There are probably very few economic sectors that are so completely marketing driven as the toy industry.
This is because specific toys do not fulfill a basic human need in the same way that a piece of bread or a glass of milk does. People will still buy bread and milk even if it is never advertised. Sure kids need toys but they would just as happily play with something that they’ve contrived themselves as with the latest ‘all bells and whistles’ gizmo.
Toymakers can therefore not rely very much on the need aspect when trying to sell their toys (Who really needs the latest gadget?). Instead marketing is focusing on desire (You may not need it, but you sure as heck want it!)
All of this means that the toys that get the most attention are often the toys that create an almost insatiable desire in kids to want to own them. Toymakers achieve this effect through using every marketing technique in the book. These include:
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Tie-ins with popular brands and media products
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Releasing a limited amount of stock, thereby creating an ‘artificial’ shortage
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Highly emotive messages subtly communicating increased popularity/status if you own a particular toy
I am not suggesting that any of the above is ‘wrong’ in any way. In fact, all the techniques mentioned can be found in just about any respectable marketing handbook. The fact is however, and I think I’m going to start sounding like my granddad here, that the toys that get ‘pushed forward’ are generally those that perform well in terms of creating a desire to own them.
This means that some toys that would probably add a great deal of value to a child’s life are under-promoted since it is sometimes very difficult to glamorize them. This is obviously a great pity and one that can be avoided by looking a little deeper than the screaming advertising headlines. You can do this by asking a few basic questions when selecting toys for your kids:
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Does the toy encourage creativity or does it do all the thinking for the child?
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Can you imagine your child still playing with a toy a few months down the line or is it simply a novelty item?
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Does the toy tie in with a fad or a current media hit to such an extent that it might be passé in few months’ time?
The above questions are not intended to put you off from buying the ‘hits’. They are sometimes great value and they also contribute, through cross-subsidization, a great deal to the development of new toys. What I am suggesting, however, is that we should all train ourselves to ignore the hype as far as possible in order not so miss some real gems that do not form part of the marketing circus.
