Ty's Clever Marketing Tactics: Official Website of Ms. Janie Daniels
Ty's Clever Marketing Tactics: Offical Website of Ms. Janie Daniels
Ty's
Clever Marketing Tactics
Beanie Babies are not the only phenomena in 1998.
Ty, Inc., of Oakbrook Ill. is the creator of the original
Beanie Babies. Ty's ingenious marketing strategies has company's
puzzled and collectors scrambling.
Ty Warner is a graduate of Kalamazoo College and worked for
Dakin, Inc until l980. Mr. Warner is a private person and values
his privacy.
Ty launched his Beanie Baby line in 1993. Ty's original idea
was to target children to allow them to purchase his product with
allowance money.
Ty success without advertising or promotions.
Advertising and promotions are forms of paid nonpersonal communication
and marketing of products. Advertising usually appears in newspapers,
magazines, flyers, radio and TV.
Ty's approach to reeling collectors in and keeping them hooked
has the big boys scratching their heads in disbelief.
Companies across the country spend billions of dollars to
advertise and promote their products.
Ty Warner's approach included The World Wide Web.
The Internet can be credited for the huge popularity of Beanie
Babies. Webpages in the thousands have been dedicated to Ty's
products. These pages include such information as follows:
Ty news, rumors, chats, trading boards, member's list, pictures,
contest, Beanie related articles and the feeling of being close
to other collectors. Beanies on the net have caused a whirlwind
effect, which at times appears to be spinning out of control.
Ty's success can also be contributed to the variety of Beanie
magazines, which are distributed across the county. Although these
magazines contain information on most bean bag lines, Beanie Babies
are the main focus.
Ty's pricing philosophy.
Ty has always promoted
their Beanie Babies for kids to purchase with allowance money.
Ty does not offer his products to the larger chains. Instead,
they sell and ship directly to the smaller gift shops.
Retailers across the county have desparately tried to establish
an account with Ty, which has been to no avail.
Ty retailers have been provided with guidelines which state
that ALL current Beanies should be priced somewhere around $5.00
Ty's philosophy has been well received from collectors. In
short, collectors credit Ty for their support of imposing guidelines,
which support their customers buying habits.
Today's consumer and collectors.
An important influence in marketing theory is the continuous
and rapid change in consumer interests and desires. Today's consumers
are more educated and sophisticated than those in past generations.
They are exposed to a wide variety of news, they read more and
attend schools longer. Their exposure to a vast array of media
sources prompt them to make purchasing decisions based upon their
wealth of knowledge and desires. With counterfeits surfacing and
Beanie prices soaring, consumer knowledge of the products is of
the utmost importance.
Beanie collectors have an advantage. A wealth of information
is supplied at www.ty.com, various websites
and magazines.
Feeding the frenzy.
Ty's ingenious marketing strategies include feeding the frenzy.
The latest ploy cleared retailer's shelves of old inventory. Collectors
purchased any Beanie found in hopes of it retiring.
Ty releases new Beanies into the line and simultaneously retires
older styles.
Ty's diary and website attracts collectors searching for hints
of a retirement or new releases. Ty's web directories and subpages
have probably received as many hits as the main page.
Ty's past retirements had become predictable, collectors expected
announcements at certain times of the year. In order to shake
up the market, Ty has released special announcements when retirements
were to be released, along with cliff hanging news.
Ty has cleverly learned how to tease and make collectors come
back for more. Tys most recent retirement offered intriguing clues
and excitement. Their webpage displayed a beach scene, which exhibited
images of retired Beanies. Collectors would click on the pictures,
which reveled the Beanies name. Some of the messages displayed
on the site were as follows; beach closed, gone fishing, out to
lunch, be back soon and patience is a virtue. The retirement had
webmasters setting alarm clocks for the wee morning hours in order
to capture the latest news.
Ty's September retirement was the longest in Ty history. The
Ty site was hammered with collectors anticipating new releases.
The retirement lasted a total of 15 days and the party began on
day sixteen.
Finally the grand finale had arrived. Ty masterminded an on-line
party. The party included balloons, gifts and the introduction
of new Beanies, Attics and a Pillow Pal.
Marketing on the edge.
In order for Ty to survive, they need to produce products
faster than their opponents produce and maintain a competitive
edge.
Today's market is very competitive and technology moves faster
than the speed of light. Competition has sharply intensified,
as the number of firms produce similar products.
Marketing strategies are what makes and breaks companies.
Today's collectible could be tomorrow's has been.
The marketing profession is more conducive to the success
of a firm than the image that it conveys of itself to the public.
Ty's image can be portrayed as a charitable and kid friendly organization.
Their marketing tactics can be labeled short of ingenious. In
short, they have it all!
Most company's have limited resources to obtain a perfect
balance. Balance determines profitability and customer base.
Ty's marketing strategies offer balance and help to ensure
continued success for their products.
A large portion of this balance includes the enormous amount
of publicity, which keeps their product alive and also sparks
interest in new collectors.
In closing I would like to add the following:
I feel that Ty has successfully balanced company profits,
consumer satisfaction and public interest in their marketing policies.
"A balance which many companies strive for but never achieve."
Article written by:
Janie Daniels - commonly known as Ms. Janie
October 1, l998
Ty's
Clever Marketing Tactics