Infant edutainment titles ho-ho-hone seasonal selection

DSN Retailing Today, Oct 2, 2000 by Molly Prior

In the infant category, education sells, and video and DVD manufacturers that have adopted this marketing strategy are enjoying great success at retail. Forrester Research has put the educational and developmental toy market at $8.7 billion, or roughly 38% of the $23 billion overall toy market. Furthermore, the portion of the video and audio market that is dedicated to educational and developmental product is estimated to pull in $30 million in sales annually.

While retailers dub educational videos and DVDs perennials, several studios have produced holiday-themed versions to further drive sales in the fourth quarter. Almost all of the videos rely on music to teach young viewers. Several use music to give babies a jumpstart on foreign languages. Others use music to illustrate the basic scores of great composers such as Bach and Mozart. And still others use music to guide developing morals by relaying good old-fashion fables.

It's no secret young children surpass adults in their ability to learn languages. Bilingual Baby, a Small Fry Productions video series, helps children develop a second language when--the makers of the video believe--their ability is the highest, between birth and age 5. The first three volumes of the Baby Bilingual series (French, Spanish, and German) hit retail shelves in mid-July at an SRP of $16.95 each. The remaining nine volumes of the 12 volumes series (Italian, Japanese, Russian, English, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Greek and Hebrew) will be available at retail after Oct. 17. Each of the 45-minute videos, recommended for ages 1 to 5, feature live scenes of multi-ethnic children and introduce approximately 60 vocabulary words.

Small Fry Productions also introduced Brainy Baby, geared toward children 6 to 36 months, on home video Sept. 21 at an SRP of $15.95 for each volume, and $29.95 for the two-pack. The two volume series, Right Brain and Left Brain, use both computer animation and real babies to simulate both sides of the brain, the creative and analytical. The two-set video also features classical music from composers such Mozart, Bach and Vivaldi to further cognitive development and spacial reasoning.

The Baby School Company has also added language and music to its video library. In June, the company announced it would release "Baby Language School--Spanish" and "Baby Music School-- Classical." The language video relies on songs on subjects such as airplanes and animals, to teach Spanish. The music video hopes to teach babies the foundations of classical music with a solo instrument format. The video also features animals that dance in unison to the music. Both "Baby Language School" and "Baby Music School" come packaged with an audiocassette soundtrack version of the video.

Retailers such as Zany Brainy and Toys "R" Us named Artisan's The Baby Einstein as a popular educational series expected to be big this holiday. The "Baby Mozart" and "Baby Bach" videos, named 1998 video of the year by Child Magazine and Parenting Magazine, have recently moved to the mass retail market. "The series is doing really well. Some older titles have hit mass, which has hurt us a little bit," said Zany Brainy director of merchandising Bert Balliet, "But they continue to grow the series, and we continue to have success with it." Baby Einstein will release its newest title for holiday, "Baby Santa's Music Box" at a suggested price of $14.95. The 30-minute musical video featuring bright lights, festive sounds, and classical and traditional music, will hit retail shelves Nov. 1.

After listening to several ballads of Mozart, little ones may want to let loose to music written specifically for them. "Baby Songs Play Along Songs," an Anchor Bay Entertainment production, was created by singer/songwriter and educator Hap Palmer for children ages infant through 6 years old. The videos are designed with live-action scenes of children to foster creativity and movement in young viewers. The songs show kids how to make musical instruments and sounds using everyday, household items. Musical styles featured on the videos range from traditional ballads to rock and roll to Caribbean. "Play Along Songs," with two new tunes and earlier favorites, are available in slipsleeve and clamshell packaging, starting Sept. 12, at an SRP of $12.95.

Lyrick Studios, whose properties include Barney, brings more fun and dance to children with The Wiggles. Lyrick will extend the The Wiggles property with a collection of holiday tunes from Australia's top children's entertainers. "Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas," Done Under style, will be available at mass retail outlets on VHS Oct. 24 at a SRP of $14.95. A CD, $10.98 SBP, and audiocassettes, $6.98 SRP, will also be available. The Christmas video follows the launch of their first three U.S. videos, "Yummy, Yummy," "Let's Wiggle" and "Wake Up Jeff." The Wiggles will be joining the Barney's Musical Castle stage show, making stops along the East Coast this fall.

Several studios are taking the old fashion route to educating today's children: fables. Thomas the Tank Engine is an old pro at teaching children. The stories inspire kids with the phrase, "even little engines can do big things." Anchor Bay Entertainment has put together a holiday-themed collection based on Thomas. "Thomas' Christmas Wonderland & Other Thomas Adventures" contains six episodes starring Alec Baldwin, including two new stories and the new "Snow Song" music video. The 42-minute video, geared toward ages 2 to 6, hit retail Sept. 26 at an SRP of $12.98. On Oct. 31, Columbia TriStar Home Video's "Thomas an the Magic Railroad," starring Alec Baldwin and Peter Fonda, will debut on both VHS and DVD, retailing at $22.96 and $24.95 respectively. The DVD contains such extras as a previously cut scene and theatrical trailers.