There’s a saying that the most powerful mechanism we have to motivate, to inspire, and to educate is storytelling. And the purpose of storytelling is not to tell you how to think, but to give the listener the tools to draw conclusions, which is why storytelling has been such a useful tool for parents, teachers, and educators of all kinds for centuries. Both adults and kids can understand and learn from stories, and the old school method is making a comeback. Meet the Toniebox, a loveable little storytime friend that’s giving kids an alternative to screens by putting the power of storytelling back into their hands.

“If you’re a child trying to make sense of the world and trying to learn and grow, what better way to do that than to put hundreds of stories in front of them, to see how other people came across obstacles and had to use creative thinking to overcome challenges. From that sense, it’s very empowering and it’s very immersive in helping a child grow their imagination.”

Drew Vernon is the U.S. Marketing Director for Tonies, an audio storytelling box that introduces children to the wonders of narrative long before they start reading. On this episode of Marketing Trends, Drew dives into his marketing strategy for bringing an internationally-loved product stateside and why marketing storytelling is a winning strategy. Plus, he discusses the importance of having reliable characters and intellectual property that customers can connect with,, and he details how to  conquer the biggest obstacle right out of the gates when you convince the customer to buy the product and keep coming back for more.

Main Takeaways

• Familiarity Brings Success: When launching a new product domestically, it’s helpful to have familiar IPs that your customer can relate and connect to. By having characters and artwork that is familiar, it helps ease the mental lift of the consumer and helps them draw conclusions to what their overall experience will be with the product.
• Adding Value: By creating an ecosystem where the biggest obstacle in the consumer’s journey is the initial buy of the box, Tonies was able to solve for that and then create a lasting value proposition that allows users to continuously add to their existing ecosystem for a relatively low value
• Mixing it Up: One of the differences between marketing the Tonies box is the ability to showcase it to consumers not just as a toy, but also as a tool for delivering various forms of content. By diversifying the product’s value, Tonies is able to market to difference sectors, including consumers and the education system.

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