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Inventors and Designers
“Now that would be a great idea for a new toy!” With all the creative ideas out there, how is it that a toy actually comes to market? And why do some great toy concepts never make it to the retail shelf? The highly competitive toy market Toys come and go. Every new toy that comes to market faces intense competition. About 7000 new toys hit toy store shelves or became available through mail order or online retailers every year.[1] Today’s must-haves often becomes tomorrow’s has-beens with breathtaking speed. While we all know (and some may love) classic toys that have been around forever—like Crayola® Crayons, first sold in 1903; Tonka® Trucks (1947); Mr. Potato Head® (1952, and you supplied the potato!); Play-Doh® (1956, originally a wallpaper cleaning compound); LEGO® bricks (1949); and the ubiquitous Barbie®, introduced in 1959—it’s important to understand that toys are what’s known as a “fashion” industry. Like clothing styles, many toys come and go in one to three seasons. How new toy ideas get started As for how toys get to the market in the first place, forget the idea of a thunderbolt hitting a soon-to-be-famous mom or teacher or inspired kid-at-heart while in the shower. Most toys are marketed as part of a brand that has been created to have a personality and a life cycle. New product introductions are conceptualized to fit the brand and to fill gaps, so that the array of products on a store shelf covers various categories of play and price points. To be successful in the marketplace, the brand needs to work as a logical whole. As the brand grows and changes, products are created to respond to needs or opportunities. Consumers may be asking for certain types of products through their purchasing behavior, via market research, or by direct communication with the manufacturer. Depending on the retail channel that the manufacturer is using, the line may need to offer a certain number of items to meet retailers’ criteria for carrying the brand. The retailer may have further impact by requiring a mix of price points, and may set a maximum price by category of product. Through their feedback, the sales force may also be a factor in determining what is made—either by encouraging the discontinuation of products that are hard to sell or pointing out opportunities for new product based on what they are hearing from customers. All this means that toys generally begin life not from “pure inspiration” that strikes a designer out of the blue, but rather as a vague direction from the manager of the brand. The design team may be asked to generate ideas for a toy that will be suitable for a particular age range or will fit in a defined price range—or will suit some other criteria established through market research or feedback from the sales force. From design to reality—factoring in costs, safety, and the needs of children Generally one or two of the best ideas stand out and the team goes forward with the next few steps that will result in bringing the toy to life. Different manufacturers approach the process in their own unique ways, but a few of the standard steps are:
Once the manufacturer has determined that the design is viable, the investment in manufacturing and marketing systems is made. One to two years after the design process started, a toy is born—and hopefully is on its way to becoming a beloved and much-used item in a child’s toy box. What if you have a new toy idea? If you have toy ideas, is there any chance at all that they can be produced? The answer is a heavily qualified “yes”. Is it possible? Yes. Is it likely? No. Here’s why it’s so hard to break through with a new toy concept. First, think about how a toy has to perform to be interesting to a manufacturer. The Toy Industry Association recommends that inventors ask themselves these questions[2]: o Is it unique? o Will it sell? o Is it safe? o Are you legally protected with a copyright, trademark, etc.? o Does it have play value? o Will the consumer get his or her money’s worth? o Is it fun for kids? o Is it cost effective; that is, can it be manufactured “at a reasonable cost to allow a competitive retail price within its category and to ensure a profit”? Why sometimes new ideas are not all that new Most would-be inventors who bring forward unsolicited ideas to toy companies are deeply passionate about the concept they have developed. Most firmly believe that they have come up with a fresh new invention. But consider this: there are full-time research and design specialists—often whole teams of them—at more than 1000 toy manufacturers around the country, spending all their energy on dreaming up innovative, cost effective products. Chances are—like it or not—your idea has already been conceptualized. If you haven’t seen it on the store shelves, it may have emerged in a brainstorming process and gotten stuck in the idea “funnel” because it didn’t fit a brand personality or it was judged to be a mediocre idea, given what the toy professionals know about consumer behavior. It may have gone through part of the design process and been rejected because it couldn’t be made or sold cost effectively. It may have been produced, in fact, but with lukewarm results and taken off the market already because it wasn’t profitable. What to expect if you approach a manufacturer Another issue facing manufacturers is the need to avoid patent infringements or intellectual property disputes. If you approach a manufacturer with your idea, be prepared your materials may remain unopened unless you first sign a nondisclosure agreement that clarifies your understanding that: (1) your idea, while original to you, may not be unique and may in fact be already in the company’s new product pipeline, and (2) neither you nor the manufacturer are at liberty to discuss your communication with other parties. To protect themselves from lawsuits around product ideas, toy manufacturers typically set up firewalls between the public and their designers and they carefully document the ideas (along with dates) that emerge from in-house brainstorming in case the same ideas are later offered through unsolicited would-be inventors. If you want to find more information about toy design and invention, consult the Toy Inventor & Designer Guide, published by Toy Industry Association. By Susan J. Oliver [1] Toy Industry Association, Toy Inventor & Designer Guide, August 2010. [2] Toy Industry Association, Toy Inventor & Designer Guide, August 2010. |
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© 2012 The American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA)
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