The loom band craze - consumer research report

Steve Reece www.KidsBrandInsight.com Steve’s Toy Industry Blog: www.stevenreece.com

Originally Hasbro’s in-house market researcher, followed by brand and commercial roles.

Conducted research with thousands of kids and parents and holds two market research qualifications.

Brands researched inc: Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, Transformers, Furby, Corgi, Scalextric, Play-Doh, My Little Pony, Man Utd, etc.

Now leading consumer research Consultancy working with toy, game & kids entertainment brands.

Playtesting

Brand positioning research

Advertising research

Content/audience/interactive testing

Following findings draw on direct consumer feedback AND broader kids entertainment brand knowledge.

The loom band craze has truly taken over the low priced, impulse driven toy market in the UK.

Kids across the country have become obsessed with the craze.

The size of the trend wave is HUGE – a slice of magic in action comparable with nearly any previous trend.

This research looks to understand the appeal of & purchase dynamic with loom bands.

1. Investigate play

motivations – why do kids

love loom bands?

2. Gauge parental

perspective.

• Testing via KBI’s proprietary KIDSPLAYTEST™ methodology.

• KIDSPLAYTEST ™ takes a collection of toy/game/content into a UK school for live testing with kids.

• KIDSPLAYTEST ™ runs once every school half term i.e. roughly once every 2 months.

• Qualitative discussion groups with children (mixed or single gender, ages from 5-11), for this project ages = 7yrs-11yrs.

• For this project, we also conducted additional In depth discussions with parents.

Steve Reece www.KidsBrandInsight.com Steve’s Toy Industry Blog: www.stevenreece.com

PARENTS

Over priced crap! Left lying round making

mess. Still buy if kids really

want/pester because cheaper than other alternatives!

KIDS

Cool & aspirational. Other kids love them =

social acceptance. Usually characters/brands. Highly collectable i.e.

impulse to buy more. Cheap enough that I can

successfully pester mum to buy for me!

Steve Reece www.KidsBrandInsight.com Steve’s Toy Industry Blog: www.stevenreece.com

PARENTS

Good value – get a lot of

bands/peace & quiet for your money!

Good activity for kids to do – tablet antidote!

Happy to buy in reasonable quantities.

Left everywhere/makes (easily tidied) mess.

KIDS

Cool & aspirational. Other kids love them =

social acceptance. Cheap enough that I can

successfully pester mum to buy for me!

NOT characters/brands. Less collectability/ongoing

purchase impulse.

Loom bands have something rare…

… i.e. low parental barriers to adoption/purchase, combined with mass socially endorsed kid appeal!

Engineers Not For Me

Boys (& some Girls)

Mostly boys

• Become obsessively involved in creating intricate designs via loom.

• Often the same kids who are into advanced Lego!

• Just don’t get it. • Individuals who

don’t just follow the pack to be cool.

Fashionistas

Girls & Boys

• Wearing & showing highly colourful output is what counts.

Herd

Boys & Girls

• “I Just like it.” • Often kids who wouldn’t

normally be into craft activities (esp. boys), but because loom bands are cool, it’s ok to follow the crowd.

MAJORITY MINORITY

Much recent controversy re. gender and toys.

Our research reveals boys & girls are under immense social, parental & institutional pressure to comply

with gender stereotypes…

…the loom band craze has given boys social permission/endorsement to play

with toys/play patterns that might normally be labelled as ‘for girls’.

Kids clearly love loom bands.

Vast majority of kids owned a large number of loom bands, and were very ‘up’ on how to create cool bracelets etc.

Many loom band fans are the type of children who wouldn’t normally be so motivated/excited by craft driven activity.

Massive social acceptability/conformity combined with low cost entry point = driving the trend.

Parents (usually the cynical adoption/purchase barrier for collectable/pocket money toys) were positively encouraging loom bands as a good activity to do/time away from tablets!

Brand awareness of any particular loom/band = virtually non-existent.

• KBI’s proprietary KIDSPLAYTEST™ methodology.

• KIDSPLAYTEST ™ takes a collection of toy/game/content into a UK school for live testing with kids.

• We take 3-4 separate products/TV shows/topics to test.

• Delivering confidential top level consumer research/testing at budget price. By testing multiple products/projects, we ensure valuable insight delivered at fraction of cost of dedicated project.

• KIDSPLAYTEST ™ runs once every school half term i.e. roughly once every 2 months.

• Open to all, but limited availability – strictly 1st come, 1st served.

• Qualitative discussion groups with children (mixed or single gender, ages from 5-11).

More information/to book your products for consumer testing:

www.KidsBrandInsight.com/KIDSPLAYTEST

www.KidsBrandInsight.com/contact-us/

STEVE’s TOY INDUSTRY BLOG:

www.stevenreece.com

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