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Posted April 27, 2009 On honest feedback “Your products are so bizarre,” I was told by my friend Frank Soeknick of the German game company Ravensburger. He was suffering from a terrible cold when I spoke with him at the Ravensburg toy show one year. Perhaps in that altered state he was able to tell me what he really thought. It is a rare gift, though, to hear such a frank critique. So we decided to make (some of) our products less bizarre, and as a result we were able to sell Ravensburger a game - a preschool ‘piggy bank’ game they called Pinky in the English version. Nice game, but a terrible name for it, I thought. 'Pinky' was the direct translation from German of what piggybanks are called in Germany. Some things don’t translate so well. Weird and bizarre can be appealing in the US, Garbage Pail Kids come to mind, but not so much in Germany, at least in the game business. I must admit that I am a great admirer of Ravensburger - they are one of the world's great game companies. They make great games, and nothing but. One of their criteria in evaluating game concepts is “Does it make a contribution to society?” They want their products to enhance people's lives and cultures - a noble and lofty ambition. I take my hat off to them. I have never heard such a goal statement from a US game company, and I am not sure it is even a great business strategy. It does resonate for me, however, because our goal is not only to make money, but to create great products. If we create great products, then I believe, like the applause of the audience in appreciation of a great performance, the money will come. Do what you do to the best of your ability, and success will surely follow. And listen for those rare nuggets of honest feedback and insight.
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