Richard Gottlieb

Building Our Future: Part 2

In my last blog I spoke about the need for Toy Nation to think seriously about its future and actvely help to shape it. Here are some of the issues I believe we will be facing in the next five to ten years. They are all issues that could, if we are passive, have a negative impact on our industry:

• The Changing Face of American Youth

42% of America’s school children are classified as from minority groups. This demographic shift appears to be speeding up rather than slowing down. In particular, the growing Hispanic population with its larger birthrate is going to have a major impact on American youth culture.  Based upon population projections, what will America’s youth population look like in five or ten years and what impact will that have on the products we make and how we market them?

• Age Compression

The industry has to some degree dealt with age compression as if it was a force of nature that had to be weathered rather a chance to grow and change.   Over the next ten years will age compression continue, will it stabilize or will it reverse? Depending upon which of the three scenarios play out, what will it mean for Toy Nation?

• Retailing

What new retailing formats are on the horizon? Are there any disruptive technologies on the horizon that could change how retailing is conducted as well as the roles and relationships of manufacturer and retailers?

• Manufacturing

Where and how and where will the bulk of toys be manufactured in the next five or ten years? Are there any disruptive technologies on the horizon that could change how and where toys are manufactured?

• Global Markets for toys

The people who live in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are becoming affluent and therefore consuming more.   Currently, these countries constitute a total population of 2.7 billion people. a whopping 43% of the world’s people.  What impact will these new consumers have on world toy markets? How might the opening of these markets change the nature of toys, where they are produced, how they are produced, and in n what quantities?

What issues do you see Toy Nation facing in the next five or ten years?

Posted by Richard Gottlieb on June 17, 2008 | Comments (0)