Outside Innovation

What’s the Future for Build-A-Bear?

This week, I took a new look at Build-A-Bear Workshop, the retailer that specializes in letting kids create their own stuffed animals. I’ve been a big fan since I discovered Build-A-Bear and wrote about it in BRANDchild. But I was discomfited to discover that this mid-size retailer’s stock has been in a downward slide for a number of months, despite a stronger Q1 performance in 2010. Build-A-Bear makes an interesting case study. It’s also a great brand that could use your help and insights! What’s your prescription for Build-A-Bear? How could this amazing brand continue to grow, increase its sales and profits and attract more young customers? Please give us your ideas. We’ll pass them along to Build-A-Bear’s execs and reward the best ideas with a Build-A-Bear gift certificate!

Build-a-Bear Workshop’s Challenge
Can an Early Innovator in Personalized Retail Experience Recapture Its Momentum?
By Patricia B. Seybold, CEO and Sr. Consultant, Patricia Seybold Group, July 8, 2010

Tikatok: Kids Create and Publish Books

Smart Customization and Customer Co-Creation in Action

“I was sitting in a bookstore in the children’s book section with my kids, and I realized that all kids’ books are written and illustrated by adults,” said Sharon Kan.

Sharon is the CEO and co-founder of Lexington, MA-based Tikatok. She described her company at the MIT Smart Customization Seminar on November 10, 2008.

Sharon described Tikatok as “the first online creativity platform for kids.” Tikatok helps kids write, illustrate, publish, and print their own books.

Tikatok is a great example of smart customization in action. Each child’s book is custom-created and printed on demand. The mass-customization platform and ecosystem are designed to enable children to produce high-quality picture books that they and others can buy. The books sell for about $15 to $20 (depending on the number of pages) for soft cover or hard cover. Tikatok can produce these individual or short run books at a 40 percent margin. The published kids’ books are available for viewing and for sale on the Tikatok.com site.