The Coming War for Moms: Part 2

Last month I posted a blog entry about the power of Wii and its ability to grab the bedrock of toy buying: The mom.   I commented as follows: “We have for a number of years been losing children…We held on, however, to the bedrock of consumer discretionary spending on children: Mothers. As long as we had the moms directing traffic we were still okay…  Well, that may be coming to an end. This Christmas Wii came and stole them away. Moms love Wii.”

I may not be the only one who thinks there is a major shift taking place. In a February 24, 2009 New York Times article entitled “An Industry Is Booming, but Not Just for Gamers” we got a chance to peek inside the “12th annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Oscars of gaming.” 

One of the speakers at the event was Anita Frazier of NPD.  Anita is a toy and video game specialist with whom many of us are familiar from her annual presentation of NPD data at ToyCon.  Well, hear is what she had to say to the gaming industry: 

In industry and mainstream thought, "gamer" has often meant some seperate, sunlight-deprived, caffiene- and pot-fuled subspecies of human being… There is recognition that people of all ages and incomes and from all walks of life consume all sorts of films, television and music… Similarly, “gamer” is losing its meaning as a demographic or sociological identity except in the sense that all different kinds of people now play all different kinds of games. The game developers who are doing best these days are the ones who recognize and embrace that.

 In other words, everyone is a "gamer."

What does this mean for the toy industry? Well for one thing, I think that we are going to see game developers broaden their product selection and marketing plans to include everyone and that will mean a focus on moms. The more moms spend on gaming the less they will have to spend on traditional toys.

I think it also means that the toy industry needs to reconsider who it’s demographic is as well. Perhaps a similar reappraisal might mean that product selection and marketing might change to include everyone who plays with toys and not just children. An approach for the toy industry that goes after teens, tweens, adults and seniors might just mean a dramatic increase in revenues as well as an enhanced relevance to a society that wants to play, no matter what their age.

In other words, everyone is a toy player.