Qualitative research report into consumer drivers of the loom band craze in the UK toy market.

1. Steve Reece
www.KidsBrandInsight.com
Steve’sToy Industry Blog: www.stevenreece.com

2.  Originally Hasbro’s in-house market researcher, followed by brand
and commercial roles.
 Conducted research with thousands of kids and parents and holds
two market research qualifications.
 Brands researched inc: Monopoly,Trivial Pursuit,Transformers, Furby,
Corgi, Scalextric, Play-Doh, My Little Pony, Man Utd, etc.
 Now leading consumer research Consultancy working with toy, game
& kids entertainment brands.
 Playtesting
 Brand positioning research
 Advertising research
 Content/audience/interactive testing
 Following findings draw on direct consumer feedbackAND broader
kids entertainment brand knowledge.

3.  The loom band craze has truly taken over the low
priced, impulse driven toy market in the UK.
 Kids across the country have become obsessed with
the craze.
 The size of the trend wave is HUGE – a slice of magic
in action comparable with nearly any previous trend.
 This research looks to understand the appeal of &
purchase dynamic with loom bands.

4. 1. Investigate
play
motivations –
why do kids
love loom
bands?
2. Gauge
parental
perspective.

5. • Testing via KBI’s proprietary KIDSPLAYTEST™
methodology.
• KIDSPLAYTEST ™ takes a collection of
toy/game/content into a UK school for live testing with
kids.
• KIDSPLAYTEST ™ runs once every school half term i.e.
roughly once every 2 months.
• Qualitative discussion groups with children (mixed or
single gender, ages from 5-11), for this project ages =
7yrs-11yrs.
• For this project, we also conducted additional In depth
discussions with parents.

6. Steve Reece
www.KidsBrandInsight.com
Steve’sToy Industry Blog: www.stevenreece.com

7. PARENTS
 Over priced crap!
 Left lying round making
mess.
 Still buy if kids really
want/pester because
cheaper than other
alternatives!
KIDS
 Cool & aspirational.
 Other kids love them =
social acceptance.
 Usually characters/brands.
 Highly collectable i.e.
impulse to buy more.
 Cheap enough that I can
successfully pester mum
to buy for me!

8. Steve Reece
www.KidsBrandInsight.com
Steve’sToy Industry Blog: www.stevenreece.com

9. PARENTS
 Good value – get a lot of
bands/peace & quiet for
your money!
 Good activity for kids to
do – tablet antidote!
 Happy to buy in
reasonable quantities.
 Left everywhere/makes
(easily tidied) mess.
KIDS
 Cool & aspirational.
 Other kids love them =
social acceptance.
 Cheap enough that I can
successfully pester mum to
buy for me!
 NOT characters/brands.
 Less collectability/ongoing
purchase impulse.

10. Loom bands have something rare…
… i.e. low parental barriers to
adoption/purchase, combined with
mass socially endorsed kid appeal!

11. Engineers Not For Me
Boys (&
some
Girls)
Mostly
boys
• Become obsessively
involved in creating
intricate designs via
loom.
• Often the same kids
who are into
advanced Lego!
• Just don’t get it.
• Individuals who
don’t just follow
the pack to be
cool.
Fashionistas
Girls &
Boys
• Wearing & showing
highly colourful
output is what
counts.
Herd
Boys &
Girls
• “I Just like it.”
• Often kids who wouldn’t
normally be into craft
activities (esp. boys), but
because loom bands are
cool, it’s ok to follow the
crowd.
MAJORITY MINORITY

12. Much recent controversy re. gender and toys.
Our research reveals boys & girls are under immense
social, parental & institutional pressure to comply
with gender stereotypes…
…the loom band craze has given boys
social permission/endorsement to play
with toys/play patterns that might
normally be labelled as ‘for girls’.

13.  Kids clearly love loom bands.
 Vast majority of kids owned a large number of loom bands,
and were very ‘up’ on how to create cool bracelets etc.
 Many loom band fans are the type of children who wouldn’t
normally be so motivated/excited by craft driven activity.
 Massive social acceptability/conformity combined with low
cost entry point = driving the trend.
 Parents (usually the cynical adoption/purchase barrier for
collectable/pocket money toys) were positively encouraging
loom bands as a good activity to do/time away from tablets!
 Brand awareness of any particular loom/band = virtually non-
existent.

14. • KBI’s proprietary KIDSPLAYTEST™ methodology.
• KIDSPLAYTEST ™ takes a collection of toy/game/content into a UK school for live
testing with kids.
• We take 3-4 separate products/TV shows/topics to test.
• Delivering confidential top level consumer research/testing at budget price. By testing
multiple products/projects, we ensure valuable insight delivered at fraction of cost of
dedicated project.
• KIDSPLAYTEST ™ runs once every school half term i.e. roughly once every 2 months.
• Open to all, but limited availability – strictly 1st come, 1st served.
• Qualitative discussion groups with children (mixed or single gender, ages from 5-11).

15. More information/to book your products for
consumer testing:
www.KidsBrandInsight.com/KIDSPLAYTEST

16. www.KidsBrandInsight.com/contact-us/
STEVE’s TOY INDUSTRY BLOG:
www.stevenreece.com
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