As a longtime marketing guy, I’m fascinated by what drives product successes and failures. Classical marketers will cite the necessary 4P’s:
- Product – needs to be a good product that fills a consumer need
- Price – needs to be perceived as fair
- Place – has to have reliable distribution where shoppers shop
- Promotion – must be marketed in a compelling way that speaks to the target audience
But there’s more. What is it that drives some products to explode on the scene ala Rubik’s Cube, Beanie Babies and, more recently, Webkinz?

While we don’t reveal Abe’s Market sales figures, I can say that we have a runaway hit. Multibox mania is running wild. After quickly running out of inventory on our first order, we compiled a long waiting list of wannabe Multibox customers who wanted to be notified when we were replenished. We just listed the product back in stock a few hours ago and already it’s flying off the shelves.
So, what is it about Multibox that makes it a soon-to-be cult classic? Sure, it easily checks the box on the 4P’s. My kids love it. Parents love it for its combination of design, function and education. Parents magazine coverage certainly doesn’t hurt. And Green Lullaby, maker of Multibox, has a compelling story of a momtrepreneur who develops safe, environmentally-friendly toys and furniture for her own kids, then turns it into a business.
But what’s really driving the mad rush over and above a normal hot product? And why don’t more toys (or toy makers) know the secret formula?


Lesley Mattos
While her
“Look at the gentleman in the back. Follow his form. Perfect.” How shocked was I to hear those words in my first ever yoga class and realize that the teacher was talking about me?
Avi Woolman, founder of
While Susan Knapp was taking care of her mother, who was sick with breast cancer, Susan wasn’t able to make her Cinnamon Pear Jelly for her Corporate America coworkers for Christmas, as they had come to expect. Seeing their disappointment over not getting their favorite gift, Susan had an inkling that her culinary creations with her favorite fruit had the potential to be a “real” business. Eight years and numerous awards later,
The 



