Measuring Toy Fair
Since Saturday morning, I have had the opportunity to cover the entire Toy Fair floor (too many times), attend the TOTY Awards, the Women In Toys banquet and the Game Inventors Get-Together Party (which was a hoot). In doing so I had a chance to speak with a great cross section of the industry and the consensus was that this was a good Toy Fair.
A substantially expanded amount of booth space this year combined with strong increases in attendance (up 18% over last year as of close of business on Monday) and Press (up 69% for the same period) gave the floor a level of energy that I have not felt in a number of years.
To the most part, exhibitors were happy. The Toy Industry Town Hall Meeting which in past years was heavily attended and sometimes filled with angry rhetoric only drew 30 people and their questions were primarily about safety. No news, at least in this case, is good news.
It will be interesting to see how the very largest manufacturers measure the event. Those who are heavily weighted towards the mass market may find that the costs of exhibiting in New York after already having done so in Dallas and Hong Kong may not provide a quantifiably acceptable ROI.
Quantifiable, however, does not tell the whole story as much of what goes on in New York is qualitative and therefore not easily analyzed. After all, how do you measure the value of being in front of thousands of opinion shapers; of seeding relationships with retailers who today may be small but in a few years may become major players; of meeting inventors who have the next best thing[s]; of getting a brand or product on camera; of being an important part of the crucial mass that is Toy Fair?
That is something each exhibitor will have to decide for themselves. My opinion is that New York Toy Fair is part of an inter-related collection of events that starts in October and ends in February. Each one of these events is unique, and each one of these events, in its own way, contributes to the whole; and that whole is far bigger than the sum of its parts.
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Thomas commented:
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Adele commented:
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Richard commented:
Toy Boy commented:
