12/29/2014

Thank You, Designers

If you've watched Project Runway, you have certainly seen Tim Gunn go into the workroom to chat with the contestants. Before he leaves he often says, "Thank you, designers."  Of course he's known for many other expressions but today I want to focus on the 'thank you.'


If you're a member of the W Club, you have read the same expression every single time a new doll is revealed. It could also be "Thank you, design team." Some liaison is thanking the people who work for Integrity Toys for designing a doll to sell.

Let me ask you a question. When you're about to leave the supermarket, do you go up to the manager and say thank you for selling milk. Perhaps you like the packaging of a box of donuts. Will you write to the company thanking them for the pretty designs? Do you thank the post office for designing beautiful stamps every year? I think not. They want you to spend money on their products. You thank them by spending your money.

Why would a company thank itself for designing a product to sell to you? You're not going to buy it if you don't like it, are you? Do they do it to convince you that it's worthwhile?
We hope that everyone is as excited about these two dolls as we are! We would also like to thank XXX and the entire Integrity Design Team for the XXX Collection; this year has been simply outstanding for XXX!
The company should be thanking the buyers not their employees. 

There are endless reasons to say thank you to people. Here are a few that resonate with me.




So, this is my advice:


6 comments:

  1. Ok, I'll chime in. Here's my take on it, although I totally get what you are saying.

    The analogy is a bit off. WClub and IT would seem transparently to be the same thing to a new collector, when others know that the W Club is not IT. It's separate from IT. So....in a way, it is a bit like if Denise Travers were to say "Thank you, Azone for the great dolls".... which she does. and it makes sense, because she has no part in the production of the products.

    However, in that instance, it's more obvious, because she could also sell many other lines. WClub is tied to IT in it's name, and would likely never move any other companies products except if it were an IT collaboration (like they've done with Dressmaker Details).

    Those threads don't annoy me, but I do generally bypass them. For new collectors with no history, they provide and in road to where they figure out who makes what.

    and on that note, Thank you, Terri, for another year of your blog.

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    Replies
    1. The success of IT directly impacts the WClub and vice versa.
      ----
      Wishing you a wonderfully abundant and healthy New Year (kitties, too.)

      Delete
  2. Your dolls and photos are so lovely! I love and want that Angelo for my own Brunel, or maybe Nelson would fancy him! I am inspired to try and take photos this weekend (crossing fingers for sun)

    I don't really mind the wClub thanking the designers- I see your point that the designers and wclub are all a part of Integrity, so it is like thanking itself which might seem odd. But personally, I think the shout-outs to the design teams and/or particular designers are okay with me for the following reasons:

    1) I like it when people are reminded to think about the cogs in the machine that are responsible for thinking up and creating the designs they love. I think many who are not as familiar with the entire process as you probably are, do forget that there are real people behind the scenes who sincerely care about what they created/helped to create.
    Of course I actually do thank my grocery store manager too, not for selling milk but for carrying organic milk (and the other things I like) in the first place, having a nice store, and not selling out to a big corporate chain. I wonder if another analogy might be like a gallery who sells the art of specific artists, thanking its artists? (Okay that analogy is not perfect either, but you see what I mean)

    2) I am always curious about the specific designers behind a particular doll (if there is one). I wonder how much time/effort/inspiration they put into a particular look, and how close the final product looks like what they wanted. I'm always wondering how the fact that Alain is an actual Jem fan, has influenced what that line looks like...

    Wishing you a happy New Year Terri!

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    1. Thank you for your thoughtful response. Happy New Year.

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  3. I completely agree with you. What IT sells and puts out directly affects Carol Roth (who owns the W club) and her bottom line. They are not separate entities. It would be like BarbieCollector thanking Mattel for creating a certain Barbie.

    The messages of the liaisons as pertaining to the products and their thanking IT for the dolls is not only heavy handed but, quite frankly, feels like a sales pitch. Like something you would expect out of a sleazy, shady telemarketer or car salesman. In fact, everytime Carol Roth opens her mouth to phony rave about some doll she is sure we will all love (wooohoo) she sounds like she was holding a seminar on "How to Get Your Customers Fired Up About a Product" or some shit. Her undoubtedly faked enthusiasm for dolls she probably could not give two shits, about bothers the heck out of me and is a huge turn off during Webinars. It feels insincere. For her this is clearly only a business and trying to gear up enthusiasm part of her sales pitch. When David Buttry or any of the other designers talk about the dolls and the designs, you know it is their passion. They are talking about something they know, love and live. With her it just feels like some routine sales strategy.

    Finally, and this ties in with thanking IT, I am getting seriously ticked off at these mindless, lobotomized IT cheerleaders of late who constantly feel the need to THANK IT for allowing them to "pretty please with tons of money on it" buy dolls from them for around 150 dollars a pop. Some collector actually made cheerleading badges which she, in some moronic way thinks is very cute and clever on her part, and in the middle it reads "in percy we trust". (see what she did? As in "In god we trust"? Percy here is supposed to be god). It is pathetic. Even if they are just joking, it is still pathetic. At this point I think some of these people have crossed the line from IT cheerleader to IT cult. This constant indiscriminate butt kissing is starting to get on my last nerve. Get a life bitches.

    (thank you for your blog, by the way).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We're gonna shake it off, right?
      Thanks for your input!
      Terri

      Delete

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