#211: How To Efficiently Communicate Your Toy's Value Through Packaging with Anchor Creative
Your toy package should be the 24/7 salesman for your toy product. Is your packaging putting in the work? If you have ever wondered how to make your packaging communicate the value of your product, I’ve got a new episode that you just can't miss. As one of our guests today will attest, often toy packaging is an afterthought, but what if I told you it's one of your most powerful communication tools?
In this episode, I had the privilege of diving deep into the art of communication in packaging design with Brittany and Ivan Wesley, the masterminds behind Anchor Creative. With over two decades of experience in branding and packaging, they've turned the concept of packaging into a storytelling art form, with bits of “magic” worked in here and there. One fascinating insight they shared was the strategic use of awards and accreditations on packaging—how to showcase them effectively without overwhelming your audience. But that's just the tip of the iceberg; we also explored the nuances of communicating a toy's digital features and the secrets behind packaging that sells.
Brittany and Ivan opened up about their journey from the food and beverage industry to the vibrant world of toys, revealing surprising lessons about the underrated role of packaging in the toy industry. They walked us through their approach to a few key projects, demonstrating how packaging can communicate your toy's value, intrigue potential buyers, and convey the essence of your brand—all before the box is even opened.
Episode Cliff Notes
The Art of Showcasing Awards [00:12:39] Discover how to elegantly highlight awards and accreditations on your toy packaging without cluttering the design. Brittany and Ivan share some clever strategies that intrigue rather than overwhelm the buyer.
From Food to Toys [00:01:33] A Packaging Design Journey: Hear the surprising insights Brittany and Ivan gained by transitioning from the food and beverage industry to the toy sector. Their experiences shed light on the untapped potential within toy packaging design.
Highlighting Digital Features with Flair [00:07:18] How do you communicate a toy's digital components on its packaging effectively? The episode teases some innovative methods that go beyond traditional design approaches, making your product stand out on the shelves.
Packaging as a Potent Marketing Tool [00:18:36] This conversation dives into the strategic use of packaging as a powerful marketing ally. Discover how the right design elements can transform your packaging into a silent salesman that draws consumers in and drives sales.
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This episode is brought to you by www.thetoycoach.com
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Join our Podcast Fan club to be invited to submit your questions for our next guests! Click here to join.Check out Anchor Creative’s website.
Connect with Anchor Creative on LinkedIn.
View Anchor Creative’s flip book of work here.
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[00:00:00] You are listening to making it in the toy industry episode number 211.
[00:00:05] Azhelle Wade: how does someone showcase awards or accreditations that their product might have won without it being overwhelming on a box?
[00:00:13] Ivan Wesley: First, you go through a series
[00:00:15] of questions
[00:00:16] is that claim,
[00:00:18] that stamp,
[00:00:18] that award really going to make the difference, right? In the game industry we have
[00:00:24] an example
[00:00:25] here where we did have
[00:00:27] Azhelle Wade: I'm so excited to see what he's going to pull on screen. I'm like, pull it on screen already,
[00:00:31] man. What is it? [00:01:00] .
[00:01:00] Hey there, toy people! Azhelle Wade here, and welcome back to another episode of the Toy Coach Podcast, making it in the toy industry. This week's episode, we are going to chat toy packaging.
[00:01:12] Our guests today are Brittany and Ivan Wesley, the founders of Anchor Creative, a family run, multi passionate creative team who specializes in branding and packaging design. Ivan and Brittany love helping people build their dream brand and product portfolio. They do this with creative excellence, insatiable research and a firm commitment to their clients'.
[00:01:33] Unique stories, branding and packaging design is anchor's specialty with 20 plus years of experience offering thoughtful, personalized, creative services. They are pros at what they do. I've seen it firsthand and I'm so excited to share their work with you. Now they've worked in the food and beverage industry.
[00:01:51] Ivan and Brittany, welcome to the show.
[00:01:54] Ivan Wesley: Awesome. Great to be here Azhelle. Thank you.
[00:01:57] Azhelle Wade: You've been in the toy industry for a while.
[00:01:59] [00:02:00] Brittany, can you answer this first? The thing that surprised me most about the toy industry was?
[00:02:06] Brittany Wesley: The thing that surprised me most was the closed booths. When you go to the food shows and like
[00:02:12] everything's open
[00:02:13] And they're like, here's my stuff
[00:02:14] and it's
[00:02:14] already on the market and we're ready to go. And the toy industry is like, Hey, we have stuff. We're about
[00:02:20] to release
[00:02:21] it. Nobody look unless you have an invite and a appointment.
[00:02:26] So that, that, you know, that shocked me.
[00:02:29] I wasn't ready for that.
[00:02:30] Azhelle Wade: And Ivan, please finish this sentence. The thing that surprised me most about the toy industry was
[00:02:35] Ivan Wesley: that
[00:02:37] package design in general, branding with that branding and package design may be less of a hot topic within the toy industry.
[00:02:46] We're
[00:02:46] very surprised coming from food and beverage into toy and game. Where not that
[00:02:52] it's an
[00:02:52] afterthought, but it kind of is like we've had countless conversations or
[00:02:56] clients of.
[00:02:57] Oh,
[00:02:57] this is
[00:02:57] the last thing
[00:02:58] we're doing
[00:02:59] and we're like, oh, why [00:03:00] didn't we
[00:03:00] start this
[00:03:00] earlier?
[00:03:01] Yeah, so, Yeah, I was, kind of surprising for us.
[00:03:04] Azhelle Wade: With both of the things that surprised both of you, did you
[00:03:07] break into the industry in the way that you wanted to, providing a premium service and Brittany, when you're walking around trying to go into trade shows and connect with companies and you realize like, wait, I can't even literally get into a booth, how did you even establish yourselves?
[00:03:23] Brittany Wesley: We went to Toy Fair in 2019 and I think it was
[00:03:26] We were
[00:03:26] I was
[00:03:26] super nervous
[00:03:27] because like I had been to a
[00:03:29] couple other trade
[00:03:29] shows, but we hadn't gotten to this and so I was, I was really nervous and I was like, just go be yourself.
[00:03:35] We walked up to one person and they were playing
[00:03:38] games. She's like,
[00:03:39] Hey, you want to play a game? And I'm like, cool, we'll play a game.
[00:03:41] And so we started talking and they had a really
[00:03:43] cool game.
[00:03:43] And she's
[00:03:44] like, so
[00:03:44] what are you? Who are you? And
[00:03:46] we told her who we were
[00:03:47] it's like,
[00:03:47] I had three
[00:03:47] kids. And she's like, Oh, I have too. and we started comparing ages and then we were just really down to earth talking and told her that we're package designers and we did a [00:04:00] lot of stuff and she's like, Hey, I have a package
[00:04:02] design that
[00:04:02] needs work done, and we
[00:04:04] just really hit it off,
[00:04:05] and her name's Vanessa, and she owns Moby, and she gave us our first break, and we did
[00:04:13] four packages,
[00:04:14] Quick
[00:04:14] and in a hurry, so one game, Three baby SKUs, and we redeveloped her, her brand
[00:04:20] and
[00:04:21] Updated her logo, updated her overall arching stuff because she was going from just toys into baby as well, so like, what does that look like, and how does that evolve, and that was our
[00:04:32] big break.
[00:04:33] Azhelle Wade: Super quick interruption on this interview. Periodically, you will hear Ivan, Brittany and I talking about items that we are looking at on screen, either items that they are showing me in the video or items that I am screen sharing on my end, you can follow along and watch the visuals as well.
[00:04:52] Just head over to the toy coach.com forward slash 2 1 1. And there you will find the video version of this [00:05:00] interview.
[00:05:00] You will also find a link to Ivan and Brittany's flip book, which is the flip book that I am flipping through throughout this episode.
[00:05:07] Okay. Let's dive right back into the interview.
[00:05:10] I want to highlight the Moby line. I just pulled it up on screen now. This is one of, is this one of the earlier packages you did for them or
[00:05:17] later?
[00:05:18] Brittany Wesley: did the PDQ
[00:05:20] and we updated the
[00:05:21] hang tag.
[00:05:21] So
[00:05:22] she already
[00:05:22] had the whale pout done.
[00:05:24] That was
[00:05:24] her original. That's the OG.
[00:05:26] And then
[00:05:27] we updated the
[00:05:28] PDQ
[00:05:29] Ivan Wesley: yeah, in general
[00:05:30] Advice
[00:05:31] to others is, you know, coming into the toy industry
[00:05:34] with what
[00:05:34] you have. Come with your energy. Come with passion. And I think that that, That's a big part of where our success took off was showing that we're all in We, we love the, the industry
[00:05:46] and, and the
[00:05:47] type of products we're working with.
[00:05:49] Azhelle Wade: Was Moby one of the few booths that was not closed and that's why you were
[00:05:54] able to connect?
[00:05:54] Brittany Wesley: Yeah. When we talk about toys
[00:05:57] sometimes, we
[00:05:57] jokingly call it, like,
[00:05:58] the penthouse, right?
[00:05:59] [00:06:00] You have some of the big names.
[00:06:01] Jazzwares, Spinmaster, Hasbro,
[00:06:04] you can
[00:06:04] tell. They all live in really high places, literally, at Toy Fair. they're upstairs. But.
[00:06:11] Moby
[00:06:12] was in was in a part of the open booth. And so that's, that's where we
[00:06:16] met. So we
[00:06:16] were, we're hanging out with.
[00:06:18] with more of
[00:06:19] the challenger
[00:06:19] brands is what we call them in the the food industry. And so I think that that is appropriate
[00:06:24] even for, for toys
[00:06:25] and
[00:06:26] games as
[00:06:26] well. The challenger brands, the brands that are coming in and they don't have
[00:06:29] the backing
[00:06:30] of the penthouse behind them, they're
[00:06:33] they're coming in
[00:06:33] with a, with a smaller cash flow. they're coming
[00:06:36] in with a
[00:06:37] a smaller product line but they're still
[00:06:39] substantial and,
[00:06:40] and they, they have some meat on their bones as well.
[00:06:43] And they're, they're worth, you know, talking to.
[00:06:45] Azhelle Wade: Now I did reach out to the community that listens to this podcast and I told them that you guys were coming and they had many questions. I didn't tell them who was coming, but I said a packaging expert
[00:06:56] will be on the podcast.
[00:06:58] What do you want to know?
[00:06:59] I [00:07:00] did my best to, to filter down the onslaught of questions that came my way for you guys. But the first one regards to communicating information on packaging. So I would love it if, if you can think back any of the brands that you've worked on that really struggled to.
[00:07:18] Communicate their product on the packaging and I just love you to walk through how you made that happen. Specifically, the person who submitted this question has a product that has an app that integrates with it and they struggle communicating that on the package. So either answer that question of if you've ever communicated a digital feature on a product Maybe there's an example in your portfolio, or maybe there's something you want to show me out there.
[00:07:43] Ivan Wesley: Yeah, we
[00:07:43] can zoom in here this one is is Botzees.
[00:07:47] Azhelle Wade: You had a client with a product called Botzees
[00:07:49] so what
[00:07:50] is Botsy's?
[00:07:51] Ivan Wesley: So Botzees
[00:07:52] is an electronic
[00:07:54] building toy.
[00:07:55] which had
[00:07:56] app enabled features. Essentially [00:08:00] your app on your iPad or phone. Could control the robot
[00:08:05] to make
[00:08:05] it move.
[00:08:06] And it also had, another sophisticated item was was coding. So you're learning how to code how.
[00:08:13] Botzee is going to move from point A
[00:08:15] to
[00:08:15] point B and, and then use the, the app has very intensive detailed character IP. There's, there's journeys that you go on.
[00:08:25] So there's an
[00:08:26] Brittany Wesley: augmented reality. augmented reality coding. So
[00:08:30] you're using
[00:08:31] your camera in lifetime and it's, it's placing Botzee in in a
[00:08:35] different world.
[00:08:36] And then you're telling Botzee how to move and there's different that you
[00:08:42] can build Botzee
[00:08:43] as. And how did you
[00:08:45] communicate all of that?
[00:08:46] Well,
[00:08:46] the quick,
[00:08:47] quick answer is the QR code,
[00:08:49] Azhelle Wade: so you guys put a QR code on the front panel and with a wording that says test drive Botzee. and where did that take
[00:08:55] people?
[00:08:56] Brittany Wesley: Takes them
[00:08:56] to one of
[00:08:57] their videos that they show
[00:08:59] [00:09:00] the demos the
[00:09:01] Ivan Wesley: product. Yeah. To see Botzee move
[00:09:03] and spin and lights that that are lighting up, you know, those are certain things that you
[00:09:09] cannot get across always in the package design, though.
[00:09:12] effects later, but, but like,
[00:09:15] the
[00:09:15] rest of the recipe of this package design featured some printing
[00:09:19] effects where
[00:09:20] highlighted areas were gloss, others were matte finish.
[00:09:24] right?
[00:09:25] Brittany Wesley: There's movement, you show like kid on a tablet, that's a
[00:09:28] Ivan Wesley: huge one. So
[00:09:28] yeah, that right here. This, So this inset, let's talk about what it is, at the bottom left they have an inset of a kid playing with the app and using like, what, what would you call this like swoosh element to connect it to the toy feature image?
[00:09:44] Yeah,
[00:09:44] I,
[00:09:44] I call it the magic.
[00:09:46] it's a magic,
[00:09:46] Azhelle Wade: magic, The magic, the There
[00:09:51] Ivan Wesley: are a lot of coding products out there, so you want to, you're
[00:09:54] doing your
[00:09:54] research on other products that have maybe some
[00:09:57] of these
[00:09:57] features, you find there are [00:10:00] certain iconography use that
[00:10:02] show, Oh, coding
[00:10:03] arrows that spin, arrows that
[00:10:05] go back
[00:10:06] and forth, the
[00:10:07] Azhelle Wade: hmm.
[00:10:08] Ivan Wesley: flags
[00:10:08] that
[00:10:08] show a
[00:10:09] destination.
[00:10:10] So you know, using those icons that were in their IP
[00:10:14] and then translating them to
[00:10:15] the package
[00:10:16] design, showing it
[00:10:18] swirling, you know, magical
[00:10:21] way, but also
[00:10:21] it's leading
[00:10:22] your eye through the package. So you're starting with a hierarchy of Botzees hero image. Yes, that's always supremely important,
[00:10:30] but then
[00:10:31] your eye, you know,
[00:10:32] it starts to
[00:10:32] flow to, to that app enabled.
[00:10:36] You know inset image, as you brought up,
[00:10:38] Azhelle Wade: This takes me back to college. I remember when I was first learning design principles, the layout of a painting. You could have your eye lead linearly, you could do a triangle, you could do vertically.
[00:10:50] And this seems to be a triangle coming from the left side, going up and then all the way up and back down.
[00:10:56] Ivan Wesley: Yeah.
[00:10:57] There's ways to, you know, track the eye. [00:11:00] There's
[00:11:00] people that even
[00:11:00] do intensive studies of how, how an eye tracks on a shelf.
[00:11:04] But
[00:11:04] the QR
[00:11:05] code is back in the early days of food and beverage QR codes were hot. And we're like, this is not going to last. This is going away. And then, then, a COVID hits. And then now it is an indispensable, you know, very, very much overused, but but you're still cool.
[00:11:20] Azhelle Wade: I agree. I
[00:11:20] remember right before
[00:11:22] COVID somebody was like, QR codes are going to be big.
[00:11:24] And I was like, absolutely not. And then COVID hit and QR codes the way they are
[00:11:29] the thing.
[00:11:30] Brittany Wesley: Well, and they were in Best Buy and they couldn't have a demo. And so they were, they were championing a demo in certain stores. And because of that lockdown of nobody touches the product anymore,
[00:11:43] they
[00:11:43] needed an alternative that was a quick, read
[00:11:46] quick, so
[00:11:47] quick look.
[00:11:48] And so we did
[00:11:49] the photography
[00:11:50] and the the swoosh magic
[00:11:52] of the triangle and
[00:11:54] the, the dynamic
[00:11:56] neon
[00:11:57] green to
[00:11:57] the dark purple to help things pop [00:12:00] help. But that like lasting image of the QR code,
[00:12:03] it was, it was, there's multiple things
[00:12:05] that, that you need in
[00:12:07] order to communicate.
[00:12:08] Azhelle Wade: Clearly the, the inset shot showing the kid using the product on an iPad number one, QR code showing the use of the toy interacting with
[00:12:17] the
[00:12:17] app, two, and then three, the all important swoosh or some magic that is going to get your eye to you. Look at that iPad first, go to the QR code, see the toy and the name of the brand, and then come back down and keep your eye flowing in that circle. Yeah, that's a great response. And I'm sure that the person who asked that question may be calling you next
[00:12:37] to help develop their project.
[00:12:39] Now, moving forward to the conversation of communication, communicating what your product is and what it does, how does someone showcase awards or accreditations that their product might have won without it being overwhelming on a box?
[00:12:54] Ivan Wesley: First, you kind of go through a series
[00:12:57] of questions
[00:12:58] of. Okay, [00:13:00] what type of product are you
[00:13:01] selling?
[00:13:01] Is the,
[00:13:02] is that claim,
[00:13:03] that stamp,
[00:13:04] that award really going to make the difference, right? qualify, okay, is it worth it? What, especially if you're in STEM and and STEAM and industries like that where you want those certifications. And then in the game industry we have
[00:13:18] an example
[00:13:19] here where we did have
[00:13:22] Azhelle Wade: I'm like so excited to see what he's going to pull on screen. I'm like, pull it on screen already,
[00:13:25] man. What is it?
[00:13:27] is it? What is he doing?
[00:13:29] Ivan Wesley: the magic.
[00:13:30]
[00:13:30] Azhelle Wade: Oh, I
[00:13:31] love that package.
[00:13:33] Ivan Wesley: so a crazy amount of awards. I mean, they're at
[00:13:36] Brittany Wesley: So here's, here's four. right. You have four. We chose
[00:13:41] the top
[00:13:41] four that they felt were the most valuable, but wait,
[00:13:46] they really,
[00:13:49] really
[00:13:50] were excited about their
[00:13:51] work.
[00:13:52] and we lived Let's articulate what we're
[00:13:54] Azhelle Wade: looking at for those people listening to this episode.
[00:13:57] So Ivan has pulled on [00:14:00] Storytime Chess, amazing package that Anchor Creative developed for this company.
[00:14:05] Brittany Wesley: They released in 2020
[00:14:07] and and
[00:14:08] they had an established
[00:14:09] package design and then
[00:14:10] they came to us and
[00:14:11] we worked
[00:14:12] and optimized what was, what was presented in 2020.
[00:14:16] So during, during the, the spring
[00:14:18] of 2020
[00:14:19] chess became a very,
[00:14:21] Azhelle Wade: Right.
[00:14:22] Brittany Wesley: Worthwhile thing.
[00:14:23] to,
[00:14:23] to use while people were at home.
[00:14:25] Ga Queen, Gamut came, out in the fall
[00:14:27] of 2020, so
[00:14:28] that
[00:14:28] helped.
[00:14:29] Azhelle Wade: year. TOTY award 2021, I believe.
[00:14:33] Brittany Wesley: 20 is when they won
[00:14:35] target picked up. and, And then they started Barnes and Noble as well. So that was you know, a big, big.
[00:14:42] like, moment. And we were with them the spring
[00:14:45] of 2020
[00:14:46] And, and we were, we were pushing
[00:14:47] in through,
[00:14:48] through 2023
[00:14:49] with them.
[00:14:50] Ivan Wesley: There's multiple awards shown on the side panel. There's a call about being the most awarded
[00:14:58] most worded chess game.
[00:14:59] Azhelle Wade: So on the side [00:15:00] panel, just for anyone listening, on the side panel of the Storytime chest box, they put the logo at the very top of the side panel, and then they wrote, Most awarded board game ever. I don't know if that's true, I'm not fact checking, but it does have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 13, interesting number to settle on, but 13 awards on the side
[00:15:21] panel then plus four awards on the front panel.
[00:15:25] So that is really, what's the top left award? Is that an award too? the top left
[00:15:29] Brittany Wesley: No, no. That's the
[00:15:30] stamp
[00:15:31] that we
[00:15:31] Ivan Wesley: created. So yeah. In the, let's say your Your toy company has a background of education or, a company behind it. Storytime chest had a great, educational
[00:15:43] tutoring
[00:15:44] background. So we developed a stamp that would bring a credation to, you know, to who they are.
[00:15:50] Their, their, their, education prowess.
[00:15:53] Brittany Wesley: And I think today there are 20 plus awards.
[00:15:56] Ivan Wesley: Yeah, yeah, and the words can keep coming in your [00:16:00] website
[00:16:00] Azhelle Wade: let me talk about that though.
[00:16:01] because sometimes people collect these awards. Some people don't want to pay for the badge to use them. But I, what I'm seeing here is this is a really smart lesson on if you're going to apply for these awards, if you're going to pay for those badges, how can you leverage it as much as possible? And storytime chess was like, listen.
[00:16:18] we're going to leverage this as much
[00:16:22] as possible. it's a smart move.
[00:16:24] Ivan Wesley: Yeah.
[00:16:25] Brittany Wesley: Yeah. So that's one that was, that's a direction that they went. And and we
[00:16:29] obviously
[00:16:29] are, are for
[00:16:30] the client.
[00:16:31] That was they were really excited about it too. they it's on their on their trade show booth.
[00:16:35] It's on
[00:16:36] Their website. They are proud of those awards and and they're they're not going to hide them.
[00:16:41] Azhelle Wade: Would you recommend because I know it's not it's not your particular style, I would say to put all of the awards in the box like that. But if a client did have a ton of awards and they didn't have a preference for how they wanted to display them on the box, would you then suggest maybe the top award and maybe a QR code to lead to other awards?
[00:16:58] What would be your preference for something, [00:17:00] a situation
[00:17:00] Ivan Wesley: Yeah, showcased here in this build a bubble package where one particular.
[00:17:06] One particular stamp is shown,
[00:17:10] which is the steam accreditation, right? So
[00:17:14] Rank them in
[00:17:15] importance, right,
[00:17:16] Do your
[00:17:16] research, what
[00:17:17] are other brands
[00:17:18] showing
[00:17:19] as far as that, that certification, but do not allow the stamp to compete. With the rest of your brand because many stamps can be complex. They
[00:17:30] can be colorful
[00:17:31] Sometimes they might clash with your own branding.
[00:17:35] So finding out okay Can I should I have that be full color should I could I use the one color version of that?
[00:17:42] Certification stamp so find ways to leverage it, but don't let it take away from or Destroy the, the balance hierarchy,
[00:17:51] Brittany Wesley: You have to ask who your consumer
[00:17:52] is, like important
[00:17:54] to the mom.
[00:17:56] then a mom's
[00:17:56] choice award should be a thing. If, if you're really [00:18:00] pushing
[00:18:00] the STEM
[00:18:00] product, it should be a STEM award. you know?
[00:18:02]
[00:18:02] Azhelle Wade: Yeah, who the buyers are, where the product will be placed, all very smart to consider.
[00:18:07] So there's no one size fits all, but you can go award heavy. If everyone cares about maybe your company's brand new and you're trying to show credibility. So you go super award heavy. Or you're like the South Beach Bubbles, build a kit product. Shout out to Ron and Shooky.
[00:18:20] And you want to focus on one benefit because everyone knows bubbles are fun. Everyone knows bubbles, South Beach Bubbles is a great company
[00:18:26] that
[00:18:26] makes great product. What they don't know is that this bubble kit can provide STEM benefits. So that
[00:18:33] is a good use of that, of that, piece one call out.
[00:18:36] I wonder if someone, if there would be a. potential to do like an A B test if a company is big enough but has their logistics in order where they print the package without an award on it but a space for one and then test
[00:18:50] I have had a student use different awards in ads and found different lifts um, when when they post an ad about their product with one award [00:19:00] versus another.
[00:19:00] So that might also be a good strategy to test and see which, who's responding to which awards.
[00:19:06] Ivan Wesley: For sure. good.
[00:19:08] Azhelle Wade: There was one listener who wanted, who was interested in creating their own kind of authentication stickers.
[00:19:15] I'm curious if you guys have ever done that before, and if you have, how did you prevent factories from reusing those authentication stickers in, inauthentic product?
[00:19:23] Ivan Wesley: That's as a very, it's very specific, but I think that there's, there's depth there. There's a, this authenticity where it really jumped.
[00:19:32] From, from that, question.
[00:19:34] And so we have a few examples, but
[00:19:36] they're not
[00:19:36] ours.
[00:19:37] Azhelle Wade: So right now we're taking a look at exploding
[00:19:39] kittens the Exploding Kittens core card game
[00:19:42] And on the back of their box they
[00:19:43] have
[00:19:44] Ivan Wesley: Yes, they have a small holographic sticker, which speaks to you know, authenticity making sure, you know, no copycats. So it's not just collectibles
[00:19:54] there's something smart here and protecting your IP, protecting you know, the, the [00:20:00] integrity, the you know, so you want to know, do you have a genuine product? Okay. But at
[00:20:06] the same time, yeah.
[00:20:07] The
[00:20:07] control factor does come in, you know, is that going to be misused?
[00:20:11] Here's another product, which speaks to holly hobby retro.
[00:20:15] Brittany Wesley: Well, it's a, it's a color reproduction of a vintage. So it's it's mine. Cause I like, I love, I grew
[00:20:22] Azhelle Wade: Oh, it's literally yours.
[00:20:24] Ivan Wesley: And
[00:20:24] it says, it says official reproduction,
[00:20:28] right?
[00:20:29] In the gold foil stamp.
[00:20:30] But it's a sticker. It's a sticker. Yep.
[00:20:34] You
[00:20:34] can have these individual stickers,
[00:20:35] You could
[00:20:36] try to have it be integrated into the production in line, which are probably better. So you're not having these individual stickers in somewhere that
[00:20:45] people can misuse. Another tip would be to
[00:20:49] find a
[00:20:49] way for your production or manufacturing.
[00:20:52] And, and we,
[00:20:53] this
[00:20:53] goes to
[00:20:53] some of our clients where U. S.
[00:20:56] fulfillment. is
[00:20:58] Azhelle Wade: I was exactly where I was thinking [00:21:00] too.
[00:21:00] Yes,
[00:21:01] Ivan Wesley: that's where you have more control
[00:21:03] You're able to.
[00:21:04] To make sure of all that. but, in case we're talking to,
[00:21:08] Azhelle Wade: you know, like theoretically for anyone listening, we're just thinking that the best way to control a sticker placement, if you create your own seal, is to have it placed domestically instead of letting your factory be the one who positions that on all your boxes, whether it's the person who's shipping out all your product, have them place the sticker domestically you can control that a little bit more
[00:21:29] Ivan Wesley: yeah.
[00:21:29] Brittany Wesley: I don't, I don't think
[00:21:31] that the
[00:21:31] sticker adds value.
[00:21:33] I
[00:21:33] think that your product being branded authentically, being branded in a way that we recognize
[00:21:38] it being
[00:21:39] branded in a way that is
[00:21:41] ownable and
[00:21:42] unique to you. That's what adds value. I think that that's what separates you from the knockoffs.
[00:21:47] I
[00:21:47] think that
[00:21:47] that's what differentiates. People understanding who Funko is and going, well, Funko would never make a
[00:21:53] package like that.
[00:21:54] So, whether or not Funko has a collector's sticker is, [00:22:00] tertiary to
[00:22:02] the fact
[00:22:02] that they have
[00:22:03] a collectible
[00:22:03] brand that
[00:22:04] is uniquely
[00:22:05] ownable to them, that
[00:22:06] is branded
[00:22:07] well, that is made with quality, and then the sticker matters.
[00:22:11] I don't think that the
[00:22:11] sticker is
[00:22:12] what brings the value. I think the sticker is like a accent to
[00:22:16]
[00:22:16] Brittany Wesley: So like Star Wars has a sticker here and it is, it's something that says, Hey, we're a retro. hey,
[00:22:23] and, and he's
[00:22:24] a collector,
[00:22:24] Azhelle Wade: the question, the thing to let the listener know is also that it's, you know, people trust the stickers, but it's really the trust starts with the brand.
[00:22:32] That they
[00:22:32] can trust this brand manages the sticker.
[00:22:34] So it's really about you, if you're creating this line, you creating a failsafe for that sticker. So that people can truly
[00:22:41] trust it.
[00:22:42] Because if they find one knockoff product or 20 knockoff products with that sticker, they're going to start to say can I even trust this sticker? Is the sticker valuable?
[00:22:48] Okay. I want to move on to our second topic. And then I want to get into how you guys work because I honestly, I fangirl about you to everyone all the time.
[00:22:56] Brittany Wesley: Oh, we fangirl about you too!
[00:22:59] Azhelle Wade: [00:23:00] Your Fanboy. Fanboy.
[00:23:02] Your process is
[00:23:03] just
[00:23:04] So good.
[00:23:05] Okay. So let's move on to packaging materials and trends. Because I understand your process and how you work. I know it is heavy trend focused. How do you stay up to date on market trends and packaging and design?
[00:23:18] Don't come at me for this toy people, but this is the end of part one for this episode. I know, I know we are at a cliffhanger. I hope you join me this time next week to continue this interview with Brittany and Ivan, where we dive deep into packaging, materials and trends.
[00:23:36] And then after that, I walk you through anchor's entire creative process. So you can know exactly what to expect. If you decide to work with them as a client, if you can't wait until next week, I want to encourage you to head over to the toy coach.com. Forward slash 2, 1 1, because there, you will find the links to connect with anchor creative today.
[00:23:58] You don't have to wait, connect [00:24:00] with them, let them know I sent you. It means so much to me and it supports the podcast. If you do so. Before I jump into the summary of today's episode. I want to give a thank you to those of you who left questions for our guests inside of our podcast fan club, Facebook group. So we have rebranded our Facebook group to be a fan club for this podcast.
[00:24:24] And that's where I ask fellow listeners of the podcast to share what questions they want our future guests to answer. So. If you want to have a say on what I ask future guests, or if you want to give podcast topics, suggestions. Talk to me about the process of creating this podcast and everything else.
[00:24:43] I want you to head over to the toy coach.com. Slash community. If you can't remember the links, all you really have to remember is the toy coach.com/ 2 1 1. And that is the link to today's episode. I will put all of the links from the conversation today. To the community to [00:25:00] Brittany and Ivan's company, anchor creative, all of those links will be in the mentioned in this episode show notes.
[00:25:06] So again, all you've got to remember is the toy coach.com forward slash 2 1 1. Let's quickly recap what we learned in this episode. The first topic that we address is how to express if your toy has a digital product that works with it. Well, Brittany and Ivan shared how they created a package for products called Bazzi that utilized an inset image of a kid playing with a product on a tablet and what Ivan called, the magic, which was a swoosh. Of sparkles and glow effect that led the viewer's eye to actually see the app and then lead the viewer to a QR code that QR code would take the consumer or the potential consumer of that product to a video where they could see the product interacting with an app. So the [00:26:00] big takeaway here is utilize those QR codes to express things that you just can't express on a package. And don't forget to actually show a child playing with that digital component of your product on the packaging. I know you might think, oh, it's a plastic product or it's a plush product. And that's the main that component of it. You may not think to show a kid using the app, but that is super important to do especially when your toy has an unexpected feature, like a digital component. Further in this conversation, we talked about awards and how to make them work for you.
[00:26:36] Now I did mention that a TCA student. Tested her ads with and without an award seal and she found that her Facebook ads were converting at a lower cost when she showcased her product with an award seal.
[00:26:49] So that is a simple test to show that seals work, but Brittany and Ivan did give some great tips on deciding which seals you should show on your product. So [00:27:00] ranking your seals, not just by which awards you think are important, but by the awards that your potential consumers think are important.
[00:27:07] So if your product is. Particularly focused on moms. Maybe you're focusing on that mom's choice award. If your product is focused on the stem market, maybe you're focusing on that stem award. If your product is mesh or social, emotional learning, you'd be focusing on that mesh award. So on and so forth. We did talk about Storytime chess, who decided to go all in with all of their awards, which was a strategy that worked really well for them, because in showcasing all of those awards, they could also share that they were the most awarded chess game.
[00:27:41] So you have to think about your strategy for your awards and make them work for you and your brand. If you love this podcast and you haven't already left a review, what are you waiting for? Your reviews mean so much to me. Your reviews mean so much to me. They keep me motivated to keep coming back week after week.
[00:27:58] I love hearing [00:28:00] how this podcast has helped you move forward in your business. And in your toy journey in general. So please, wherever you're listening, stop what you're doing. Scroll down, look for the button that says, write a review or leave a review, give us those five stars and leave us a note and tell us what you're working on, what this podcast has helped you with.
[00:28:20] I would love to read your review at the end of my next episode. As always, thank you so much for being here with me today. I know your time is valuable and that there are a ton of podcasts out there. So it truly means the world to me that you tune into this one.
[00:28:36] Until next week, I'll see you later.
[00:28:38] Toy people. [00:29:00]
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