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Dean Weller is the expert's expert when it comes to marketing and buying media for toys & games. In this broad ranging episode of the Playing At Business podcast, we talk about how marketing has changed over time, we run through the typical weight of a toy marketing campaign today looking at the percentage of spend typically spent on TV advertising vs digital advertising, we talk about Dean's own career journey and we talk about the future of marketing. This is one of the most insightful podcast episodes we have recorded. Enjoy!

China has played a critical role in building the global toy business as a massive hub of highly efficient toy and game production. As OEM contract manufacturing i.e. making toys for other people gets harder and harder to make a profit from, so an increasing number of Chinese toy factories are looking to move up the value chain & move towards being full toy companies themselves. with their own developed products and brands. This is one of the biggest under reported trends in the toy & games industry, find out more in this episode of the Playing At Business podcast.

TOYI is an up and coming Construction Toy brand. There story is compelling - the concept started as a University project for co-Founder Elif Atmaca. From there TOYI was successfully funded on Kickstarter, and is now selling successfully around the world. TOYI's story is interesting because they are a few years into the business, with some degree of success already achieved and for those planning to start a toy business or who have recently started a toy business there story may be helpful. For experienced toy people, TOYI's fresh approach to the long established Construction Toy category offers insights into how to disrupt and expand traditional toy play patterns.

Augmented reality has been on the periphery of the toy business for some years now. Pokemon Go really brought the technology to the fore, leading to a major boost on Pokemon toy & card game sales.  In this episode of the Playing At Business podcast we talk to Wikitude's Paola Monteiro about A.R. and the potential for toys. We also discuss some of the fantastic A.R. implementations Wikitude have created for world leading toy companies. Finally we also take a look at the (exciting) future of this technology This is a must listen episode for anyone interested in technology and toys.

Adam Borton is a professional toy inventor and designer held within high regard in the toy business. Among other things he invented and licensed to Mattel the smash hit skill and action game 'Flushin' Frenzy'. In this podcast interview we talk about Adam's journey in the toy business, and about his new initiative: Toy And Game School, which aims to help those interested in how to design & make toys to get ahead in the toy business. Our favourite part of this interview is the part near the start where Adam casually discusses his 'luck' in finding freelance work from talking to people at the UK toy fair. Some further probing reveals the fact that Adam literally spent days at this show walking around and talking to everybody he could on every exhibition stand at the show - this seemingly casual relentlessness is clearly a big part of Adam's success. There are of course many more insights offered by Adam in this compelling episode of our Playing At Business podcast.

Rick Derr is a successful toy retailer with a strong social media profile, in fact, Rick puts a lot of his recent success down to his business heavily adopting social media marketing and advertising to drive traffic into store. We also discuss his winning strategy for bricks and mortar retail to work with Amazon not against them. This is a must listen episode.

India is the cause of much hype & speculation recently regarding the speed of growth of the toy manufacturing industry in India. With India being the only country in the world with a comparable population size and therefore potential workforce as China, and with low labour costs, India seems to be the primary beneficiary of the move of some degree of toy manufacturing out of China. In this podcast episode (Episode 25) we analyse what's going on, how companies can benefit from toy factories in India and what element of toy production is likely to remain in China.

In Episode 24 of our Playing At Business podcast we interview Phil Albritton, founder and host of the Powerkid podcast, the original toy business podcast. Phil has been interviewing the cognoscenti of the toy industry for years now. Phil is also an innovation force in terms of the creative side of the toy business, his company Powerkid Design support toy companies on all elements of the product development process.  It's always a pleasure to speak to Phil, and in this entertaining podcast episode you can find out why!

Billy Langsworthy is Co-Founder of Mojo Nation, a company dedicated to celebrating the creativity of toy & game designers. Mojo Nation offers networking & pitch events for toy & game creators to get in front of toy companies who can license their products. We talk about toy & game inventing in this episode of our podcast. We also discuss Billy's work on their new venture: Brands Untapped, which is a news website dedicated to the business of licensing and brand extension.

The Fantastic Factory create compelling board games. In this podcast we interview David Snow and Steve Evans, the brains behind the business.  'Disruptive' is an over used label these days, but there is no other way to describe the creativity lead approach of The Fantastic Factory. In a somewhat chaotic and occasionally hilarious interview we find out all about how these doyens of the board games business go about their craft.  This is a must listen episode for anyone engaged in the business of creating and selling board games, but also compelling listening for anyone looking to shake up their creative and development processes.

In Episode 21 of the Playing At Business podcast we talk to the creator of smash hit toy product 'Rainbow Loom'. Choon Ng has done something which very few people in the toy business have - he created and implemented a product which started a massive global toy fad. At the peak of Rainbow Loom's success, it was as big as anything out there, selling massive quantities and spurning many multi-million view YouTube videos of how to create with Rainbow Loom. On this episode of the Podcast Choon talks s through his journey in the toy business from start up idea through to what it was like to ride the massive wave of Rainbow Loom, dealing with distributors around the world and a plethora of knock off products. He also talks us through Rainbow Loom's ongoing business, and how the brand is still delighting kids around the world today.

New toy businesses are the lifeblood of the industry. Today's start ups can become tomorrow's corporate behemoths. But there are a lot of hurdles and barriers in the way of success for those starting up a new toy business. In this latest podcast episode, toy industry expert Steve Reece runs through a few key areas which need to be well managed in order for new toy companies to grow profitably and to achieve success over time.

In this wide ranging interview with toy manufacturing expert Michele Bovetti we discuss what's happening in toy manufacturing, we talk about how automation can decrease production costs and efficiencies saving costs for toy factories and their customers. We also talk about Michele's work in setting up numerous new factories in India & other countries. Michele's knowledge is deep and his experience broad, so anyone interested in toy manufacturing should find this podcast episode interesting.

Steve Starobinsky is a true Kid@Heart. His work as a futurist and toy trend expert has made him well known and well respected across the toy business. His work with Diverse Marketing (a leading U.S. sales agency) has given him something rare among toy trend observers - hard earned commercial grounding. In this wide ranging interview we cover anything from what are the top toy items and trends on the horizon, through to how future technologies will affect the toy business down to such toy business fundamentals as how to sell to the world's biggest toy retailer: Walmart.

Amazon is an ever more important part of the toy & games business with growing market share in many major markets, and with new markets rolling out around the world. Selling via and to Amazon though is not the same as selling to a traditional toy retailer. Amazon is as much a platform as it is a retailer, in short, it needs a bespoke approach to be successful versus many thousands of other products. In this episode, we interview Asha Bhalsod of Etopia Consultancy about her work consulting with toy & game companies to help them manage their Amazon business efficiently and to grow revenues. This is a fascinating peak under the hood of Amazon, as well as an insightful introduction to the topic from a genuine expert.

In this episode of PLAYING AT BUSINESS we interview world renowned and highly experienced board games creator Richard Heayes. Richard talks us through his journey in the business, and about how he came to create one of (maybe THE) biggest and best selling board games brand extensions of all time. Richard's insights and sparky creative mind shine through in this interview. A must listen for involved in creating new board games.

China is the world's second biggest toy market, with significant growth prospects ahead. In this episode we discuss the opportunities in the Chinese toy market with Jacqueline Vong of Playology International Inc, a leading Consultancy with expert insights to the domestic toy market in China. We also discuss content strategies, both in China and in North America. 

In Episode 14 of our Playing At Business podcast we give an overview of international toy markets at a topline level, and discuss why a bespoke approach to each country is likely to yield the best results. We discuss some of the Do's & Don't's of export sales for toys & games covering major markets including the USA, China, UK, France, Germany and others.

Interview with Emile Kalis, co-founder of Identity Games. The company was founded in The Netherlands in the 1990s, and has since established international reach with numerous great games achieving sales success across multiple markets. In this podcast Emile talks us through his journey in the board games business, and shares key insights he learnt along the way. A fascinating listen for anyone interested in the board games business.

Playing At Business - a leading toy and game business podcast In this episode we interview Marc Fayad of Splash Toys, talking about their latest product launch: Sneak'Artz We also talk about the toy business in general and Marc's experience in the toy business. We discuss toy marketing, distribution across export markets and find out more about Splash Toys