Five Things I Learned at Toy Fair

1.  Dozens of companies, large and small, are launching lines of collectibles.  Most incorporate some form of blind packaging, where consumers don't know exactly what they'll be getting inside.  Some are based on existing properties while others are completely new.  With so much competition in this space, there are bound to be more casualties than successes.  Attractive product, strong marketing (with a social media focus) and a lot of luck will be key to success.

Warner Bros. was handing out this promotional Scooby Doo blind pack at the door to Javits Center.

This is what I found inside.

I don't know the world of Scooby Doo very well, and have no idea who this character is.

2.  Traditional entertainment licensing models for toys based on movies and TV series remain valid, but new models are emerging based on social media properties and apps like Annoying Orange, Moshi Monsters, and Angry Birds, which are all poised to be significant in the world of kids' licensing.  Unlike the traditional movie/TV properties that are quick to be deemed successes or failures, online properties build at different rates.  Hopefully, retailers will judge them differently and not declare them to be immediate failures if they don't perform in the first few weeks on the shelf.

3.  I met many entrepreneurs launching great products at Toy Fair.  One key challenge they face, however, is that they don't know their competition, and don't even know that they should know their competition.  At the risk of sounding self-serving, I know they could benefit enormously by working with someone like me to help them position their brands/products against competition and secure placement at retail.

4.  Most consultants, inventors, and agents with whom I spoke said that 2010 and 2011 were both tough years, but are optimistic that things will be stronger in 2012.

5.  Finally, I used the Toy Fair official website to plan my days at Javits Center.  The tools on the website were quite cumbersome, but I learned that by planning my appointments and booth visits according to booth location, I minimized the amount of times I had to walk back and forth through the five block long convention center, making me less tired and more productive.

Maurice Sendak brilliant on Colbert Report

Maurice Sendak appeared in a two part feature on The Colbert Report this week, and I have to say that he is one of the most entertaining and insightful guests I have ever seen.

In case you don't know, Maurice Sendak is best known as author and illustrator of the 1963 book Where the Wild Things Are.  He was illustrator of the book series Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik, which inspired the Nelvana-produced Little Bear animated series.  I was fortunate to have the opportunity to be responsible for the merchandise licensing program for Little Bear at Nelvana, and was thrilled to see 84 year old Sendak on The Colbert Report.

For his take on kids' literature and more, watch here:

Comedy Central (US) part 1

Comedy Central (US) part 1

Comedy Network (Canada) part 1

Comedy Network (Canada) part 2

In Kids' TV, I'm a "Whole Foods Gardener"

Josh Selig's "Planet Preschool" blog in Kidscreen Magazine provides an interesting look at the types of people working in kids' media and provides an entertaining and enlightening quiz to let us figure out how we fit into the picture. He looks at the conflicts between achievement of creative excellence and commercial success through L&M (Licensing & Merchandising).

Using gardening analogies, Josh identifies three types of people: the principled "Community Gardener", the balanced "Whole Foods Gardener", and the "Scorched Earth Gardener", who he describes as an excellent business person who is unburdened by conscience.

While Josh is reluctant to state where he fits into the picture, I'm happy to say that, as I expected, I am a "Whole Foods Gardener." Despite the tensions he highlights, I've found that an approach that recognizes creative excellence and still has the ability to exploit commercial opportunities is plausible and desirable. As a licensor and as a licensee, I've always welcomed the challenge of staying true to the characters and storyline on which I'm working while still figuring out how to make money.

Sandylion's Vancouver 2010 Stickers & Stationery

When I worked at Sandylion Sticker Designs in 2008, we successfully secured a license for Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. It was an interesting and exciting project to work on as a marketer, a licensee, and a Canadian. VANOC (The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games) did an amazing job preparing artwork and product development resources for licensees like Sandylion, and the graphics for the games are outstanding. I'm proud of the work that my team at Sandylion did on Vancouver 2010 products. They introduced some innovative new formats, like laptop stickers that go on the cover of a notebook computer:



You can find some of Sandylion's Vancouver 2010 products at the Official Vancouver 2010 Olympic Store. You can see all of them at Sandylion's website -- click on "Product Catalogue" and then "Vancouver Olympics".