Childhood Creativity

This was a great post sent to me by Alex Bailey, of Early Childhood Education.  The reason I found it interesting, and very true, is because I also believe that we, as "play" developers and innovators, need to be encouraging more creativity in our youth.  I particularly found her examples about the Pre-80's and Post-80's examples of toys to resonate with me.  Previously, toys were ambiguous and required kids to use their imagination during play to create stories, voices, backgrounds, etc.  These days, toys and games come with a back story, often with their own television show, movie and/or books, so there is little room for children to do anything other than extending the story!  Providing the opportunity for children to think, explore, create, and even embellish during these critical developmental stages could really do some good!  Enjoy!  (read in a funny, clown voice!)


Killing Creativity
Created by: EarlyChildhoodEducation.com

News Blast May 2 2012

Today, Edvard Munch's "The Scream" is scheduled to go on auction by Sotheby's and is projected to bring US$80M ... yes, that is million. (@ABC)  This is a time when I wished I had taken more interest in something other than sports as a kid!


More news...

Weather.com is revamping its website to provide a more "social" experience (@VentureBeat).  The revamped site and mobile app will allow its users to find out exactly when weather will change.  For instance, it can notify you when a rain storm will stop ... to the minute.  As one of the top 20 websites, and the second most downloaded app in the world, it just goes to show that the weather will remain the default conversation filler.
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James Dyson of Dyson Vacuums says, "I don't believe in brand." (@AdAge) He went on to say: 
"There's only one word that's banned in our company: brand," he said, speaking at "Disruption By Design," a conference put on by Wired on Tuesday. "We're only as good as our latest product. I don't believe in brand at all."
He isn't wrong.  Disruption usually comes from a design, not typically from a brand, per se.  Without a good product, it is difficult to evolve into a well known brand.  Regardless, I just have to ask ... who is Dyson Vacuum?
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NBC's 30 Rock made brand manager's job easy recently by reaching out to Kraft and pitching product placement on their show.  (@AdAge)  While the brand was actually integrated into the script (as opposed to simply having the product on the show), this does bring to light new avenues for marketers ... in-show advertising.  With the proliferation of DVRs and live streaming shows (Netflix, Hulu, and even through network websites), it is becoming increasingly difficult to identify the best us of media spending.  Of course, placement comes at a risk, as Bob-It (Hasbro) found out after it was parodied by the Simpsons, and it appeared on SNL in 2004 in a "sentient" manner.  Of course, Bob-It went onto sell well millions, giving credence to the fact that "any PR is good PR".
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Get your Scottrade account loaded ... Facebook shares will be available for sale on May 18. (@USATODAYtech)
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American's who have given up their passports to avoid our incredibly high tax rates increased seven-fold. (@BloombergNow).  Granted, this only amounted to 1,780 people (on average, 1,100 each year), but regardless, I would venture a guess that the wealth in this group is significant, which would equate to quite a loss of tax revenue.  Interesting, to me anyway, is that in addition to having the highest corporate tax rate in the world, the US is the only country that taxes income regardless of where it's earned.  I have no problem paying taxes (although, as most, I would argue I don't necessarily agree with all of expenditures we make), and I know that this country's infrastructure was and continues to be built on tax revenue, but fair is fair, and evidently, some wealthy have taken to renouncing America altogether to avoid our tax laws.  Simple solution ... just fix the tax code.
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BlackOps II trailer is now out (@VentureBeat) ... (grunt).

Five Years ... and Counting


2007 Original Catalog
By Peter Gasca, Co-Founder and CEO Wild Creations

Last week marked the five year anniversary for Wild Creations!  And, like any proud parent, all I can do is ask myself … Where did the time go???

When my business partner and Wild Creations' Co-Founder, Rhett Power, and I started this business in March 2007, we of course had big aspirations.  Our goal was not to run a company simply to “make a living” for each of our families, but instead to establish and nurture an exciting and adventurous business that attracted partners who shared our passion for life and desire to make an impact.  It seemed a pretty straight forward and altruistic goal.  Really, what could go wrong?

Direct from a business consulting job and relatively fresh from graduate school, I was ready to implement and apply all of the fancy frameworks and 4x4 matrices I had studied diligently in business school and had applied thousands of times over.  I was high on life, ripe with knowledge, and ready to conquer any problem we faced. 
2008-2009 Catalog

Then, in our first week of operations, our office flooded.

While not terribly damaging to our office, water seeped into our neighbor’s office and damaged their carpet and furniture.  The fault was our own, so unfortunately we were responsible for cleaning.  It turned out to be a costly issue for which, of course, we had failed to appropriately budget.  So became my first lesson in business: Nothing goes according to plan, no matter how many contingencies you have built into your business plan.  From there, it was goodbye matrices and frameworks … hello "winging it".

2010 Catalog
Since then, we have had innumerable hard (and expensive) trials and tribulations, though all provided valuable (and expensive) lessons learned.  The challenges seemed to have culminated in 2008 with the collapse of the global financial markets.  Up to that point, we were making satisfactory progress building our brand and establishing our reputation, but as other businesses struggled and financing dried up completely, "Cash is King" took on a whole new significance.  We found ourselves relegated to the simple task of generating cash in any way possible, including attending every possible trade show that would allow live frogs and hitting the road for sales and deliveries.  For the first two years of the business, we compiled an estimated 300,000 driving miles (not to mention countless bedbugs in our search for "economic" lodging along the way).  It was not an effective way of doing business to say the least, but we did what we had to do to keep the doors open.

2011 Catalog
A break came in early 2009 when, at the enthusiastic encouragement of one of our oldest  accounts, CR Toys in Nebraska, we took the plunge and attended the InternationalToy Fair in New York.  Our growth strategy had always included the expanding nationally with a focus in the toy industry, but we were grossly under-capitalized and unprepared for such growth.  We were, after all, too busy “making a living” to focus on our business growth strategy.  As with most of our business decisions to that point, we figured we had little to lose and would just "wing it".  We registered and attended.  The show turned out to be wildly more successful than we could have ever dreamed.

The rest, as they say, is history.

In spite of the comedy of errors that followed (for a different story), we grew and grew fast over the next couple of years.  Growth was not without its growing pains, but thanks to the incredibly dedicated and hard-working team at Wild Creations, we endured.  Our growth was recognized by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce as the fastest growing company in South Carolina in 2010 and in 2011 by the US Chamber of Commerce as a Blue Ribbon Finalist.  In 2011, Wild Creations was INC500's #259 fastest growing private companies in America.  And while I am proud of all these accomplishments, I am most elated about the tremendous friendships and memories we formed along the way.

2012 Catalog
Moving forward, our goal remains the same.  We will continue to strive to introduce great products and provide unsurpassed service, all with the same fun-loving, adventure-seeking and easily-excitable attitude we’ve had from the start.  While we may be "old" in terms of small businesses, we are no less youthful in our exuberance.

"In 5 more years it'll be TWICE as big!"
Thank you and kudos to all of our loyal fans, our valued retailers and vendors, and of course all the fantastic members of the Wild Creations team who have made these past five years successful and memorable! Thank you also to Rhett Power for being a fantastic partner in this adventure!

Cheers to another memorable and successful five years!  - Pete G.

Moving Beyond Hand Buzzers

I read a great article in Fast Company's Co.Design by contributing author Hellen Walters, who writes about the "4 Elements That Make A Good User Experience Into Something Great".  As the title implies, product design is critical for not only function but also to set expectations for "what we expect (the product) to do, and then, ideally, get the hell out of our way until we need it again".  Apple products, such as the iPod, are great examples.  Apple was the first to introduce a music player that was intuitive, attractive (red anyone?), and didn't scare the Belarus out of you!  For us working in the toy industry (and especially for us integrating more technology into our designs), these concepts are as important as ever and should be a part of the design team's tattoo collection.

Ms. Walters was a judge for the first ever "Interaction Awards", which honors and celebrates innovation and excellence in interaction design, or as the program puts it:
This year’s inaugural awards will begin a dialogue, inspire designers and businesses alike, raise the profile of interaction design, and demonstrate its value in the global economy. 
The 4 elements she used as guidelines for judging the entrants into this inaugural affair are very simple.  I've summarized below with an explanation on how I see them applying to the toy and play industry:  

  1. Building Platforms: The toy industry is fragmented, and unless you are Hasbro or Mattel, you probably aren't looking to build a toy or play platform for others to utilize or build upon.  Who has the money and energy for this?  But you need look no further than Facebook, who originally started out as a virtual place to share pictures.  The founders (and investors, I'm sure) saw an opportunity to become the preeminent social media platform upon which to build other services and applications.  Their early partnership with Zynga to bring Farmville to the masses was a great example of working toward this.  The toy industry could benefit from leaders who look to identify needs in these areas. 
  2. Moving Beyond the Screen: In today's hyper connected society, with young adults maturing faster, this is crucial for the play industry.  Toys and games may be great, but providing fresh and new content, as well as a means to be more interactive, will keep kids engaged long term.  Without the consideration put toward complimentary features, a toy is likely to be shelved for something fresh in a few months. 
  3. Seamlessly Integrating Data: While this doesn't necessarily apply to toys (unless you are integrating technology into the toy), it can be applied to marketing and promotion.  If a company isn't using social media to direct and control the company's message in the public, then it won't be long before social media controls that message for them.  Capturing and, more important, deciphering the mountain of data and applying it appropriately to marketing efforts, product life cycles, and product development can make the difference between a one-hit-wonder and a perennial brand name. 
  4. Empowering The User: As large retailer and media start to loose their clout to more influential social outlets, allowing the consumer to "participate" in the product and brand will help establish loyalty.  Too often, I see good products launched, then crash, mostly due to not collecting (properly) and responding to customer (and social) feedback.  When this happens, consumers feel alienated. 

As Ms. Walters states in her article, "it is clear that play and fun are now a serious business."  I couldn't agree more.  Now it's time for the toy industry to start looking at functional interaction in their product design instead of just churning out plastic toy guns.


You can follow Hellen Walters on Twitter @HelenWalters.
Follow our product design efforts and let us know if we are meeting/missing these interaction elements on Twitter @WildCreations @Flipoutz