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Austria loves Simba Toys – Wolfgang Breisach is making sure of that

Simba Dickie Group is at home around (almost) the entire world. Wolfgang Breisach is in charge of ensuring the company’s success in Austria. The director of Simba Toys Austria loves showing guests and business partners "his" Vienna. Follow him over the next few pages.

His handshake is firm and warm and accompanied by a beaming smile. His hand feels a little rough. On closer inspection it has blisters and calluses. From waterskiing. Wolfgang Breisach dedicates every spare minute to his favourite sport. However, the native Viennese doesn’t allow himself much free time or a long holiday. "I like always being there for my customers," said the 42-year-old director of Simba Toys Austria, the Austrian subsidiary of Simba Dickie Group.

Wolfgang Breisach is a Viennese straight out of a storybook: beguilingly charming with a broad dialect, attentive and obliging, proud of his hometown and its adaptability, an enraptured father. His nine-year-old daughter has just discovered "painting by numbers". His four-year-old son enjoys his daddy’s job immensely, because he can come to the showroom as much as he likes and try out all the toys. A dreamland for children, although five times smaller than the company headquarters in Fürth at 600m². A small, yet magnificent and magical labyrinth of toys.

ONE FOR ALL

Breisach represents not just one of Simba Dickie Group’s brands, but all of them. That’s more than 3,500 items. He can tell his son every secret detail about the cars, boats or helicopters. At the moment he especially likes the little Filly figures and always carries a couple of them around in his trouser pockets. He has this in common with thousands of other children, especially Austrians.

The four-year-old wants to know everything in detail, as do the adults. "Austrians seek specialist advice," says Wolfgang Breisach. Meaning not only his customers, but the end consumers. Business works somewhat differently in Austria to other countries. "There are fewer major suppliers with giant sales premises – instead there are still the cute little specialty stores," the director explains. "We look after 350 retailers that offer a wide range of goods in the tiniest of spaces." In the fully packed stores, an in-depth talk with the customer is an integral part of the service. "Our customers appreciate specialist expertise and good advice" confirms Heidemarie Heinz, second-generation manager of traditional toy store "Spielwaren Heinz" with 13 branches. "Austrians don’t like walking around the store alone. Our customers even ask to have the rules of board games explained to them.”

PAIN STAKING DETAIL

This specialist store structure also means that store owners don’t order from Simba Toys Austria in quantities of 500, 1,000 or 10,000, as is the case in Germany and Hong Kong, Simba Dickie Group’s main locations, but rather five dolls here and six puzzles there. "For us, selling is a tough job," says René Seidl, sales representative in Wolfgang Breisach’s team from the very beginning. Every six weeks he visits customers like Heidemarie Heinz to chat about new products or to research individual requirements. They have known each other for a long time, they like each other, they use the informal "du" form of address and even the boss "Wolfi" pops in every now and then. He normally pulls the strings from his office, where he works with a seven-strong team (including three sales reps) in the 23rd district, in the south of Vienna. He transacts his business via the German distribution center in Sonneberg. Guests often visit his showroom to place orders. These need a great deal of time and attention.

EVERYBODY’S TASTES ARE DIFERENT

And it’s not only the business relationships that differ in the Austrian Republic (83,871km², population: 8,350,000) from its four-times-larger neighbor Germany (357,114km², population: 82,244,000), but also toy preferences. Boys are crazy about radio-controlled Dickie cars in country-specific design: yellow rescue helicopters or blue and silver police cars. Little girls want the Simba dolls with wool hair or the pregnant Steffi Love with a removable baby in her tummy. Simba’s licensed theme "Sarah Kay" is also a hit. A specialist retailer cannot be without Simba Toys in Austria. "We run through the nine federal states like a thread," says Breisach confidently. His jaunty walk, his tanned complexion: everything about the 42-year-old says dynamism, optimism and passion. "I’m a born salesman," he says. But he had to take a long detour to discover his passion for toys.

A DETOUR TO PASSION

After completing his school leaving exams, Breisach studied Chemistry at the Secondary Technical and Vocational College (HTL), mostly at the wish of his parents. He then worked for three years in a lab as a chemicals engineer at the Hygiene Institute of the University of Vienna. "That wasn’t for me at all," says Wolfgang Breisach, recalling with displeasure the endless water samples he analyzed. "Chemists tend to be introverts, the work is lonely." When he happened to read a job advertisement in the newspaper looking for a swimwear salesman for Viennese wholesaler Schneider, the spell was broken. He got the job immediately and represented not only bathing suits, but also sunglasses and toys, for the Fürth-based Simba Dickie Group amongst others. He did the job so well that he soon built up the courage to ask his boss to let him just sell toys. This he was allowed to do, and the sales figures went through the roof, Breisach was promoted to sales manager.
 

PERSUASION FROM MICHAEL SIEBER

What’s so fascinating about toys? "The industry is unbelievably fast-moving, there is always something new and exciting." He raves about it as if it were his first day. Of course, he also visited the toy trade fair in Nuremberg every year. He invited his Austrian customers and immediately caught the attention of company founder and CEO Michael Sieber with his tireless energy and stamina. Following Austria’s accession to the EU in 1995, in 1997 Sieber decided to set up a distribution company there and already knew who he wanted to tackle the challenging project. Wolfgang Breisach hesitated, especially because he was on a roll with sales of V-Tech, an electronic toy for toddlers. But Michael Sieber was persistent, waited patiently and convinced Wolfgang Breisach. Today Simba Toys sells the V-Tech brand in Austria.

IDEAS FOR SUCESS

At the beginning it was just about Simba and Dickie products. The monetary targets were tough: the new family member had to triple previous sales in two years. Breisach quadrupled them in the very first year. Since then it’s been uphill all the way thanks to his constant flow of new ideas. His Austrian Post deal is legendary: after three years of persuasion, the 1,300 Austrian Post branches offered Simba articles at the counters. This accomplishment came to an end when the postal service was privatized. That was a shame, but Breisach remained creative and positioned his toys permanently in souvenir stores, gas stations and banks. He is always on the move. He refuels with fresh energy at home with his family or by inline skating, where he met his partner eleven years ago. His favorite way to spend a weekend is waterskiing in Carinthia. Being the first on the velvety water of Wörthersee Lake at seven o’clock in the morning: these are moments of happiness that give him strength. He puts up with the somewhat rough handshake. It makes him all the more likeable.