Global Toy News

The Kidult Toy Department; What Belongs There?

                                          Snorkin Labbit

Whether you call them Kidults,  Rejuveniles, Adultescents or big overgrown kids; adults just want to keep playing. Last week, guest blogger Elizabeth Wilson, wrote a very nice piece on the decision by the “Hong Kong Toys and Games Fair’s to have a “Kidult Section” at this year’s show.

One of the questions that arises, however, is what exactly qualifies as a Kidult toy?  To find out, I contacted my friends at the HKTDC (Hong Kong Trade and Development Council) to find out what they thought.   Here is what they will include in the Kidult Section: Action Figures; Air guns; Board Games; Collectables; Hobby; Mehanical toys; Miniature vehicles; Puzzles; Magic; Models.

Well, I think that they have made a good start but only a start.   For example, Urban Vinyl toys(also called Designer Toys) certainly belong in a Kidult section.  They are typically produced in limited numbers by gifted designers and demand high prices.  If you want to see some of these you can visit anywhere from Kid Robot retail stores to the Museum of Modern Art.  These types of toys are frequently made out of vinyl but also can be made out of fabric, wood or steel.   For example, “The “Smorkin’ Labbit Clean 1—Inch Pink Edition” by Frank Kozik can be purchased for $60.00.

Another category I would include would be statues.  Statues are different than action figures as

Here's to You, Ronald Howes.

From an article I read recently, and I quote: 

"Back in 1963, Ronald Howes--the same man responsible for the invention of such childhood delights as Play-Doh, Spirograph, and the Give-a-Show Projector--created the Easy-Bake oven. Howes sold the idea to Kenner toys (now a division of Hasbro), which officially unveiled the first Easy-Bake oven at the 1964 Toy Fair. The toy that would win the hearts of generations of aspiring chefs quickly began flying off the shelves."

 

 

If Mr. Howes did indeed invent the Easy-Bake Oven, Play Doh, Spirograph, and the Give-a-Show Projector, he is the most unheralded of industry inventors and worthy of nomination and induction into the Toy Hall of Fame! 

 

What other unheralded creators of iconic toys are yet unknown?

JOBS Act: Crowdfunding Website Reviews

The recently passed JOBS Act is creating a stir as more small and medium sized companies want to know where to go to crowdfund (aka crowd source) capital for their businesses.  We continue to stay on top of the law (JOBS Act webinar).  One question that comes up is:  "What are the best websites for crowdfunding?"

We recently published a posting entitled “Crowdfunding Sites; Crowdtilt, AngelList, Crowdfunder, Kickstarter and more” in which we listed what USA Today saw as the top “8 crowdfunding sites to watch.” 

Things continue to evolve and we have found an interesting website, Crowd Funding Review.  As the name implies, they rate the crowdfunding websites based upon how heavy their traffic is; ease of use; cost to get funding; ease of acceptance and how active the community is. Their website lists what they see as the Top 7.  At this time, it is difficult to say who is right and who is wrong so we make no recommendations.  We did, however, think you would find it interesting to compare the two lists.

Here is Crowd Funding Review's top 7: 

GoFundMe.Com            5 Stars

Crowdrise.com              4 Stars

OnSetStart.com             4 Stars

Playing Musical Chairs with Buyers

One of the ongoing frustrations of salespeople with whom I speak is the constant change in buyers.  Salespeople spend a great deal of time, intensity, intelligence and care in developing buyer relationships; their careers depend upon it.

Knowing what turns on and turns off a particular buyer; understanding how and when that person wants to receive information; being able to speak honestly about challenges and opportunities is of the highest value.  The sudden loss of a buyer can therefore be highly disruptive to the effective sales process.

Not only that; it creates a tentativeness among the selling community because what the previous buyer Okayed may be dismissed by the new buyer.  Try explaining to your factory that the product that was absolutely “in” is now absolutely “out”.  Deal with their rage as they figure out what to do with product that was made for an order that will never ship.

So why do retailers seem to play musical chairs with buyers?  There are several reasons:

The Mother of Invention

 

 

 

 

 David Smith launched ToyTalk.co.uk, an online magazine covering the world of toys in the UK, in 2006. He is also the writer of the book 100 Classic Toys.

 

I’ve always loved inventors. The white coat-wearing, wild-haired, arm-waving types are the best (think of Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future) but any inventor is worthy of reverence in my book.

The toy world has had its share of great inventors. Maybe none of them has come up with something as radical or important as the internal combustion engine (or, for that matter, a time-travelling DeLorean), but the likes of Erno Rubik, Frank Hornby and Ruth Handler have enhanced countless lives with their creations.

I find it a little dispiriting, therefore, that so much of the modern toy industry is so heavily reliant on recycling existing products, simply putting a new licensing spin on toys that have been with us for years.

There’s still new stuff out there, but the recent launch of Battleship games with a Battleship (the movie) twist (a licensed product based on a film that is, in turn, based on the original game) is surely an ultimately futile exercise in chasing your own tail.

In more than six years covering the toy industry in the UK, I’ve been lucky enough to meet some genuinely inspiring people – inventors who have dreamed up something new. Some of them have been snapped up by established companies, while others have done it the hard way, financing their own dreams and bringing products to market with little or no help from anybody else.

I look back on meeting the creative talents behind Jurassic Wars (a brilliant dinosaur-based card game) Daughters of History (high-end, historically themed dolls) and others as some of the highlights of my time writing about toys.

At January’s Toy Fair in London, I met another pioneer, quite by accident. On my way to an appointment with one of the biggest toy companies operating in the UK, I was stopped by a young woman carrying a plastic bag. Luckily, I had a few minutes to spare and was happy enough to listen to what she had to say.

Abigail Obar quickly outlined her plans to launch a new board game. She had arrived at Toy Fair with a prototype in the bag she was carrying and was pitching the idea to anyone who would listen.

I thought the game, called Medal Haul, had enough relevance in this Olympics year to maybe attract one or two of the established manufacturers to take a closer look. Exchanging business cards, I promised to keep in touch.

Hasbro the Movie Company Overrules Hasbro the Toy Company

Hasbro announced last night that they were delaying the release of the "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" movie by nine months to March of 2013.  The reason given is that they wish to change the movie to a 3D format. 

As you would imagine this was no small decision on Hasbro’s part.  According to Gerrick Johnson of BMO Capital in a statement released today:  “[T]he “street date” for the GI Joe 2 toys to hit stores shelves was this weekend. Retailers had already brought the product into their back rooms and warehouses…Walmart actually jumped the gun and many stores already had GI Joe 2 product on shelf as of yesterday.”

The Wall Street Journal in its article “Hasbro Delays Release of ‘GI Joe” Sequel by Nine Months” cited the reasoning behind the delay as follows: 

Time Distortion and Play; 10 components of an immersive experience

A few weeks ago I wrote a piece entitled, “Slow Time, Fast Time and Children.”  In that article I wrote about how the experience of time can be relative to what an individual is doing.  If they are doing something immersive like playing a game time moves fast.  If they are doing something tedious like waiting for baggage at the airport, times seems to stand still.  As I wrote at the time: “That means that great toys and games have to give such an immersive experience that players will not sense time passing.”

Thanks to one of our readers, Richard Cocca, I have now learned a bit more about why we lose track of time when we are doing something we enjoy.  Richard sent me an article entitled “Which people are most likely to experience ‘flow’?”  The article defines “flow” as “… the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.”  The concept was developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian psychologist who now teaches and lives in the United States.

It appears that individuals have varying abilities to experience flow.  It also seems however, that products can be designed to help bring the user to flow.  According to Wikipedia, there are 10 components in experiencing “flow” but not all 10 are required. They are:

Hong Kong Toy Fair Jumpstarts Kidult Section

Elizabeth Wilson has been a marketing consultant in the game and toy industry for over 8 years.

  

kidult (plural kidults)

1. (informal) (marketing, sociology) An adult who participates in youth culture and activities traditionally intended for children.                                                                Wiktionary

Hong Kong Toy Fair is the first to launch an all new “Kidult” section for their 2013 Hong Kong Toy & Games Fair.  If you were at their 2012 extravaganza, which I just so happen to have been, you’d understand why.  They had plenty of fun toys for young kids, but a whole lot more electronic, highly geeky and technical ‘toys’ that were geared towards adults. Unless that is, you let your kids play with airsoft guns, high powered magnets and $250 model cars. 

One of the greatest examples in the toy industry today of this is the award winning TOSY robots, showcased at CES and Toy Fair 2012. It may be repped by Justin Bieber, but these standalone $200+ robots are not something you want your kids tinkering with.

And it’s not like these adult geek, hobby and electronic toys haven’t been at Toy Fairs before. It’s just that they haven’t been given their own section to shine…until now.  Most fair floors are organized by biggest brand vendors and toy type (wooden, electronic etc), not by age.

Wal-Mart Board of Directors Gets Pressed from Top and Bottom; Employees Start a Petition

Wal-Mart’s Board of Directors and its leadership team are feeling the heat due to the recent revelations about alleged payoffs in Mexico (see “Wal-Mart…What if?" and “Wal-Mart’s Bribery Scandal; why it matters”).  According to a USA Today toy article, “Calif. pension fund to vote against Wal-Mart board”, “[t]he California State Teachers' Retirement System says it has lost faith in the board's independence amid allegations of bribery in Wal-Mart's Mexican operation. Wal-Mart's slate of nominees comprises 15 incumbents including CEO Mike Duke…”

The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) is the country’s second largest pension fund; so their decision matters.  In fact, Forbes reports that CalSTRS “… is also suing current and former executives and directors of Wal-Mart over the bribery allegations, echoing recent calls to vote against re-election for CEO Mike Duke, former CEO Lee Scott and Chairman Rob Walton…by the likes of New York City Pension Funds (which own 5.6 million shares).”

It’s one thing if pressure is just coming from the outside but it also seems to be popping up at the store employee level.  I was sent a petition flyer that was created by a Wal-Mart employee and was  being

The Toy Industry; Where Are the People of Color?

Why are there so few Hispanic-Americans and African-Americans in the toy industry?  Whenever I attend toy industry functions in the US, I am always struck by how few people of color I see.  It makes me wonder if, when we gather,  the lack of diversity makes us somewhat color blind to the changes taking place in America’s children. 

That thought struck me again and hard when I reviewed the latest census figures.  Here is how the Los Angeles Times reports it in an article by Michael Muskal, “Census Bureau: Minority births outnumbered whites for first time:” The United States has reached a historic tipping point -- with Latino, Asian, mixed race and African American births constituting a majority of births for the first time, the U.S. Census Bureau  reported Thursday.”  The article goes on to state:

The racial and ethnic shift was an expected, but still important, turning point for the nation, who’s economic and political elites remain essentially white and primarily male. The new numbers indicate that the upcoming generations will be more diverse and could have an increasingly broader view of issues ... There will also be cultural changes -- as there have been in recent years, with foods, music and ideas from Latino cultures, for example, spreading into the mainstream.

If you look at specific states, 60.3% of births in California and 55.2% of those in Texas were to

Unsourcing; Is It the Beginning of the End for Outsourcing?

What comes after outsourcing, unsourcing?  That according to a great article in The Economist entitled: “Outsourcing is so last year.”   After years of outsourcing call centers to India and now The Philippines, companies are beginning to do away with call centers all together.  Here is how the The Economist puts it:

"Unsourcing", as the new trend has been dubbed, involves companies setting up online communities to enable peer-to-peer support among users. Instead of speaking with a faceless person thousands of miles away, customers' problems are answered by individuals in the same country who have bought and used the same products.

Call centers will not completely go away.  After all, one’s peers cannot help with a billing or shipping i

PlayCon; The Irony and the Ecstasy

I am back from PlayCon 2012 and the Washington DC Fly In.  PlayCon and the Fly In are unique toy industry events as they provide a chance to mingle, in a relaxed environment, with the toy industry’s leading movers and shakers.  It’s a chance to make new friendships, strengthen old ones and learn, learn, learn.

The Ecstasy

This year’s PlayCon and Fly In was, I believe, exceptional in its content and its sheer fun.  Maybe you had to be there, but the event kicked off with a surprise bagpipe band that included the American industry’s leading Scotsmen, Bob Wann (CEO Patch Products) and John Barbour (CEO LeapFrog).  Believe me, that alone,  was worth the trip. 

Fun was a major component of this year’s event (we are, after all,  in the play business) and included an evening with the Capital Steps, a satiric musical review and good natured banter from the podium.  Content, however, was king as everyone I spoke with said they never made so many notes as they did this year. 

We heard from the international and domestic retailing communities as Richard Barry, Toys R Us, U.S.; John Witham and John Alteio, Amazon; Victor Loustalot,  Grupo Juguetero, Mexico; Hector Nunez, Ri Happy Brinquedos, Brazil provided us with insights on their company’s plans, challenges and successes.

We also received extremely valuable informationfrom:

The Gravitational Pull of Giant Games

Have you seen one?  Are you drawn to them?  Giant Games seem to be popping up more and more often at game fairs across the country and sometimes (if my guests are lucky) in my living room.  At ChiTAG alone, we’ve seen a giant Wobble (Identity Games), Word on the Street (Out of the Box), Q-Bitz (Mindware) and Jenga (Hasbro). Last year at GenCon I saw a giant Pass the Pigs (Winning Moves) and Toy Fair I saw a giant Solitaire Chess (Think Fun).   I also hear that there is a giant Stomple (Spin Master) and SWISH (ThinkFun) making their way around the country and ThinkFun has new "giants" in the works.  Whew!

What’s Next in Toys; “Drawing on Glass?”

There’s an interesting piece in the New York Times by David Pogue entitled “The Joy of Drawing on Glass.”  It talks about an emerging class of low cost devices that allow you to draw on an electronic tablet screen with a goal “…to create the electronic equivalent of pen, pencil or brush on paper, so that artists, animators and architects can sketch or paint digitally.”

Until now, these devices have run in price from $1000 to $2500.  Now, it appears that “…change is coming. Cheap pen displays from no-name Chinese companies like Yiynova, P-Active and Bosto have begun appearing for sale on, for example, Amazon — and they cost as little as $300.”

Here is how Pogue describes the Yiynova from Panda City which sells for $300:

 

 

Crowdfunding Sites; Crowdtilt, AngelList, Crowdfunder, Kickstarter and more

In my last post, Crowdfunding Websites; where to find investment money under the new JOBS Act,” I wrote about a CNN article, “8 crowdfunding sites to watch."  These are sites that CNN deems important to watch as they may become major players for companies and individuals seeking investors under the new JOBS Act.    Here is the list

• Crowdtilt

CNN describes Crowdtilt this way:  “The brand-new Crowdtilt focuses on "groupfunding": private projects among people who already know each other. Friends can raise money for a common goal, like a week at a beach house, a wedding gift or a community gardens.”

•  AngeLlist

AngelList  “connects startups with a roster of high-profile investors and entrepreneurs.  Startups seeking funding visit Angel.co and browse through a long list of techy types (currently almost 110,000 people), . Seekers can cull the list by selecting roles like "seed fund" or "VC" and check out investors' profiles, including what they've invested in, and what they're looking for.

Crowdfunding Websites; where to find investment money under the new JOBS Act

As a consultant, I am frequently approached by entrepreneurs and start-up companies seeking investment money.  I have had to tell them that in most cases, initial money comes from family, friends and credit cards.  Once they have established that they have a workable business model they can turn to Angel and Venture Capital investors.  The latter form of investment money is hard to find and can be a negative if the company takes off as you may have partners you wish you didn’t have.

It was for that reason that I was delighted when I saw that Congress had passed the JOBS Act.  Under the new JOBS Act (click here for our webinar on this subject), entrepreneurs will be able raise capital through crowdfunding sites.  The question is; how do you find a crowdfunding site?  CNN has one answer in a great piece entitled “8 crowdfunding sites to watch.”

Just to review, Congress has passed the JOBS Act which will allow, for the first time, companies and individuals to find investors via the Internet.  Here is how Wikipedia defines it:

Crowd funding or crowdfunding (alternately crowd financing, equity crowdfunding, or hyper funding) describes the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations.

There are websites in place that do a form of crowdfunding, Kickstarter is probably the most well-known.  The difference is that sites like Kickstarter are seeking contributors and not investors. 

A new twist on "fun"draising

 

 

 

 

In a continuing series that highlights toymakers who have evolved their business comes The Haywire Group. See how a newly created division is raising its profile (and those of its partners) using a unique fundraising initiative.

 

Tired of being offered the same ole stuff to buy in local school fundraisers, Mike Fisher, vp of The Haywire Group was inspired, as were his co-workers, to create a new fundraising model that carved out a unique business opportunity.

This aha moment for the toy manufacturer eventually led to the creation of It's all FUN and GAMES!, a brand new and separate division (www.itsallfunandgames.org) that has partnered with nearly 29 A-list manufacturers on a fundraising catalog. Filled with about 100 games, it will go head-to-head with the usual suspects like candles, cookies and wrapping paper come Back to School 2012/2013. Interestingly, revenues from these categories has been steadily declining over the past few years.

"We have sent out comprehensive information kits and reached out to educators, trade magazines and Parent Teacher Organizations as well as attended industry events to a really great reaction," says marketing manager Tami Murphy, a six-year company veteran who is truly excited to lead the initiative.

Her enthusiasm will no doubt be shared by the built-in sales force of kids who will finally be selling something they are familiar with and definitely passionate about. Add to that that schools will receive a 40% return on sales and earn free games for classrooms and it's not surprising that the unique program is making the grade with educators. Students also receive a custom Farkle game (Legendary Games) with their school name on it and a Spot It! sampler game (Blue Orange) with each catalog.

Not surprisingly, the catalog has attracted well-known toymakers such as Late for the Sky, Workman Publishing, Mindware, Peaceable Kingdom, GameWright and Bananagrams anxious to tap into both a new and existing customer base with a selection of games for every interest level, age group and budget. A brochure will be shipped with each order showcasing independent retailers in an attempt to drive traffic to local businesses and well as provide a place for consumers to purchase additional games from a favorite company.

"We were excited to be part of Haywire's catalog initiative because as a company that values education and literacy, we're always looking for new ways to present our games to the school audience. Naturally, we want to see our word games in homes and classrooms across the country. The catalog seemed like a creative formula for reaching a new market and helping schools raise vital funds," says Norman Getting, vp at Bananagrams, Inc.

The Hidden Benefits of Playing with Toys

The following is paraphrased from the Able Play website, whose mission is "to highlight toys that are fun and appropriate for children, especially those with special needs."

While toys are a highlight of childhood, they also have hidden benefits. Here are several such hidden benefits of a good toy appropriate to the user:  

1. A good toy engenders social connection. Like magnets, toys connect kids socially. They promote interactions between siblings, adults, and friends alike and they encourage inclusion of children with disabilities.

Univision, ABC Start a 24 Hour English Language Channel for Hispanics

I like to track the growth in numbers as well as economic and cultural clout of the Hispanic (sometimes called Latino) population in the United States.   I think it’s important that toy and play companies incorporate this rapidly growing group into their marketing plans.   

Recent article have included: “Hispanics and Asians Make Up 98% of Population Growth in Big Cities” and “Lionsgate Studio joins with Televisa to go after the Hispanic Market; some lessons for the toy industry.”  Now we learn in a Huffington Post article, “ABC News, Univision Announce New English Language Cable Channel Aimed at Latinos,” that because the Hispanic population is “the youngest and fastest-growing demographic in the U.S.," these two media companies see the need for a channel that speaks to them in English rather than Spanish. 

Here is what I think:

This new network does not yet have a name.  That tells me that ABC and Univision felt they had to move fast because they are concerned that some other media company (ies) will beat them to the punch.  You always want to be a first mover.

The Power of Silly; thank you Huck the Cat, Lowly Worm and Hilda Hippo

My son, Matt, sent me a picture this week of a hippopotamus having his teeth brushed.  You may wonder, as did I, why a grown man would send his father a picture of a hippo much less one with good dental hygiene.  Well, it seems that he remembers me asking him this question when he was a little boy:  “Would you rather be a dentist for an alligator or a hippo?

That silly moment came back to him when he saw that picture of the hippo and he wanted to share it with me.  It was a warm memory.

It really says something for the power of silly.  In an age in which so much of our interaction with children seems from birth to be consumed with getting them ready for a great career; its important to remember that silly has something going for it.   It makes the world a little less scary; provides sweet memories and if you insist on a practical output;  it also helps develop out of the box thinking. 

So who are the greatest purveyors of silly?  Not the recently departed Maurice Sendak; I think he was more scary than silly.  Not Shel Silverstein either, his books can be pretty dark as well.

The Best Table Top Games to Play at a Bar

Its friday so I decided to share with you this fun article from the Bleacher Report website entitled “The 50 Greatest Sports Bar Games.”  It was written by a guy named Zachary D. Rymer and he pretty much covers the waterfront of what you can play at a bar while drunk. So, I chose the ones that were the most pertinent to the game and toy industry.    That means I left out things like Karaoke (#50), Wii Bowling (#48) and Erotic Photo Hunt (an impressive #16).  So here you go:

JOBS Act; the webinar

The JOBS Act is one of the most important changes to raising capital in American history.  Why, because it makes the IPO process more attractive and provides entrepreneurs of any size with new opportunities to find investors.  For instance, in the past, companies have been able to collect donations via crowd funding.  This approach allowed people to donate money, but not to invest.  Under the JOBS Act, however, companies will be able to raise capital from a wide range of investors in crowd funding transactions.

The new law is complex, so Global Toy News is proud to announce that it is hosting a webinar entitled, “What You Need to Know About the JOBS Act.” The webinar will take place on June 21 at 2:00 PM Eastern time.  (Click here to sign up or find out more).

The featured speaker will be Tom France, an attorney with the noted law firm, Venable LLP, in Washington DC.  Mr. France specializes in securities law and advises clients on public and private offerings of equity and debt.  He is recognized as one the nation’s leading attorneys for business transactions by Chambers USA and for capital-market transactions by Legal 500 U.S.

Please join us on June 21, 2012 by clicking here and getting the early bird rate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avengers Is a Hit! But is it good for the toy industry?

The Avengers movie has scored a huge hit at the box office.  It is the biggest three day opening in movie history passing Harry Potter.   Gerrick Johnson of BMO Capital Markets has dubbed it the “uber-sequel” stating in his May 4 Hasbro report that “Avengers should be considered the “uber-sequel”. While it may be the first Avengers movie, the characters in the film have had six prior movies between them: Iron Man (2), Hulk (2), Thor, and Captain America.”

But is it good for the toy industry?   After all, movie tie-in sales have been lackluster as of late and the movie and toy industries could use a hit. 

Johnson is not so sure.  Prior to the movie’s release he wrote as follows:

We think retailers are using the Avengers event as an opportunity to bring out from the back room left over Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America product from last year. A quick check at any Toys “R” Us store will indicate that the retailer is doing just that, with about half of its eight feet of in-aisle space for Avengers comprising old, unsold Iron Man, Thor,

 

Do's and Don'ts of Creating a Great Webpage

Samantha Martin is the founder and CEO of Media Maison, a New York City full-service public relations firm. As a third-generation toy industry specialist who works one-on-one with Hong Kong’s top toy manufacturers, she has a deep grasp of the ever-changing toy business, and is uniquely qualified to provide her clients with the benefit of her industry knowledge, expertise, and far-reaching personal connections both in media and the toy industry. Sam can be reached at samantha@mediamaison.com.

In my last blog posting I wrote about the need to sustain a great webpage.  In this post, let's look at the do's and dont's of doing so.

Do be meticulous and detailed oriented. Websites are the face of your brand -- you want to make sure that you’re making a great first impression and readers get who and what you are immediately

Do be yourself. Websites allow brands to cultivate their own cultural context and creativity. It’s a space where you can show some personality, alongside your product. Introduce the people and personalities behind the brand.

Do keep content up-to-date. If you would be embarrassed to pass out an old business card, then you shouldn’t be okay with leaving irrelevant information or outdated designs on your website.

Do manage a separate press page. Press pages should be updated and organized. Since URL’s from

Target takes a shot at Amazon; has the war started?

The war between ecommerce and bricks and mortar may have started.  That’s according to a New York Times article, “Target, Unhappy with Being an Amazon Showroom, Will Stop Selling Kindles.”  The article, by Stephanie Clifford and Julie Bosman, tells about Target’s decision to cease selling Amazon’s Kindle.  Target is tired of being Amazon’s showroom and has decided to do something about it by no longer selling Amazon’s crown jewel.

According to the article, Target sent out a letter to its vendors stating “What we aren’t willing to do is let online-only retailers use our brick-and-mortar stores as a showroom for their products and undercut our prices.” Target is not stopping at dropping Kindle; they are going to get behind competitive products.  Target carries Apple’s iPad, and plans to get behind Barnes & Noble’s Nook and the Aluratek Libre.

The article indicates, that unless its spreads to other retailers, it will just be a nuisance to Amazon.   I don’t agree and here is why:

 

Marketing in a Digital World

Until recently, digital media and social media were viewed as mere marketing tools for toy manufacturers and retailers. American Smartphone adoption increased in 2011 to over 50% of cell phon subscribers. Facebook app Draw Something (OMGPOP/Zynga) logs 36,000,000 active monthly users and the Draw Something iPhone App launched to more than 50,000,000 downloads in 50 days. Words With Friends, Draw Something, Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Bejeweled, Doodle Jump and other digital brands provide new insights into the way kids, adults, and families play. But are digital, mobile and social trends changing the way we play? 

In Chicago in November, we host our Social Media at Play Conference, SMAPCon, to learn the latest from the best minds. Brian Torney, SVP Creative & Interactive, at  Kunoichi and Steve Drucker, VP /Executive Producer at  Hasbro, were headliners at SMAPCon last fall and will now be expanding and sharing their thoughts at PlayCon next week along with Melanie Notkin, best-selling author, Founder of SavvyAuntie.com and CEO of the Webby Award nominee for Best Family Site. They are a dream team of information.

I am part of the TIA Committee putting on PlayCon, am introducing these digital mavens and asked them each to give us a sneak preview of what they plan to talk about at PlayCon. This is only one topic of a full agenda with important topics and top name speakers. I hope to see many of you at the Conference.  

The decline of Nintendo, Play Station, Xbox; can the toy industry help?

E3, the Video Game trade show, is taking place this week in Los Angeles.  It is occurring in the face of a steady decline in video game sales.  The drop off appears to be more than some cyclical development but rather a full retreat from the highs of just a few years ago.

Last month, Nintendo reported its first losing year in company history.  And they are not alone, “Market tracker NPD Group says U.S. retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories fell 25 percent in March from a year earlier to $1.1 billion.”  That according to the Associated Press in an article entitled “How the video games industry is faring.”

The drop in sales is part of a long term trend.  Based upon NPD figures, sales were off 6 percent in 2011; 5 percent in 2010 and 10 percent in 2009. 

Isn’t it time that the video game industry considered joining with traditional toy companies in developing new and creative ways to entertain and make money.  I think that the time is right for

Toys As Art: Metal Car Rainbow



An artist and metal car collector, David Waller, created this piece of art using over 6,000 toy metal cars.  Thank you Ronna Cocca for sending this in to us.

 

Japan’s Population Decline Accelerates

Any industry that bases its business on youth has to pay attention to birthrates.  That is why Japan’s continuing population declines should be of concern to the toy industry.  Japan, once a world leading provider of toys, has continued to be an innovator in play and toy consumption.  What happens, however, to toy consumption and creativity when there are fewer and fewer Japanese children and young adults?

And there is a bigger problem for Japan.  Japan has, since World War II, been one of the world’s leading economies.  What happens if, as the Japan Times reports in an article by Kevin Rafferty entitled “Inventing Economic Suicide,” Japan shrinks so much that it is no longer a developed country?  Here is how the article puts it:  “A report just released by a think tank of the Nippon Keidanren, the country's most powerful business organization, says that by 2050, Japan will no longer be a developed country, predicting years of negative growth from 2030 onward.”

According to the Japanese Health Ministry, if current trends continue, Japan’s population of 128 million people, will drop to 87 million by the year 2060.   Can something be done?  Is Japan to continue, as the article puts it as, "...the industrial world's trendsetter in aging population"?

Japan could encourage population growth through the use financial incentives.  It could also encourage immigration.  One other thing they could do is get women into the work force.  I was surprised to learn

Rain, Rain Go Away

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is often said that the British are obsessed with the weather, and it’s hard to disagree with that assertion. It’s true that we often begin conversations with a reference to the latest climate conditions, and for the past month, it’s been nigh on impossible to avoid mentioning the persistent rain. In fact, the UK has just experienced its wettest April in the last 100 years. And right there is one of the key reasons for our weather fixation; it’s not like America, where climate can vary dramatically from coast to coast (and everywhere in between). In the UK, we’re largely all in the same boat (or it may need to be an ark if it doesn’t stop raining soon!) Somewhat ironically, this wet spell was immediately preceded by the government’s announcement of a hosepipe ban due to drought conditions (that’s another key British trait, we do love our irony.)

But what has the inclement weather got to do with the UK toy trade? Well, quite a lot actually. After a highly respectable start to the year from a trading point of view, the last couple of months have apparently been less buoyant, and in many respects the rain hasn’t helped. This is the time of year when sales of outdoor toys traditionally make up a significant percentage of the overall volume of toys sold, and I very much doubt that anyone has shifted many paddling pools or much outdoor play equipment over the past month.

Your Webpage; why it’s still important

Samantha Martin is the founder and CEO of Media Maison, a New York City full-service public relations firm. As a third-generation toy industry specialist who works one-on-one with Hong Kong’s top toy manufacturers, she has a deep grasp of the ever-changing toy business, and is uniquely qualified to provide her clients with the benefit of her industry knowledge, expertise, and far-reaching personal connections both in media and the toy industry. Sam can be reached at samantha@mediamaison.com.

The design of a brand’s website is not just indicative of a company’s online presence – it is representative of the brand online and offline. Brands must build an online presence and create conversations with customers on channels never before deemed necessary. Unfortunately, as companies are adapting to the cultural transformation, many are leaving their most important tool behind – their webpage.

Without an up-to-date, relevant, and transparent webpage your brand will be beat by contemporary competitors. Webpages are the backbone of your brand – if you’re looking for lifestyle media exposure, then create content that caters to a similar style and beat.

Credibility: The website is where many of your customers will begin to build their first impression of your brand. Brands that want to catch the attention of editors at lifestyle magazines must consider how their website will promote or demote their product. Your website must be reflective of the product you’re pitching. Unprofessional, unorganized, under-construction websites are not conducive to building your brand or creating consumer trust. Why waste your time or money on a marketing strategy if your website is going to be detrimental and dilute interest?

Content Creation: Marketing content must be micro-managed, compelling, and cater to the current trends of your brands' target market. A webpage designed primarily for wholesalers will not catch the eye of an editor of a lifestyle publication. Companies with a diverse audience must market to each sector individually. Web design is not “one-size-fits-all.” Companies must consider at who the

Slow Time, Fast Time and Children

I have always been fascinated by time.  It’s so malleable that its passage can seem to speed up or slow down simply by circumstance.  For me, there is no slower passage of time than sitting in a doctor’s office or waiting for my luggage at the airport.  Nothing, though, equaled the fifth grade in terms of slow time (my teacher was not just mean; she was crazy).  I think that school year lasted a decade.

On the other hand, pulling your head out of an immersive computer game can seem shocking in how much time seems to have passed in so little time.  Similarly, time spent with great friends, an enthralling movie or an absorbing book can also collapse time.

That was why my interest was caught by a show on time that was playing one of the science channels.   Unfortunately, I was not in a position to take notes but what struck me was the theory it espoused that the older we get the faster time seems to pass.  This show even posited a theorem in which, as I

The Tom Cruise of the Toy Industry? The Inventor Buzz

That’s me there. No, not the short one in red whistling at the pretty girl, but the larger fellow in the background with the leather sportscoat on. Dapper indeed. This was taken at the 2011 Chicago Toy and Game Fair where I was signing "Top Trumps" game cards featuring MOI and a veritable plethora of other toy and game inventors. 

Now, In the world of music singers, performers, and songwriters are known and celebrated. In the world of film and the arts actors, directors, and artists are famous and their works known and looked forward to by their fans. In the world of letters, authors are known and their latest books eagerly awaited by their readers. So, similarly, in the world of toys and games, inventors and creators are similarly known, loved, even revered. NOT! Why is that? Why not? No idea. Does it matter? Not sure.

Toyota, Hasbro and “Game of Life”; the story behind the ad

Have you seen those commercials for Toyota’s “City’ car?  They use Hasbro’s “Game of Life” for a multi-platform advertising campaign to sell the Toyota’s cars.   Created by the Saatchi advertising firm, the ads include not only a pair of TV spots but a presence on YouTube, Pandora, Hulu and others. There is more to come.

Those in the business of traditional toys and games may want to know why Saatchi chose a classic board game rather than virtual games like “Farmville” or “Angry Birds” to drive the campaign.  There may be an answer in a piece written for Advertising Age by Stephen Williams entitled:  “Toyota Makes Game Out of Buying a Prius.”  Here is how Williams puts it:

While some may associate board games like Life with an older generation, Toyota finds it a good fit with digital-savvy millennials. "Our research showed that our target group of ages 25 to 35 views life as a game...not fun and frivolous, but purposeful," said Sara Bamossy, strategic planning director for the Saatchi office… Ms. Bamossy said the agency found that many in the target demographic grew up playing the board game and that [real] life for them is a constant media stream of information, but they love social games, they might invent a game at work, and it bonds them together."

Isn’t it interesting that a generation that grew up with the Internet is a good fit with table top play. 

Wal-Mart…What if?

Did you ever forget and accidentally offer a Wal-Mart buyer a Coke or lunch?  I mean it’s easy to do.   You’re in your showroom or some other off-site location and it just seems natural to offer someone …anyone…hospitality. 

Well, when you did forget, the buyer would get this odd little look, quickly shake his or her head and say quietly, “no I can’t accept your offer. “  You would then remember and move on quickly.  A small, embarrassed smile moving from your face to theirs and back again.  No favors offered and no favors taken.

It was with this in mind that I thought about Wal-Mart's ability to create change.  After all, they didn’t just change the small ways that business was practiced; they changed the big ones too.  Wal-Mart is credited with almost single handedly stifling inflation in the US and changing

China's Future and the "Post-80’s Children"

As those who regularly read me are aware, I pay a great deal of attention to China.  Between its domination of world toy manufacturing and its growing consumer base, it demands close study.  One of my interests is the Chinese consumer.  That was why my eyes were drawn to a story in China Daily by Xiao Lixin entitled “False impression of post-80s kids.”

The “post-80’s” kids are those who were born after China instituted its “one child” policy in 1978.  As the name of the policy implies, parents were, by law, to limit their families to no more than one child each. 

The purpose of the law was to get control over China’s exploding population, currently 1.3 billion people.  The new law has indeed had an impact on population growth but it has also had some unintended consequences.  There are now, for example, many more boys than girls.  That’s not a good thing for a society when there are lots of unmarried males.   This is also a generation of children with no siblings.

The author  notes that: “Young people live in a society that is completely different from the one their parents knew at their age and they have developed a different outlook on life.   A survey conducted by Wuhan University found that housing, marriage, the cost of supporting parents; insurance