????說到小女孩的玩具，很多人會想到史努比、Hello Kitty、海綿寶寶，另外還有剛剛再次完成了重大跨越的玩具公司GoldieBlox。今年，GoldieBlox公司攜它的“女孩動力紡車”花車，參加梅西百貨（Macy’s）的感恩節大游行。當然，這款花車也有玩具版本。

????這家公司成立至今只有短短兩年時間，但其創始人兼CEO——今年31歲的黛比?斯特林——已經用一種反常規的模式顛覆了玩具行業的傳統生態。最初，該公司推出了面向女孩的以工程為主題的積木玩具，但是在玩具展會(Toy Fair)上并沒有獲得青睞。后來她在眾籌網站Kickstarter上獲得了285,000美元融資（她一開始只想募集150,000美元）用來進行第一輪生產。

????斯特林并沒有采用傳統的營銷和公關政策，而是拍攝了一則很特別的視頻廣告【在這則廣告中，該公司在沒有獲得授權的情況下使用了“野獸男孩”(Beastie Boys)的單曲《女孩》(Girls)，惹上了官司，但最終斯特林成功和解此案）。這則視頻廣告在網絡上瘋傳——它既是這家創業公司捅下的一個婁子，也是一個非常聰明的營銷策略。去年12月，GoldieBlox的頭兩款產品成為亞馬遜網站(Amazon)最暢銷的兩款玩具。

????這段視頻也幫助GoldieBlox贏得了一項由財捷集團（Intuit）資助的競賽。作為獎品，該公司于今年1月獲得了一個免費的“超級碗”廣告時段，這對于一家初創公司來說實在是件大事，因為一個“超級碗”廣告位通常需要花費400萬美金。如今，在斯特林的一位導師——Build-A-Bear公司創始人瑪克辛?克拉克的建議下，GoldieBlox的花車即將于明日駛過紐約曼哈頓第六大道。這輛花車由50個孩子推動，它完全是由GoldieBlox公司所生產的玩具零件構成的。

????斯特林畢業于斯坦福大學（Stanford University），她直到高中快畢業時才發現自己對于工藝方面的興趣。她表示：“我們想成為那種孩子乞求擁有的玩具品牌。我的目標是成為一個多平臺的個性品牌。”也就是像迪士尼（Disney）那樣的品牌，但是和迪士尼并不完全一樣：“迪士尼正在生產很多老套的玩具，我正在與其作斗爭。”

????本月末，GoldieBlox將推出一段動畫音樂視頻，配樂是Metric樂隊主唱艾米利?海恩斯的一首單曲，這段動畫的主角Goldie正是GoldieBlox的“吉祥物”。除了那一頭金發以外，Goldie簡直就是斯特林本人的一個翻版。

????至于那輛花車，斯特林稱，“它本身就是一個工程奇跡。”它的確很酷：花車上有一臺泡泡機，有自行車式的動力裝置，還有一個“人力循環驅動”裝置，聽起來倒是消化感恩節大餐的好法子。（財富中文網）

????譯者：樸成奎

????Snoopy, Hello Kitty, SpongeBob and… GoldieBlox. Yep, the startup toy company for girls has crossed another big-boy barrier. Tomorrow morning, it will introduce its “Girl-Powered Spinning Machine” float, also available in toy-form, at the 2014 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade M -0.58% .

????Debbie Sterling, 31, CEO and founder of the two-year old company, has managed in a few short years to upend the toy industry after launching her company in a very unconventional way. When she couldn’t get traction for her engineering-oriented construction sets for girls via the Toy Fair, she launched a Kickstarter campaign and raised $285,000 (she was seeking $150,000) for her first round of production.

????Instead of using traditional marketing and PR, Sterling developed a funky, empowering video (one which used the Beastie Boys song “Girls” without getting permission and ended up with a lawsuit, which she settled). The video went viral—and was a both a startup blunder and a brilliant marketing ploy; GoldieBlox’s first two products became Amazon’s top two selling toys last December.

????That video, in turn, helped GoldieBlox win a contest sponsored by Intuit INTU -0.45% for a free Super Bowl advertisement in January, a huge deal for the fledgling startup: a Super Bowl spot typically costs $4 million. And now, thanks to a suggestion from one of Sterling’s mentors, Build-A-Bear founder Maxine Clark, the float—powered by some 50 kids and constructed entirely of pieces from GoldieBlox toys—will travel down Manhattan’s 6th Avenue tomorrow.

????“We want to be the brand that kids are whining for,” says Sterling, a Stanford grad who didn’t discover her passion for engineering until late in high school. “My vision is for us to become a multi-platform character brand,” a la Disney DIS 0.29% , but not exactly: “Disney is propagating a lot of the stereotypes I am fighting against,” she adds.

????Later this month, GoldieBlox will release an animated music video, featuring a song from Emily Haines of the band Metric and starring Goldie, who, aside from the blond hair, is a pretty close replica of Sterling herself.

????And that float? Sterling calls it “an engineering marvel in itself.” It is pretty cool indeed: there’s a bubble maker, a bicycle-powered animation section, and a “people-powered rotation drive.” Sounds like a good way to work off that Thanksgiving meal!

????GoldieBlox founder Debbie Sterling test drives the company’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade float.