Just exactly how important is the product name in an advertising and marketing campaign? It’s not always easy to tell, but based on one popular product it seems to be a major influence on sales.
If you go to the Amazon “Toys and Games” category and check out the bestseller list, you will find that eight of the top ten places are occupied by Zhu Zhu Pets. These are basically motorized, robotic hamsters which use artificial intelligence combined with sensors to interact with each other, with the children who are playing with them and with their external stimuli.
As well as the hamsters themselves, there is a range of different environments and toys which children can set up in a variety of arrangements for their robot pets. It’s not hard to see why kids in the target age group – 4 to 10 years old- are going ape for these toys. They are cute, small and furry. They make cute little noises. They interact with external stimuli and their hamster environments – tube, tracks and toys, can be pulled apart, “redesigned” and then reconfigured in a variety of combinations.
From the perspective of the doting parents there are plenty of plus points as well. They don’t require to be fed and watered, they don’t poop – so there’s no cage cleaning required – and they don’t shuffle off to hamster heaven, leaving the parents to explain that Fluffy has gone to a better place.
So it’s no surprise that, although they launched only at the back end of August, the Zhu Zhu Pets are a such huge success with both parents and children. They may even be this year’s top selling Xmas toy if sales continue as they are.
On the other hand, if you take a look at the UK version of Amazon and check out the bestseller list in the Toys and Games category, you won’t see the Zhu Zhu hamsters anywhere in the top hundred. Regardless, despite the fact that they are quite a bit cheaper to buy in the UK, the Zhu Zhu/Go Go pets don’t make a blip on the radar.
Cepia, the company who market the Zhu Zhu Pets in America, have done a fantastic job of rebranding and promoting these toys. After a trial launch in Phoenix, these toys have been flying off the shelves since their national launch in August. Prices are beginning to rise as demand seems to be outstripping supply. In fact, as long as stocks hold out, it really is hard to imagine what toy might displace these for the important Christmas number 1 slot.
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