Happier holidays?

There is talk of creating a national “Children’s Day” in the U.S. It would be great for kids. It would be wonderful for the toy business.

The challenge we confront as an industry, however, is how to accomplish this in a way that does more than simply put a few more dollars in a company’s bank account and a few more gifts in a child’s toy chest.

The good news is that we can do this for all the right reasons, because there already is a Children’s Day (El Dia de los Niños) celebrated all across Central and South America, and all we have to do is give it a little push into the American mainstream.

The U.S. has a large and rapidly growing Hispanic population. How large? According to the U.S. Census bureau, fully one-third of the official populations of California and of Texas, America’s two most populous states, consider themselves to be of Hispanic ancestry. And it’s not only states that border Mexico that have seen their Hispanic populations grow. This Hispanic population growth is taking place all across America.

If you are reading this in, say, Georgia, and don’t believe this has anything to do with you, think about this: according to the Mexican-American Chamber of Commerce, there are more than half a million Hispanic citizens living in Georgia alone. In fact, as of 2004, Georgia had the fastest growing Hispanic population of any U.S. state, according to the National Council of La Raza, the Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 14.1 percent of the entire U.S. population now considers itself Hispanic or Latino, and that number will only increase.

Honoring a holiday like Children’s Day would acknowledge the presence of this booming Hispanic population as a driving force in the American culture and economy of the 21st century.

So, how can the toy industry help make Children’s Day a mainstream American holiday? We can achieve it together as an industry as well as individually as retailers and manufacturers by creating displays, ads, promotions and store events that tie in with the holiday. But which El Dia de los Niños should we choose? After all, 12 South and Central American countries celebrate it on 12 different dates. My choice is April 30, because that is when the holiday is celebrated in Mexico. Conveniently, it’s also a slow time for toy sales.

People of Mexican descent account for 63 percent of the Hispanic population of the U.S. and Mexican popular culture has had a broader and deeper impact on U.S. culture than any other South or Central American country. This influence has been the greatest on children and young adults. Think of piñatas, tacos, burritos, the Mexican Hat Dance, Taco Bell and Cinco de Mayo, which started as a holiday marking Mexico’s historic victory over French forces in the 1862 Battle of Pueblo, but now mostly involves seemingly normal people of all backgrounds walking around in sombreros and drinking far more alcohol than they probably should.

But let’s not stop with Children’s Day. While we are brainstorming new gift-giving holidays, let’s also consider Three Kings Day, which is celebrated on January 6 in Mexico. Three Kings Day is actually celebrated as the “12th day of Christmas,” and many people in Mexico give the majority of their gifts on this holiday rather than on Christmas Day.

Three Kings Day fits in very neatly with the latest sales data released by the NPD Group. According to that information, 2 percent of last year’s annual toy sales volume moved from December into January. It is believed that this was due to holiday gift card recipients redeeming them in stores after the first of the year. So if there is already movement towards “holiday” shopping in January, why not take advantage of it by getting behind Three Kings Day with displays, ads, promotions and store events?

Marketing to Hispanic citizens and assisting in the inevitable expansion of their holidays into the broader U.S. mainstream will mean (for retailers especially) showing some sensitivity in creating targeted packaging and displays that are, if not bi-lingual, certainly bi-cultural.

Here are some additional ideas on how manufacturers, sales and retailers can go about moving these two holidays into the American mainstream:

• Retailers can create features and promotions that anticipate these new holidays with ads and by planning special in-store promotions. Most importantly, they can let the manufacturing and selling communities know their plans well in advance.
• Manufacturers can contact regional retailers in California, Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois to see how they currently treat these holidays. Using this information, they can develop marketing campaigns for these festivals in their own cities.
• Sales representatives can take the lead in contacting retailers and asking each buyer some great questions about their marketing plans for these holidays—and then selling against those plans.

When it comes to Children’s Day and Three Kings Day, we need to ask, “What’s taken so long?” Celebrating these or other Hispanic holidays can create much-needed revenue opportunities for the toy industry. Let their fiestas become our fiestas!