Tie-ins lure children to pester for toys

It is no surprise that every year there are always a few toys that take on the title of the most wanted toys for Christmas right up there with the Tickle Me Elmo’s of the past. However, the larger question outside of what these toys will be each year is how they end up to be the biggest thing since Furbys.

Are these top toys actually any cooler or better than other toys, or are they simply the products of the best marketing?

Marketing campaigns for toys start as soon as they hit the market, but become the largest in the two months leading up to Christmas when television ads during children’s programming really start to take off in an attempt to hook children rather than their parents.

Among the tools in a professional marketer’s bag of tricks are bright colours, brand names, cool characters, and fun music. Although the advertisers know that children are not heading out to the stores to buy their items, they are hoping that the children will want the toys badly enough to pester their parents until they get them.

Advertisers are now taking a slightly different turn while promoting their toys switching to integrated marketing campaigns that include television ads but focus heavily on tie-ins with comic books and films, so that children see the characters and hence the toys everywhere they go.

Of course, the intent is to make sure that the parents see them also so that it becomes unavoidable that the toys will get snatched up by frenzied consumers.

Finding Go Go Hamsters

Even though there are still six shopping weekends until Christmas rolls around, in order to get the best toys at the best prices, or sometimes even at all, bargain hunters know that now is the time to start looking for the hot items on their gift lists.

At the top of the list of many top Christmas toy lists this year are the ever so cuddly Go Go Hamsters, which allow parents to give their children talking and moving pets at a low cost (£9.99 at John Lewis) without worrying about the clean up and responsibility that comes with a pet.

However, even this early in the season many retailers are already out of stock of the hamsters and those that still have the Go Go Hamsters have inflated the price as high as £54.99. For these items internet shopping may be the best bet although when it comes to the internet sooner is better than later since shipping times must be accounted for.

Of course, for those who are thinking about heading online for Christmas gifts this year there are a few pointers that you need to adhere to since the shopping atmosphere and experience is vastly different than most people are use accustomed to.

The most important tip is perhaps to remember that every item that is ordered will come with shipping or delivery charges. If you are not careful, especially on auction sites with crafty third party sellers, the shopping charges can make the item higher priced than at the stores.

Woolies closure is great for small toy shops

This Christmas independent toy shops are seeing an increase in sales due to the closing of Woolworths at the beginning of this past year.

The closure of the large retailer has brought a surge of customers into local toy stores instead of other large retailers according to industry experts and toy retailers.

Principal lecturer of marketing from the University of Glamorgan Heather Skinner, stated that after Woolworths closed their doors customers were left looking for a more personal approach for shopping than supermarkets outside of their towns could provide.

Skinner stated that people are tired of going to retail shops that are replicas of each other and have decided to search out local options, which is why toy shops are benefiting.

According to Skinner, independent toy stores have seen their sales rise by approximately ten percent if they are located in an area where Woolworths used to be located. She added that the reason why is because these stores cater to those who want to buy unique presents such as a wooden jigsaw that only Woolworths would have carried.

Get online now to find Christmas toys

For those who want to get the best deal on the best selling toys of Christmas 2009 the key may lie in getting out next week in search of Transformers, Zhu Zhu Pets, Legos, and the rest of the top ten list.

Those who remember the rush to get Tickle Me Elmo or Furbies may not relish the thought of once again heading out to beat the masses to the favourite toys of the year, but at least you may have at least learned that waiting until the last minute to get them is not the way to go.

In fact, some of the best toys are already selling out before December even arrives, so shopping online may be the most effective way to search for the toys you need.

To aid you in your search, it may be useful to know what you are looking for while searching through the internet. To start with the hottest girl’s toy for 2009 is still a Barbie doll. The only difference is that this year the top Mattel Barbies will be fashioned after pop culture icons such as Hannah Montana, Twilight dolls, or the new Britney Spears action figure.

In another throw back, the hottest boy’s toys for Christmas will once again be trucks and dolls, but this time they will be in the shape of the new Transformers line as well as the new GI Joe Rise of Cobra action toy.

Finally, the best toy this Christmas and apparently the very hottest since it is already sold out in most places is the Zhu Zhu Pet Hamster. So if you are able to find a few of these monsters on the back of a virtual shelf you better grab them because you can trust the next place you will see them is for double the price on Ebay.