...Due: May 21st In a paper (no longer than two pages, typed, double spaced - with cover page and a fourth page that shows an image of the toy and the caption and source) reflect (you may use some of the words marketers commonly use in their ads for toys – see above) on your favourite childhood toy by adhering to these guidelines: 1. Think back to your childhood. What was your favourite toy? What made it your favourite toy? When did you decide that it was no longer your favourite toy? Why did you decide that it was no longer your favourite toy (or maybe it’s still your favourite toy – that’s OK – this paper is for my eyes only)? Why or why not? What role do you think the toy played in your childhood (social, psychological, etc.)? Note: no outside references required; text document The secret of Vegeta and my world within . May 21st, 2014 Rohith Sothilingam 120578730 What was my favourite toy What made it my favourite toy Growing up, I was a major fan of the anime show called Dragonball Z. In this show was a character known as Vegeta who had a rough persona, yet there lingered a softer side to him as well. His endearing perseverance to never give up no matter how beaten up he was proved himself to be a hero in my eyes as a child. I wanted to grow up to live up to Vegeta’s ability to stand up toward any opposition regardless of size or potential of threat. He also happened to be married to a woman named Bulma who seemed to be the only person he would show...
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...which toys are age appropriate for a child you should consider some important guidelines. Some specific guidelines for finding toys appropriate for all ages, you should consider making sure the toys are well made meaning no shared parts or splinters and no parts of the toys are able to pinch the child. You should also make sure that the toys are painted with non-toxic and lead free paint. Also, you should take into consideration that the toys are shatter proof so when they are dropped, the toys wont break and shatter and cut the child. All toys should be easily cleaned to help minimize the spread of germs. When buying electric toys, they should "UL Approved" (underwritters labortory). Also, if you are buying toys for children under the age of 3, the toys should be big enough so the child can't swallow the toys and choke on them. http://www.naeyc.org/ecp/resources/goodtoys Traditional toys are great. These include traditional dolls, small metal vehicles, and wooden building blocks. http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=343 I came across some resources that I found helpful in my research. They include: Abrams,S. (1990), Toys for early childhood development. Atlanta, GA: The Center for Applied Research in Education. Piaget,J. (1962), Play,Dreams, and Imitation in Childhood. New York: W.W. Norton and Company. The age recommendations are based on developmental abilities of an average child. That means that the toys should...
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...Case Study Designing Safety in the Toy Industry Company Radio Flyer Industry Toys Radio Flyer’s classic red wagon has become a cultural icon since its inception more than 90 years ago – creating a legacy of toys that continues to spark the imagination. Millions of children have played with Radio Flyer wagons all over the world, praised for their beauty, simplicity and standards of safety that encourage adventure, discovery and the wonders of childhood. Region North America and China Intertek Solutions Design Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment “We have partnered with Intertek throughout our product development cycle to be certain we design safe products that go beyond regulations. Intertek’s integrity, fast and friendly service and global outreach helped us to ensure that our products are manufactured to the highest industry standards.” - Shenwei Zhu, Senior Quality Assurance Engineer for Radio Flyer For further information on Intertek’s Quality and Safety solutions visit: www.intertek.com Imagining Safer Play With the family in mind from toy design to the very heart of Radio Flyer’s dedicated staff, Radio Flyer emerged as a leader in safety long before 2007’s wave of recalls and regulatory changes. Anticipating the heightened awareness for product safety globally, Radio Flyer needed to ensure that any manufacturing challenges and safety precautions in its wagon designs would be addressed before hindering its speed-to-market ...
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...LEGO Paper: When we were looking for a company to present at the marketing pitch, LEGO was the first thing that came to our minds. Although being a toy company for mostly little children, people are fascinated with this company, especially with their brilliant marketing. The LEGO movie, which most of our group saw was the latest coup in LEGOS brilliant marketing strategy that perfectly connected both children and adults. In 2003 the company almost got bankrupt due to loosing sight of their core product. In 2004 the former Mc Kinsey consultant Jorgen Knudstorp took over as CEO and managed to turn around the company in a text book approach. From the time Knudstorp entered the company to 2010 LEGOS revenue had grown 165% in a stagnant toy market. By cutting costs, focusing on their core products and especially the developing new marketing strategies, the company managed to become the biggest toy maker in world in 2014, overtaking one of the biggest competitors Mattel. We constantly came up with new ideas, how to innovate LEGOS strategies, but soon found out that literally all of our suggestions have already been implemented. Our admiration for this company only grew along the way, although it was rather frustrating to get excited about a new idea, just to find out that LEGO has already done it. Everything from watches to furniture to clothing has been done before. Along the way of researching we stumbled upon LEGO education, a branch that was introduced in order to promote...
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...The year is 1945, when the toy company Mattel is born. Along with truly great toys, this company gives a lot to the community and environment as well as being the world's leading toy company. Mattel is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture, and marketing of toy products. The company's major brands include Barbie, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Fisher-Price, and American Girl. With headquarters in El Segundo, California, Mattel has offices and facilities in 36 countries and sells its products in more than 150 nations throughout the world. In 1945, Ruth and Elliot Handler and Harold "Matt Matson develop this new company out of their garage workshop located in Southern California. Although the first products they create are simply picture frames, Elliot takes the left over pieces of these frames and put them to use to make dollhouse furniture. These dollhouse furniture pieces were just a side business for Elliot though. Harold Matson soon sells out his partner, and, being confident from the success of the dollhouse furniture, the Handler's decide to turn the companies' emphasis on toys. In the year 1947, the "Uke-A-Doodle is the first, in a line if musical toys. In 1948, Mattel is incorporated in Hawthorne, California. During the year 1955, Mattel becomes involved with "Mickey Mouse Club . This very popular show soon become the major spot of advertising for Mattel, which revolutionized they way the toys were marketed. It also introduced they another great product, the "Burp...
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...benefit relates to the ability of the brand to make the buyer or user of a brand feel something during the purchase process or user experience. “When I buy or use this brand, I feel ___.” Thus, a customer can feel safe in a Volvo, excited in a BMW, energetic with Coke or warm when receiving a Hallmark card. Evian, with its “Another day, another chance to feel healthy,” associated itself with the satisfied feeling that comes from a workout. Emotional benefits add richness and depth to the brand and the experience of owning and using the brand. Without the memories that Sun-Maid Raisins evoke, the brand would border on commodity status. The familiar red package links many users to happy days of helping Mom in the kitchen (or the idealized childhood for some who wished that they had such experiences). The result can be a different user experience, one with feelings, and a stronger brand. Self-expressive Benefits Brands and products, as symbols of a person’s self-concept, can provide a self- expressive benefit by providing a vehi- cle by which a person can express him- or herself. “When I buy or use this brand, I am___.” A brand does not have to be Harley to deliver self-expressive benefits. A person can be cool by buying clothes at Zara, successful by driving a Lexus, creative by using Apple, a nurturing mother by preparing Quaker Oats hot cereal, frugal and unpretentious by shopping at Kmart or adventurous and active by owning REI camping equipment. When a brand provides a self-expressive...
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...& DIRECTION OF LEGO 10 Problem statement LEGO as a company has withstood many years of changing business environment, and has grown from creating wooden toys to interchangeable blocks, and eventually becoming an international symbol of innovation. It is again facing a changing environment, with its patents expired, its rising number of competitors, and facing losses in court as well as loss of market share to its competitors. ANALYSIS External Analysis - Porter’s five FORCES: Bargaining power of suppliers: LEGO’s suppliers have low bargaining power. After Jorgen Vig Knudstorp took over as the director of strategic development, he was able to cut 80% of LEGO’s suppliers to improve efficiency. The technology needed to create LEGO’s bricks is not specialized, since the company has in house machines to create the blocks. From the above two points, it’s apparent that the bargaining power of suppliers is low, since their services are easily substitutable and disposable. Bargaining power of customers: The bargaining power of customers is rated as high for LEGO, as their products are highly substitutable. Currently, many other toy companies such as Mega Bloks are selling similar products on the market. LEGO does attempt to differentiate by offering special themes such as Star Wars and Harry Potter, which sets their toys apart with those of other companies. However, this temporary competitive advantage is...
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...Term Paper MKTG 578 Consumer Behavior Devry University / Keller The company Action Figure Outpost is a resale company for action figure themed toys and collectibles ranging from vintage to more modern products. The company has been in business for several years as an eBay store managed by a Top Rated eBay Power Seller; however the store has undergone gone recent name changes which allowed for the store to focus on specific items to be sold and narrow in on a target audience. The company now operating under the name ‘Action Figure Outpost’ was originally a general online resale company but over time the company has adapted to more specifically sell the aforementioned action figures and action figure themed collectibles. This decision was made for several reasons. Two of the biggest reasons for the name change and narrowing of the product being sold was the high turnover rate for the sale of action figures, with the additional reason being the ease of product shipment due to the general light weight of the items when sold individually. The company additionally offers a consignment service for those wishing to seek “top dollar” for their items, as long as they fall in the category of action figures, however, consignment is a last resort when the company cannot obtain the item through a bulk cash purchase, or when it is the sole wish of the seller to go the consignment route. The consignment rate then varies based on the needs of the seller, however when offered a rate which...
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...under the new Communist government in 1949 which viewed it as a useless and morally corrupt capitalist distraction. Many Chinese certainly continued to play in private, but at their own peril – especially during the height of the Cultural Revolution. It wasn’t until the late 80’s that the central government officially once again legalized the open playing of mahjong. Prior to writing this essay, I asked my grandparents how they felt about that and their response was essentially that life was so hard during those years they likely wouldn’t have been able to find time to play even if it was acceptable. Despite the long absence of mahjong from their lives, when suddenly confronted with tremendous free time upon their retirement and driven by childhood memories, they all rediscovered the game and have played nearly constantly to this very day. My grandparents are not the same when they gather round the table and begin shuffling the tiles. Traditional expectations of...
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...Gg Toys Case St G.G.Toys Thedecline margins our popular in on Gtoftry doIIproduct become has intolerable. production Increasing haae costs dropped pretaxmarginto less our than10%, below historical our 257omargins, wearegoing If far to increase margins, need consider our we to drastically shiftingour production towards sfecialtydolts aie that earning large prnniumin priceoaer standard line. a our doll -Robert Parker,President, G.G.Toys Background Robert Parker, president of G.G. Toys, was discussing last month's operating results with Audrey Hausner, G.G.'s conkoller, and David Morehouse, G.G.'s manufacturing manager. The meeting was taking place in an atmosphere tinged with apprehension because margins on thelr most popular product, the "Geoffrey doll," had been declining rapidly in the last few years due to rising production costs (summary operating results for the previous month, March 2000, arc shown in Exhibits 1 and 2). Parker saw no choice but to shift the company's product mix towards specialty dolls that carried a high price premium, and thus, a 34% margin. G.G. Toys was a leading supplier of high-quality dolls to retail toy stores throughout the U.S, The comPany had started with a unique design for molding highly durable dolls using vinyl and resin materials. G.G. quickly established a loyal customer base among retailers because of the high quality and popularity of its manufactured dolls. It soon established a major presence in the market with its high-volume...
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...[Writer Name] [Supervisor Name] [Subject] [Date] Fieldwork Paper In my fieldwork project observed a number of gamers who will be divided into 2 categories of addicts and non addicts. People who play for more than 5 hours a day are called addicts and those who play less time than that are called non-addicts. Which will focus on the specific players in a game called World of Warcraft. This game is a very popular game worldwide with over 5000 people playing at any given time (Cronin 113-147). Its popularity is one of the reasons why people are getting addicted to it. Gamers are all the time looking for new and interesting games and as they find something new they started playing and telling their friends and family about it. In this way those people themselves get obsessed of games as well as they make others overwhelmed with the interest of gaming. I would define this group of players as a culture because they have their own way of life that is very different from anything one is, they spend much of their time in gaming which is no more than a way to get busy. And this activity does not mean anything useful. In addition at one point these 5000 players are playing then a sort of a social group of their own. Some of my songs are complete addicts and play this game at least 8 hours a day without worrying about college, sleep or work. These people have no friends and not have any food because they are busy playing Warcraft all day (Mayra 45-113). We think that it will be a great...
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...Lego occupies a strong position in the market for construction toys with relatively few rivals one must consider that Lego is now competing in boarder market of children's entertainment which in the lead up to 2004 began in include large incumbents from the electronics sector such as Sega and Nintendo. Power of buys The power of the buyer in the case of Lego may be seen as relatively high with low switching costs between alternative toys and even substitute products such as video games and television. Power of suppliers The power of suppliers may be seen as average, Lego's products on the whole may be seen as largely based upon standardised inputs such as plastics and chemicals. There is the consideration that were Lego chooses to move into non-traditional areas such as sets associated with films or games the power of suppliers will increase as a key input becomes that of licences which is a form of intellectual property. Threat of substitutes This may be seen as the largest threat to the Lego group in the run up to the end of 2004. Although it is difficult to define what market a company occupies (Grant 2008, Porter 2004) for the purpose of considering the impact of substitution one must consider Lego to be a provider of children's entertainment. In this case the threat from substitutes are rather high given that consumers may substitute between alternative traditional toys such as action figures or toy cars through to electronic products such as video games and...
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...Jennifer Smith G.G. Toys: Case study #2 G.G. Toys was a toy manufacturer facing problems with productivity and profitability. The company found a profitable product in their Geoffrey doll and Specialty branded doll #106. Retailers could customize to the specifications and buying habits of their customer base. On average, the Geoffrey Doll cost $19.19 to produce, and the #106 doll $23.74. To access in a study of their overhead cost for both of their plants, research showed that: 1. A setup was performed in the Chicago facility each time a modification to the dolls was made. Additionally, each time a specialty-branded doll was produced, a separate setup was required to process the raw materials to the required specifications. 2. Workers in the Chicago facility often operated several machines simultaneously once they were set up. Thus, machine-related expenses might relate more to the machine hours of a product than to its production-run labor hours. Because each retailer required slight alterations to the Geoffrey doll's overall appearance, a new setup and production run was required for each design change. Retailers were found to be conservative in their ordering patterns, ordering fewer units more frequently. Thus increasing the number of setups required, causing increased labor and material cost. The research done by the external group did show an area of opportunity. Because setup is time consuming, labor intensive, and costly, it would be within reason...
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...the notion of others- so if someone pick up his toy, he may throw a tantrum or voice a protest as he sees his object is an extension of his self Age 3 * Child’s brain is almost fully grown * Lying- a developmental milestone! As it demands quite advanced cognitive and social skills * Almost 4- children will lie on a regular basis * Purpose is different: 3- lie to avoid punishment; older child- control a social situation * Awareness of gender identity * Enjoy grown-up role play * Sharing responsibilities: household chores They enjoy learning about their world through role play and imitation * Sense of self has expanded- to include sense of others and this inspired him to share, take turns, empathize, and do cooperative play. It is also an ideal time to establish shared family events such as regular mealtimes * Peer pressure * When it comes to deciding on who is right and who is wrong, 3 year olds will go with the majority. * Age 3 * Play is the dominant feature of preschool life. Preschool phase is said to be the most playful stage of human life. Based on your observations or experiences, what are the toys usually enjoyed by preschool children? * Cooperative play * e.g. invention or copying of a set of rules; can spontaneously change rules * Others: puzzles, board games, card games, drawing and painting * Imaginary friends- invisible presence or a favorite toy that has been enrolled to play the part of the friend...
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...Jennifer Smith G.G. Toys: Case study #2 G.G. Toys was a toy manufacturer facing problems with productivity and profitability. The company found a profitable product in their Geoffrey doll and Specialty branded doll #106. Retailers could customize to the specifications and buying habits of their customer base. On average, the Geoffrey Doll cost $19.19 to produce, and the #106 doll $23.74. To access in a study of their overhead cost for both of their plants, research showed that: 1. A setup was performed in the Chicago facility each time a modification to the dolls was made. Additionally, each time a specialty-branded doll was produced, a separate setup was required to process the raw materials to the required specifications. 2. Workers in the Chicago facility often operated several machines simultaneously once they were set up. Thus, machine-related expenses might relate more to the machine hours of a product than to its production-run labor hours. Because each retailer required slight alterations to the Geoffrey doll's overall appearance, a new setup and production run was required for each design change. Retailers were found to be conservative in their ordering patterns, ordering fewer units more frequently. Thus increasing the number of setups required, causing increased labor and material cost. The research done by the external group did show an area of opportunity. Because setup is time consuming, labor intensive, and costly, it would be within reason (at least...
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