soap and ice and... invert licensing

[cachalote]

one of the things that comes around when talking about playmobil and lego (vs. most of the times) is the licensing stategy.
lego is accused by many to have "sold" its soull to licensing - star wars, pirates of the caribbean, etc.
maybe it is so but maybe lego also goes the other way around - clothes, gadgets and dedicated stores and...

  the other day i saw that lego licensed ice cube trays.
  you can make ice brick-shape or figure-shape.
my 5 year-old son just said "quero" (want) when he saw them.
not "podemos ter, por favor" (can we please have them) or even "eu queria" (i would want) but simply "quero".
he then went on to his room and chose lego to play that afternoon.

this is just a strategy to improve what merketeers call "brand awareness".
and lego seems to beat playmobil in this "section" - http://playmobilvslego.tumblr.com/

  in playclicks i saw what seems a house-made soap with a playmo-figure inside.
  one of the comments was that this was a wonderful way to make children wash their hands (a thing that they seem to forget).
  this way, the more often they did it, the quicker the figure would be free.

  sometimes it seems playmobil is just too amateur in many things.
  this is maybe one of them - mugs and t-shirts don't really do the trick.
  "super 4" is maybe one step in the right way but is it enough?
  lego makes 6 times more money than playmobil
  brand awareness is one of the paths to down-sive this ratio.

  i don't know if a richer playmobil would imply a smarter playmobil but maybe it would.

[tahra]

But if playmobil did that.. well.. people could actually.. <GASP>... BUY IT. Then they'd get MONEY! The HORROR.

[Birdie]

Okay I so *want* those ice cube thingies, don't even care that they're Lego 

[Rasputin]

That is what happens when you sell out to the corporations, they talk good about you. If your independent your the enemy. Pretty simple 

You want playmo underwear and ice trays, petition that they sell the company to Hasbro

It's no surprise to me that playmo is so unheard of in the US, the Lego corporate marketing is so strong that when many people see our playmo dioramas they only think its Lego.

[cachalote]

well lenin, i'm sorry, rasputin, i'm not suggesting playmobil should buy copyrights in the international market.
brand awareness is obtained using several methods.
a blind approach - just put your image in everything that moves (or, in this case, stands still) - is not what i was suggesting.
underwear, ice trys, mugs, t-shirts do nothing more than make you see the brand image.

but, the soap example i think is a good one - or at least it has a potential educational value.

and educational, in the way i see things, is the best way to compete with lego.
richard (our richard) understood it when he created kindomality.
trying to simplify things so that parents don't complain on how much time a playmobil pirate ship takes to asembre is, i think, a wrong approach.

if marketed as a "special" toy, like no other, that allows you to spend quality time with your kids is maybe a better path to success.
poesche sell in the u.s.a. not because they are easy to drive or because they are fast - other cars are easier and faster - but because thy are recognized as good, or even the best.

it's a long way - but it has its advantages in the end.
you make a lot of money without selling out.

[Macruran]

That tumblr supports the notion that Playmobil should own the traditional and educational aspect of its toys and stop trying to follow too many trends, or imitate L*go too much. (No giant trolls for me, thanks.) Can you imagine how well a PM George Washington or Abe Lincoln would sell in the US? A Henry V in the UK?

There are more important things than constantly increasing short term profits.

[tahra]

trying to simplify things so that parents don't complain on how much time a playmobil pirate ship takes to asembre is, i think, a wrong approach.

Though you are right, most parents don't WANT time with the kids. They get dumped all day at "school", and then in front of the tv/computer/tablet/whatever.

Of course, having playmobil go with the flow and actually cater to this... well.. doesn't help, right?  I for one would always want them to be above the others. To be better than... corny, I know. Same as in the ridiculous (and sad) pink and blue ideas.

[Birdie]

To be honest, my parents never joined in with playing with Playmobil either. But I thought it was fun to assemble the sets on my own. Lego is all about assembling fun too, right?

Maybe the problem is also that they need to target younger and younger kids because at age 10 it's no longer considered cool to play with Playmobil?

[cachalote]

this would have to be done with some advertising explaining the eductional potential of playmobil.
role play and buinding.
remembering an old idea i had, hiring roger moore to say how he plays with his grandchildren using the secret agents theme.
in the same theme, hiring angelina jolie would do the trick.
if geobra wants to take a little more chances with the pirate theme, johnny depp could be a possibility (3 kids but no long-lasting marriage though).

[tahra]

this would have to be done with some advertising explaining the eductional potential of playmobil.

Can you imagine the price of those people? How would that affect the price for us?

johnny depp could be a possibility (3 kids but no long-lasting marriage though).

Don't see how one needs to be married (for short or long term - though wasn't he "long term"?) to play with the kids.