Deal Toy Ideas for Spin-Off “Mania”

Interesting Deal Toy Ideas for Spin-Off Transactions

“Hewlett-Packard, eBay, Barnes & Noble—the rash of spinoff announcements this year has been dizzying”.

The CNBC report quoted here goes on to note that 62 spinoff transactions are expected to be completed by the end of this year—-the most since 2000—and that the trend is likely to be sustained well into 2015.

Your most immediate interest in this trend might simply be getting a deal toy done; and toward that end, we wanted to provide some examples of potential designs.

Deal Toys Incorporating a “Spin” Theme

The “spin” theme is an obvious design hook for transactions of this sort, and one you may at least want to consider. There’s an almost infinite variety of deal toys with spinning elements that might suit your budget and timeline.

Of course, you may ultimately decide to forgo the “spin” idea altogether, and maybe opt for something related to the company’s core market, logo or other deal-related feature (see “Creative Deal Toy Ideas: 7 Frequently Overlooked Sources of Inspiration”).

Please keep in mind that—as we mention throughout this site—the burden of coming up with design ideas won’t fall on you. Any design input or preference you provide us is more than welcome; on the other hand, you most likely don’t have the time, energy, or inclination to sit around fleshing out potential deal toy designs. That’s OK. That’s our job.

Some Spinning Tombstone Design Tips

Back to spin-off designs…

Without getting too much into design specifics, we wanted to provide two very basic tips for spinning pieces of this sort.

• Cost Saving: many designs incorporate spheres for their spinning elements. This can be expensive—and may cause you to scrap the whole concept unnecessarily. A more affordable alternative are flat spinning discs—like those in the CareTrust tombstone shown here.
• Functionality: In a deal toy design of this sort, functionality has to be a paramount consideration. A common flaw with designs like this is top-heaviness. Our experience is that recipients of designs like this are bound to play with the spinning element—and if that immediately causes the piece to tip over, it’s not going to reflect well on you.

Again, we’re always available to guide you through the design process—whatever the type of deal or client.