Kids today are growing up in a digital age like nothing anyone more than 30 years of age probably ever could have imagined. The world has become so digital and connected with computers, tablets, game consoles, smartphones and the like and is an integral part of many young children’s lives to the extent that some five-year-olds know more about getting online and doing things via the web than their grandparents or even their parents.
Where many adults a few years ago were trying to wrap their brains around connecting to the web without an Ethernet cord and what the "cloud" even is, youngsters today don’t even know any different.
Technology has even re-shaped interaction with toys, much like the way Spiral Toys, Inc. (OTCQB:STOY) has done with its CloudPets™.
Looking like a typical teddy bear, CloudPets are connected (here’s a surprise) through the cloud to a mobile device application, allowing messages to be sent back and forth between the bear and the app. Spiral Toys, sells its CloudPets for $29.99 (+$8.99 processing & handling), however a quick check of the CloudPets website shows them to currently be out of stock and asks for an email address to be notified when they are available again.
Spiral Toys, a developer of innovative products in the mobile connected entertainment space that launched its Toy-Fi line last June, was acquired by Rocap, Inc. (formerly OTCQB:ROCP) last July. On Wednesday, the company announced the completion of the name and ticker change to Spiral Toys and "STOY." The company also said that as part of the re-branding effort, it has partnered with Echo-Factory, a full-service advertising and design firm. Echo-Factory has a pretty impressive portfolio, working with household brands, such as Mag-Lite and General Electric (NYSE:GE), and superstars like Taylor Swift as part of a promotion with Altura Credit Union.
"Echo-Factory understands the space we're in, and they have the vision and talent to help us continue to build our brand so we can eventually own that space," commented Spiral Toys CEO Mark Meyers in a press release today.
"We're excited about Mark's vision… and to be honest, the technology is just so cool, and that makes Spiral Toys a dream client for us," added Mike Schaffer, principal at Echo-Factory.
Further, Spiral Toys said today that it has partnered with international toy distributor Jay@Play and On Demand Global to launch CloudPets on Direct Response Television on March 1, 2015. Jay@Play, a division of Jay Franco and Sons, is the distributor behind the popular plush animal brands "CuddleUpPets," "Hideaway Pets," "Seat Pets" and more, so the Spiral Toys look to be a natural fit for their distribution channels. Spiral Toys also says it plans to release CloudPets into mass retail stores across the U.S. this August. In a bid to gain exposure, CloudPets commercials will be airing on major kids television networks such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Disney Junior.
Spiral Pets has management with top-level experience in the business and has aligned itself with some marketers that can get the job done. Shares are moving the right direction in the past three months, from a low of 30 cents to 45 cents per share in Wednesday trading (up a penny on 14,000 in volume), equating to a market capitalization of only $18.6 million. Now, the company had better get some product in the warehouse.
