With online games and tech products proving ever popular with children, how can we keep the demand for physical goods going strong? ToyNews’ Inside Trader Steve Reece discovers what the Internet Revolution means for the future of toy industry
OF LATE I have found myself increasingly questioning how the future will play out between the virtual and physical/real worlds. It’s scary to think that the internet as a commercial and mass adopted force is only just over a decade old. Ten years ago I was part of a Hasbro team which launched ‘My Monopoly’ – a customised Monopoly board game available entirely via the internet. This was cutting edge at the time, but now it would just be normal. The reality is we’re still in the midst of the Internet Revolution, and with historical perspective, this revolution will be viewed as equally or more ‘disruptive’ than the Industrial Revolution.
Even if we look back five years, we can see a massive change in the way technology affects our daily lives. Mass adoption of social media and a major shift towards online retailing are only two of the paradigm changing shifts we have seen. Of course, there are some very real and
gritty challenges that have played out thus far, including a significant change in retail modus operandi, how marketing is applied in our industry and much more. However, I can’t help feeling that we have barely even begun the transformation from physical to digital worlds, in terms of the ability of technology to influence and
away. I fully expect to see it in my lifetime, if not in the next decade. You might think that sounds really cool. And I agree. However, my concern is how we keep selling physical products in such a world. If kids can literally enter into a cartoon-style world and feel they are actually ‘battling’ with a fantastical opponent, how do we continue to
With historical perspective, the Internet Revolution will be viewed as equally, or
even more, disruptive than the Industrial Revolution.
absorb us. The Holy Grail of the virtual world as it applies to our industry might be the Star Trek holodeck, an environment where complete immersion is possible including sensory stimulation, so that we cannot distinguish between the virtual environment we are in and reality. What scares me is that I don’t think that kind of experience is far
sell large quantities of physical toys, and what does that mean for the future of our industry? Being an optimist, there are several reasons why I don’t think we need worry that much. Firstly, these changes won’t happen overnight. I fully expect to see what I describe in my lifetime, but not for years yet.
Secondly though, is the need to understand how and why kids play. They play to express themselves, to escape into fantasy worlds, to compete, to simply have fun, and for a myriad of other reasons. But above all they play because it’s just what they do. Children play wherever and whenever they can. We’ve all seen kids unwrap an expensive present and play with the box or the wrapping as much as the product itself, and I believe the same applies to virtual versus physical. Kids will play with whatever is to hand, and what’s easier to have to hand than a portable, physical toy? Finally – and here’s where the opportunity lies – the toy industry has a fantastic track record of taking new technology and down-speccing it, adapting it to hit the right price points and delivering toys that kids just have to have.
I have no idea what that will look
like in five to ten years, but I do know it will be one hell of a ride.