Toy Wishes

When Jim Silver, then publisher of The Toy Book, decided to publish a consumer magazine about toys and was looking to hire a public relations agency to help him get the word out, he didn’t have to look far. The toy industry has been blessed with a handful of truly gifted public relations professionals. He could have his pick.

He chose us. Together we introduced Toy Wishes Magazine, the first-ever publication of its kind. What we loved about the magazine was that we had enormous respect for its editorial staff and knew we could be a part of bringing a useful resource to parents, grandparents, caregivers and the like.

We decided to take a logical approach and treat the magazine as if it was a toy. After all, we were looking to the same audience – only this time to ‘buy the book.’ We did some long lead outreach followed by a spot news initiative. We introduced the “Hot Dozen” – the twelve toys that the editorial staff deems the most likely to either sell out or be hard to find during the shopping season. We had no idea it would become the cornerstone for many toy and gift related holiday stories. Today, the announcement of the Holiday “Hot Dozen” list heralds the kick-off of the 4th quarter editorial season.

We also did some research and found out that the New York City toy press corps wanted to shop for holiday editorial – without publicists as their personal shoppers. So, in 2001, we gave them the Toy Wishes Holiday Preview – a one-day event featuring all of the toys that were reviewed in the magazine; all under one roof and without anyone trying to pitch the media anything. They could play to their heart’s content. Get quotes from toy experts. We even had children doing the toy demos.

They loved it. So much so that the Toy Wishes Holiday Preview has become an annual event. It gives toy manufacturers and entertainment companies the opportunity to preview their 4th quarter merchandise to the reporters and segment producers who will be filing stories within the next three months. And, it gives the media access to the heads of all of the major toy manufacturers and retailers at the time of the year when they are most focused on the industry.

Oh, and we had to let the publicists in . . . you know how PR people can be.