Kelly Nelson

Webkinz World Invites In Third Party Advertising
June 4, 2008

Already one of the most brilliant concepts on the market, Ganz proves that there is always room for improvement with their hot product line of Webkinz pets.  Ganz will be launching third party ads within Webkinz World, an internet world for children and their virtual pets.  Not familiar with Webkinz?  You purchase a plush toy which comes with a secret code.  The secret code allows you to adopt a virtual form of the plush pet.  Your pet can build a house, play games, take quizzes, go to school, and more.

Within this virtual wonderland, Ganz currently runs advertisements for Webkinz products and accessories.  This not only gives Ganz a great advertising outlet but also keeps the children up to date on new capabilities within Webkinz World.  When Ganz came out with Webkinz clothing for the stuffed toys they promoted the new product by showing that your virtual pet would acquire the same outfit with the code included.  Every child with a Webkinz pet suddenly had to have an outfit for the plush toy.

With third party advertising, Ganz plans to allow companies to promote pre-approved, family-friendly products within the virtual realm.  Ganz has made clear in their advertising policy release that they will only be promoting products that are age-appropriate and that promote healthy lifestyles.  Ganz has a real opportunity to influence an entire generation with the type of advertising that they allow into Webkinz World.  (Third party ads can also be turned off by parents of Webkinz users.)  Being in the juvenille products industry, I will be interested to see who makes it into the arena of Webkinz World advertising.

Posted by Kelly Nelson on June 4, 2008 | Comments (0)