Just sometime last week, I came across a viral video on facebook that showcased a stereotype-breaking video advertisement for launching a new product to a new target segment. The video showcased young girls playing with “toys for future inventors” 2 which are essentially engineering toys for girls, completely breaking into the male dominated profession of engineering. Take a look at the video below.
According to Marketing Daily, the video has “gathered almost 7 million views [and] it is a ‘hot topic of conversation on social media’”.1 Due to the hype of the video, Goldie Blox has qualified to be one of the four finalists for a Super Bowl commercial.
As we learned in marketing class, this is an example of the first mover advantage. By selling engineering toys to girls (a market that has not been tapped in before), Goldie may have a chance to earn increasing profits. At the same time, if consumers-namely the young girls above the age of 8- decide that they do not like the product, or lose interest in the products, Goldieblox will be incurring a huge loss in profit as they have already incurred a sunk cost in research and development. The products themselves seem very interesting and the video is indeed captivating as it shows a fresh perspective. Let’s hope that the product does works out to “bridge the gap of gender disparity in engineering”3 which is the purpose of the product, as Sterling, the founder of Goldie Blox stated in publications posted.
Sources:
3 http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/20/living/goldieblox-ad-toys-girls/