Out of the Toy Box

February 8, 2010 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

I am just back in New York after spending a week in Nuremberg and as always, I am amazed by its sheer scale. It is hard to believe that there is any show of any kind in the world that is as big as this one.   There are over a million unique toys on displays and it looks like it. Each hall is huge and there are 17 of them. It takes me anywhere from 20 minutes to a half an hour to walk from one side of the show to the other depending upon whether I take short cuts (always a tough decision as you have to go outside and its cold).  

It is truly an adventure to be in the midst of so many people (75,000) from so many countries (115). It is also a bit eye ope...Read More

February 4, 2010 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

Call them “Millenials”, “Generation Y”, “Generation Next”, “Generation Net” and even “Echo Boomers” but whatever you call them make sure you call them our newest generation of parents.   Born between 1975 and 2000, these are largely the children of the Baby Boom generation and they are very different in how they see the world.

This generation, particularly its younger members, is seen as more frugal and less consumerist then their parents. They like products that carry values in which they believe.

I thought about these shoppers when I considered the flat sales of ...Read More

February 3, 2010 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Just when I got my body clock set back to east coast time, it’s time to get back on a plane and head to Nuremberg, Germany for the 2010 Spielwarrenmesse (Toy Fair). It’s okay because I love this trade show. It truly pulls the entire toy world together in one spot at one time and regales them with over 1 million unique toys.

While there, I am going to be very busy with my Building Our Future Conference Nuremberg as well as a talk I am delivering to the Toy Business Forum on the topic “Quo Vadis Toy Marketing.” I am going to come in contact with lots of interesting people and spend time on the trade show floor so here ...Read More

January 31, 2010 | Link This | Email this | Comments (2)

Most any toy department or toy store merchandises girls and boys toys in different sections. In fact, the notion of gender in toys is so ingrained in our thinking that we never stop to think that maybe it’s not a fact of nature but rather a cultural outlook that we impose. 

That was the thought that I had when coming upon an underwear department in a Chinese department store. To my surprise, the women’s and men’s underwear were merchandised in one department: The underwear department.

Obviously, in this culture (or certainly that department store) the western notion of merchandising by gender did not prevail. ...Read More

January 28, 2010 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

I know, I know; Toy Fair is not as important as it used to be and Hong Kong is more important than New York and Dallas is where it all starts but I love Toy Fair. There is literally no other exhibition for the North American toy industry that pulls together EVERYBODY at one place at one time.

It is the toy industry’s giant brain. Each of those people an atom of knowledge, each booth a synapse and each party an adrenaline charge. To be at Toy Fair is to know more things and people; to be a fully functioning part of the toy industry and to become one very smart person. 

This year we have the added excitement of the Engage Conference...Read More