Consultant gives juvenile industry suggestions for developing creativity

Bonita Springs, Fla.— Retailers and manufacturers can improve their sales to children with creative brainstorming, and guest speaker Craig Yoe gave attendees at the 5th annual Kids Today Conference ways to make that happen.

Yoe is the founder of Yoe! Studio, a creative design firm that has developed logos, advertising, toys, Web sites and more for corporations like Warner Bros., AOL Time Warner, Mattel, MTV and Microsoft. Before starting his own firm, Yoe was a toy inventor for Marvin Glass & Associates, the world's largest toy think tank; creative director and vice president/general manager of the Muppets; and creative director for Nickelodeon.

Developing creative ideas can seem like an innate gift or a big secret, but Yoe offered guidelines for enhancing creativity in designing retail products or stores.

One of the most important aspects is to keep the atmosphere fun and relaxed, he said. Employees at his firm dress casually, and Tuesday is "clothing optional day," he joked. For the conference, he dressed in an orange work shirt with "County Jail" written on the back.

When looking to brainstorm, he suggested the acronym M.Y. R.A.T. P.I.E.

The "M" stands for mixing and matching, he said. Think of interchangeable pieces or parts like the Mr. Potato Head toy. Taking this idea, he designed sunglasses for Mattel that kids can assemble from decorative parts.

For "Y" he said, "Kids love yucky." Back in the 1980s, he worked on Garbage Pail Kids trading cards, including a "Cracked Craig" card for himself. Marvin Glass & Associates developed plastic vomit, and a current example is the candy Gummy Worms.

"R" stands for retro; fashions, music and fads can come back after 20 years, he said, noting the return of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Strawberry Shortcake, as well as the Star Wars craze spurred by the new trilogy of movies.

"A" is for adult imitation, and Yoe noted that kids love to imitate adult activities — everything from playing house to making pretend calls on their Tickle Me Elmo cell phones.

"T" is for transparent. Children like to see how something works, explained Yoe. Rather than have them take toys apart, some toymakers have developed clear shells to see through. When he was a kid, Yoe had an ant farm. Later, Marvin Glass developed the Mr. Machine toy that showed its cogs and wheels. Some companies make clear telephones and videogame controllers. But Yoe also emphasized that this goes beyond the literal, into things like behind-the-scenes television shows, so attendees were encouraged to think about how they might incorporate this idea into their own products.

"P" stands for peewee — a technique used often by the juvenile industry, taking something big and simply making it smaller. Yoe traced the history of toy cars from 2 feet wide to Matchbox cars to micro machines the size of a quarter. The candy industry has also used this principle, making Reese's Pieces and M & M minis.

"I" is for improve the past, and Yoe said there is plenty of room to improve on already existing inventions. Old-style roller skates have been replaced by roller blades, and scooters have come back with faster, bouncier wheels.

"E" stands for enormous. Rather than always shrinking down, sometimes the opposite works. Kids used to buy a stick of gum, but now there's Bubble Tape with 6 feet of gum inside, said Yoe.

When holding brainstorming sessions, creative directors can keep the group loose, Yoe said, suggesting they try taking workers offsite from time to time. Be open to working with those outside the company, he said, because they can bring in new ideas and ways of looking at problems.

Craig Yoe got conference attendees thinking creatively

The audience got in on the action as Craig Yoe solicited Ken Goore of Sacramento-based Goore's and Peter Komroff of Sunrise, Fla.-based Baby Love to help demonstrate some of his inventions.