5 ways Jellycat is cuddling up to customers

The brand really shot to fame during the Covid-19 lockdowns when people were searching for ways to boost their mental health and had more disposable income – a Jellycat toy can cost between £11 and £200. The impact of this can be seen in its financial earnings, with the London-based company making £52m of profit in 2023, up from £18m just five years ago.

In recent months, the Jellycat brand has gained momentum after putting on a series of location-exclusive pop-ups in major cities around the globe and has been cutting through on TikTok and Instagram with creator content.

When The Drum asked for an interview, Jellycat said it has a policy where only its fans and characters can do the talking. So, we asked branding experts for their take on why Jellycat’s marketing is working.

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Richard Hartle, creative director at the agency Collaborate, sums up the Jellycat hype perfectly. “Jellycat understands its brand in the right now. That it’s about so much more than a color and a logo or imposing an idea on a consumer. Brand is about culture and how your customers experience you. While this can change, you can use it to your advantage, which is what Jellycat has done.”

1. Quality

Hartle says Jellycat’s success can be summed up in one word: quality. “Its products are in a league of their own. Exceptional quality and attention to detail. That’s been carried from the original product lines into these limited editions and it’s very important.” Jellycat toys are made with super soft plush and are machine washable. It has a 4.3 Trust Pilot rating, with high praise for softness and quality. Less positive reviews are primarily to do with delivery and shipping.

This dedication to quality goes beyond just its products and into pop-up builds and even to its staff, Hartle says. “They’re simple but super well-detailed, so again, quality shines through,” he says of its pop-ups and staff. “They’re superb and clearly understand the ethos of the brand, about simple and engaging fun.”

Crucially, Hartle, says Jellycat isn’t “overthinking things; it is just doing these few things very well.”

2. Exclusivity

Andrew Dobbie, who is he founder and chief executive officer at the branding agency MadeBrave, credits Jellycat with “nailing” urgency and exclusivity on its products. “This is interesting for a ‘plushie’ brand that has managed to break into mainstream culture,” he says. “By creating this demand around its products, Jellycat has created huge hype among collectors, building a community that provides mass exposure for the brand… for free.”

Megan Rebecca Thomas, marketing coordinator at Brandwidth, adds that Jellycat has been particularly clever with its location-exclusive products. In Paris, you can buy a macaron Jellycat or an éclair, while in New York there is a cream cheese and salmon bagel, for example. “While this is nothing new – Le Labo has been doing its city-exclusive scents for years – in pairing the unique item with a little bit of make-believe, Jellycat has made its pop-ups unmissable.”

3. Experiential marketing

@jellycatlondon_official Order up ️ The Jellycat Diner is now serving up the world exclusive Amuseables Fran Pancakes and Rene Waffle, as well as Amuseables Bagel! #jellycat #jellycatdiner #jellycatdinernyc #nyc #faoschwarz ♬ original sound - Jellycat

Jellycat’s pop-ups in London, Paris, Singapore and New York have gained the brand widespread attention, with consumers, the press and advertisers all raving about the experience. Each city has had a country-specific theme, so a fish and chip shop in London, a bagel shop in New York and a patisserie in Paris.

Kristoff Doria di Cirie, an experience design consultant and founder of Insogni Studio, says Jellycat has taken familiar elements of experiential retail and reworked them in a way that feels fresh. He likens it to the experience to Build A Bear, which gets kids to create and stuff their own cuddly toys, but says that retailer “lacked the narrative depth,” which Jellycat has now homed in on. “The customer steps into a world of lore and ritual, becoming part of the story. They don’t just buy a plush; they buy into an entire imaginative universe.”

The activations are immersive. For example, at the London activation in the Selfridges department store, customers could order their fish and chip toys from the counter, have the server add salt and pepper and box it all up for them.

“These immersive spaces trigger episodic memory, locking in personal experiences that strengthen brand loyalty,” says Doria di Cirie. “Jellycat doesn’t just create products; it creates environments where customers build memories. It’s this fusion of ritual, story and immersive space that keeps people coming back.”

4. Social media

@jellycatlondon_official Share with the person that’s always got your back #rickyrainfrog #bartholomewbear #sharingjoy #jellycat #jellycatlondon #jellycatcollection ♬ original sound - Jellycat

Jellycat has half a million TikTok followers and another million on Instagram. Its strategy on its owned channels is primarily posting premium animations of its characters doing silly or adorable things. Where Jellycat really excels on social, however, is through its customers and influencers, where it encourages them to share UGC videos of their collections, unboxing videos and reviews. Dobbie says: “Not only does this showcase the products, it also creates a coolness around the brand that is hard to match as it has effectively harnessed the power of its collectors to sustain growth and popularity online.”

On TikTok, 150,000 users have posted videos under #Jellycat and there are over a million posts across Instagram’s #Jellycat. “This UGC-led strategy has created a clever cycle of urgency, collectability and community engagement that creates inevitable awareness and impact that has seeped into the most unexpected and typically unreachable places,” says Dobbie.

5. Targeting kids and adults

Brandwidth’s Thomas says that, given the price point, she hasn’t been surprised that more adults than kids have been queuing up to get their fish and chips at the Selfridges pop-up. “Perhaps it’s just my algorithm, but I’ve seen a lot of TikToks and Instagram reels of apron-clad Selfridges staff getting Jellycat enthusiasts to mime sprinkling some Salty Steve or squeezing Clemont Lemon over their new purchase,” she says. She says it is “fascinating” that something that started as a product for newborns has had this “radical upsurge with Gen Z and now beyond.”

By carving out two different audiences for Jellycat toys, the brand has successfully broadened its reach and, by getting younger adults hooked on the toys, it has the potential to turn them into customers for life, buying for their children in the future.

For more insight on brands that are crushing their marketing right now, check out the rest of our Build a Brand series.