Biz Buzz (Eco-Friendly Toys)
More often than not you yearn for a time machine to revisit your childhood as it is said to be the most carefree and exceedingly beautiful stage of human life. Rewinding your memory, you flip back the pages from your diary into a cheery past, recalling those playful innocent days of happy ignorance and diving deep into the ocean of nostalgia. Toys would be a prized possession in infancy and every kid’s cupboard has a unique toy story to tell.
Remember those days of clay modelling when you wetted and stained your hands with water and soft mud to shape up anything and everything that caught your fancy? Or fondly counted stones or built blocks to learn basic mathematics and improve your cognitive skills? Or else cooked under a tree in your garden with miniature kitchenware along with your friends over a picnic; drew on the spotless painted walls with crayons or doodled with chalks on the black slates, doors and windows; built sand castles on sea beaches before the same crumbled under frothy billowing waves heavily lashing the shores and also, listened to the rollicking bedtime stories in rapt attention narrated by your grandma before your eyelids closed for a goodnight’s sleep! Bet you still haven’t forgotten those lovely, spirited days of your formative years. Eh, right?
ESG Efforts
Regarding environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspect of corporate culture, the very relevant question that comes to our mind is whether the toymaking industry can play a responsible role here.
Dr. Shweta Gupta, director at Little Llama, a reputed toymaker with a creditable line of sustainable products, acknowledges the fact that “the toymaking industry does have the accountability to promote environmental sustainability and social welfare as part of the corporates’ ESG framework. This is more pertinent in the wake of alarming climate change, global warming and environmental pollution hazards.”
Growth manager Vasanth Tamilselvan of Ariro Toys, another leading toy brand of eco-friendly kids merchandise, reveals that “90% of toys in this world not only constitutes plastic but also contains harmful chemicals like lead, cadmium etc., which may adversely impact a child as well as its surrounding environment.” The awareness is steadily increasing via social media and other digital platforms. Plus, the current-day millennial parents are cognizant of this harsh reality and are resorting to natural resources for the well-being of their progeny. “With the fall in consumption of plastic and other toxic agents affecting the environment, the toy makers will automatically realise the implication of the situation and hunt for healthier options to fashion their products and services,” he deduces.
The toy industry can significantly contribute to environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives, admits Dr. Ahamed Shafi E P, co-founder and R&D head of B4Brain Labs, which deals in developmental toys to nurture both the physical and mental growth of babies. “By using sustainable materials, ensuring ethical labour practices and producing safe, eco-friendly products, the toy industry can align with global sustainability objectives and consumer preferences,” he asserts.
Isha Gopal, founder of Bloon Toys, firmly believes that “every company that is floated now must be environmentally sensitive. This is not a choice or a trend but an absolute necessity. As part of the industry that’s witnessing a spurt in economic prosperity in recent times, we do have the golden opportunity to execute our goals and be the change we want to see.”
Domestic Versus International
As a doting parent, you must have splurged on toys for your little ones who are your bundles of joy! How many times, have you seen your daughter cuddling her Barbie and Teddy Bear or your son playing with toy guns during festivities amid all fun and frolic or practising action scenes with the Masters of the Universe warriors and fighters like He-Man or G.I. Joe’s and Hot Toys’ characters or Hot Wheels’ scale model assembly of toy cars, buses, trucks, ATVs (all-terrain vehicles) and other automobiles. All these are from the reputed stables of Mattel (also known as Leo Toys through the erstwhile partnership with Blow Past, Inc in India), Hasbro, Funskool (India) Ltd. (a joint venture between MRF Ltd. and Hasbro) and Disney’s licensed line of infant and preschool toys including the iconic figures of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy (dog), et al.
With the advent of globalization and foreign direct investment, many overseas toy behemoths broke into the Indian toy domain with their cool and tony line-up. In the post-pandemic era, can eco-friendly collectibles give a tough competition to the internationally popular merchandise?
Dr. Gupta assures that “post Covid, there emerges a strong potential for eco-friendly items to gather more steam as consumers are increasingly prioritising simple sustainable sources from the soil produce.”
Tamilselvan argues that “today’s consumers are much smarter and more ecologically savvy with their research. As long as they draw satisfactory answers from a brand to address their vital queries and get a world-class play experience not compromising on the value of their purchased products, they will be game to support and embrace more environmentally-suitable items of that label.”
The post-coronavirus period saw a rising preference for sustainable solutions. “Eco-friendly toys could increasingly contend with international toy giants as consumer values shift towards organic quality and environmental responsibility,” reports Dr. Shafi.
Think & Play Green
There’s also a specific market for soft toys with a set of target buyers. Will the green toys have an edge over this already famous segment of stuffed toys, which has an established market monopoly?
Toy manufacturers think that green toys can have a significant advantage over the soft toy segment, offering an eco-conscious alternative to the already established market. “Eco-friendly toys with their unique and safe value proposition could certainly challenge the fixed market of stuffed and plush toys by appealing to the more environmentally-conscious consumers and caregivers,” expounds Dr. Shafi.
Physical or Virtual Engagement?
Today’s agile and brainy kids may also check out exciting games on their mobile apps, surf the Internet for video games, solve fun puzzles and do cerebral exercises to keep their young susceptible minds busy and preoccupied with a string of amusing recreational activities. Could then these physical organic objects be able to divert attention of the smartie smallies from the virtual space to the real world and eat into the cyber business?
“While it is true that digital entertainment is visibly pervasive and blurs boundaries on a global plane, a rack of high-grade tangible, organic toys can obviously deliver a valuable and enriching alternative avenue to children,” opines Dr. Gupta.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) directive, there is no mention of screen time for infants in their first couple of years, which follows only a daily one-hour quota thereafter. “It’s important to note that 80% of brain development happens during this period and the parents of babies and toddlers are well aware of this growth. Therefore, they immerse their children in a positive atmosphere at home but as soon as the kids cross the initial five years of their formative stage, these tactile objects tend to lose their charm and appear less thrilling and attractive to grab attention unlike any popular sport or an electronic medium of engagement,” rues Tamilselvan.
Education Segment
A mother closely interacts and bonds with her teeny-weeny baby to guide and teach him/her about a gamut of natural and organic products. Teether and rattle toys for infants, pretend play toy sets of professional fields and practical chores plus the Pikler Triangle (a climbing structure developed by Hungarian pediatrician Emmi Pikler that is so integral to a child-centric, hands-on approach to education), which throws challenges of body balance, tests quick wit and promptness of positioning, and tickles a sense of adventure amid a group of kids, are a few such instances to reckon with.
“It is important to spend quality time with your tiny superheroes — Batman, Superman and Spiderman. The sooner you begin indoctrinating the essential life skills and lessons in your little wonders while they start going to school, the better equipped will they be to face the practical life for the remainder of their lives,” advises a psychologist.
The primary tiers of education models and philosophies comprising crèches, playschools, nurseries and kindergartens for toddlers determine significant takers for eco-friendly toys and learning tools. Does this denote a principal market segment?
Inculcating in kids a natural thirst for knowledge, encouraging them about hands-on learning methods, developing their practical skills, pushing them to indulge in collaborative games and self-steered activity, stressing on insightful education, enabling them to develop their unique capabilities to the optimum, ingraining cultural qualities through art and crafts material …educational concepts and theories based on Montessori, Waldorf and Reggio Emilia models basically lay an emphasis on all these factors.
Toy companies cannot agree more that eco-friendly equipment is well-received in educational settings, especially inside preparatory schools. “We have so far catered to 250 plus preschools. The adoption rate has been much faster than expected,” inputs Tamilselvan.
“Educational institutions, such as playschools, daycares, créches, kindergartens and nurseries are the chief customers of eco-friendly toys, broadly underlining the importance of secure and sustainable involvement in early education,” Dr. Shafi vouches for.
The preschool and primary levels of education follow such experimental modes of teaching and communication, spurring holistic growth. A meaningful box of colourful playthings and equipment like STEM kits (a box of tools and activities designed specifically to teach scientific inquiry and the nature of science), coding games, jigsaw and calculating puzzles plus language-learning tools should enhance their motor skills, creativity, reasoning power, skillsets, problem-solving abilities and the critical assessment capacity.
Story Books in Hand or E-Books Before Eyes?
The Karadi Tales with eye-grabbing pictures and audiobooks, tales of Amar Chitra Katha comic series (a compilation of Indian history, mythology and literature) and the stories from Panchatantra are repurposed as e-books like Kindle to lend a unique experience to a kid’s learning process.
With the human focus being laid more on online learning in place of physical texts (with the luxury to touch and feel) and literary books in the present-day world, will then the hardbound and paperback story books have to be discarded and disposed of for good? Consequently, is the boom in e-commerce and internet education markets weaning away a chunk of consumers (comprising readers and learners) from the bricks-and-mortar stores to digital shops?
“The kids of many Silicon Valley stalwarts, namely Steve Jobs and Elon Musk to name a few, go to schools which completely disallow technology till later grades. As people discover the impacts of screen time on child mental health and the importance and utility of regular ‘play time’, there seems a resurgence of simpler human play. I’m not saying that there is no place for technology but a perfect balance should be maintained. Given a choice, I think the kids will accept both alternatives. The same can be said for bookstores and digital libraries,” argues Gopal.
Rivalry Rife With Popular Media Merchandise
World-wide popular animation, action sequences with VFX or special effects and fictional children’s movies unveil a range of film-related merchandise for kids and host comic con (comic book convention for die-hard fans) events as part of their aggressive publicity campaigns. Can these spark competition against a simple line of eco-friendly stuff?
“On the contrary, the plain and eco-friendly nature of our product menus can create that distinguishing flavour for us, offering a unique dimension amid a swarm of merchandise associated with popular media. Additionally, our artisans’ craftsmanship in each toy meets the optimal standards. The fabric used is of premium quality, reflecting our commitment to excellence,” Dr. Gupta sounds promising.
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