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 Experimenting
with New Markets: Science Toys Bubble Over with Teachers, Parents
By Pennie Hoover
May 1, 2003
The
majority of science toy manufacturers still focus on the ages eight
and up, but the market has shown imaginative science toy manufacturers
can market their products to a wide range of consumers.
At
Elenco Electronics,
Inc., Jeff Coda, National Sales Manager, says the toy
area is the fastest-growing part of their company after the company
shifted selling their educational products to consumers rather than
schools. “We have repackaged the kits for retail focusing
on 8-11-year-olds who are participating in science fairs and doing
science projects for school,” said Coda.
Electronic
Snap Circuits retails for $49.99 and is available from Elenco
Electronics, Inc. (www.elenco.com) |
This
strategy has been successful enough that Elenco is venturing into
younger markets. Their hottest seller is Electronic Snap
Circuits (retail $49.99), which teaches electronic circuit
applications and has received five-star ratings from customers on
Amazon.com.
George
C. Atamian, President and COO of Amazing Live Sea Monkeys,
a division of Educational Insights (educationalinsights.com),
says their target audience is the parent, usually the mother, and
sometimes the teacher. They do not advertise directly to the consumer,
so colorful, non-threatening packaging sells the product. “We
use the word “set,” not “kit” on our boxes.
Set says to parents who have limited time that the students can
do this themselves,” said Atamian.
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Writer's
Bio: Pennie, a graduate of Indiana University School of
Journalism, is a freelance writer and lives with her husband and
three children in Visalia, CA.
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