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Posted May 11, 2009 On the reinvention of our business. The only thing constant is change itself. I am just back from Toycon in Phoenix, our industry confab where leaders of companies large and small learn about their own industry from the perspective of the likes of Walmart buyers, industry-wide data providers, and others. We also listen to speakers that question our assumptions, motivate and initiate profound questions about toys and what it means to be a toy company in today's ever-changing and challenging environment. It was very thought provoking. We were inspired by a presentation by Kevin Carrol, whose life was ‘saved’ by play and has written a number of books on the power of play in our lives, about the Red Rubber Ball as the metaphor for play. Collectively, we were challenged to make a ‘Paradigm shift’ in our thinking by Dr. Anat Lechner. Just as IBM shifted the paradigm of their business and sold off their computer business to Lenovo to become an information technology provider, perhaps we are play providers more than just makers of toys. But what would that look like for my or your company? As individual companies and as an industry we are under great pressure from falling average retail prices, falling numbers of units sold, shrinking shelf space, and increasing competition from other sources of kids play and entertainment like video games, iphone apps, and more. We were updated on the continuing threats posed by the product safety standards that are under consideration in many states, as well as at the federal level, with well over 200 bills now under consideration in state legislations around the country. It would be near impossible for the toy industry to adapt to the many and varied requirements that these laws would impose state by state. It would be hilarious, were they not to have such profound negative consequences if passed. To survive and thrive through these changes and challenges is by no means certain.
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