Richard Gottlieb

Let's Talk

Today is an historic and wonderful day for the United States and the world. We are seeing the inauguration of an African-American President of the United States. An event of this nature truly speaks to the greatness of any society that can, in essence, peacefully reinvent itself.

This moment is empowering in that it shows that what may seem to be intractable or institutionalized can in fact change; that paradigms can in deed shift; that icy rivers break up and that spring does come. 

We in Toy Nation are at a point in our history in which we can, if we begin the process, change as well. We cannot ignore the fact that whatever we are doing is not working. 

We have seen a steady slide in toy industry revenues over the last five years. According to a JP Morgan analysis entitled “Not As Much Fun and Games This Holiday Season,” we are down 2% in compound annual growth since 2002. 

Yes, we have taken our lumps. The safety recalls of 2007 and this year’s economic downturn have certainly not helped. We should not ignore the fact, however, that while we have been in decline, the electronic gaming industry has, over the same period of time, been achieving huge gains in sales. When I consider this, the conclusion I have to come to is that people still want to play with toys. They just don’t want to play with our toys as much as they used to.

Rather than blame our cousins in the gaming industry for our pain; or rend our garments over last year’s safety recalls; or pin this year’s problems on the current economic conditions; I think its time we looked hard at ourselves. Something is wrong and we need to change it. We can change it.

How does an industry transform itself? It’s not easy, but it all starts with the self awareness that comes from all of us talking to each other honestly and without fear about not how we see ourselves but how we are seen by others. In particular, how we are seen by our end users; children and those who care about children.

It is with this in mind that I will, over the coming weeks, be taking a look at different aspects of how we conduct our business; not to lay blame but to try to understand where we are, how we got here, and what we need to do to become, once again, a growth industry. 

I am only one voice. What we need is a dialogue and I hope you will engage me in one. I welcome your comments, questions and challenges. 

Let’s talk.

Posted by Richard Gottlieb on January 20, 2009 | Comments (2)