Connecting Fun and Innovation

As President and CEO of Spiral Toys, Mark Meyers is absorbed in connected technology. For Mark 'the internet of things' is more than just a buzzword it's a description of a world some don't realize is already here. Spiral's Cloud Pets is just one example of the innovation the company is known for. While their products sit on the cutting edge of technology, fun is always the first priority. Mark's video game background and penchant for risk taking has served him well and. As Mark and Spiral Toys continue to develop best in class partnerships, that connected world creeps closer and closer.

6 Questions with Mark Meyers

1. How do you create a culture of innovation?

Our creative culture is one in which we take a lot of risks. We've gone out and created a very innovative platform, not knowing if the market is going to come in behind us. We take risks on things like Bluetooth Low Energy Devices (BTLE) or Near Field Communication devices (NFC) and we don't know if Apple or Android is going to change something. We throw out the decision making process based on risk. From a Business culture perspective, our goal is not to go out sell a product for a big margin. Our goal is to create products with partners at the highest level. For example with Cloud Pets there's 12 different companies involved at different stages helping to launch this product. Many companies have a very robust infrastructure when it comes to retail, advertising or manufacturing. So we just find the best in class for each project and bring them on as partners. But at the end of the day we own the customer after they purchase the toy, download the app and set up there account. That's our customer and our philosophy is to make a great to experience. We're a technology company that creates great innovative experiences in the interactive space.

2. Do you have specific rituals for re-setting your team to be creative? How does your team generate new ideas?

We have more projects now then we know what to do with. The thing that we do, that's very interesting, is that we have incubation projects with several organizations around the world. Specifically in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is an 'internet of things' mecca. However, when it's time to bring something to market or fine-tune a product, that's where we step in a little bit. Now, that's a fairly new to us and that pushes our team internally. It pushes us to think about new experiences. With just a few products on the market place now, the amount of people that come up to us with fresh and different ideas, keeps our minds going. As of right now the culture we've created really looks at any idea that comes to the table.

3. How do you identify trends? What resources does your team use to spot trends and consumer insights?

Something I believe in very dearly is the customer doesn't know what they want. You'll notice a lot of times there are companies that follow trends. Disney can do that. They have the brands, the have the money and they have the power. As a small company, you have to create experiences that are new to the world. We want to believe that our team can decide what consumers want in the future. We also keep our eye on adoption of technology in the mobile space. We're very keen to see how they penetrate and keep a close eye on what's popping up.

4. What is the biggest challenge you face when innovating?

The biggest challenge for us is keeping things moving forward at a good pace. We're not an all internal team, so what we do is leverage our amazing partnerships. However, keeping the communication moving is challenging when your not all in one company. I've been to Asia 6 times this year already. That takes a lot of work. We're coming up with new tricks. Putting more people in different places and making sure people are the owner of one project not multiple. We're scaling by finding where we're getting hung up and focusing there.

5. How do you find inspiration or ideas from adjacent industries? Or do you focus only on your category?

We do leverage our technology in other industries. Still consumer products and still putting smiles on everyone's faces. And, that's what we want to do. We want to make entertainment products that are connected to your mobile device. That doesn't necessarily mean that everything has to be a toy. We do also look at other categories to see if we can bring them into an entertainment space. We look at industries with particular consumption behaviours and similar technologies.

6. Looking to the future, how is Spiral Toys going to be a leader in innovation?

We're going to continue to incubate and build our engineering teams and remain innovative. What I'm focusing on now is 3 things. Number one, awesome innovation. Continuing to push that at the right pace. Number two, how to bring a product to market quickly. If I can bring a product to market faster than a bigger toy company can that's a huge competitive advantage. If anyone finds an innovation, more often than not, there are three more companies that have it. Then, it becomes about who can bring it out the right way. So we'll be focusing on building up that product readiness. The last thing is controlling the brand messaging. Building a brand that goes go to the audience we're trying to sell to. Those are three areas we want to continue to have success as a company.