Talking to Susan Nickey-Newton, owner of BadaBadaBingo
Fun Games Co., you can’t help sharing her enthusiasm as she describes
her journey from artist to entrepreneur. A successful graphic designer
for nearly twenty years, Nickey-Newton is relishing the new challenges
that come with starting a game company. It helps that her products have
been met with an enthusiastic reception from a consumer base not typically
thought of as board games fans—bridal and baby-shower hosts.
“People don’t know how much they need our games until
they find them,” says Nickey-Newton. “Our goal is to market our games
affordably without sacrificing quality.” As the company's sole employee,
manufacturer and distributor (with help from associate Ashley Borg), overhead
shouldn't be a problem for now. In her own words...
The Maid of Honor Made it Happen…
Susan Nickey-Newton
BadaBadaBINGO Fun Games Co! was officially created in March 2002
and is a 100% woman-owned company, begun when one of my best friends asked
me to be her maid of honor. As a graphic designer, I wanted to make Claire’s
bridal shower something extra special. I attended Shannon’s baby shower
where they played a homemade version of baby bingo. I went home that evening
with lots of ideas. One stood out; I would make a customized bridal bingo
for Claire using images special to her and her fiancé.
I realized that my talents could serve the industry by providing affordable,
attractive and truly exciting shower games while saving the hostess the
time… So, I single-handedly (but I have a strong feeling the angels have
a lot to do with this) created, designed, printed, package[the game] and
am now marketing, advertising, promoting and penetrating the retail market
(and a few magazines) with BrideBingo.
Bride Bingo
[Currently] on the market is the upscale version of BrideBingo! where
each card is flooded with full-color images of marriage, weddings and
love. All cards have a space for the name of the bride, the groom and
their wedding date. Forty cards, 80 caller chips, a master call sheet
and instructions make this game complete—for a competitive price of $19.95.
Kid Bingo
I also have several other games: Baby Bingo, Gift Bingo – Bride
Edition, Gift Bingo – Baby Edition, Notes of Advice for
New Brides, and Notes of Advice for New Mommies. In production
are Kid’s Birthday Bingo, Holiday Bingo, Over the Hill
Bingo, The Spanish versions of both Gift Bingos, and more!
I have made custom versions of BrideBingo for other customers using images
they provide to me. Because this can be costly, I have created a less-expensive
version: Personalized BrideBingo, where the name of the bride,
groom and their wedding date is printed on each card. There’s also Personalized
Baby Bingo with the name of the new mother and her [expected] due
date.
Who’s Buying?
Party-throwers, especially those who give bridal showers and baby showers.
We cater to a largely female audience.
We do most of our outreach via the Internet. We have attended a couple
of trade shows, did test marketing at bridal shows, some print ads (which
don’t really work), but the magazine articles are what provide us some
nice exposure.
Hostesses want fun games. They want attractive games. They want ease and
affordability. With games from BadaBadaBINGO, they can have it all. These
are games which have proven to work effectively, and are loved by our
customers.
The Winner is…
It’s a toss up between Bride Bingo and Baby Bingo. Both are doing well
because it’s unique, upscale, classy, affordable, and it’s really fun
to play.
I went to Party America thinking I could talk to the buyer and a customer
overheard what I was offering. She literally followed me to my car and
bought my Baby Bingo! She didn’t want the generic brand they had in stock.
I’ve had other customers drive over 15 miles to pick up a game of mine.
Both versions of Gift Bingo are doing well because hostesses want to
provide the guests with a form of entertainment while the guest of honor
opens her gifts. I have seen other versions of this particular game on
the market; however, none are as attractive or as large as ours.
What’s next?
I have a lot of customers telling me they would buy our products in certain
retail stores, such as Party City, Babies R Us or Hallmark stores. My
greatest concern is getting through to the buyers that customers really
do want to see our games in their stores.
Writer's Bio: Tim Connolly has a degree
in film production from the University of Texas at Austin and writes screenplays
when he isn’t test-driving remote control speed boats in his bathtub.
