Playing At Business - toy & game business podcast with Steve Reece

KidsKnowBest is a fast growing digital media agency focused on children. In this episode we interview co-Founder Joel Silverman about the company, their approach to creating compelling content and insightful understanding of how kids think. We also discuss his journey from hairdresser to celebrities in London's ritzy Mayfair to heading up a growing force in the toy & games business. For anyone int...

The Puzzles category has had a great time during the pandemic, new generations of puzzlers have been 'born' out of all the lockdowns around the world. In this episode of our Playing At Business podcast we talk to Amanda Chaplin of Gibsons Games to delve deeper into the world of puzzles and to discuss Gibsons' perennial classic games - their portfolio includes 2 of our all time favourite games - Di...

In this episode, Steve Reece shares 7 key learnings from his time working in the toy & seasonal department of a major retailer. This episode looks at the importance taking  a practical approach to  merchandising, takes a look inside a decision by a retail buyer to delist a brand, and outlines key timeless learnings from the world of retail. 

Peter Jenkinson is Mr. Toys, a man who is well known to those within the European as one of the most passionate advocates for toys & games, both on an individual product basis and for the industry overall. We discuss what is going on with the toy trade nowadays and get Peter's insights into major trends including sustainability, the Kiddult category and so much more!

The toy & game business is currently facing massive challenges with shipping. Shipments are delayed, and container shipping costs have soared to plainly ridiculous, unviable levels. In Episode 36 of the Playing At Business podcast we take a look at what's currently going on, how long this disruption is likely to last for & what toy & game companies can do about it.  

India is a fast rising toy manufacturing hub. In this episode of the Playing At Business podcast we interview the owner of a leading toy factory in India. There are cost savings to be made by switching some toy manufacturing from China to India, and in this episode we take a look at what drives those cost savings. We also find out about iTech Plast, the factory owned and operated by Chintan Parekh...

Toy & game business expert Steve Reece talks through brand licensing and how it works in the toy business. He outlines some of the key opportunities presented by licensing, as well as the risks both financial and otherwise. He also discusses the key to negotiating good licensing deals. For anyone interested in toys & brand licensing, this should be an informative episode of the Playing At Business...

In episode 33 of the Playing At Business podcast, Steve Reece lists out the top 20 things he has learnt from more than 2 decades working across regions, product categories and companies in the toy & game industry. Steve has worked for, with and on some of the most iconic toy & game brands out there - including Monopoly, Play-Doh, Disney & many more. On this episode Steve runs through his top 20 le...

David Ripley has extensive experience in the toy business, having worked as a Toy Buyer and in more senior commercial roles for major UK retailers. He has also worked for and with a number of online platforms. As such, David is very well placed to offer unique insights into a broad range of topics from how Toy buyers select products, to where Toy retail is today, we discuss major e-commerce platfo...

Dean Weller is the expert's expert when it comes to marketing and buying media for toys & games. In this broad ranging episode of the Playing At Business podcast, we talk about how marketing has changed over time, we run through the typical weight of a toy marketing campaign today looking at the percentage of spend typically spent on TV advertising vs digital advertising, we talk about Dean's own...

China has played a critical role in building the global toy business as a massive hub of highly efficient toy and game production. As OEM contract manufacturing i.e. making toys for other people gets harder and harder to make a profit from, so an increasing number of Chinese toy factories are looking to move up the value chain & move towards being full toy companies themselves. with their own deve...

TOYI is an up and coming Construction Toy brand. There story is compelling - the concept started as a University project for co-Founder Elif Atmaca. From there TOYI was successfully funded on Kickstarter, and is now selling successfully around the world. TOYI's story is interesting because they are a few years into the business, with some degree of success already achieved and for those planning t...

Augmented reality has been on the periphery of the toy business for some years now. Pokemon Go really brought the technology to the fore, leading to a major boost on Pokemon toy & card game sales.  In this episode of the Playing At Business podcast we talk to Wikitude's Paula Monteiro about A.R. and the potential for toys. We also discuss some of the fantastic A.R. implementations Wikitude have cr...

Adam Borton is a professional toy inventor and designer held within high regard in the toy business. Among other things he invented and licensed to Mattel the smash hit skill and action game 'Flushin' Frenzy'. In this podcast interview we talk about Adam's journey in the toy business, and about his new initiative: Toy And Game School, which aims to help those interested in how to design & make toy...

Rick Derr is a successful toy retailer with a strong social media profile, in fact, Rick puts a lot of his recent success down to his business heavily adopting social media marketing and advertising to drive traffic into store. We also discuss his winning strategy for bricks and mortar retail to work with Amazon not against them. This is a must listen episode.

India is the cause of much hype & speculation recently regarding the speed of growth of the toy manufacturing industry in India. With India being the only country in the world with a comparable population size and therefore potential workforce as China, and with low labour costs, India seems to be the primary beneficiary of the move of some degree of toy manufacturing out of China. In this podcast...

In Episode 24 of our Playing At Business podcast we interview Phil Albritton, founder and host of the Powerkid podcast, the original toy business podcast. Phil has been interviewing the cognoscenti of the toy industry for years now. Phil is also an innovation force in terms of the creative side of the toy business, his company Powerkid Design support toy companies on all elements of the product de...

Billy Langsworthy is Co-Founder of Mojo Nation, a company dedicated to celebrating the creativity of toy & game designers. Mojo Nation offers networking & pitch events for toy & game creators to get in front of toy companies who can license their products. We talk about toy & game inventing in this episode of our podcast. We also discuss Billy's work on their new venture: Brands Untapped, which is...

The Fantastic Factory create compelling board games. In this podcast we interview David Snow and Steve Evans, the brains behind the business.  'Disruptive' is an over used label these days, but there is no other way to describe the creativity lead approach of The Fantastic Factory. In a somewhat chaotic and occasionally hilarious interview we find out all about how these doyens of the board games...

In Episode 21 of the Playing At Business podcast we talk to the creator of smash hit toy product 'Rainbow Loom'. Choon Ng has done something which very few people in the toy business have - he created and implemented a product which started a massive global toy fad. At the peak of Rainbow Loom's success, it was as big as anything out there, selling massive quantities and spurning many multi-millio...

New toy businesses are the lifeblood of the industry. Today's start ups can become tomorrow's corporate behemoths. But there are a lot of hurdles and barriers in the way of success for those starting up a new toy business. In this latest podcast episode, toy industry expert Steve Reece runs through a few key areas which need to be well managed in order for new toy companies to grow profitably and...

In this wide ranging interview with toy manufacturing expert Michele Bovetti we discuss what's happening in toy manufacturing, we talk about how automation can decrease production costs and efficiencies saving costs for toy factories and their customers. We also talk about Michele's work in setting up numerous new factories in India & other countries. Michele's knowledge is deep and his experience...

Steve Starobinsky is a true Kid@Heart . His work as a futurist and toy trend expert has made him well known and well respected across the toy business. His work with Diverse Marketing (a leading U.S. sales agency) has given him something rare among toy trend observers - hard earned commercial grounding. In this wide ranging interview we cover anything from what are the top toy items and trends on...

Amazon is an ever more important part of the toy & games business with growing market share in many major markets, and with new markets rolling out around the world. Selling via and to Amazon though is not the same as selling to a traditional toy retailer. Amazon is as much a platform as it is a retailer, in short, it needs a bespoke approach to be successful versus many thousands of other product...

In this episode of PLAYING AT BUSINESS we interview world renowned and highly experienced board games creator Richard Heayes. Richard talks us through his journey in the business, and about how he came to create one of (maybe THE) biggest and best selling board games brand extensions of all time. Richard's insights and sparky creative mind shine through in this interview. A must listen for involve...