I decided today to explore some of my local town's toyshops to examine how they market board games to the current market.
Toys 'R Us
(Unfortunately when I asked in store they didn't want me to take many photos of their displays so I only have a few).
The Norwich Toys 'R Us is probably the largest board game seller in the City, with a large wall -extending almost the width of the building, taken up with purely table top or board games. As I couldn’t take many photos I couldn’t analyse their particular placement pattern in store in terms of appealing to certain demographics. However that said, a few products stood out for me in terms of targeting particular age groups;
These two shots help depict how a modern board game such as Monopoly uses licensing and bold package design to entice its target audience. Given that SpongeBob is a children’s cartoon, it is safe to say that the above copy is targeted at children between 8 and 13. The designer has used the bold yellow of SpongeBob to increase the games shelf exposure and furthermore used a holographic material for the iris's to again add an aspect that will attract that age group. The bold colours and gimmick of the eyes will help a child pick out that game, amongst the hundred + on sale and proceed to attempt to get the parents to buy it. Also it works the other way around. Parents, knowing their child/children like SpongeBob, will notice the bold design and buy that board game variant over several others due to the licensing. (Also on close inspection of the photo, it is much bolder due to the positioning of it next to a plain monopoly edition)
The pink design is a spin on this logic, clearly aimed at young girls. This is due to the bold pink package colour and slightly more 'fancy' style of the writing and presentation. Of course this is a rather stereotypical view on the power and meaning of such a colour; however in today’s society colours will often power a young Childs choice (pink remaining the most popular with girls). Interestingly, both games were almost next to each other. This is likely to be down to the division by board game type on the isle, but also it could be due to when family’s (with multiple sexes in their offspring) go down the aisle, both children will want some form of variant of monopoly - most likely leading to the buying of one of the two (with the emphasis being on the SpongeBob edition as a noticeable 'exclusively to Toy's R Us' sign is clearly visible).
The pink design is a spin on this logic, clearly aimed at young girls. This is due to the bold pink package colour and slightly more 'fancy' style of the writing and presentation. Of course this is a rather stereotypical view on the power and meaning of such a colour; however in today’s society colours will often power a young Childs choice (pink remaining the most popular with girls). Interestingly, both games were almost next to each other. This is likely to be down to the division by board game type on the isle, but also it could be due to when family’s (with multiple sexes in their offspring) go down the aisle, both children will want some form of variant of monopoly - most likely leading to the buying of one of the two (with the emphasis being on the SpongeBob edition as a noticeable 'exclusively to Toy's R Us' sign is clearly visible).
While those images show how two versions of the same game can often fight it out on the same shelf or isle for the buy, one noticeable thing about Toys 'R Us is their large display unit upon entry. This has been a feature of the store since it opened and has featured many new children’s films or toys. Now that most board games shamelessly use licensing to keep interest, many 'Toy Story' related games are amongst those action figures. This means that the designer of the game packaging - knowing how the high interest will lead to special advertising spaces, can focus on retaining a template style for all their games.
I would have liked to take more photographs, but even when I couldn’t, there was much to be learnt about how much each game leans heavily on having a powerful and appealing box art. When the game may be one of hundreds or even a few, having a visually powerful image that can single it out from other more well-known (probably well licensed) would be crucial to its success.
Note to take from this: Package design is incredibly important and needs to be carefully thought about to target the demographic chosen next week. Stereotypes could be exploited to do so.
I would have liked to take more photographs, but even when I couldn’t, there was much to be learnt about how much each game leans heavily on having a powerful and appealing box art. When the game may be one of hundreds or even a few, having a visually powerful image that can single it out from other more well-known (probably well licensed) would be crucial to its success.
Note to take from this: Package design is incredibly important and needs to be carefully thought about to target the demographic chosen next week. Stereotypes could be exploited to do so.
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