New product pipeline filled with crowdsourced creativity

Retailers who rely on a steady stream of new products from suppliers to drive sales will find a new source of digital inspiration in a product development deal between Mattel and the online collaboration community known as Quirky.

Mattel and Quirky formed a partnership the companies believe will spark invention in toys, play and baby gear by harnessing the power of Quirky’s global community and Mattel’s iconic brands. The arrangement is noteworthy in that it blends an old school toy company with a modern and open approach to product development enabled by the Quirky community.

The companies recently invited everyone to submit new product ideas for toys, games, and family products to Quirky’s online platform to support Mattel’s vision to create deeper consumer connections and reimagine how children play, learn, and grow. Quirky and Mattel will begin developing the new products alongside Quirky’s global community, the first of which may be available for holiday 2015.

“This marks a new era for Mattel,” said Richard Dickson, Mattel’s president and COO. “Leveraging Quirky’s platform allows us to discover new ideas for our toys and unique solutions for our baby products. Just as importantly, this new partnership will enable us to accelerate the speed and scope of invention by tapping into Quirky’s dynamic community. This is an industry about creating and inventing, whether based on a consumer insight or a really fun idea, with the power of our own talented inventors and now Quirky, we are realizing our vision to reimagine Mattel’s core brands and bring truly great unexpected play to families.”

The deal with Mattel is the third for Quirky’s “Powered by Quirky” initiative whereby the company seeks to partner with industry leading companies.

“Few companies inspire creative imagination like Mattel,” said Ben Kaufman, Quirky’s CEO and founder. “Partnering with Mattel gives our community the opportunity to tap into their own childhood memories to dream up entirely new ways to play.”

Already, Quirky has received close to 15,000 toy-related idea submissions from its community and one of those ideas could become Mattel’s next big product. The way it works is Quirky’s in-house team of designers and engineers collaborate with Quirky’s online community on nearly all aspects of development. Anyone in the community can make their mark by submitting a problem-solving idea or weighing in on others'. And when a product is sold, Quirky shares its revenue with every community member that had an impact.

Founded in 2009, Quirky’s products can be found at Home Depot, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target and Amazon.com.