News

23.11.2016 // Meet the Rule Breakers – Small Businesses Making Waves

The winners were chosen by an expert judging panel, including Ken Yancey, CEO of SCORE; Yaniv Masjedi, CMO, Nextiva; Anita Campbell (yours truly!), CEO and Publisher of Small Business Trends; Brian Scudmore, founder of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?; Shama Kabani, CEO of Marketing Zen Group; and JJ Ramberg, co-founder of Goodsearch.com and host of MSNBC’s Your Business.

17.11.2016 // Interview Simba Toys: dolls as a reflection of current trends

Spielwarenmesse^®: Dolls are a classic among toys. Is their appearance simply based on prevailing tastes or are there true innovations?

Maximilian Stork: Dolls are still one of the classic toys to be found under any Christmas tree. The fundamental role-playing behaviour has fostered children’s development and will continue to do so. While playing, the child can give free rein to their imagination, feed and change the doll and potty train with it.

Of course there are true innovations in this product category as well. Technical enhancements play a key role here, but so does digitisation. Nowadays, dolls can speak, respond and interface with smartphone apps.

Your company operates internationally. What differences are you seeing in the demand for dolls in the various regions of the world?

M.S.: The Simba Dickie Group does indeed operate worldwide, and has its own subsidiaries in many countries. Essentially, there are different demand patterns in the various markets. This affects dolls only to a limited degree. In southern Europe, customers prefer dolls with elaborate functions, while greater value is placed on traditional doll and play worlds in northern countries. However, in principle, it is important to recognise that children all over the world just love playing with dolls!

Current market research may produce an unclear picture when it comes to dolls as dolls are literally on offer everywhere - from funfairs to factory outlets. How high do you think is the annual turnover in the German retail trade, for example, and is there momentum?

M.S.: Dolls are still absolutely synonymous with toys and are therefore offered in almost all sales channels. In Germany, we estimate the annual volume of turnover in the toy trade to be approx. 260 million euros.

The market environment and its development are characterised by momentum. The doll market has grown by 7% compared with last year, driven not least by market leader Zapf Creation and other leading manufacturers such as Bayer, Heless and the Simba Dickie Group.

There seems to be a bitter fight going on at the moment between the traditional and modern when it comes to dress-up dolls. Presumably, this does not perturb the SIMBA DICKIE GROUP as it has a foot in both camps?

M.S.: There has always been a balancing act between traditional and modern when it comes to dress-up dolls. This is the nature of the category. Fashion dolls are all about current styles and trends. For example, we have a new addition to the range in the form of Steffi Love with a selfie stick. But you cannot lose sight of traditional play themes either, such as Steffi Love as a horse rider. We really are backing both horses in the race in this regard. 

What role do licences play in the doll business?

M.S.: At first glance, traditional dolls are of only minor importance in the area of licences. The licensing topic predefines the product category and associated target group and can therefore automatically limit the role for dolls.

However, the right licence can also offer enormous potential, as with the soft body and functional dolls from Simba Toys under the “Masha and the Bear” licence at the moment. These represent the perfect symbiosis between traditional play values and a licence.

15.11.2016 // Unique Product Cubetto Teaches Preschoolers Coding

As the line separating the digital and physical world continues to blur, learning the language that brings them together has become an important asset. Coding is now being taught to very young children, and Cubetto is a toy robot designed to teach the principles of coding while having fun.

Cubetto is approved for children ages three and up so they can develop computational thinking skills during the playing process. According to the company that created it, Primo Toys, this is accomplished in an age-appropriate method that compliments a child’s natural way of learning.

The toy is designed for gender-neutral play that can be used by boys and girls, including non-sighted children to promote inclusive play for equal learning environments. The company says its aim is to address a great disparity between genders in computer science. According to a Harvard study, coding on the college level sees as high as a five to one disparity in the male to female ratio of students enrolled.

Cubetto is powered by a coding language that uses colorful blocks to essentially write computer programs. The physically programmed console has a set of expandable coding blocks, a collection of illustrated maps and an activity book. These items are used in tandem to create sequences of instructions that program the robot’s movement.

During these activities, children are able to gain an understanding of the basic principles of coding. The game also teaches them to think critically and independently, communicate and tell stories by combining movement, touch and sound to develop other skill sets.

Cubetto had a Kickstarter campaign that raised $1,596,457 far overshooting its initial goal of $100,000. The campaign was driven by a product that addressed a particular need.

As the company’s Kickstarter page explains:

“Coding is a basic 21st century literacy, and one our children can’t afford to miss out on, but if you made it this far, you already know this!”

The company adds “Starting young gives them an edge, and starting with something fun, that they actually enjoy, means they learn faster and better.”

09.11.2016 // 6 steps for a strategy-based brand building

1. Competitor analysis
   It is so banal and nevertheless frequently overlooked – analysis of existing and potential future competitors. Particularly of interest:
   - What visual style is used in packaging, advertisements, videos, POS material, etc.?
   - What key messages and selling points are being used to promote the products?
   - What media, sales channels and cooperation partners are involved?


2. Positioning
   Watch out here – this is not about classifying the products based on their objectively measurable characteristics. The only thing that matters is the image in the consumer’s head. The key questions:
   - Are there positions in this matrix or space that are not only unoccupied but would also be attractive for the brand we are looking to build?
   - Are the capacities needed to establish this position available?
   - Does the company serve as a credible promoter of this brand or would it be better if it took a back seat?


3. Storytelling
   Do you know how memory champions remember endlessly long lists of numbers? They give the numbers an identity, e.g. a “2” might become a swan, and then link them to create a storyline. People love stories. They have grown up with them, they provide a context for people and things, they explain backgrounds and entertain. The same holds for brand stories.
   
   One fascinating example: TRX is really just a type of strap which can be attached to a door frame, among other things, to allow you to use your own body weight to exercise your muscles. So far, so good. Then you find out that Randy Hetrick, the inventor of the product, used to be a member of the Navy SEALs, an elite US Army squad, and invented this for use by soldiers in combat regions, where it has even been attached to a tank - and suddenly this strap becomes the ultimate product for a really serious workout. If you take a good hard look, you are bound to hit on a story for your company or product idea as well.


4. Design
   We live in a world of imagery. Attracting attention may mean being flashy or even completely minimalistic. In any case, your brand’s visual appearance is the vehicle with which you transport the desired positioning to your target group. Pay attention to every detail in order to authentically convey the image you wish to present - the wrong shoes can ruin even the prettiest dress.


5. Communication
   At a strategic level, this is not about advertisement placement schedules, but the basic selection of channels. How will you mix owned, paid and earned media, i.e. your own media such as a website and newsletter, paid media like advertising and TV and media you have to earn e.g. in the press or on social media? When selecting, it is not enough to consider where you will reach your target groups, but also which environment is right for the image you wish to build of your brand.


6. Controlling
   But that comes right at the end, doesn't it? Sure, but which brand-building goals should be achieved in which time frame must already be defined when developing the strategy, along with the instruments that will be used to measure these. Besides hard sales figures, the brand triad of awareness, appeal and usage are obviously of interest as well.

It is hard work to define a brand strategy, but it is worth every bit of effort as it provides the necessary framework for all of the measures that follow.

31.10.2016 // How to Target Multiple Locations with SEO

Local SEO is a great way to get your business in front of the people that matter the most – those around you. If you are a local business, you don’t really have a need to be reaching people all across the globe. If you are an attorney in Atlanta, you probably don’t have a need to reach into San Francisco or Chicago. Instead, you want to reach people in your local area.

But how do you do this when you have a company that does have many locations? Well, you have to optimize for it. Ranking with local SEO is very different from organic search. It is highly specific and must be locally targeted with strong signals.  There are many ways that you can do so, but, unfortunately, there are also a lot of penalties if you do it the wrong way. Here is how you can get all locations of your business out there with local SEO.

How to Target Local SEO For Multiple Locations

The first thing that you need to do when targeting multiple locations is create unique URLs for each location. Make sure that you also include the URLs on your site map. After your location has a URL, you want to focus on creating content for the page that is local and highly optimized.

When creating your SEO-friendly landing pages, there are four things that you want to make sure you optimize for: title tag, meta description, H1, and your content. All of this needs to be optimized for the local keyword phrase. Your title tag should include the local keyword phrase in front, the title of the article, and then some sort of branding – maybe your company name. Your meta description should also include the target location keyword phrase. You might also want to consider including your phone number as a local signal. You can also count this as a point of conversion. Having the keyword phrase in your meta description doesn’t help with your rankings, but it will help prove a local relevance.

Your H1 also needs to have the local keyword phrase, but you want to make sure it doesn’t come off as spammy. Instead, it should be short and catchy. Since each location has its own URL and landing page, you also want to make sure that the content on the pages is unique for each location. You can’t use the same content on every page. The content must be suited for the location that you are talking about, and it needs to be quality work. Generally, longer is better – at least 400 words.

If you don’t already have a Google My Business account, you need to get this setup as soon as possible. This is crucial so that your business information will be shown in other Google channels like maps, search, and Google+. You want to make sure that your name in Google My Business is the actual name of your business. Do not include a location or a keyword. For example, Visiture has two locations, one in Charleston and one in Atlanta; however, for GMB, we would just list our name as Visiture, not Visiture Charleston.

Your address should also be as accurate as possible. One thing to take into consideration is consistency. If your address has NE in it other places on the web, then you want to make sure that is included in your address. One other point you want to make sure you include in your account is your phone number. This should be a local number that goes directly to your company. Each location should have their own number, and all of this should be the same information that is found on your website.

Social media can greatly help your SEO efforts and can improve your business’s local search results. Google crawls social media sites just like it does any other web page. It will look at the number of Facebook likes, shares, and posts that include your website; Twitter followers and tweets; and more. The more engagement that you have on social media, the more you look better in Google’s eyes, and this will help you go up in the SERPs.

Social media is something that every business should be incorporating into their marketing strategy. Make sure that you are putting your content on your social sites and promoting it to your audience. If you have multiple locations, it is important to create separate pages for each location so that you can get more authority for each. This will also help you to be more visible and help people who are searching to find the correct location. With Facebook Locations, you can easily set up and manage multiple pages for all of your locations.

In today’s SEO world, directory listings are not as popular as they once were, but they are still very important, especially when it comes to local SEO. These directories can help you get links and rankings for your locations without too much effort. Let’s say that one of your keywords is extremely competitive, and you’re having a hard time ranking for it. However, you notice that Yelp ranks for that keyword. You might not be able to rank for the keyword, but you can appear in the local directory. Also, more links that you build and more mentions of your business will help you in the rankings.

You also want to make sure that you are not just listed in these directories, but that you are being reviewed on them. 90% of customers say that they are influenced in some way by reviews. Also, Google reviews and other large sites are known to show up in search results very predictably, so they can help you with visibility. Start out with asking your current customers to review you – maybe even offer them some sort of incentive for doing so. Make it easy for them, and tell them step by step how to review you. People don’t want to do more work than they have to.

Local SEO should be a vital part of your digital marketing strategy, especially if you are a brick and mortar location. You need the people around you to know about your products and services. However, you must remember that local SEO is very different from average SEO, and you have to optimize it accordingly. With these tips, you should be set to get your business ranking in the local SERPs.

27.10.2016 // Exclusive: the outlook for global toy licensing through 2020

Global Licensed vs Non-licensed Traditional Toy Sales 2016 - 2020 (Illustration: Spielwarenmesse; Source: Euromonitor International)

A smartphone in every home

One of the key reasons that licensing will be the market driver of growth within traditional toys and games is the strong connection that children will form with their licenses. In 2015, over 1.2 billion smartphones were sold globally and nearly half of every household had access to a smartphone.  Global sales are not expected to decline anytime soon, with 32% growth expected by 2020, where it is expected that over 70% of global households will possess a smartphone.

Many of these phones will inevitably end up in the hands of children, and with continued advancements in expansion in mobile data networks, will mean that children can potentially have constant access to the internet. This will allow them to view their favourite media content at any point of the day and interact with the intellectual properties they enjoy through streaming videos, and mobile games.  Increasing interaction means a deeper connection with licensed characters resulting in higher demand for products featuring these characters, in particular toys.

Smaller, richer households

In addition to the growth of smartphones, households of the future should be better able to purchase licensed products than ever before. Licensed toys typically carry a higher unit price than their non-licensed counterparts due to the added cost of fees paid to the licensor. Therefore licensed toy growth is strongly linked to income growth, especially in developing markets where there is a greater amount of price sensitivity.

Global gross incomes per households are expected to grow by 7% in constant value from 2015 to 2020. While these gains will not be even across income levels, many families will see higher income levels over the next five years. At the same time, the average number of children per household has been on a steady decline over the past few years due to the growing number of women entering the work force globally and delaying their first child birth.

Overall the average number of children per household is expected to shrink 4% overall from 2015 to 2020. This means families will have higher incomes but fewer children to spend their income on, which in turn means they will be more inclined to buy higher priced licensed toys.

More media content

With such a large number of smartphones in the hands of children as well as higher household incomes, the ability to connect with and buy licensed toys will be greater than ever. The choices in licensed content will also reach new heights. Each year currently promises to be full of numerous big budget potential blockbusters that can greatly drive interest in their respective licensed characters.

Every year we can expect one new entry in the Star Wars franchise, as well as a sustained stream of new Marvel, DC, Harry Potter, Pixar, Transformer, and other films. And in some instances the properties promise possible story or trilogy ending instalments to their franchises, such as Avengers: Infinity War or Star Wars Episode IX.

Added to this are the supplemental television cartoons, mobile game apps, and other online video content based on the properties, like Star Wars Rebels. This ultimately means that children will be subjected to an immense variety of media content and major properties will need to invest more to compete for their increasingly strained attentions.

A positive feedback loop

The combination of smartphone proliferation, richer and smaller households, and a dizzying amount of media content will create a strong atmosphere for licensed properties. That will likely be even further bolstered by new developments like immersive virtual or augmented reality experiences. The growth of licensed toys will not go unnoticed, and more manufacturers and retailers will grow their portion of licensed products.

This positive atmosphere will likely drive more licensors to enter the toy market which in turn will further fuel licensed toy growth, creating a feedback loop that sustains year-on-year sales increases. While such a cycle cannot last forever due to eventual market maturity, through to 2020 there is every indication that the outlook for licensed toys will be bright.

21.10.2016 // Little-Known Sales Skills that Entrepreneurs Should Master

Aren’t you tired of the same old sales tips?

I can’t blame you. There’s so many different sales techniques that entrepreneurs can use to gain more business. It can be hard to determine which ones work the best.

I’ve written tons of posts giving sales advice myself. But you want something more, don’t you? If you’re like other entrepreneurs, you’re probably working every day to get better at selling and influencing.

The issue isn’t that the “same old sales tips” aren’t effective. If they weren’t, nobody would be sharing them. However, the real issue is that there’s more to it. There’s other techniques that you can master in order to become a better seller.

That’s what this post is about. If you put these lesser-known tips into action, you will find it easier to close more deals.

You’re welcome.

Make Them Talk Themselves Into Buying

Social labeling is a great technique because it’s a way to get the other person to convince themselves to do what you want. When you use this technique the right way, you will notice that more of your prospects will talk themselves into buying what you’re telling.

Social labeling involves expressing an observation about your prospect that is favorable to your position. This can be done multiple times in the conversation. This technique isn’t used only by salespeople, of course. You may also see it used by leaders, politicians, parents and other expert influencers.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you own a landscaping company and you’re trying to convince a prospect to become one of your customers. If you were to use social labeling, you might say something like

“I can tell that you’re the type who likes to make sure your lawn is always presentable.”

Pretty easy, right? Of course you don’t want to overdo this. If you don’t do this the right way, it’ll come off as awkward and manipulative. Also, you need to only make observations that you’re sincere about. Don’t use a label that clearly doesn’t fit the prospect. That’ll just make you look silly.

The Best Way to Lower Someone’s Guard

Want an easy way to quickly gain influence over someone? There’s a technique you can use to make your prospects feel more comfortable. If you do this right, your prospects will lower their guards. They will become far more likely to do business with you.

The mirroring technique is simple, but effective. It involves mimicking the mannerisms of the other person. It requires you to observe carefully how your prospect behaves so that you will know what behaviors to mimic.

There are three mannerisms you will want to mirror:

• Tone of voice
• Words and phrases they use
• The speed with which they speak

The reason mirroring is so effective is because of humans’ tendency to be more favorably disposed towards others who are similar to themselves. When you mimic the behaviors of your prospects, they will subconsciously see you as more similar to themselves.

Of course, you want to be careful that you don’t overdo it. You don’t want to make it obvious that you’re mirroring the other person. That’ll turn them off quickly.

Know Why People Buy

You may not want to believe this, but I’m going to say it anyway: people buy for emotional reasons. Yes, it’s true. I don’t care what industry you’re in. I don’t care how analytical your customers like to think they are. Most of their buying decisions are tied to emotion.

Sales Guru Jeffery Gitomer says:

“The head is attached to the price, the heart is attached to the wallet. If you jerk on the heartstrings, the wallet comes popping out of the back pocket.”

It’s true. When you tap into your customer’s emotions, they will become far more likely to do business with you. That’s why you need to focus on your prospect’s passion.

What are your customers and prospects passionate about? Do you know?

See, here’s the thing. Most entrepreneurs are focused on their own passions. And they should be. A strong sense of purpose can drive you to success.

But your customers and prospects also have passions. When it comes to selling your products and services, you need to find out how they relate to what your prospects feel strongly about.

Lissette Palencia, founder of Sleeping Angels, knows exactly what her customers are passionate about. It’s their children.

Here’s what she has to say:

“We cater to parents with smaller children, so they feel quite strongly about making sure that their children are taken care of. When we empathize with their concerns, it gives them more faith in the fact that we can help them enrich their children’s lives. “

Makes sense, right?

Speak to what your prospect feels. It doesn’t have to be anything monumental. Even if it’s just a small feeling, it’ll work. If you can find a sense of purpose in your prospect, that will help you influence them more effectively.

Entrepreneur Sales Skills That Can Boost Your Bottom Line

Tell Them They Can Say “No”

Believe it or not, one of the most persuasive sales techniques you can use is to remind your prospect that they can reject you. They have the power to make their own decision.

Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but keep reading!

When you remind the customer that they have the freedom to make their own choice, it will make them more likely to accept what you’re offering. There have been several studies where researchers have found that this technique actually doubled the chances of making the sale.

It might sound insane at first, but it actually makes sense when you think about it. When you acknowledge that the prospect has the power to chose, it makes them feel less pressure. They now remember that they are not obligated to make the purchase. It makes it easier to make the decision to start doing business with you.

Successful Selling Means Taking Care of Yourself

This is something that many people forget. They’re so focused on getting sales and focusing on their prospects that they forget to take care of themselves.

Selling is hard, isn’t it? It can involve tons of rejection.

It was Winston Churchill who said:

“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

He couldn’t be more right. The thing is, if you’re going to be an effective salesperson, you have to make sure that you’re in the right mental and emotional state.

Dr. John Mullen, founder and head personal trainer at TrainingCor mainly helps his customers with their physical health. But, as a doctor, he also understands the importance of maintaining your mental health as well.

He said this:

“You can’t expect to hustle and grind every day without taking time to let your mind and body relax from the beating it takes every day. The level of your success in any field is dependent on how well you take care of your mind.”

That’s why you need to make sure your mindset is on point whenever you need to get someone to buy from you.

There are tons of ways to keep yourself in a positive emotional state. My two favorites are self talk and gratitude.

Watch What You Say … To Yourself

Self talk is exactly what it sounds like. It’s the way you talk to yourself throughout your day — your inner monologue. Every day, we send ourselves messages. These can be positive messages or negative messages.

Your emotional state depends greatly on the messages you send yourself. If you’re constantly telling yourself negative things, you are putting yourself in a horrible position mentally. You’re basically sabotaging yourself.

But negative self talk is easy, isn’t it? We tend to focus on the negative.

One method I use to improve my self talk is to focus on what I’ve done right. Every day, I try to take some time to point out a few things I did well. Sometimes I write them down. Other times I just think about them.

When you force yourself to hone in on the things you did well, it makes it harder to put yourself down. It gives you actual evidence that you’re good at what you do.

The Power of “Thank You”

Gratitude is powerful. Immensely powerful.

As a matter of fact, I’m convinced that gratitude is the single most powerful way to make a positive impact on others while keeping yourself in a positive mental state.

The benefits of gratitude are numerous. When you practice gratitude on a regular basis, it makes you healthier, happier and more productive. It makes it so much easier to deal with the challenges of entrepreneurship.

But I’m not talking about keeping a gratitude journal. Yes, I know they’re popular, and they really do work.

I’m talking about taking it a step further. Instead of just writing down things that you’re grateful for, try expressing gratitude at least once a day. I can guarantee that it will have a HUGE impact on your emotional state. It did wonders for me.

Being proactive about your emotional self care is so important for entrepreneurs. Don’t let this fall by the wayside. Not only will it keep you out of a mental institution, it can also help you sell more effectively.

Conclusion

We have all heard a lot of the same sales advice. The purpose of this post was to give you some tips that you may not have learned previously. While these may not be “mainstream” sales tips, they will make you a better influencer and help you earn more business.

17.10.2016 // 5 Ways Retailers Can Profit From the Crazy 2016 Holiday Calendar

How early should your retail business start promoting holiday shopping? This year, the answer is “earlier than ever.” The way the holidays fall in 2016, as well as some important changes in consumers’ attitudes, could have a dramatic effect on customers’ shopping patterns — and your store sales.
Traditionally, the last Saturday before Christmas is called “Super Saturday” in the retail world, and is typically a huge shopping day as consumers hurry to get the final items on their holiday gift lists. This year, however, both Christmas Eve and the first day of Hanukkah fall on Super Saturday — which is good and bad news for independent retailers. Here’s what to consider as you prepare.
Instead of heading out to local stores on December 24, many customers will be traveling to visit relatives or hunkering down with their families to celebrate the holidays. This could mean that December 17 — the Saturday before Super Saturday — will take on greater importance. You may need additional staff on December 17 to handle more shoppers.
Another factor in Christmas falling on a Sunday is that more people than usual may take Friday, December 23, off from work to prepare. And don’t forget that the day after Christmas is typically busy for retailers, with customers returning unwanted gifts or using gift cards. Because Christmas is on Sunday, more people than usual could take Monday off from work, and your store could see a lot more traffic.
The good news for brick-and-mortar retailers is that, with Super Saturday on Christmas Eve, consumers who need last-minute gifts will be far more likely to run out to local stores rather than choose online shopping. This could spell opportunity for your small business to beat the big guys. In addition, the first day of Hanukkah (the holiday lasts for eight days) falling on Super Saturday means that in the week after Christmas, you have a chance to capture last-minute Hanukkah shoppers.
2016 Holiday Marketing Calendar Tips

How can your retail store handle this year’s crazy holiday calendar? Here are some tips:
1. Learn from the past. If you’ve been in business for a while, looking back at prior years’ calendars can help you. Review records and see how you handled staffing, inventory and marketing in years when the holidays fell on a similar time frame. What worked and what didn’t?

2. Start marketing early. Your customers may already have started their holiday shopping. In a recent survey by RichRelevance, more than one-fourth (27 percent) say they’d started shopping by Labor Day. And though many Americans still dislike “Christmas creep” — when businesses start marketing holiday shopping before Thanksgiving or even Halloween — they’re becoming more accepting of it. Sixty-three percent of consumers surveyed say they dislike seeing holiday items in stores before Halloween, but that’s down from 71 percent two years ago. Millennials are even less bothered by Christmas creep: Just 51 percent say it bugs them.

3. Educate your customers about this year’s holiday calendar. Many consumers won’t realize until it creeps up on them that the Saturday before Christmas is different this year. Marketing that emphasizes “XX shopping days until Christmas” or “Don’t wait until Christmas Eve to cross off the last gift on your list” can motivate customers to start shopping earlier.

4. Look at local issues. For example, do schools in your area start winter break the week before Christmas, or the week after? Having children at home may impact parents’ shopping behavior the week before Christmas, as they could be more likely to be doing family activities than heading to the mall. On the other hand, the week after Christmas could see increased retail traffic from parents hoping to keep bored children entertained or children eager to spend their holiday gift cards.

5. Promote your store as the last-minute solution. This year more than ever, your marketing should emphasize that you’re ready to help customers find the perfect last-minute gift. Remind customers that when they buy from you, there’s no waiting for delivery or worry that a package won’t arrive in time. Consider bundling products into ready-made “gift packs” that customers can grab quickly. Stock gift bags, tissue and gift tags near the register to speed up customers’ Christmas Eve wrapping. Offer to put products on hold for customers so they can run in and pick them up.

How are you planning to handle Super Saturday in your stores?

11.10.2016 // ToyBlog: how the social media revolution changes advertising for toys

This was an understandable strategy, because the comparatively low/cheap cost of children’s TV spots means that a fairly heavyweight campaign will cost a fraction of the amount needed for an adult campaign. When I worked on adult targeted board games, our TV advertising spend did not go anywhere near as far as on the games targeted at children.

Moreover, retailers, being more towards the cynical end of the spectrum (!), would pretty much demand TV advertising and say “so what” about any other form of marketing. During the infancy of commercial internet usage, I tried all kinds of things, but regardless of what we tried and whether it achieved sales uplift or not the overwhelming comfort zone for colleagues, management and retailers was the ‘magic button’ of TV advertising.

Social Media as a core marketing model

That all started to change towards the end of the noughties with mainstream commercial adoption of social media and online reviews as a core marketing model. This was the start of a few years of confusion in the toy industry about how to utilise these powerful new media & methods.

For sure TV advertising will (and should) still be a feature of a toy marketing campaign, but you would struggle in this day and age to avoid being very active in the social media space, and in reality online reviews of your products may be as effective as TV advertising in terms of driving sales of your products.

TV advertising still works, but not solely

Before getting too carried away, let’s look at why TV advertising still works and why I would still recommend it be a core feature of toy marketing campaigns. Firstly, TV ads are thoroughly proven to drive demand/product desirability. I have conducted in excess of 100 focus groups on TV adverts, and I can confirm categorically that kids are hugely influenced by TV advertising – the combination of sensory stimulus and rose tinted presentation of a product is a powerful thing. In fact, if you observe children watching a kid’s TV channel while the ad break is on, you will see them whisper out loud “I want that” or “that’s for Christmas”. Simply put, if your TVC is well constructed/executed and gets in front of enough kids you will see sales uplift.

The challenge however is getting them to watch the TVC. With on demand TV also having seen a revolution over the last decade or so, kids are now watching more and more of their TV content via on demand (no adverts) or YouTube (different media channel). Viewing is increasingly fragmented between multiple media & devices. So I can see why some people question the impact of traditional TV advertising. However, while there is no doubt that kid’s TV viewing figures on traditional media are lower than they used to be (in most of the markets I look at), there is still a potentially significant target audience plus a much reduced media cost in most cases. So TV is still relevant.

SEA & affiliate marketing is relevant for toys

There is no doubt though that social media marketing is critical in this day and age. The biggest reason for this & the simplest explanation I can give for this is Google. Google’s advanced search algorithms work hard to find relevant search results for your search terms. If you have a particular toy on sale and it is popular, people will search for it on Google (overwhelmingly/primarily in most major markets). Therefore, if the web pages found by Google offer positive feedback/endorsement of your products you are more likely to make a sale to that consumer.

Hence the vast array of toy review websites & mums/moms blogs out there. Many of these sites are effectively ‘affiliate’ marketing sites driving click through traffic at the end of a positively spun review to Amazon or other e-commerce portals for which they make a small referral fee per transaction.

Reviews matter

The reality is that the majority of major & many minor purchases are made with some form of reference to online reviews/online reference source. There was a time (in the old days) when you could ship rubbishy products to retail, TV advertise them heavily & sell through huge quantities. That is far less likely to work nowadays. In the end the product experience is vastly more important in this day and age, because a badly conceived or executed product will get slated in online reviews & severely restrict your sell through potential.

Increasingly the old model of chucking any old rubbish out there & seeing what worked well enough to carry forward is under pressure, because these days a bad product won’t even make it through one selling cycle like it used to. The new marketing mix favours companies who focus on delivering appealing and fully functional products at good prices. So in the end it isn’t that complicated after all!

29.09.2016 // Toy market Poland: best prospects for fun & educational toys

Although current value sales of traditional toys and games increased by 4% in 2015, volume growth remained static, which suggested value growth in the category is tied mainly to increases in the average unit price. On the one hand, this is the result of rising demand for higher quality products, which is especially evident in terms of sales of products intended for children aged up to 3 years old. On the other hand, licensing and the widespread promotion of well-known brands has also translates in to positive average unit price growth.

How new technologies change consumers’ demand

The popularity of consumer electronics is increasing in Poland. This, in turn, is being taken into account by the leading manufacturers of traditional toys, which are attempting to incorporate electronic aspects and accessories into their products in an effort to attract the attention of consumers.

Remote control toys and those intended to aid development such as scientific/educational toys and those designed for pre-schoolers and infants were among the categories with the highest proportions of toys with electronic components in 2015.

Global player dominate the Polish toy market

Top 5 toy companies in Poland; market shares in % (Illustration: Spielwarenmesse; Source: Euromonitor International)

Domestic players in traditional toys and games continue to lag behind their international rivals in terms of value sales. The three leading players, namely Mattel, LEGO and Hasbro, are all international players and were responsible for 32% of total value sales in traditional toys during the year. However, the great performance of local player Trefl in 2015 enabled the domestic company to maintain its fourth rank in traditional toys and games during the year, demonstrating that domestic companies are still able to compete with the international giants.

Private label traditional toys are becoming increasingly apparent in Poland. This trend is mainly being influenced by the leading traditional toy retailers such as Smyk and Toys’R’Us. Retailers are constantly expanding the numbers of categories in which private label is present as well as diversifying their product ranges. In most cases, private label traditional toys can be described as mid-priced products, which supports the tendency towards better quality products.

Rekman, the leading wholesaler of toys and games in Poland, was recently acquired by AB S.A. It has now become an attractive distribution partner for the world's largest manufacturers and suppliers of toys and games as it is able to offer even better and more unique products into Poland.

While looking at the competitive environment, despite the actions of several of the category’s leading players, the category remains relatively fragmented. Thus it is likely that some mergers and acquisitions activity will be seen in the category as companies seek to gain a competitive advantage by operating on a larger scale.

Distribution of toys and games in Poland by format (Illustration: Spielwarenmesse; Source: Euromonitor International)

Demand for licensed and sophisticated toys on the rise

Licensing remains an important driver of sales for a number of traditional toy categories. This is especially evident in action figures and accessories, where the majority of products sold are licensed. Another category largely dependent on licensing is plush toys. The long history of Disney brands made it the most popular source of licenses in plush toys.

Construction toys, games and puzzles, arts and crafts and scientific/educational toys are set to be the most dynamic categories, strengthening the shift currently being observed towards more sophisticated toys and games with added benefits which are intended to contribute to the educational development of children. In the case of games and puzzles, an additional factor stimulating sales is expected to be the increasing popularity of board games among adults.

Analysts see increasing interest among Polish parents in purchasing traditional toys which are not only fun, but which can also contribute to their children’s education. For this reason, it is likely that a number of new product developments will be seen in the most dynamic traditional toy categories.