David Sprei – Commercial Director at Penguin Ventures – talks nostalgia, wonder and more

David Sprei… Thanks for squeezing me in! You’ve been celebrating 90 years of Penguin this year – and it’s coming up on your fourth anniversary there. What’s been this year’s highlight for you?
As well as celebrating Penguin’s 90th, this year’s highlights include sowing the seeds for some big anniversaries in our property portfolio… For a start, next year is 160th anniversary of The birth of the much beloved, author, and illustrator, Beatrix Potter. Then, in 2027, it’s Peter Rabbit’s 125th birthday! So we’re super excited about celebrating these two milestones from a consumer products and experience point of view.

So Beatrix Potter was born 160 years ago next year? And her first book – The Tale of Peter Rabbit – was published in 1902? That’s amazing; those books still hold up really well. Why do you think that is?
Firstly, I think Beatrix Potter was a pioneer of her time… Not just as an author, and illustrator, but also as a naturalist and conservationist. And yes, that collection of the original tales – 23 titles in all – laid the pathway for the incredible Penguin Random House Children’s publishing team to keep telling the stories in creative and different ways…

So Beatrix Potter laid an incredible foundation with the original books. Over 120 years later, our duty is to continue to tell the stories off the page, as I like to say, and on an adventure… Which is what Penguin Ventures does. And happily, the rest of the World of Peter Rabbit is incredibly rich territory as well. So the tools are there, and pairing them with a world-class publishing team means we continue to tell Peter Rabbit’s story and create phenomenal new formats – we release around 20 new titles every year.

Wow. And I appreciate that you’re probably not able to say much, but what can you tell us about what’s coming up?
You’re right; I can’t say too much… But there are many exciting plans in the making for the next two years to celebrate both Beatrix as an artist and the joyful mischief of Peter Rabbit. We have stunning new formats including interactive board books that are perfect for introducing babies to the world of Peter Rabbit; brilliant, new titles for Easter, Halloween and Christmas, as well as high-end Gifty formats that we hope generations of families will treasure and enjoy.

Our publishing team creates new titles in two illustration styles… One that’s true to Beatrix Potter’s original watercolour style, and one that’s a softer, looser watercolour style. We first used these back in 2012 when Dame Emma Thompson wrote The Further Tale of Peter Rabbit – illustrated by Eleanor Taylor.

Was it Eleanor Taylor that illustrated the activity books? And all the stickers?
Yes, Eleanor has done many of the sticker activity books over the years. We also work with a number of other artists who can create stunning artwork in the softer watercolour style. Really, my team’s job within Penguin Ventures is to work hand-in-hand with what’s coming on the book side from our publishing team. So we’re not creating the stories, but we’re telling the stories in other ways. We’re working particularly closely on the look and feel in the style guides; realising that in physical products and experiences.

And on that: Beatrix Potter isn’t necessarily an obvious brand for experiential, but you’ve had great success there… How important is that aspect of the brand for you?
Oh, hugely! It’s really important to us because Beatrix Potter and her books are a family brand. Often, you’ll find a parent or grandparent first reading a Peter Rabbit book together with a very young child… At a later age, the child might then enjoy reading the books again on their own. There is still a growing fanbase, though, among teenagers, as well as the nostalgia market for adults. Peter Rabbit has huge multi-generational appeal. It appeals to gran, mum, dad, older siblings and infants alike. So while the demographic and target might differ per market, experiences allow whole families to enjoy it together.

Credit to you, though: you’ve also seen that as a more versatile brand than a lot of people might at first glance…
Thank you! We do see it as a fantastic brand to play in the right space. The classic Peter Rabbit brand is outdoors; it’s adventure, it’s mischievousness… So yes: we’ve seen our Common Garden projects, we’ve seen our big partnership with the National Trust trails in over 90 locations… But we’ve also seen high-end afternoon teas and a phenomenal Peter Rabbit experience at Hampton Court Palace – and that’s on right now, actually!

We could’ve met there! When does that finish, David?
That closes on September 7th – so you’ve still got time to get along!

I could do it; it’s a short train ride away! And moving away from Beatrix Potter, what else is on the horizon?
Something else we’re preparing for is The Snowman’s 50th anniversary in 2028. We have some news to come on that front. Meanwhile, that’s our seasonal gift that keeps on giving… It’s phenomenal. You know, nine-million people watch that movie on Christmas Eve, every year on Channel 4. That’s a phenomenal figure; the film has a huge reach and has become a family tradition in its own right.

Right! And Channel 4 first broadcast that on Boxing Day in 1982… So it’s been part of their programming since their very first year.
Isn’t that amazing? And from a brand point of view, our consumer-facing proposition is that Christmas starts with The Snowman. So we’re not trying to own Christmas Day, but starting from November onwards, ‘Christmas starts with The Snowman’ evinces a nostalgic, feel-good factor that starts your journey. We want to be feeling that with consumers and fans across that entire time because The Snowman is phenomenal for us. Another phenomenal IP is Spot the Dog. As you know, Guru Studio – the animation studio behind the PAW Patrol TV series – optioned Spot for episodic content; we’re in the process of working that out. That’s very exciting

It’s interesting to me that Spot, The Snowman and Beatrix Potter have such cross-generational appeal. They’re nostalgia for grandma and for mum and dad, but they’re still a wonder for kids… But we can be fairly sure that this wonder will become nostalgia for them as well. That’s amazing!
It really is. And I think that this is – again – a tribute to the quality of those literary-heritage pieces. Penguin Ventures is here because of the books. I’m here because of the books! So, for me, it’s about discovering other touch points that do justice to the books… Be they moving images, content, experiences, physical products or digital experiences.

Well, let me ask about that… What, ultimately, is a reliable hallmark of what you’re looking for?
Ultimately, it’s relevancy and authenticity. Sometimes, though, we all need to stretch and flex because – for example – technology plays a very important role in experiences. If you look at immersive experiences, scripted or non-scripted, and giving freedom to the arts, you can see how you can now go to watch Abba performing on stage. Only it’s not Abba, it’s a hologram! So what role do tech and advancements in technology come into play for us? Ultimately, we want to push the boundaries – but we need to respect them. And it’s really difficult to do something if you can’t stand up and justify it being right for the brand.

“Push the boundaries – but respect them…” Great answer; I love that. And is there anything that you’d like people to be approaching you about?
Well… You know, we’ve got an amazing creative director in Thomas Merrington. He’s worked on the Penguin Ventures IP for around ten years and leads all our experiences. He brings creative know how to the user experience and understands how far we can stretch it to families… But to your question: I’d love to be talking about blue-sky ideas for five to fifteen years down the line, and I always want to hear about new technologies and new ways of activating. It’s incredibly important for us to be attracting today’s audiences and keeping them for tomorrow.

Sounds to me like you’re always looking, always open. How do you do that? How do you stay sharp?
Getting out there! Whether it’s retail visits on my own or with the team, I like to get out and see what’s happening. I also read lots of trade news, I have Google alerts for things that I think are relevant… So it’s really about actively looking for stuff. What I always say to the team is, “Go to the trade shows where they’re not licensing!”

Where they’re NOT licensing? Non-licensing trade shows?
Right… Shows where people aren’t expecting you to be, because that’s where you learn, you stretch and that’s where you find the creative stimulus that you need to expand. So I’m interested in everything, in effect! I go to shows that none of the industry will be at just because I want to see what’s the next big trend – and that tends to spark ideas.

I also think a lot of online reading podcasts are fantastic. Instagram too – but not for doom scrolling! So if you’re following the right brands, you can actually learn some really cool stuff. I also think connecting and sharing with people helps because you’ll have conversations with people – like you and I had before we started the interview – in which things come to light that you simply couldn’t have known.

Right. And who knows where that connection then leads?! Now, I know your time is very limited today, so to wrap things up, what’s the one thing I could’ve asked you about today that I didn’t?
Ohhhhh! Such a good question! I wonder what I would’ve said if you’d asked me if there was a brand I would add to our portfolio if I could…

Oh, wow! Like a dream acquisition?
A dream acquisition, yes – if Penguin gave me the acquisition wallet, what would I buy? That’s what you could’ve asked me!

Good Lord! And you would’ve answered that?!
No, but I would love to have been asked it! Ha!

Ha! I got very conflicting body language there! Like, you’re not going to give me the answer, are you? Ha!
Ha! No, because I was brought up to say “no comment” to that sort of question! Only because I wouldn’t want to pick one brand… Suffice to say, it would need to be a like-minded literary and heritage property that would fit right in and be very meaningful.

And in that respect, does Penguin have a values blueprint of sorts? So that you always have your bearings?
Yes, there is a set of guiding principles in terms of what would be right for us to consider the next stage… And that helps because I’m approached about opportunities every week – through direct phone calls, LinkedIn messages and emails… We’re offered brands a lot of the time. Fundamentally, we’ve got to be literary focused. The IP needs to have come from a book because that’s the reason we’re here; that’s Penguin through and through…

Makes sense!
It also needs to be scalable for me. It needs to be seen through a global lens… And that’s not just from a publishing point of view in terms of rights, but also in terms of ‘can it travel?’ Is it worth the investment? And can we grow it? Something else that helps ascertain whether something’s right for us is this: are we excited about it?

And by the time things have been put through those filters, I guess it whittles things down!
It really does – and very quickly because that’s our first pass. And then there’re lots and lots and lots of other rounds that we go through. That’s one of the really exciting parts of my role, by the way… To be able to be part of a team that can make those considerations and work for a company like Penguin Random House – a Bertelsmann company – that is wanting and willing to be open to investment like that.

Brilliant. Thank you so much for making time to speak today, David. Let’s do it again soon!