It can be said that the best selling toys are the ones that fly off the retail shelves.
Toy marketing agent at Walmart, Anne-Marie Kehoe, has a flair for choosing and selling toys and... making lots of money.
In this fast-paced world of I want it NOW kids full of instant gratification, toy sellers have to pick the right ones that kids, teenagers, and adults alike want to show off to their friends just to be part of the in-crowd.
Today's gifts come with bluetooth and connectivity capabilities of course to sell more of them. Remember the Tamagotchi craze.
I do.
It was the craze when my daughter was in primary school. She tells me it's stashed somewhere in the basement. She doesn't know where though (threw that in because it rhymes with dough ;-)!
Like cell phones some of these new Christmas toys are throwaways. My Lord help us all. Think of landfills full of cell phones and...!
However, the toy industry has changed from my hay-days... a Kenner building set, a road race set and bowling pins. Here is a tidbit: As a child I played bowling and won several championships. Loved that game.
Nowadays, there is a major benefit, toy makers are making toys that walk, talk to each other, move and hang around.
Drum roll please... Anne-Marie Kehoe's Pick
Fingerlings !
What?
Well take a look at this video...
Sound, motion, touch and visual add multi-sensory cues that trigger involvement with the toy.
Also you get a variety of colors and characters. And these Baby Monkeys fart and burp a sure winner when those features are included. Check them out at http://www.wowwee.com
Don't you love their Unique Selling Proposition... Friendship At Your Fingertips. As if you can't find friendship on social media or in your neighborhood. OK, I am being satirical.
Sydney Wiseman, an engineer and a member of the family that runs WowWee, is the creative mind behind Fingerlings. As a child, she was infatuated with pygmy marmosets. The reason I am posting this story is because my daughter is studying to become a biomedical engineer. I thought she'd like to read my blog post on how to create a toy.
Of course, Walmart is the biggest outlet for kid's gifts. But you always need marketing to push the crowds, kids and parents to rush over to stores or online to Amazon.com.
This fan found the Fingerling toy at Target and her adorable reaction went viral on Facebook. Now you can search youtube for a ton of videos.
https://www.facebook.com/myfingerlings/videos/1814516211897159/
Those who want to add a variety of Fingerlings to their collection can buy different characters. They also recognize other fingerlings when they hang around.
Remember last year the Hatchimals craze. Well they ran out and the problem was disastrous. Wowwee did not want to fall into this trap. So they ordered triple Fingerlings by hiring 3 companies in China (Made in China) to manufacture their toys.
Their retail price is $15. Anne-Marie Kehoe, the marketing wiz, set the price. Wowwee had no choice. That's the way the cookie crumbles when you have distribution and purchasing power.
So this is Christmas, what have you done. I simply want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year but most important of all health and peace.
The Best Of Success To You,
P.S. I use to sell toys in my dad's store. What a joy! I guess I never got over the smiles in children's faces. Would you believe I often walk the aisles of the toy section in stores! And most important, I am Canadian like wowee ;-)!