Company Name: Lund and Company Invention, LLC
Executive Name:
Bruce Lund
Web Site: http://www.lundandcompany.com
Illinois Technology Association: In 10 words or less, what advantage does Lund and Company Invention provide for your customers?
Bruce Lund: We create new-to-the-industry breakthrough mechanisms and technologies.
ITA: What motivated you to or start-up Lund and Company Invention?
BL: I had worked at the famed Marvin Glass & Associates studio, the firm behind of some of the most successful toys on the market in the 60's and 70's and had such a great experience, I figured I should give it a shot and start my own product invention company. We opened our doors in 1984 and just two years later licensed our first hit, a game called 'Fireball Island.' That is what put us on the map. To this day, nearly 25 years later, Fireball Island has a cult following, with two websites and legions of fans begging for its commercial return to the market!
ITA: What is the origin of the company name?
BL: In naming the company, I was adamant about conveying that I was not alone in this hence the name 'Lund and Company.' Teamwork is a precious, invisible, almost magical force in the workplace. Good teamwork yields results beyond that which can be achieved by a similar group of individuals. We have seen the results of teamwork time and time again. We added the word 'Invention' to the name several years after we opened our doors to more accurately reflect that we are not designers, but rather inventors, and developers of proprietary technologies.
ITA: How does Lund and Company Invention differentiate from its competitors?
BL: Simply put, we create products that others cannot. Our core belief in the power of toys to change the world enables us to do this. We are the acknowledged masters of mechanisms in the industry. And we service what we sell assisting our client partners every step of the way. In our own small way we seek to push the envelope and enlarge the limits of knowledge. And in so doing entertain, inspire and delight through our discoveries.
ITA: What type of customers provide Lund and Company prime source of sales?
BL: Large U.S. toy companies such as Hasbro, Mattel and Fisher Price.
ITA: How has your business sector evolved over the last five years?
BL: The traditional toy business is under intense pressures. Competition from other entertainment sources and self-induced missteps and oversights in safety has resulted in reduced shelf space in mass market retailers and greatly increased product costs. But I firmly believe we can turn this around, if we heed the following messages...
One - Toy industry: Formulate a message to the public on the profound importance and impact of toys on children, and as children become adults, the profound impact of toys and play on adults. As adults run the world they make discoveries, change society plus influence politics and thinking. We want to let them know toys impact our world more than any other product category.
Two - Retailers: Do not market toys in the boring manner in which you currently are doing. Make the toy department special and magical. If you can't do that, I will take a year off and do it for you one-by-one, whether in Walmart, Target, and even Sears/Kmarts across the country. All should market to that part of the consumer's psyche for which toys still are magical and laden with powerful emotional content.
ITA: Your slogan is "PLAY is important business." How does that philosophy inform how you approach your products and invention?
BL: I maintain that toys are profoundly important to the world. Not just to children, but to the advancement of society. I believe that toys are the most important category of product, period. Other products may serve a useful function, but only toys inspire us to change the world as adults.
The Wright Brothers were inspired by a toy airplane they received as a gift from their father as children. Frank Lloyd Wright credits his set of building blocks as the inspiration to become an architect. Playing with toys allows us to explore and learn about the world around us, as well as develop creative thought and imaginative thinking. So with this great burden, we better take this business seriously! We try to create products that are truly great not just to make a living, but to influence, inspire, and entertain both children and adults.
ITA: What are the biggest challenges you face as an Illinois-based company?
BL: Long winters makes it hard to develop and test outdoor and water toys for about six months of the year ? but the lack of sunshine makes work an attractive activity, so we certainly accomplish a lot during these months!
ITA: How does having a Midwestern location help you in your type of industry as a whole?
BL: Great in-between location with the major toy companies now on east and west coasts! It also certainly helps that we're located in this large metropolis with unlimited talent, technology, imagination and networking opportunities!
ITA: With electronic games pretty much dominating the toy landscape for the last generation, what type of non-electronic toys tend to stand out?
BL: Licensed characters and other entertainment based toys stand out, as do truly new products in established category such as Bakugan collectible card game. Products which truly amaze, and become newsworthy, such as TMX Elmo (which sold more on launch day than any toy in history), and those which deliver outstanding play value.
ITA: What trends do you see heading into 2010 that are relevant to the industry and your company?
BL: Increased costs due to new safety standards promise to put great pressure on smaller companies and make toys more expensive. As a result, we have a lower level of features, mechanisms and technologies.
We hope this won't happen as a result of these standards, but perhaps also there will be less need for the inventive features that we bring to toy products. In turn, fewer new products will be brought to market, and at higher prices. If these happen to be our prices, our revenues for any given product might end up higher.