Package Design - December 2013 - 22

Stars
Rising
Know the toy and gift trends to
design holiday packages that
children will treasure.
By Bill Goodwin and Shawne Goodwin

is the season: Kids all over
the world anxiously count
down the days, excitedly
refining their gift wish lists while Santa
works diligently to deliver the goods. As
holiday shopping season kicks into high
gear, and gift purchasing takes priority
in the lives of busy Santas everywhere, a
number of trends play a role in their attimes manic pursuit.
Where today's shopper purchases
their gifts plays a leading role among toy
trends. Major retailers, both online and
off, vie to be the go-to for those coveted
kids' wish lists and grow their share of
the $22 billion U.S. toy market.

Retail realities
To most consumers, mass toy retailers
seem to offer a sea of sameness.
Walmart, Target and Toys R Us Inc. (the
original category-killing retailer that is
now on the ropes and possibly on its last
legs) brutally battle it out year after year,
but tend to draw little distinct difference in their toy departments.
Exclusives are clearly mere tweaks of
brands and products available at every
other retailer. Independent specialty toy
retailers deliver a difference, which is
22

DECEMBER 2013

widely recognized as a more educational, nostalgic, exclusive and premium
range of products. At this time of year,
toys can be purchased nearly anywhere.
Grocery stores, drugstores, discount
"dollar" stores, club stores and even
home improvement centers, such as
Menards, and fashion chains, such as
Justice, also get in the holiday selling
spirit. Fast-growing Five Below, which
only sells products for $5 or less, has
become the go-to store for many kid-tokid, birthday and holiday gifts, as well as
for Santas looking to round out their
stocking stuffers and under-the-tree
towers of gifts for their kids.
In this crowded retail space, the toy
industry is looking for new ways to
engage and excite kids and their caregivers. By keeping an eye of developing
trends, designers and brand managers
can avoid the trap of formulaic packaging that frustrates consumers. Here are
five toy package design trends to watch:

Gender bender
Historically, most toys were definitively
or largely, gender-specific. Sure, many
products and their content are genderneutral or family-oriented, but the vast

majority are designed or implied to be
specifically for boys or girls. Over the
last century, social stereotypes drove
this trend in gender-specific toys.
Current social trends are challenging
the status quo. Brands, such as GoldieBlox, are bucking the "for-girls" stereotype of pink or purple products and
packaging or disrupting what's in the
pink aisle by building games for girls to
pretend to take on nontraditional roles.
Toys R Us in the U.K. "has agreed to
remove gender assignments to toys in its
stores," i.e., the pink and blue aisles. A
number of consumers have also begun a
petition to Toys R Us seeking the same
in the U.S.
Nerf reaches across the boy's aisle
with the launch of their Rebelle line.
However, with naming such as Heartbreaker and purple, pink, white and
black color schemes, the brand and
packaging sits comfortably on the girls'
side and is reactive to the success of
heroine themes such as Hunger Games.
Likewise, Lego's Friends line has significantly increased its share within the
girls' demographic, not to mention their
profits, but have been criticized for promoting gender stereotyping. Lego is

Package Design - December 2013

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