The Wiggles Pty Ltd
The group was protective of their brand, and adopted many of the same business practices as The Cockroaches, the former band of Anthony Field and Jeff Fatt, two of their founding members.
They did not tour with a large troupe of dancers, cast, and crew until the late 1990s, and had high expectations regarding the behaviour and attitude of everyone associated with the group.
[10] When they ventured into international markets, first to the U.S. and the UK in 1998, they chose to follow the same practices that were successful in Australia by keeping their stage show simple: inexpensive props and effects, and the four original members, along with their characters, singing and dancing for their audiences.
[8][9][11][12] In 2012, The Wiggles cut back much of their international expansion after, like many businesses, experiencing a decrease in their profits after the worldwide recession a few years earlier.
The group has always had a strict code of conduct based on zero tolerance of drug use, drinking, smoking, or bad language by any employee of their organisation.
[14] The Wiggles recognised that toys were a necessary part of a child's normal development, especially his or her motor and language skills, so they trod the "fine line between maintaining and promoting early childhood values and operating in the commercial arena",[15] and as Field put it, "proceeded cautiously".
[15][note 1] The group avoided over-extending their brand by only licensing products that correlated with their image, like endorsing healthy foods, and by remaining within the preschool and family markets.
[16] In 2011, the worldwide recession hit The Wiggles, as it had many Australian entertainers; they earned $28 million and had a 28% decrease in profits,[11] but they still appeared second on the BRW's list that year.
[17] According to BRW, the group restructured The Wiggles Pty Ltd in 2011 when they downsized staff and re-focused on the more profitable aspects of the business, including their music, TV, and DVD ventures.
Conway blamed the poor economy, the group's decrease in their U.S. tour from twelve weeks to five, difficulties in stocking DVDs at Walmart, and the cost of changing to a new digital format.
[20] Also in 2012, The Wiggles appeared second on BRW's list, earning $17.167 million, despite negative press they received after Page returned and replaced Moran.
They were replaced by former back-up singers Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, and Emma Watkins, so that the group could continue to develop and preserve their brand.
Although they insisted that they chose Watkins, the group's first female member, because she was the most qualified for the job, they admitted that it was "a strategy for marketing the Wiggles into the next generation".
[22] In the early years of the group's existence, it seemed "logical"[23] to develop a television program that both entertained and conveyed sound and developmentally appropriate values.
They filmed a television pilot for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) because they felt a program on the network would receive the most exposure to the pre-school market,[7] but as The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported in 2002, "the project never got off the ground due to irreconcilable artistic differences".
[26] Also in 2005, Australia's largest theme park, Dreamworld in Queensland, opened a "Wiggles World" section, which included a Big Red Car ride and a full set for production purposes.
[29] In 2010, after emerging from bankruptcy protection, Six Flags ended their licensing agreements with The Wiggles and other organisations, and changed the themes of their rides and park areas.
The play centres also held a gift shop with Wiggles merchandise and a café that served food featured in many of their songs.
