Global Trend Hunter & Toys/Tech Expert!
by REYNE RICE, CEO and founder, ToyTrends and ROBIN RASKIN, founder, Living in Digital Time
TOYBook pg 1 CES 2019 Feb 2019 issue
Here’s a sneak peak of some of the hottest November holiday toys! Do you have questions? Subscribe to my newsletter or send me an email!
Originally posted on LicensingMagazine.com
Since the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair is held in conjunction with the Bologna Digital Media Event and the Bologna Book Fair, the event wants to include two of the key fair focuses in one presentation, kids licensing and kids digital media.
The presentation aims to discover the new technologies and innovative products that are leading development of Digital Media Trends in Toys; see visual examples of the products that define this new connected play digital toybox; dive into research results of the latest Kids & Digital Study by Kidz Global to gain an understanding of this new market segment and kids preferences, attitudes and usage of digital tools and devices and see how trend-setting manufacturer Spin Master has tapped into this digital marketplace, instilling new technologies and progressive play options, for an innovative wave of interactive play experiences.
Reyne Rice, Global Trend Hunter and ToyTrends CEO, will start off the session with a visual cavalcade of digital toy trends and the products that define this space, showcasing global manufacturers across multiple categories of digital play. Reyne Rice is a toy industry trend expert/analyst, consultant, and media spokesperson, with 30 years experience marketing, researching and analyzing the toy industry, children’s technology, entertainment & licensing, and the youth market. Reyne has developed products and solutions for the media, consumers, trade associations, retailers, manufacturers, licensors and entertainment studios. Her career experience includes working as a marketing consultant, trend expert and strategic consultant for international toy trade associations, Mattel, NPD Research Group, Ogilvy & Mather, and other companies. As an international trade journalist for more than a decade, Reyne has articles published in over 60 countries, spanning the USA, Europe and Asia. She is a frequent Keynote speaker at USA and International conferences. Since 2003, Reyne has owned her own consultancy, ToyTrends.
Greetings Toy, Games & Toy Tech fans! Thanks for visiting my newly updated website!
So what’s new with me? I’m excited to bring you the latest news on what’s happening at Key ToyFairs and events in North America, and across the global world of Toys & Games, Kids & Family technology, Entertainment & Licensing. I am constantly on the lookout for new trends and products that affect kids and families with the “Trickle Down Effect” (What is happening now in adult products, will trickle down to kids products within the next 12 to 18 months, or before!) Kids toys have never been more fun, interactive or engaging.
I spent the New Year at the International CES in Las Vegas in January 2017, & previewed the latest technology products for kids and families. Live from the Kids at Play Summit, I reported live news and clips of hot new tech trends, worked with the other KAPI Jurors to judge and award the Best of the Best in KAPi (Kids at Play Innovations) Awards, and got to see, and play with the latest drones, robots, electronic pets, STEM to STEAM to STREAM products, and just be a big kid in the world of technology. Yup, I do LOVE my career!
Then, I flew over to Germany to play in the biggest playground in the world at the Spielwarenmesse 2017 ToyFair in Nuremberg, Germany, where 18 halls of toys, games, kids tech, baby and infant products, costumes and more were waiting to be discovered. (See my blog posts from that Fair, here on my blog page, as well as connections to articles where I was recently quoted). As their lead Global Trend Hunter and a part of the Trend Committee, I was busy reporting on the news, meeting with other journalists from around the world, providing daily Trend Gallery 2017 Speeches, providing journalist overviews at the new Tech2Play Pavillion and presenting then latest innovations in Future Emerging Tech, in the Toy Business Forum.
In mid-February, I returned to New York City for the American International ToyFair and the Digital Kids Conference for more trend sleuthing, digital toy trend presentations , media coverage and playing with games, toys and kids technology! Saw more amazing products, and met so many new manufacturers, in the Innovation Zones, Creative Factor areas and in the show floor exhibits.
Then back to Europe, in late February, to provide a Keynote speech at the Eastern European Kids Time Toy and Baby Fair in Kielce, Poland. This trade show focuses on sales to and between many European, Eastern European, Russian and other countries (17 counties in all, attended this year), My coverage will be appearing in April 2017 issues of the ToyBook and other international publications.
In early April, I travel to Bologna Italy, where I will be one of the KeyNote Speakers for the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair, which is running concurrently with the Digital Media Hall and the Bologna International Book Fair. There, I will be featuring a presentation on the latest Digital Trends in Toys and their impact on the kids toys & licensing business. I will share the stage with Kidz Global Research Kids & Digital study results and the power of Spin Master in new technology product arenas. More news to follow.
Living with Passion,
Reyne
Originally posted on TechCrunch.com
Other examples of AR-powered toys and games, many of them STEM-focused, that have hit the shelves this holiday season include: Hologrid: Monster Battle; Neobear Magnifier NEO; Virtual Explorer Antopia Adventure; AirHogs Connect Mission Drone; and Skylanders. And it hasn’t come with the kind of collateral damage or disruptive cost to traditional toymakers as we might have expected.
“The interesting part is that the products and manufacturers that succeed use technology to enhance the play value of the products they bring to market,” Reyne Rice, chief executive of ToyTrends told the BBC in September.
This new breed of digitized toys and games introduces a digital layer that creates additional value to the underlying business proposition for toymakers.
Originally posted on FinancialTimes.com
Technology that encourages children to get up and do rather than sit back and watch.
Christmas present: the new version of Furby comes with an app and a Bluetooth connection
“First, people were developing apps for children, now they are looking at ways to make things more concrete for a child, using physical things,” says Reyne Rice, a toy trends expert.
