...Guide trivia game. He could try to create a spinoff of the TV guide game. He could launch a new proposed trivia game called Whoozit, where you guess people based on clues. Mr. Reiss has to make a decision launch Whoozit, a new trivia game, or try to spin off the TV Guide game. My recommendation is to launch Whoozit. The Whoozit game allows Trivia Inc. to leverage their skills developed in the launch of the TV guide game. Trivia Inc. has access to the channels, the manufacturers, and the pulse of the trivia market customer. The case indicates that Trivia Inc. had a preliminary royalty deal with the Bettman Archive, keeper of the images necessary for Whoozit. I think the addition of a magazine like People, Life, or Time would create a direct point of touch/access and lend more recognition to the endorsement. Another reason to launch Whoozit is the low cost of the endeavor. If analogous estimation holds true, Trivia Inc. could produce these units for about $5/unit and stand to make profits of about $2.00 per unit on 500,000 units. The total cost to launch The TV trivia game was $50K, but profits were over $2M net for Trivia Inc. If Whoozit could be executed as successfully as TV Guide TV game, it would be money well spent. Finally, the lessons that Reiss had gleaned from Trivial Pursuit’s US launch are incorporated into the design of Whoozit. Whoozit’s design creates easy play appealing to customers that wanted a simple and fun game. Also Reiss suggested a version...
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...Q.1. What factors created the opportunity for Bob Reiss and the TV Guide Game? 1. Demand for “Trivia” products were on the upswing, and had yet to reach the U.S. 2. Success of Trivial Pursuit in Canada was crucial 3. Reiss’s experience in the logistics and lead time concerns of manufacturing in the toy industry 4. Reiss’s personal connections: • Kaplan (Equity) • Helen Factoring (Billing & Accounts Receivables) • Swiss Colony (production and shipping) • Suppliers for books, boards and boxes Q.2. What risks and obstacles had to be overcome to pursue the opportunity successfully? 1. Advertising (Did not possess the Advertising budget of larger companies, i.e. Parker Bros.) 2. Public’s interest in Trivia Games declining (Over saturation can/will occur rapidly) 3. Manufacturing with little lead time 4. Cash Flow 5. Sales 6. Competition (mainly Trivial Pursuit) How did Bob Reiss accomplish this? 1. Advertising Strategy 2. Offering incentive(5% ad allowance) to dept. stores for placing ad in print 3. Free media publicity 4. Ensured product would be available for sale before “fad” of Toy/Game had occurred 5. Utilized personal experience and intelligence to create an efficient product design (booklet, instead of cards) 6. Business Partner Kaplan 7. Sales Strategy 8. Price Point was set significantly...
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...1. ¿Qué factores crearon una oportunidad para Bob Reiss y el “Juego TV Guide”? En Canadá se había desarrollado el “Trivial Pursuit”, el cual generó grandes ganancias, ya que tuvo buena recepción, luego el juego fue introducido en US, con un precio más alto que otros juegos de tablero. Raiss pensó que el éxito de “Trivial Pursuit” en Canadá, podría traspasarse a US, lo cual generaría interés en los juegos de trivia en el mercado estadounidense. Al escoger el tema tv para el juego, tenía la ventaja que la familia estadunidense miraba cerca de 7 horas diarias de tv. Además, sabía que si su juego se fabricaba bajo la licencia de la TV guide (revista), podría su proyecto fortalecerse y ser más interesante, ya que se vendían cerca de 18 millones de copias de esa revista cada semana. Además, el “Trivial Pursuit”, no tenía promoción en tv y tampoco contaba con una campaña de relaciones públicas. El juego de trivia de TV es para ambos sexos y es de interés tanto para adultos como niños. Además, Bob creía que el juego podría ser introducido tanto en tiendas de lujo como también, en locales de ventas más masivos, asimismo aprovechar el mercado de la venta por correo. Por otro lado, el precio del juego sería inferior que los precios de la competencia, y últimamente la venta de los productos vendidos bajo licencia, habían estado creciendo de manera geométrica. 2. ¿Qué riesgos y obstáculos debieron ser superados para conseguir el éxito de la oportunidad? ¿Cómo logró Bob Reiss lograr...
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...1. What factors created an opportunity for Bob Reiss and the "TV Guide Game?” Reiss had previous experience on the game industry, which provided him with good understanding of that business. He knew about the popularity of trivia-based games in the U.S., the preceding Canadian success of Trivial-Pursuit and he envisioned the transferability of this success to the U.S. market. Reiss also hit the target by adding the TV element to the trivia-based game, in a time when the average U.S. family spent 7 hours in front of the television. Finally, Reiss’ good contacts in different industries allowed him to get a partner, to marshal funds, and to make further contacts to secure the required resources for his enterprise’s success, obtaining large benefits, involving low cost and risk levels. 2. What risks and obstacles had to be overcome in order to pursue the opportunity successfully? How did Bob Reiss accomplish this? Reiss had to confront several risks and obstacles. First, the presence of bigger players offering similar products, which Reiss handle by differentiating its product with the introduction of the TV element. Second, Reiss had to deal with seasonality of the toy industry, with the short life-cycle of game products, and with potential early market saturation. He managed to put its product in the market on time, finding the opportune associates to secure manufacturing inputs, and figuring out ways to simplify processes (i.e. replacing question-cards with printed booklets)...
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...Harvard Business School 9-386-019 Rev. November 15, 1987 R&R During the summer of 1983, Bob Reiss observed with interest the success in the Canadian market of a new board game called “Trivial Pursuit.” His years of experience selling games in the U.S. had taught him a rough rule of thumb: the sales of a game in the U.S. tended to be approximately ten times those of sales in Canada. Since “Trivial Pursuit” had sold 100,000 copies north of the border, Reiss thought that trivia games might soon boom in the U.S., and that this might represent a profitable opportunity for him. Reiss’ Background After his graduation from Harvard Business School in 1956, Reiss began working for a company that made stationery products. His main responsibility was to build a personalized pencil division, and he suggested that he be paid a low salary and a high sales commission. He was able to gain an excellent understanding of that market, and by 1959 could start on his own as an independent manufacturer’s representative in the same industry. His direct contact with stores that sold stationery products revealed that many of them were beginning to sell adult games. He decided to specialize in those products. In 1973, Reiss sold his representative business to a small American Stock Exchange company in the needlecraft business in exchange for shares. He then set up a game manufacturing division and ran it for that company, building sales to $12,000,000 in three years. Reiss decided to go into...
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