September 04, 2013

Fun Loom

Description: A stretchy band bracelet maker
Main Pitch: "The creation station for your imagination"
Main Offer: $14.99 for the starter kit
Bonus: 2nd kit free
Marketer: IdeaVillage
Website: www.FunLoom.com
Prediction: N/A

This is the first of what I am sure will be many attempts to capitalize on the summer's hottest fad: Rainbow Loom. I guess the line "don't be fooled by imitations" is meant to be ironic?

On a side note, the New York Times has a good article on the inventor of Rainbow Loom. Here's one line that made me chuckle: "IF Rainbow Loom attracts imitators, the key to keeping them at bay is having 'a secret sauce' that no one else can replicate, according to Bill Aulet, managing director of the Martin Trust Center for M.I.T. Entrepreneurship and a senior lecturer at the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management."

"IF"? To borrow an analogy from a friend (HT: BQ), Mr. Ng is a big fat tuna in a sea of hungry sharks. He needs to find a powerful retail partner -- and fast. As real experts on the subject of imitation know, there is never a "secret sauce that no one else can replicate."