In the 1990s, Beanie Babies took the toy market by storm. Over the course of 10 years, Ty Warner went from being a midlevel executive at an existing toy company to becoming a billionaire entrepreneur.
How did he do it? What drew so many people to Beanie Babies and caused some of them to spend thousands of dollars or more per household on tiny stuffed animals with little to no actual value?
Creating Scarcity, Believability, and Urgency
The secret recipe we’re talking about is creating a mixture of scarcity, believability, and urgency. When these three ingredients come together in any marketing effort, the effects are undeniable. Just look at how Ty Warner was able to leverage this method to create an explosive demand from adults and kids alike for tiny toys.
Warner started by creating a sense of scarcity around the small plush toys. Warner stumbled upon a way to create demand when he “retired” the animals after they spent a random, undisclosed amount of time on the market. Because he was initially toying with the designs of the animals, Warner accidentally created the first instance of a retired Beanie Baby when he discontinued an outdated design. Later, another Beanie Baby was retired due to a problem with a manufacturer.
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