TrendingNow!
Do you know your industry well enough to predict its trends?
The basic human nature for the need of constant
change in his entertainment and the tendency to
skyrocket the hype for a particular interest is what
triggers the birth of a trend. Be it the ice bucket
challenge or a particular catchy song like the
despacito or the fidget spinner, entertainment
industry in particular has this opportunity of creating
trends overnight. on their shelves due to the huge demand. Not just
this, big retailers like Walmart and Toy R Us are
switching to air freight from China to bring in Fidget
Spinners to meet the high demands. Further to this,
many manufacturers who used to manufacture parts
of cell phones have now stopped it and completely
shifted to manufacturing fidget spinners instead
because of the gigantic demands.
The Toy and children’s products industry has already
seen an ample number of trends in the past few
decades. You must remember Tamagotchis, the little
egg shaped watch. An alien egg that would hatch and
it was up to the owner of the watch whether he or she
wishes to raise it by feeding it on regular interval or let
it die. One could also scold, pet, discipline their digital
pet. It was like a trial before getting a real pet. Similarly,
there was also the craze of Pokemon Trading card, YO
YOs, rubiks cubes, marbles, tazos, finger looms and
now the fidget spinner. MARKETING TECHNIQUES
If we take the example of Tamagotchi, the virtual pet
for kids. This was developed in Japan and before
launching the toy in the market a lot of research was
done via school kids to predict the acceptance of the
toy, color preferences, adaptability to the tiny buttons
etc. So, it was well planned traditional marketing
behind the success of this toy.
Just in December, nobody knew about fidget spinners
and within few months it spread like a wild fire. It was
marketed claiming health benefits such as easing
stress, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety
and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Today, every major retailer, toy shop, small
stationaries, even many general stores are keeping it
The Rainbow Looms trend came into existence when
an engineer working in a US multinational company
was home in Malaysia for his annual vacation. To make
an impression on his daughters with the help of a tool
and some rubbers, he helped them build fancy and
colourful bracelets. It not only won the hearts of his
daughters but also became a trend among the kids in
his neighbourhood and the friends of his daughters in
the school. In this scenario, it was his observation
which made him forecast the opportunity.
Kids India Mag Issue 2 : Sept 2017 | Page 07