What’s Your Toy Fair Product Story?

January 2, 2013 By

By Julie Livingston, Director of Business Development & Accounts,Child’s Play Communications; former Senior Director of Public Relations, Toy Industry Association

Reporters scouting Toy Fair for hot products and overarching trends are pressed for time and attention. On a good day, they may have an hour or so to peruse the aisles overflowing with eye candy. Keep in mind that, in addition to covering the spectacle of the show, they are also looking for alternative story angles of greater depth. Such angles may include:

  • Lifestyle trends and new ways that kids are engaging in play;
  • “Hometown heroes”- stories about unlikely toy inventors or inventions;
  • Emerging entertainment properties and licenses;
  • Made in the USA products; and
  • Brand legacy stories (including special anniversaries of best-loved brands and characters). [Read more...]
Filed Under: Articles, People, Trade Shows/Events Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Get a Head Start on Toy Fair

December 19, 2012 By

By Julie Livingston, Director of Business Development & Accounts, Child’s Play Communications; former Senior Director of Public Relations, Toy Industry Association

We all know that the fourth quarter of the current year and first quarter of the new year are a marathon of events and deadlines for the toy industry. First, it is the chaos of closing out holiday orders and enjoying a brief holiday break. Then, for many, it’s on to the Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair, followed by Nuremberg and then the annual New York Toy Fair at the Jacob K. Javits Center from February 10 to 13. With such a compressed timetable, every minute in pre-Toy Fair planning counts.

The annual event draws approximately 1,000 global media representatives from top tier outlets including The Today Show, The View, CNN, the Associated Press, The New York Times, NY Daily News, Wall Street Journal, and many more. Media publicity affords toy companies with valuable promotion and exposure, which can help to hype “driver products”–those in-demand items expected to be hot sellers for the 2013 holiday season.   [Read more...]

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Call for Input: Hong Kong Vendor Pocket Guide 2013

August 6, 2012 By

The Toy Industry Association and aNb Media will co-produce the Hong Kong Vendor Pocket Guide, a resource designed to help retail buyers and other visitors navigate the many toy-related events occurring in Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair, which will be held Jan. 7-10 next year. The guide serves as a year-round resource and map to the Hong Kong-based showrooms of North American toymakers in the Tsim Sha Tsui Toy District.

The new guide will be included as a free insert mailed with the December issue of Toys and Family Entertainment magazine and posted online on the Toy Industry Association website. North American toy companies with showrooms in Hong Kong can apply for a free text listing; listing upgrades are available for a fee. TIA members and companies that have declared their compliance to the ICTI Care process will be identified with the appropriate graphics accompanying their text listings free of charge.

Any company interested in placing advertising in the Hong Kong Vendor Pocket Guide can download the Registration Form / Ad Specification Sheet and respond to aNb Media with their ad insertion orders by September 5. Questions or requests for additional information about ad inserts can be directed to Bob Glaser (646-763-8720); companies wishing to place a showroom listing should contact Nancy Lombardi (646-763-8722).

This post was originally written by Sierra McCleary-Harris and published by ToyBook.com. For more news, visit www.toybook.com, follow The Toy Book on Twitter, and like The Toy Book on Facebook. The Toy Book is a bimonthly trade magazine covering the toy industry, published by Adventure Publishing Group.

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About the Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair

January 12, 2012 By

The HKTDC Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair kicked off Monday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). The fair, organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), runs through Thursday, January 12. Three complementary fairs—the Hong Kong International Stationery Fair (staged by HKTDC and Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd.), the Hong Kong Baby Products Fair, and the HKTDC Hong Kong International Licensing Show—are also running concurrently with the toy fair.

The 38th Toys & Games Fair is welcoming first-time participants from Greece, Macau, Russia, and Ukraine. Group pavilions are bringing together companies from the Chinese mainland, India, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and Thailand. Other highlights include the World of Toys Pavilion, a new Animal Kingdom product zone, the return of the Eco Toys Display Zone, and the Brand Name Gallery, which boasts a record 80 exhibitors—30 percent more than last year. The Hong Kong Toys Conference looks at the latest safety directives from the European Union and the U.S.

This post was originally written by Elizabeth A. Reid and published by ToyBook.com. For more news, visit www.toybook.com, follow The Toy Book on Twitter, and like The Toy Book on Facebook. The Toy Book is a bimonthly trade magazine covering the toy industry, published by Adventure Publishing Group.

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Hong Kong Toy & Games Fair

January 14, 2011 By

Check out what happened at the 2011 Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair:

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