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Wild Planet toy company is a company created by Daniel Grossman, which is making socially-responsible toys for children with a purpose of sparking their imagination and creativity. The company is currently a subsidiary of Spinmaster, which it was sold to in 2012 (Gunther, 2013). Before the purchase, Wild Planet brought 60 million in yearly revenues (Gunther, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to review Wild Planet as a case study.
The company has a prominent mission meant to explain its purpose and attract potential moral investors. It goes as follows (Grousbeck & Spitzer, 2005, p. 1):
Wild Planet makes innovative products that appeal to both parents and kids. Our products spark the imagination, promote creativity, and provide positive experiences without relying on violence. We strive to treat both boys and girls with respect and incorporate their input in everything we do.
The corporate environment at Wild Planet is collaborative, innovative, and with an emphasis on fun. The company actively seeks input from its employees and has mechanisms in place for creative feedback from everyone in the team (Grousbeck & Spitzer, 2005). This results in many ingenious ideas that actively contribute to the companys success. The primary driver for Wild Planets growth since the founding was its unorthodox approach to entertainment coupled with clever marketing and a socially-responsible agenda. This was done prior to corporate social responsibility becoming popular, and was seen as genuine (Grousbeck & Spitzer, 2005). The company owners impeccable credentials assisted in this effort.
Daniel Grossmans primary reason for starting Wild Planet was, among other things, to help raise children and help them expand their creativity while also learning about the world and its many issues (Neves, 2010). He viewed toys as a vehicle to facilitate these goals, and thought that one childs happiness should not come at the expense of the others. Socially-responsible toy production meant that both children and parents could enjoy these products without guilt. Daniel Grossmans example as a small business start-up is inspiring, but ultimately difficult to replicate. Wild Planet is an extremely innovative company and it achieved the effect it had due to being ahead of its time in terms of social responsibility and organizational behaviour (Neves, 2010).
Not every small business can achieve that. Therefore, I believe that while Daniel Grossmans toy company was a remarkable achievement on its own, the lessons learned from it could be applied only to start-ups pursuing a Blue Ocean strategy in a typically Red Ocean environment.
Some of the traits found in successful entrepreneurs include innovativeness, understanding of ones strengths and weaknesses, and being a consumer as well as an entrepreneur. Daniel Grossman applied all three to Wild Planet he created toys that could be used unorthodox, he had experience in surveillance and espionage, and he knew that children love spy movies and active game play (Neves, 2010). Thus, he managed to claim a niche for these toys, which supported his company even during times of crisis.
Wild Planet is not a franchise and does not follow a business model similar to Toys R Us. The reasons for that are two-fold: First, it is not big enough to afford branching out and selling ones brand name to other entrepreneurs, and second the products it offers are niche (Neves, 2010). Franchising would only dissolve the uniqueness of the brand, as it is much harder to control the creative process of different facilities. Daniel Grossman obtained funding for Wild Planet during the start-up phase by focusing on the spy-gear and activity toys niche while offering a pitch that involved low risks for investors (Neves, 2010). The company did not intend to grow beyond its limitations, thus reducing the risks associated with growth in a hypercompetitive environment. Overall, Wild Planet is a story of success in an environment that has already been divided by larger players, and gives inspiration to future start-ups.
References
Grousbeck, H., & Spitzer, J. (2005). Wild Planet. Web.
Gunther, M. (2013). Wild Planet toys founder Danny Grossman starts energy bar company. The Guardian. Web.
Neves, A. (2010). When you cant go big, go niche. Web.
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