Webkinz Wackiness …
and a Ton of Lessons
for Smart Entrepreneurs
In this issue:
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How to create $45 million dollars in a single year by listening to what your clients really want
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The secrets of the most brilliant marketing campaign to kids I have ever seen
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3 questions you can ask of your clients that will guarantee you a breakthrough idea
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12 marketing lessons that are guaranteed to improve your revenues right now
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And much more!
Fellow business builder,
What can we learn from the newest teddy bear craze?
More than I ever would have guessed!
If you have pre-teens, you undoubtedly have heard of these crazy bears called Webkinz. I have twin 6-year old daughters, and was fortunate to be saved from Webkinz up until a month ago.
All hell has broken loose now!
Remember the Beanie Baby sensation? It made people millions, and still is a major seller for collectors.
Webkinz is Beanie Babies on marketing steroids.
First, Ganz (the Canadian plush toy manufacturer) goes out and asks some very serious questions of their target market, young kids.
They start by asking “what do kids love, and love to do?”
(which, by the way, we should all be asking of our ideal clients)
And they come up with a few things …
- Kids love to dress up their dolls
- Kids love to build things, stack things, and create with their imaginations
- Kids love to play pretend parent
- Kids love to collect and show off things to others
- Kids love fun games – especially ones that reward them in some way
- Kids love to use their imaginations – be it by drawing, acting or playing, or being in a virtual world
Then they ask where today’s generation of kids like to spend their time. And it is obvious that the Internet is the new medium of choice. They can go on their and chat with their friends, play games together, and have fun doing silly things. The kids like being in control of their entertainment, and the Internet gives them the control they want.
The next thing they do is absolutely brilliant (wish I thought of it!) … they combine real teddy bears with Internet worlds.
They created a new line of plush toys called Webkinz. You go out to the store and buy a Webkinz (if you can find one – more on that later). With your Webkinz comes a little tag with a secret passcode.
Once the code is entered,
a whole new world is opened up for the kids.
Their physical toy becomes a virtual toy … and the virtual toy is exactly the same as the actual (if they have a monkey – the digital pet is a monkey too).
They can now feed their pet, play with them, clothe them, buy things with their Webkinz cash (virtual money they can win by playing games), and they can talk to other Webkinz online as well.
They can take their pet to the veterinarian for a checkup … or they can build them a new bedroom and decorate it with their Webkinz Cash. They can build them a bathroom (with working pieces!), they can create a garden, or a playroom, or an outdoor playground.
They can read the Webkinz newspaper, play games with other people’s Webkinz in tournaments, they can get a job or they can send e-mails to other Webkinz in their network.
These furry little critters can do just about everything online!
Of course, to buy the Webkinz anything to eat, wear, or play with – you need Webkinz cash which you have to win. You can win the cash by playing games, by answering questions in the school (Quizzy’s Corner), or they can do odd jobs to win more money.
And they have sold … get this …
$45 million dollars worth of them
in their first full year out.
2007 will be $200 million plus in sales based on the numbers to date this year.
This past May they had 3.7 Million hits (remember, they have only been out for 2 years).
This is an absolutely brilliant example
of marketing done right.
My kids are ALL OVER these things.
They can’t wait to get home and login to see how their Webkinz are doing (they each have 5 or 6 of them now – which is nothing compared to some kids I have heard of with 15 or 20 of them)
Some of the brilliant marketing techniques they have used so far:
- Forced replacement. The code is only good for one year. After that you have to buy another one.
- Scarcity. They pull Webkinz off the market (much like Beanie Babies did) so that there is complete insanity at the retailers when a new one comes out … everyone wants one as it may be the one they pull from the shelves.
- Educational. The online world they have created is teaching my kids more about money, how to make it, and where to spend it (and they also realize that when their money runs out, they have to go out and make more). They teach them math, science, history and language. My two little 6-year olds are becoming little whiz kids on the computer thanks to these furry little critters. The best and fastest way for the kids to make more Webkinz Cash is in Quizzy’s – the online school. So they reward the kids for learning … brilliant.
- A constant need to upgrade and buy more. They bring out one new Webkinz a month – which everyone ‘must have’ .
- Cross selling. They have a line of bracelet and necklace charms. Each charm is priced a low $4 – and each also comes with another code. Entering the code gives your pets virtual charms they can wear and swap with the others. When you collect enough charms, you get bonus Webkinz cash and prizes (plus access to secret worlds that are only accessible when you buy enough charms).
- They get the parents involved.
Get this … there are actually help groups
out there now for the parents
that have become addicted to Webkinz!
- Parents are looking after these Webkinz while their kids are in school, so that they stay healthy and with lots of Webkinz cash (the online games are actually kind of fun – not that I ever plan on playing them enough to get addicted!)
- Bring them back … regularly. There are daily activities that the online portal provides … so kids get excited to log in every day and see what is happening that they can have fun with.
- They are constantly looking forward to what else they can bring out that not only complements the collecting part of it, but gives the virtual pets more to do and play with also.
- They have priced it reasonably. Each one is only $10 or so – the charms even less. By pricing it low, parents don’t seem to balk as much at buying 2 or 3 at a time … further fueling the collectable part of it. All said and done, if you were to buy all the Webkinz, the Mini-Webkinz (yes, they also have miniature models of them), the charms and all the other paraphernalia, it would run you well into the hundreds of dollars. So there’s a very high value for every kid (and parent) if they get hooked.
- They provide reports to the parents (if desired) on what is happening with Ganz and Webkinz World.
- Mix a little controversy in for good luck. There are quite a few chat rooms out there that people can go on and discuss Webkinz. Some parents don’t like the part that you can collect more and more of the Webkinz, the charms and the minis – they feel it is blatant exploitation of the kids and the parents (more like their pocketbooks).
- Teaches some form of restraint and responsibility. This is up to the parents to do, but can be a powerful lesson in itself. We make the girls earn their next Webkinz or charm. They have to do their chores, play nice together, and listen to us when we say enough is enough of Webkinz world. As much as they dislike being told they have to leave the virtual world, they do enjoy putting their Webkinz to bed before logging off (and if they forget to put them to bed, the Webkinz get sick – which means a trip to the doctor’s – which means they have to spend their hard earned Webkinz cash).
I absolutely love what Ganz has done here … and I think we should ALL be paying close attention to the lessons they teach.
It may be difficult to see the connections at first glance … but I think that there are a number of things each and every one of us should be implementing in our businesses to build a community like this.
$45 million dollars and 3 million hits a month is proof enough for me …
I’m listening … and applying.
Hope you are too.
To your success,
Troy White
Editor, Small Business Mastery
Supplement to THE TOTAL PACKAGE
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A Final Note:
If you have specific subjects you would like addressed, or have any comments on what you have seen here, please submit a comment below and I will see how I can help.
"The way to get started is to quit talking
and begin doing.”
– Walt Disney
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Comment by Veronica Routtu — October 11, 2007 @ 2:11 pm
Very Interesting! I got plans now to get my kids involved in this one! Both of my kids have special needs that could really benefit from something like this!
Awesome too are the marketing lessons learned from this example…truely outstanding!
Thanks for the great read!
Veronica