Let’s Put on a Show

“People love to get money. Even if they have to spend to get it!” — Terry Griffiths, Mind’s i, Inc.

Want to increase sales? Put on a show. Since the first cavemen went door-to-door demonstrating fire, retailers have been drumming up business by exhibiting the goods. And when manufacturers ally themselves with the retailers to do this, it’s, as Matt Mariani, director of marketing for Out of the Box Publishing (ToyDirectory), explained: “The No. 1 tool, making the game fun.” TDmonthly contacted more than 20 manufacturers to find out what they did to stage retail events and why.

Mariani continued, “Word-of-mouth is the strongest sales tool. With this in mind, there’s no better way for a new customer to learn about a game than for a retailer to demonstrate it.” Out of the Box Games insures this by sending free “demo” gems with every new order.

Theresa Roelke, owner/creator/author for Whistling Chimneys, goes right to the retailers herself. She’ll talk to customers, interact with the kids, have fun activities with her brand character Kip, the Little Roo, and in the process, promote her Kip Sacs.

Peter Reynolds, general manager for HaPe North America, sends an informative DVD along with HaPe toys to educate store staff on the products. He also thinks that hands-on demonstrations in the store can help parents decide on a toy. “Say it’s a ship-building construction toy. Maybe a kid is too young and can’t build the ship yet, but he can stack three blocks. That is a necessary step to building the ship. And if parents see it’s about stages, they’ll buy.”

Upper Deck Company’s Claudine Ricanor, senior public relations specialist, said her company sends tournament kits, decks of free cards, prizes and T-shirts as incentives for kids to come out and play. She was astounded when she went on her first mall tour. “We averaged 10,000 attendees a weekend. It was amazing.”

John Blaine, co-founder of Goldbrick Games LLC (ToyShow), offers sponsorship of Perpetual Commotion Tournaments on college campuses, at high schools and to all of his company’s retailers. “We provide the retailers with a tournament kit that includes the games, T-shirts for giveaways and a championship prize, along with a CD that contains ‘how-to’ guidelines for staging the event, promotional material, score sheets, etc. One of our retail partners ran an event at a post-prom lock-in party last spring and had several parents visit his store the next week to buy a copy of the game.”

Megan Slean, marketing manager for Altius Games, explained that in order to promote the release of Olympic Challenge and raise awareness for the upcoming 2006 Olympic Winter Games, her company launched the Take the Challenge National Tour. They’ve brought the game and prizes to a number of U.S. cities as part of the tournament.

Adora Dolls is in its second year of promoting successful Make Your Own Doll in-store events. Tom Ames, vice president of sales, said, “We have a contest where each store submits a winning doll. Then we take all the dolls nationally, send it to our design committee, and the grand prize winner gets a trip to the IDEX show in Orlando. We also offer second- and third-place prizes and honorable mentions. The retailers have a prize, too: $750 worth of product.”

Still, Evelyn Brunner of Fun Factory Games pointed out, “It really depends on the retailer’s needs as well as their geographic location.” Fun Factory has provided in-store flyers and held contests and product demonstrations. “We’ve been so effective in boosting sales with in-store demos that we get invited back multiple times.”

Dark Horse’s David Scroggy, product development vice president, said that Dark Horse sends posters, counter displays and giveaways in conjunction with contests. Street teams bring sample packs to retailers upon request.

Greg Zesinger, marketing director for Action Products International Inc., explained that, “Our promotions range from providing in-store POP (Point of Purchase), setting up play days and, in some cases, arranging for costumed character appearances by Jay Jay the Jet Plane.”

Sometimes manufacturers bring out the professionals:

YoYoJam sponsors an international team of champion players that it sends to stores to conduct in-store promotions. Valerie Aaron, vice president of sales and marketing, added that YoYoJam provides a yo-yo training video and assists stores with developing in-store yo-yo clubs.

Michael Preston, president of PRE Records, said PRE recently sent artists on their records to perform at Border's Books, with CD signings after the show. Events were promoted via press releases.

Terry Griffiths, inventor and owner of, Mind’s i Inc. (ToyShow), visits toy- and bookstores on weekends to do game days and signings. In addition, a $5 voucher is given to the customer if the game is bought during the event. “People love to get money. Even if they have to spend to get it!” joked Griffiths.

Ken Carpenter, brand manager of Spycraft and Clout Fantasy for AEG, said his company sends out Bounty Hunters who visit local stores regularly and set up tournaments and other events. “We put on Bounty Hunters-only tournaments — they are very much part of the team. And it benefits everyone. In-store events are the best dollars we spend.”

Curt Covert, owner of Smirk & Dagger Games, has as similar group called The Instigators. “It’s mostly die-hard game enthusiasts who just like doing it, for no other reason than to be part of the industry. Retailers love it. The Instigators will come in and run a demo for an hour. It’s good for everyone.”

John Blaine sums it up best: “We think, as hard as it is to get games on the shelf, it’s much more important to get them off the shelf.”

What follows is more information on key products produced by the manufacturers mentioned above.