Thursday, July 14, 2011

A Referendum for Specialty Toys


It’s not every day that specialty toys and games are raised to the average consumer consciousness. But that’s precisely what has occurred thanks to a contest sponsored by Facebook and American Express OPEN.

The contest was created to give five small businesses the opportunity to win a two-day, one-on-one social media makeover at Facebook headquarters and $20,000 to help grow their business. While more than 11,000 companies entered the contest, Nebraska-based Fat Brain Toys was the only toy company to be chosen as a finalist.

Why is this significant? Backed by the media-savvy Facebook and the deep pockets of American Express, this contest has garnered national attention and drawn in hundreds of thousands of voters, many of which listened to Fat Brain Toys’ co-founder Mark Carson talk about the unique benefits of “specialty toys”. While the term is thrown around liberally in the toy industry, do consumers really know what a specialty toy is, where they can purchase one, or why it matters?

It's no mystery that the impressions of most consumers are defined by what they see and hear. With the proliferation of big box retailers, most consumers only see the toys which make it to the shelves of their nearest “big box” retailer. And driven by television ads and movie tie-ins, often times kids are telling their parents they only want the latest gadget they just saw on TV.

If you're a consumer who has been swept up in this mass market vortex, you may not even be aware of what you're missing.

Think about it this way: Specialty toys are to kids what fruit is to a healthy diet. Sure, it's fun to slam down a candy bar every now and then, but if your diet consists of nothing but junk food, what becomes of your health? So too with a child's diet of toys. To extend the analogy - YOU ARE WHAT YOU PLAY.

Specialty toys are fundamentally a different breed. Whereas most mass market toys are driven by licensed characters and movie tie-ins, specialty toys must be entertaining and intriguing at their very core to sustain a child's interest. In a nutshell, that is what defines a specialty toy. The question every consumer needs to ask themselves is: Will the toy I’m purchasing sustain my child's interest after the allure of the latest character craze fades?

Sadly, the only problem with specialty toys is that they are more difficult to find. Often, a special trip to a local neighborhood toy store or a museum gift shop is necessary to find these quality toys.

That's where it all ties back to this contest.

Fat Brain Toys is attempting something very difficult. They are trying to re-program the American consumer to rethink their choice in toys. They are trying to bring awareness to the fact that a good toy diet is every bit as important as a healthy food diet. They want to feed our children a balanced diet of wholesome toys in hopes that they are intellectually prepared for the challenges that lie ahead.

So please, support the specialty toy industry by casting a vote for Fat Brain Toys in the "Big Break for Small Business" contest today. The last day of voting is Tuesday, July 19th.

You can view Fat Brain Toys' video entry here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N4iekNP2WA

Voting for Fat Brain Toys takes place here:
http://www.facebook.com/SmallBusinessSaturday?sk=app_140670829343013