这家玩具商想把迪士尼拉下马

    说到小女孩的玩具，很多人会想到史努比、Hello Kitty、海绵宝宝，另外还有刚刚再次完成了重大跨越的玩具公司GoldieBlox。今年，GoldieBlox公司携它的“女孩动力纺车”花车，参加梅西百货（Macy’s）的感恩节大游行。当然，这款花车也有玩具版本。

    这家公司成立至今只有短短两年时间，但其创始人兼CEO——今年31岁的黛比•斯特林——已经用一种反常规的模式颠覆了玩具行业的传统生态。最初，该公司推出了面向女孩的以工程为主题的积木玩具，但是在玩具展会(Toy Fair)上并没有获得青睐。后来她在众筹网站Kickstarter上获得了285,000美元融资（她一开始只想募集150,000美元）用来进行第一轮生产。

    斯特林并没有采用传统的营销和公关政策，而是拍摄了一则很特别的视频广告【在这则广告中，该公司在没有获得授权的情况下使用了“野兽男孩”(Beastie Boys)的单曲《女孩》(Girls)，惹上了官司，但最终斯特林成功和解此案）。这则视频广告在网络上疯传——它既是这家创业公司捅下的一个娄子，也是一个非常聪明的营销策略。去年12月，GoldieBlox的头两款产品成为亚马逊网站(Amazon)最畅销的两款玩具。

    这段视频也帮助GoldieBlox赢得了一项由财捷集团（Intuit）资助的竞赛。作为奖品，该公司于今年1月获得了一个免费的“超级碗”广告时段，这对于一家初创公司来说实在是件大事，因为一个“超级碗”广告位通常需要花费400万美金。如今，在斯特林的一位导师——Build-A-Bear公司创始人玛克辛•克拉克的建议下，GoldieBlox的花车即将于明日驶过纽约曼哈顿第六大道。这辆花车由50个孩子推动，它完全是由GoldieBlox公司所生产的玩具零件构成的。

    斯特林毕业于斯坦福大学（Stanford University），她直到高中快毕业时才发现自己对于工艺方面的兴趣。她表示：“我们想成为那种孩子乞求拥有的玩具品牌。我的目标是成为一个多平台的个性品牌。”也就是像迪士尼（Disney）那样的品牌，但是和迪士尼并不完全一样：“迪士尼正在生产很多老套的玩具，我正在与其作斗争。”

    本月末，GoldieBlox将推出一段动画音乐视频，配乐是Metric乐队主唱艾米利•海恩斯的一首单曲，这段动画的主角Goldie正是GoldieBlox的“吉祥物”。除了那一头金发以外，Goldie简直就是斯特林本人的一个翻版。

    至于那辆花车，斯特林称，“它本身就是一个工程奇迹。”它的确很酷：花车上有一台泡泡机，有自行车式的动力装置，还有一个“人力循环驱动”装置，听起来倒是消化感恩节大餐的好法子。（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

    Snoopy, Hello Kitty, SpongeBob and… GoldieBlox. Yep, the startup toy company for girls has crossed another big-boy barrier. Tomorrow morning, it will introduce its “Girl-Powered Spinning Machine” float, also available in toy-form, at the 2014 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade M -0.58% .

    Debbie Sterling, 31, CEO and founder of the two-year old company, has managed in a few short years to upend the toy industry after launching her company in a very unconventional way. When she couldn’t get traction for her engineering-oriented construction sets for girls via the Toy Fair, she launched a Kickstarter campaign and raised $285,000 (she was seeking $150,000) for her first round of production.

    Instead of using traditional marketing and PR, Sterling developed a funky, empowering video (one which used the Beastie Boys song “Girls” without getting permission and ended up with a lawsuit, which she settled). The video went viral—and was a both a startup blunder and a brilliant marketing ploy; GoldieBlox’s first two products became Amazon’s top two selling toys last December.

    That video, in turn, helped GoldieBlox win a contest sponsored by Intuit INTU -0.45% for a free Super Bowl advertisement in January, a huge deal for the fledgling startup: a Super Bowl spot typically costs $4 million. And now, thanks to a suggestion from one of Sterling’s mentors, Build-A-Bear founder Maxine Clark, the float—powered by some 50 kids and constructed entirely of pieces from GoldieBlox toys—will travel down Manhattan’s 6th Avenue tomorrow.

    “We want to be the brand that kids are whining for,” says Sterling, a Stanford grad who didn’t discover her passion for engineering until late in high school. “My vision is for us to become a multi-platform character brand,” a la Disney DIS 0.29% , but not exactly: “Disney is propagating a lot of the stereotypes I am fighting against,” she adds.

    Later this month, GoldieBlox will release an animated music video, featuring a song from Emily Haines of the band Metric and starring Goldie, who, aside from the blond hair, is a pretty close replica of Sterling herself.

    And that float? Sterling calls it “an engineering marvel in itself.” It is pretty cool indeed: there’s a bubble maker, a bicycle-powered animation section, and a “people-powered rotation drive.” Sounds like a good way to work off that Thanksgiving meal!

    GoldieBlox founder Debbie Sterling test drives the company’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade float.