Think of Super Toy Box as a digital ad shop that picks up technology-heavy assignments traditional advertising agencies tend to shy away from. Nowadays that means developing interactive auto show displays for major automakers; a galaxy tailor-made for Blizzard Entertainment’s “World of Warcraft;” or an augmented reality-enabled app for hip-hop artist Run the Jewels that turns users’ selfies into animated cat heads.
Come tomorrow, Super Toy Box will likely be up to something else, as dictated by emerging trends in consumer communication.
“They’re very nimble and leaning forward into the technology curves that are coming,” said Jason Coe, who’s consulting for the Lake Forest-based shop while also serving as a global marketing executive at HP in Palo Alto. “The opportunities are there, and we are building them, catching revenue, and eventually I’ll be able to transition over.”
Coe got involved with Super Toy Box through F. Pakko De La Torre-Rocha, who recently left his posts as partner and vice president at advertising agency E/LA in Irvine to join “the tech heads” at Super Toy Box.
Good Risks
“It was a hard decision, because the people are super-great, like a family, but I felt like I had to keep on going,” De La Torre-Rocha said. “In life, if you stay too comfortable, that’s risky.”
The two met while Coe was senior brand manager at Western Digital Corp. which maintains sizable operations in Irvine.
De La Torre-Rocha, an early investor and newly named vice president in Super Toy Box, helped Chief Executive Andrew Vergara launch the venture in 2014. Their goal was to open “a new breed of shop purposefully built for the future to avoid the trappings of the traditional ad agency business model,” says De La Torre-Rocha’s LinkedIn profile.
Monthly retainers are hard to retain, and agency-of-record designations oftentimes result in staff layoffs when accounts trade hands every couple of years, De La Torre-Rocha said. Super Toy Box, meanwhile, is pursuing project-based work, supplementing it with licensing of proprietary software.
“The growth is slower, but it’s sustainable,” he said. “Our goal is to have a … balance—between 30 to 40% client work, and the other portion of revenue would [come from] product that we develop in-house that can make money on a consistent basis.”
High-Tech Toolbox
Super Toy Box’ online VR Factory tool, for example, automatically merges uploaded virtual-reality content and readies it for distribution on multiple platforms, including Android, iOS and social media. It enables users “to tell more stories with less overhead,” Coe said.
He indicated that the team is “already looking at what’s next in the industry, where things are moving, and what are those areas of opportunity” to create other software-as-a-service products.
The shop employs 15, most of them software developers and designers, and plans to add more, according to De La Torre-Rocha, who specified, “We’re trying to get people from Snapchat.”
The staff recently completed an animated, interactive email campaign to promote Lionsgate’s Spanish-language streaming service, Pantaya. They also worked on a “puzzle-type game” for fans of Blizzard’s “World of Warcraft” franchise that will be released in April at the PAX East gaming conference in Boston, and be accessible via its website, mobile app and on touch screens at the venue.
“It’s a cool way to engage fans beyond the game environment,” De La Torre-Rocha said. “I’m tired of seeing advertising that you don’t really interact with, that’s passive.”
They also worked with EWI Worldwide, which has an office in Foothill Ranch, to develop digital kiosks for Irvine-based Kia Motors America Inc., Subaru of America and Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc. in Cypress, that consumers used to get more information about vehicles or test various add-on features.
Esports Angle
Speaking of Blizzard, Super Toy Box is also focusing on esports tournaments and finding ways to improve the viewing experience.
“Right now, everyone is looking at the monitor (that’s showing the game action),” De La Torre-Rocha said. “[Our] Live 360 software allows you to put multiple 360-degree cameras everywhere in the room that you can quickly trip with your app to change the point of view and make the game more exciting.”
The company plans to develop its own esports tournaments at a gaming venue in Santa Ana, and provide opportunities for brands to reach the growing fan base.
“Most brands don’t know how to get into esports,” he said. “Some of them come in, and they look stupid. The only ones that kind of get it right now are Red Bull and maybe Monster.”
De La Torre-Rocha also recognizes influencer marketing opportunities in the segment, and pairing well-known gamers with appropriate brands.
Tomorrow’s Toys
Super Toy Box’ marketing strategy adapts to “the direction that consumers are going today,” Coe said, adding that “it makes sense to use AR in the retail environment, because you can physically show the product in a three-dimensional space. Or if you are going to take them to Disneyland to ride a rollercoaster, then VR makes more sense. And if you are trying to get more personal with the consumer, it might be best to work with influencers and go all-in on social.”
Coe said Super Toy Box is “capable of hitting $100 million in revenue” in the next three years, declining to pinpoint its current level.
“It’s really about finding the right partners along the way that see that North Star,” and who “continue to invest in the customer experience” in order to remain relevant a decade down the line.
De La Torre-Rocha said, “It’s going to be a fun, interesting journey.”
