Tipping Point Student Paper #3

Beanie Babies: Why?

If you had walked into my room sometime around 1998, you would have seen a lot of things that smacked of a typical nine year-old girl living in the 90s. My bedspread would have been a cascade of yellow daisies over a country-blue and white-checked background; my American Girl Doll, Molly, would be sitting in the corner; and my Gigapet, a purple puppy, would be “sleeping” on my desk. More importantly however, in my little pre-teen world, was the basket in my closet. While I was no great economist, my first investments lay there, just waiting to be sold and made into profits. The basket was my treasure chest, and in it, a collection of Beanie Babies was my treasure.

Having been told that Ty Beanie Babies would some day be worth hundreds of dollars, I began to amass a modest collection of the little toys. It was a funny thing, really; that girls who were almost too old to be interested in kid’s playthings were so absolutely ecstatic about, well, stuffed animals. What it the world possessed us to buy them for every holiday, every birthday, and every other occasion for gift giving? What was so attractive about green bears and purple lambs? Why did we invest in cheesy toys instead of stocks and bonds? Looking at these questions in depth has revealed to this ex-Beanie-collector, that the phenomenal Beanie Baby trend arose expressly because the manufacturer, Ty Warner, did two things. First he implemented the “Stickiness Factor” by creating toys that were soft, colorful, had a memorable name, and were “retired” after a short period of production. Secondly, he utilized the “Law of the Few” by relying on dealers to be his Connectors and Maven, and gift shops as Salesmen through word-of-mouth advertising.

Ty Beanie Babies originated in 1993 and by 1996, according to Crazyfads.com, the company had sold over 100 million fuzzy little creatures (Crazyfads online). The originator of these ridiculously popular toys was Ty Warner, who subtly named his product after himself. Little did the toy world know that the letters “T” and “y” on a red heart-shaped tag would soon be the trademark of one of the most widespread stuffed animal trends in history.

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book The Tipping Point, describes a time in every great trend in which events suddenly take off, leading to a snowball of popularity. “The name given to that one dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change all at once is the Tipping Point” (Gladwell 9). According to Gladwell, three factors must be present in order for this Tipping Point to occur.

These three characteristics – one, contagiousness; two, the fact that little causes can have big effects; and three, that change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment… (Gladwell 9)

The Beanie Baby trend displayed each of Gladwell’s criteria, proving itself to be a Tipping Point phenomenon. First, it was incredibly contagious: Because Beanie Babies are toys, they were contagious among children, who usually want what their friends have to play with. Here is a segment from an interview with Loni Olender, a 14-year-old student, and Callie Delling, a 17-year-old student, who both found themselves enraptured with Beanie Babies.

Question: Who were the first people you remember using or talking about Beanie Babies?

Olender: “Chloe, a friend of mine.” Question: Why did you participate in this trend? Olender: “Because my older sister was.” (Olender, personal interview)

Question: Who were the first people you remember using or talking about Beanie Babies?

Delling: “The first people? Ummm…my grade school aged friend…Danielle…actually she had an adult friend who had the biggest collection of them I had ever seen… I remember trying to get her to give them to us.” (Delling, personal interview)

Here are two clear examples of how children were influenced by their peers to purchase Beanies. The trend was spread through kids telling one another about them, and as in Olender’s case, by sibling and peer pressure. Not only did the Beanie Baby trend display the contagiousness necessary for a Tipping Point phenomenon, but also Gladwell’s second criterion – big effects from little causes.

When Ty Warner started the production of his plush toys, he began to utilize a tactic that would eventually become essential to Ty sales. He partnered with McDonalds Corporation. The restaurant chain would sell miniature Beanies – called Teenie Babies – in their Happy Meals. Soon, adults were purchasing hundreds of Happy Meals just for the toys inside them. Through mere partnership with one another, McDonalds and Ty Warner had boosted their sales to extreme heights. According to Rod Taylor in his online article Beanie Madness, “The promotion sold out of 100 million Teenie Beanie Baby Happy Meals in just 10 days...”(Taylor online) The seemingly small change in a sales strategy had created an enormous change in Beanie Baby sales.

Last, but definitely not least in the Tipping Point, is the need for an extremely dramatic change in sales and popularity within a short period of time. As mentioned above, within a few short years of production (1993-1996), parents and collectors were purchasing millions of Beanies annually. So, through a high level of contagiousness, small changes causing big results, and a dramatic Tipping Point, a fad was born and raised to marvelous heights.

So, one can clearly see that Warner’s Beanie Babies did create a Tipping Point phenomenon, but why did they? What made them “Tip”? Two things. Malcom Gladwell calls them “The Stickiness Factor” and “The Law of the Few.” Looking at these in detail make the reasons for the occurrence of the Beanie Baby trend apparent.

The Stickiness Factor, as defined by Gladwell, is the “…simple way to package information that, under the right circumstances, can make it irresistible.” (Gladwell 132) Gladwell holds that when a product has this “ irresistible packaging,” it is much likelier to tip with the public. The stickiness of a product can be measured by weather or not it causes people to act. For instance, if one sees an In-N-Out advertisement on the way to work, and then proceeds to purchase an In-N-Out burger later in the day, the advertisement is sticky. It makes an impression so strong that one cannot not resist the temptation of what it offers. If however while watching TV, one sees a Car Insurance commercial, and is not at all prompted to get up and call the agency being promoted, the commercial is not sticky. It is not packaged in such a way as to inspire action. Specific characteristics of the Beanie Baby – the esthetically pleasing qualities, the softness of the fabric, the size and stuffing type, the memorable name and tag, and the “retirement” technique – caused them to be sticky, inspiring people to purchase them.

Beanies came in a variety of bright colors and soft fabrics, creating an enticement for young people. Essentially, the toys were a cross between a fuzzy blanket and a favorite stuffed animal. They combined the texture, the color, and the personality into one small toy. Additionally, Beanies didn’t feel rigid like some cheap stuffed toys; instead, their pellet-stuffed bodies were flexible. They weren’t bulky, stiff or hard to transport, could be cuddled up to, and were generally pleasant to look at. In short, they were a one-of-a-kind invention that was very appealing to children. When asked why she liked Beanies enough to join the trend, Callie Delling answered with the following:

I just liked the Beanie Babies, not because I wanted to collect them all …I thought they were really cute. I liked to rub the really soft ones on my face. (Delling, personal interview)

For Delling, these plush toys possessed a visual and tactile charm, enough so that she became actively interested in purchasing them. No other company produced toys quite like these. Their make was truly sticky for children.

While kids were ardently attracted to Beanie Babies, the trend was certainly not lost on adults. Collectors and dealers were drawn in by the memorable name and logo (a “Ty” sign on a red heart-shaped tag), and the promise that Beanies would soon be unavailable or “retired.” This meant that not only would Beanie Babies eventually be out of stock, but also that the remnants floating around in the marketplace would be worth a considerable sum of money. There was just one catch; it was absolutely necessary that Beanies still had their tags if they were to be worth anything. Somehow, this knowledge created quite a buzz in the lives of flea-market dealers, online salesmen, and collectors. The very promise that the product would be discontinued made it sticky. Mary Openshaw, in her article Mysterious Thread Links Tupperware and Poker, discusses how “retirement” affected some people.

Then there’s Beanie Babies. Ah, the words made some of you blush, didn’t they? Yes, those small, soft-bodied toys that exploded in popularity in 1997, when some of the original designs were retired. They weren’t especially cute, but they still caused grown women and men to stand in line for hours waiting for a chance to buy the latest ones. Groups of collectors would go “Beanie Baby-ing” from store to store, making a day of it. Beanie Baby enthusiasts were known to telephone retailers often, sometimes daily, to find out if a shipment of their pellet-filled friends had arrived. (The Facts online)

Apparently, this brilliant strategy of “retirement” caused Beanies to stick with many adults. It is almost disturbing that mature people whose lives displayed otherwise normal characteristics would partake in the ludicrous behavior described above, but alas, they did. People remembered the Ty logo to mean money, and they just had to have the toys that bore its mark. Gladwell’s Stickiness Factor was definitely apparent in this trend. Not only did people know about Beanies, but they also found them enticing enough purchase. Loni Olender strongly believes that the Beanie Baby trend was sticky because of the “retirement” plan. She remarks:

I think I know why they became so popular. I think it was because the people who were producing them knew that there wouldn’t be any money made off of them. And so they kept advertising that they would be profitable so that they would make all that money off of them. I’m serious… [People] really actually believed that they would make money off of them. (Olender, personal interview)

The rather reoccurring theme in this quote is “make money off of them.” It appears that this was a very sticky sales technique. (Indeed, it seems to be one vehemently opposed by Olender, as evidenced by her somewhat bitter tone.) Everyone was convinced that through Beanies, they would one day become rich. Retirement was a complete success. Thus, through the tactile, esthetic, name brand, and economic appeals that Ty Warner used in the manufacture of his toys, Beanie Babies stuck with the public.

Gladwell’s second explanation for the tipping of major trends is what he calls “The Law of the Few.” The Law of the Few is derived from the “80/20 Principle,” which holds that 20 percent of the people involved in any given trend perform 80 percent of the work (Gladwell 19). So, if one were to start a restaurant, 20 percent of one’s customers would be responsible for 80 percent of the restaurant’s popularity. These are the people who make things tip.

These kinds of people are all around us. Yet we often fail to give them proper credit for the role they play in our lives. I call them Connectors, Maven, and Salesmen. (Gladwell 34)

Gladwell goes on to describe Connectors as people who have a wide sphere of acquaintances and influence. (These are those people who send out hundreds of Christmas cards every year, or who just seem to have everyone’s phone number.) Connectors form the chain which links people from all over the world together. The second group in Gladwell’s 20 percent are Mavens. These are people who love to discover and learn about things. They don’t sell these things, but they want to tell people all about them, and to excite others about them. (A typical Maven is a person like your Uncle Ben, who spends every Christmas telling you about some new invention he’s found out about. You may not care, but he’s thrilled, and can’t wait to share it with you… often for hours on end.) The last group is the Salesmen. These smooth-talkers often work at car dealerships and insurance companies. (Though they might be the biggest liars on earth, you don’t care. In fact, you love being persuaded by them, because it feels so good. Their product really is going to make your life better.) In short, a Salesman is the person or chain that makes you want to buy something. Connectors, Maven, and Salesmen – these make the world turn and trends tip.

So whom did Ty Warner use to act as these crucial influencers of tipping points? Dealers and collectors. My Aunt was a collector at the height of the Beanie trend, and I can remember going to her house, seeing her hundreds of Beanies, and being inspired to collect them for myself. I could ask her questions about the toys and she knew the answers. These dealers were acting as Maven and Connectors in the Beanie world. Additionally, these people used the Internet, creating their own websites and selling on online auctions like eBay.

Unlike other companies Ty also allowed customers to create their own websites to display their beanies, effectively advertising for Ty Warner. Ty even allowed unofficial magazines to be published dedicated to Ty Beanie Babies. (About Beanies online)

This is a perfect example of how Connectors were able to spread the word about Beanies through the web. (As a side note, the website About Beanies was itself created by a Beanie Baby collector, who has acted as an online Maven in sharing the history and facts behind the trend.) In a Google search for “Beanie Babies collectors,” 8 seconds yielded 715,000 results. Needless to say, most of these did not come from Warner’s official Beanie Baby site. Hallmark stores and boutiques worked as Salesmen for Beanie Babies. These specialty shops were well known for their reliability in selling posh products, and now became a good source in which shoppers could always find Beanies. Callie Delling, in a later portion of her interview, commented on seeing Beanies in “little gift stores,” and I personally remember going to Hallmark to fulfill my Beanie Baby needs.

And thus, Ty Warner’s Beanie Babies tipped. Though the tipping process was undoubtedly aided through the all points discussed above, the “retirement” sales strategy was most certainly the strongest catalyst in creating the Beanies trend. While popular at the time, this brilliant retailing chicanery left some feeling slightly bitter. One of these hurting people is Loni Olender.

…Basically they just lost a lot of money. Cause nobody actually made money off of them. I think it just kind of turned out to be a disappointment in the end. Everybody eventually just ended up throwing them away... It’s really a rip-off. (Olender, personal interview)

Others, however, still feel as warm and fuzzy about the toys as ever before. In a Yahoo Groups thread, one individual expresses her hearty appreciation of the Beanie Baby trend.

Hi! Welcome to our list of friendz! We were all brought together years and years ago through the love of beanie babies, but as that craze ended (for some) we remained tried and true friends. Join us as we dish about everything under the sun. (Yahoo Groups Online)

This touching advertisement is almost enough to make one want to collect Beanies, but not quite enough. Suffice it to say, Beanie Babies tipped, and whether or not one wants to admit it, they turned the toy world upside down.

Bibliography

"Beanie Babies” Crazyfads. Accessed: 26 Nov. 2007. < http://www.crazyfads.com/90s.htm>.

Delling, Callie. Personal interview. 27 Oct. 2007.

Gladwell, Malcolm. The Tipping Point. New York: Back Bay Books/Little, Brown and Company, 2000, 2002.

Olender, Loni. Personal interview. 27 Oct. 2007.

Openshaw, Mary. "Mysterious thread links Tupperware and poker." 27 May 2007. The Facts. Accessed: 9 Nov. 2007. .

Taylor, Rod. "Beanie Madness.” Promo. Accessed: 9 Nov. 2007.

"We Be Friendz." Yahoo. Online posting. Accessed: 23 Oct. 2007. < http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=Beanie+Babies>.