The tagline, “A little wonder goes a long way,” taps into a powerful scientific truth: Play is much more than a time filler. It’s how children learn to solve problems, explore and affect their world, and discover their own interests and passions. With a simple tagline, we drove home this message to parents, teachers and other caregivers.

Recent research suggests (and every parent knows) that play is essential for a child’s healthy development. Experts consider play to be a child’s “work”—the primary way that children learn about themselves, others and their world. Play is so important that it has been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child.

The developmental benefits of play are well documented. Play helps kids develop communication skills, motor experiences, problem solving, abstract thinking, creativity, and more. Just as important are the emotional benefits and educational benefits from play. A study by Yale University professors lists these benefits:

The emotional benefits of play include:

• Having fun and enjoying life

• Reducing tension, relaxing and burning off energy

• Self-expression

The educational benefits of play include:

• Creating a meaningful context for kids to discover new concepts and skills

• Turning learning into something fun

• Encouraging kids to explore and discover, both in groups and individually

• Inspiring kids to experiment and take risks

• Offering chances for collaborative learning with adults and other kids

To learn more about the power of play and how it might apply to your children’s brand, check out this video from the Toy Industry Association:

If you liked this post, check out:

Cracking the Code: How and Why Moms Buy Online

5 Mom Truths

It may seem odd to invest so heavily outside traditional holiday seasons, but there’s a big business driver behind the strategy. According to NPD research, impulse purchases dropped from 29 percent in 2008 to 15 percent in 2010. A new shopping calendar gives retailers and manufacturers a powerful way to fight back. Seasonal marketing strategies drive impulse purchases, which tend to be higher profit items, and bring shoppers back to the store more often. Plus, seasonal products often claim prized end-cap real estate—the most productive part of a store aisle.

There are countless seasonal strategies, but here are a few especially worth noting:

Summer Movie Swag

It’s no accident that tween movies are introduced in the summer when kids are out of school and looking for things to do. Disney takes this strategic timing a step further, lining shelves at Target and other stores with movie-themed merchandise. The offerings include everything from toys to back-to-school items like backpacks. Movie studios want to maintain buzz (and sales) through the holiday season, which is the perfect time for the follow-up DVD release.

Back to College

Forget pencils and notebooks. Home goods retailers stand at the ready in late summer to outfit dorm rooms and first apartments, and tap into a demographic with more discretionary dollars. Bed Bath & Beyond creates a comprehensive checklist of “must-haves,” so consumers don’t forget that mini fridge or bedside lamp. Target provides free bus service to stores in key college markets, where the retailer throws shopping parties for students with free pizza and special savings passes. In large college towns like Ann Arbor, Michigan, back-to-college sales eclipse holiday spending.

Hot and Cold

Weather drives many successful seasonal marketing strategies, and Bed Bath & Beyond takes full advantage of changing temperatures by placing related merchandise in a soaring tower in the store’s entry. Dry air in the fall means it’s time for humidifiers, and of course, air conditioners are given prime position in spring. At Target, there’s an art form to making sure each store carries sunscreen just in time for the harsh rays in its territory. The retailer relies on intensive planning and weather analysis to store and move thousands of pallets of sunscreen.

Of course, no matter what mini season you focus on, the basics of carrying out a successful seasonal marketing strategy remain the same: advance planning, consumer insight and good communication with suppliers.

Have you seen any seasonal marketing strategies that impressed you lately? Please share in the comments.

If you liked this post, check out:

Cirque Takes Fifth Avenue: Window Display Hits and Misses

10 In-Store Truths

Target Halloween Case Study

Photography by: Ron Heflin / AP

Is the new category a good fit?

The boundaries issue is what we call “Fit.” Research attempts to see which categories consumers will accept for the brand (its stretch-ability). In our research, consumers accepted the concept of Duracell flashlights but not Duracell cameras. Consumers didn’t see Duracell as having photography expertise. These perceptions dictated that Duracell cameras would be at a competitive disadvantage. If a brand does not fit well in a category, it will likely perform poorly or fail.

Do you have any leverage?
A brand has leverage when the distinctive properties that it “owns” lead customers in the new category to perceive the brand extension as superior to existing competitive products. In studies conducted by my company, we have discovered that there is often an inverse relationship between fit and leverage. Brands that consumers will allow to be on a wide range of products have little leverage (own nothing special).

Consumers may think the Betty Crocker brand would be fine on many food product categories. But if that brand brings little strength other than recognition and a general good feeling, it may have little leverage. In contrast, the Philadelphia brand stands for cream cheese. This limits its extendibility but it means that any brand extension where cream cheese is an important ingredient will find the Philadelphia brand to be a strong competitor.

Successful brand extensions are not that easy to identify, develop and position. Just sticking a known name on a new product does not guarantee its success. If it were that easy, companies with national brands would not have so much difficulty launching big new product successes.

Having a great reputation for quality is not enough to launch a brand extension. Hundreds of brands have a great reputation. What is relevant is whether customers in the new target category find some reason to prefer the new brand extension to current offerings.

You can’t help but have fun shopping in a store that provides a more colorful take on the Club Monaco style, offered at H&M prices, with attentive, smiling service that you would expect from Trader Joe’s. Joe Fresh offers disposable clothing that you’ll want to keep. The assortment is fresh and modern, yet classically sophisticated.

Men can find corduroys and denim on sale for $19 (regular price $29), cashmere sweaters, a fabulous pair of grey sneakers, a four-pack of socks for $10, and even a tuxedo inspired suit. Joe Fresh designers exercise restraint, offering enough apparel options to dress a man from head to toe, but with a point of view rather than endless variety.  The men’s department sells two boots (one brown, one black), two casual shoes, and no men’s belts. Of course, in women’s wear there are a few statement pieces like an aqua coat and a sparkling skirt, but on the whole Joe Fresh stocks styles that aren’t so trendy you’ll have to burn them next season.

Approximately 20 percent of the store is dedicated to menswear, but as one salesman said “they cram a lot in there.” Men’s apparel is presented on multiple planes. A bench of corduroys, for example, juts out slightly from beneath a table with folded shirts. A full-time merchandiser oversees the men’s section, preventing a cluttered appearance by continually refolding and restacking garments. Racks feature multiple layers of a single outfit idea, with contrasting colors aiding visibility of different garments. You might see a green shirt flanked by blue jeans and a black jacket.

As with any mass-market retailer, there a few kinks to be worked out in this new concept store. On a recent visit, the fitting room attendant seemed more focused on loss prevention than service, forgetting customers’ names and ignoring requests for alternate sizes. The sleeves on some of the sweaters were strangely long, and the contrast stitching on the dark denim looked plain when compared to designer jeans.

The in-store marketing is reminiscent of United Colors of Benetton, using diverse fresh-faced models and focusing on one color (orange instead of Benetton’s signature green) to highlight accent walls. The orange plastic totes have a clear side panel, revealing to the world that your purchases are cool enough to wear for years.

Joe Fresh makes it easy for consumers to update their wardrobes on a budget. But will Americans love it as much as their neighbors to the North?

Check out this great video from Joe Fresh’s photo shoot:

1. Brands should not be extended unless they are well known, have high awareness and a good reputation among the new target market.

2. Brand extensions must be a logical fit with consumers’ expectations.

3. Brand extensions must have leverage in the new category. The brand name should be associated with a distinctive property that gives an edge in the new category. The test: Just knowing the brand name, customers in the new category should be able to identify a reason why they might prefer the brand extension to existing competition.

4. Brand extensions that could create confusion or a negative image for the parent should not be undertaken. An extension should create positive synergy for the parent brand. Ask consumers whether their opinion of the parent would be lowered if the new brand extension were available.

5. Brands that consumers use synonymously with a category (generic) should not be extended to other categories.

6. Brands should not be stretched to too many diverse categories, a move that risks dilution in the long run. There are cases, however, where a brand dominates a modest sized category and has no room to grow. In these instances, the upside potential of extending is worth the risk of dilution. A good example is Arm & Hammer.

7. Brand extensions must make business sense.

8. Every brand extension should open a category for the firm. The whole point of brand extension is to efficiently and successfully enter a new category.

9. A critical part of every brand extension research study is developing a brand plan. Short- and long-term possibilities should be identified upfront.

Its anchor tenant is Uniqlo, and the store’s tagline, “Made for All,” fosters a sense of inclusion, rejecting the condescension of designers who sell clothes a few blocks north. Neighboring stores include the Gap, Forever 21, Zara, and Diesel, where New Yorkers go for accessible denim.

The grand opening was stoked by a multi-million dollar celebrity filled ad campaign that blanketed the city’s public transit system and even included a countdown on the front page of the free daily paper am New York. There’s a great video recap of the campaign installation on Uniqlo’s website.

At 89,000 square feet, the store scoffs at the notion that space is hard to come by in Manhattan.  Agoraphobics can take a virtual tour by watching this video.

Uniqlo carries an endless array of basic items, such as v-neck tees and jeans, but it does not carry a single SKU that could be considered trendy.  The color assortment seems to be the only nod to fashion in the store, encouraging larger basket sizes for those who can’t choose just one.  It remains to be seen whether this basics-only strategy can drive repeat visits, or whether the customer base will fizzle once the media campaign wanes and everyone has already stocked up.

Uniqlo’s displays are reminiscent of Express, with side-by-side mannequins often sporting identical outfits in different colorways. The most interesting in-store innovation is the illustrated shelf signage for items that are similar but not the same.  For example, the complete assortment of women’s undershirts is easily identified by simple line drawings showing each garment’s shape. This approach eliminates the need to ask an associate or open a package, improving shop-ability and reducing shrinkage.

The Japanese model of uniformity extends to the checkout aisle, where associates have been trained to make eye contact, hold their left arm perfectly straight in front of them to signal for the next customer, and tilt the shopping bag toward the customer handle out.

This flagship store opened to long lines of frenzied guests who scooped up promotionally priced items, such as $9.99 jeans, with the help of a small army of personnel.  Affordable prices combined with innovative Japanese technology—everything from slim jackets filled with down to heat tech garments for cold weather—gave staple products must-have appeal during the first few days.

A few weeks later, however, the flashing lights, rotating mannequins, digital promotion displays, and overhead announcements failed to make the merchandise exciting during daylight hours, when there seemed to be more employees than customers. Overall, the fashions are truly underwhelming, so it will be up to the marketing department to drive traffic.

During her tenure, she focused on women and Hispanic stamp theme recommendations. Maruchi says that “Let’s Dance / Bailemos” was one of her favorite stamp collections. It was the first bilingual stamp offering from the U.S. Postal Service, and it celebrated the Merengue, Mambo, Cha-Cha-Cha and Salsa. The stamp for each dance movement was designed by four renowned Hispanic artists: Rafael López, Edel Rodriquez, José Ortega, and Sergio Baradat.

The CSAC was established in 1957 and reviews thousands of stamp subject proposals generated by the more than 50,000 public inquiries annually received by the Postal Service. They are also responsible for making stamp subject and design recommendations to the Postmaster General.

• Parham Santana donated boxes of toys and books just in time for the holidays to The New York Foundling, which has been a safe haven for children and a support system for families for more than 140 years. Check out some pictures on our Facebook page.

• Maruchi Santana, Chief Client Officer, heads up Brownbaggers, a homeless outreach program that provides lunches to New York City’s homeless. The program takes place once a month and begins at Maruchi’s parish in Brooklyn, St. Saviour. All the lunches are made and packaged at the church. Then the group heads out to different parts of the city to hand out lunch. Learn more and see pictures of the team on the group’s Facebook page.

• Jun Kapunan, Director of Studio Services, volunteers his time by helping non-profits with branding and design. He is a member of the Taproot Foundation, which matches volunteers with non-profits who are in need of brand strategy and design. Jun recently completed a project with Day One, a non-profit geared toward ending dating abuse among the young. Kapunan helped develop brand strategy and key messages.

• David Knapp, Account Director, collects donations at Broadway shows for Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS, a nonprofit that raises money to provide key services for people with AIDS and other serious health conditions. He also works in the kitchen at God’s Love We Deliver, the New York tri-state area’s leading provider of nutritious, individually tailored meals for those who are too sick to shop or cook for themselves.

For a short time, a company called Lotta Luv eased this pain for me. Back in 2005, it introduced a licensed product known as Cheetos lip balm. It allowed me to enjoy the taste of Cheetos 24/7 without facing the mess caused by actually eating those little orange snacks.

Unfortunately, appreciating Cheetos lip balm requires a highly refined palate, so it didn’t last long in the mass market. But this failure didn’t stop Lotta Luv from finding success with more than 200 other flavors of lip balm and lip gloss. With everything from Hershey flavored lip gloss to Nerds flavored lip balm, the company gives candy lovers the novel experience of wearing and eating their favorite sweets at the same time.

If only Dr. Strangebrand had such pedestrian taste buds. But he does have an eye for good brand extension strategy. These quirky products found success by following one of our 10 Ways to Extend Your Brand: Transfer a Component. Each lip balm or nail polish leverages a classic scent or flavor to take those well-known food brands into the beauty category. Now if only more people enjoyed the complex taste profile of Cheetos lip balm.

For the fiscal third quarter, Kohl’s experienced increases in diluted earnings per share, net income, and net sales. See the full story here.

The Food Network brand helped boost those numbers, racking up double-digit sales gains and earning a spot as one of Kohl’s top performing private label brands.

At Parham Santana, we helped Food Network extend its on-air brand into a line of cooking and entertaining products currently available at Kohl’s. Check out the case study here.