV-friendly) criticism of Law from the Dragons. (The hooks are now made of stronger – even Dragon-proof – material.)





A cool response from the Dragons aside, Trunki has gone on to be a fantastic success, with sales soaring from 19,000 Trunkis in 2006 to over 280,000 to date – with turnover tripling over three years!





In fact, the Dragons returned to Trunki three years later to profile the business as one that had ‘got away’ – with Theo Paphitis mentioning that he was now reminded of his mistake in passing up the investment opportunity every time he was in an airport, watching the many Trunkis trundle past.





Since the ‘Den’, Trunki Toys has expanded its repertoire beyond the eight different Trunkis to a range of other kiddie-travel-assisters, such as Yondis - neck-support pillows that double as cute and cuddly soft-toys – travel toy boxes, car booster seats and colourful tote bags, messenger bags and backpacks designed for the three to six year-old crowd.





The backpack/booster seat is one of the most innovative products in the range – a child’s backpack which doubles as a car booster seat – very handy, with legislation stating that all children under the age of 12 must use a booster seat while travelling in a car.





It seems that the future for Trunki Toys is as bright as the colours they use for their ‘little people’s luggage’, and the company’s story serves as an excellent lesson in how a good idea, backed up with hard work, can turn into a guaranteed global success.





Isla Campbell writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.