Source: Canspan BMG

Jamie Berman, president of Canspan BMG, talks about clients and marketing strategies in the Toy Book’s annual State of the Industry Q&A.

The Toy Book: What were some of the biggest challenges your clients faced last year, and how did you work with them to mitigate their effects?

Jamie Berman: 2021 had endless challenges for everyone involved in the toy and game industry. It was a perfect storm of supply chain problems, including inventory issues — increased shipping costs, long delays, and uncertainty — mixed with ongoing COVID-19-related issues affecting human resources, retail, and events. This made it quite difficult to forecast sales revenues and plan media, budgets, and content. Some were able to thrive under difficult circumstances, but it was not easy.

As an agency specializing in the toy and game industry, 2021 was a year for us to put aside profitability concerns and focus on supporting our clients by helping them mitigate the damage wherever we could. We worked more closely than ever with our accounts to problem solve and find new, reliable, and cost-effective opportunities we could leverage. Media and marketing plans were updated on a daily basis based on inventory status updates. Our standard contracts were tossed in the trash as we restructured our terms and fees to alleviate the pressure on our customers. We found ourselves much more deeply involved in our clients’ businesses and plans and more invested in the outcome. Every client had their own scenarios, challenges, and risks, and we had to be more sharp and more nimble than ever.

We’ve always told our clients that we’re their partner, and not just another outside supplier. Last year, we really had to prove it. Our business is built on expertise, relationships, and transparency, and those were tested big time. Thankfully, with few exceptions, our agency and our clients came out on top and ready to tackle 2022 and beyond. 

TB: What will be some of the top marketing strategies in 2022?

JB: This year will be the one we begin seriously discussing metaverse strategies for our clients. Phygital (physical and digital) products and offerings are emerging now and will soon be everywhere. The blockchain era is upon us, and we are staying on top of new virtual platforms and properties and putting our agency in the position to help them navigate web 3.0 and the new retail opportunities it presents. We’re looking forward to the fun that this new landscape will bring to marketing. 

Online privacy updates are impacting how we can target our audiences on digital/social platforms and how we are able to measure our campaign results. That’s not a bad thing, but it does require adjustments in our approach to maintain targeting effectiveness and ultimately return on advertising spend. For us, this means that content and personalization will be crucial. We will be taking a more granular and strategic approach to content from the very beginning of campaigns. We’ll need to have the right type of content in our ads for every type of customer, and lean heavily on creative A/B testing in order to maximize campaign performance and help inform further creative production

With the increasing competitiveness for real estate on retailer websites, I think we’ll need to continue to drive advertising programs targeting high-intent shoppers on mass retailer websites, including Walmart, Amazon, Target, and Best Buy. I also think we will see some alternative e-commerce platforms spring up to provide new places to connect and transact with customers that brands will have to consider in addition to their Amazon, Shopify, and social shops.


This article was originally published in the February 2022 edition of the Toy BookClick here to read the full issue!

About the author

Maddie Michalik

Maddie Michalik

Maddie Michalik was the Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book from 2020-2022. She was also a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider.

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