Children’s product direct marketer Kideo Productions Inc. on Feb. 28 sealed an agreement in principle with Hasbro Inc. to provide digital name personalization for a customizable product called eSpecially My Barney. As part of the agreement, Kideo, New York, which markets photo-personalized children’s products through direct mail, catalogs and other direct response channels, will place advertising inserts in the packaging of the eSpecially My Barney toys.
The Barney toys, which will plug into the Internet through a home computer to download personalized information, are scheduled to become available this fall.
Richard Bulman, president and CEO of Kideo, said the current agreement does not call for the toy to be marketed to the Kideo customer database. Kideo and Hasbro, Pawtucket, RI, are planning some joint online promotions, however.
The project marks the first time Kideo has provided its technology to another toy company and the first time it has provided a Web-enabled product.
