ODR News

Welcome to Odr news

Nature

Yummy Yummy: Top 7 Business Lessons from the Wiggles


At Macquarie University in the early '90s, three Australian early childhood education majors, Murray Cook, Greg Page, and Anthony Field, decided they had an urge to dress up in brightly colored red, yellow, and blue (respectively) costumes that look like the uniforms on the original "Star Trek" series. It wasn't long before they convinced Anthony Field's bandmate in The Cockroaches, Jeff Fatt, to don a purple shirt and start entertaining at birthday parties while they danced and sang about fruit salad and wallabies.

If you're a parent of a small child, you probably know this Aussie quartet as The Wiggles, who are the Beatles, Monkees, or 'N Sync of the kid set. They are the highest paid entertainers in Australia, ahead of Russell Crowe, Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman.

You know right off when you watch their DVDs and videos (which you will, at least 200 times each) and their TV show four times a day on Playhouse Disney that these guys are definitely not an American creation. Mister Rogers, Mister Dressup and Bozo the Clown are gone, and no modern adult American males would dress in funny costumes and entertain kids with songs about "Fruit salad, yummy yummy!"

Their loss. The Wiggles, who earn $14 million per year, are the latest kids' sensation, and what they can teach us about success and finding your life's passion will inspire corporate America to play the guitar and dance with the Wiggles' friends, Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus, Dorothy the Friendly Dinosaur, and Captain Feathersword the Friendly Pirate, who acts with cheerful swashbuckling bravado that would make Johnny Depp want to slit his own pirate throat.

1. Do what's good for your audience without lecturing.

The Wiggles don't resort to After School Special messages. You want to know about the value of a healthy diet? Have some fruit salad! Exercise? Let's get up and "Romp Bomp a Stomp," or dance and play, with Dorothy! Let's do the pirate dance with Captain Feathersword and run after the Wiggles in their big red car. The songs do what songs, dance and theater were designed to do originally: pass on knowledge. They do this in a fun, clever, colorful, eye-catching way. The three Wiggles (Murray, Jeff and Greg) that have ECE degrees, and children of their own, know kids can understand what's beneficial for them without being spoon-fed. And Jeff...well, sleepy Jeff shows everyone the value of a good nap.

2. Find a way to include everybody and you'll reap the rewards.

Jeff, who doesn't hold an ECE degree, was shy about getting involved with kids, according to a Knight-Ridder article, "If you have small kids, get ready to Wiggle" by Rod Harmon. Greg, Anthony and Murray devised Jeff's constant sleeping and the running gag of asking the kids who participate in the videos and TV show to shout "Wake up, Jeff!" This has become so popular that there is actually a Wiggles video, "Wake Up, Jeff!" From the first Wiggles video to the current videos, you can see Jeff become more and more involved with the children, singing, dancing and playing, although he is quieter than the other three. Kids are always attracted to someone who's slightly different, and Jeff stands out even when dancing with a big green dinosaur reciting poetry and a purple dancing octopus. The other three Wiggles seem to encourage his uniqueness. From all the videos, CDs, and Jeff dolls they're selling, the approach works! When Wiggles doubles tour America, Jeff will be mobbed by kids too young to go nuts over Justin Timberlake.

3) Keep it live and stay in contact.

The Wiggles could get away with doing DVDs, TV shows and albums for their adoring fans the rest of their lives. But all of them are used to interacting. Murray, Greg and Anthony expected to be teachers. Jeff and Anthony played to crowds as members of the Cockroaches. They include real-life children, including members of their own families (as you see in the credits of their videos and DVDs), in their videos and talk to them. In one scene of "Hoop Dee Doo! It's a Wiggly Party," several children make emu skirts while one of the Wiggles talks to them. Undoubtedly, the Wiggles' live shows are no different, including the versions in Asia that will feature local native speakers as Wiggles clones ("The Wide World of Wiggles," Feb. 6, Newsweek Web exclusive). Even Dorothy has her own dance party on tour. Whether you send a giant green dinosaur with a floppy white hat or show up yourself, don't underestimate the value of making contact and getting involved. It's fun to run and jump around with kids, too (no wonder Anthony, who's always eating, stays thin!)

4) Don't follow the crowd or the market.

Most American non-Disney non-Nick Jr non-PBS kids' shows seem designed as 22-minute commercials for action figures or dolls, as well as ways to keep kids passively entertained. The traditional wisdom has been: Kids will be bored if there's no slam-bang action and there will be no way to make money out of doing something that's good for them. The Wiggles have proved this false. Kids dance and sing along with Jeff, Murray, Greg, Anthony, and friends, rather than sitting eating the sugary food du jour and mindlessly watching some freaky green monster get zapped only to reappear in the next episode. With an epidemic of diabetes mellitus and obesity in American kids, the Wiggles' approach is not only positive, but continues to breed success for the multicolored four.

The Wiggles themselves doubted there would be an audience for helping children learn through music and dance. A booking agent told them there would be no money in it, but they stuck to their guns, and became wildly popular in Australia. The United States was next and the Wiggles now are a solid hit on Playhouse Disney, with sold-out tours---they have even had to add second and third shows in many cities.

5) Getting international or multicultural isn't that hard.

The Wiggles don't need a multicultural sensitivity training class. After all, when your friends are a singing dog, a rose-eating dinosaur and an octopus with an underwater band, you don't have a problem with diversity. They regularly include Australian, Irish, Spanish, and other songs in their act. The franchise is expanding to Asia. If you think that this TV show doesn't sound like a likely hit in Japan, you've never seen "Pokemon" or anime, or the old classic "Ultraman."

6) Stay true to your roots.

There's no doubt that Murray, Jeff, Greg and Anthony are Australian (again, four American guys would not do what they do), although Dorothy sounds a bit more British. Songs such as "Willaby Wallaby Woo" speak to their down-under heritage, and you don't see them suddenly moving into a mansion in Malibu, pretending they're wealthy Hollywood Yanks with no family or kids.

7) Your family life only enhances your work and your passion.

Three of the Wiggles are married, Jeff apparently being too sleepy to settle down, although before Anthony married he was voted Australia's most eligible bachelor. These mates have built their career around children, and as noted in point 3, regularly include their own families in their videos. The family that eats fruit salad and romp-bomp-a-stomps together, stays together. If you give joy to millions of kids, it can't help having a lasting positive effect on your family.

Does all this inspire you to Wiggle, to get up and dance? You probably will if you have kids. But let it inspire you to follow your passion in your work, your family, and your life. Learn from those four career consultants, Greg, Murray, Jeff, and Anthony. And hey, eat some fruit salad. You need your health, mate.

Let's Wiggle!

Visit the Wiggles online at http://www.thewiggles.com.

Movie reviewer/screenwriter Kristin Johnson composes personalized poems, speeches, toasts, vows, and family memories. Visit www.poemsforyou.com">http://www.poemsforyou.com to order your personalized memories. She is also co-author of the Midwest Book Review "enthusiastically recommended" pick Christmas Cookies Are For Giving: Stories, Recipes and Tips for Making Heartwarming Gifts (ISBN: 0-9723473-9-9). A downloadablemedia kit is available at our Web site, www.christmascookiesareforgiving.com">http://www.christmascookiesareforgiving.com, or e-mail the publisher (info@tyrpublishing.com) to receive a printed media kit and sample copy of the book. More articles available at www.bakingchristmascookies.com">http://www.bakingchristmascookies.com

RELATED ARTICLES


Top Ten Reasons to Write a Sales Letter for Each Product? - Part 2
Authors/publishers are great at getting their books written. Entrepreneurs know their products.
The Top 7 Marketing Tips You Dont Want To Overlook
1. Combine Emotion and LogicConsumers buy because the want to experience the benefits of the product or service you have to offer.
Top 7 Reasons You Should Back Up Your Data Online!
How much is your data worth to you? In this modern electronic-age we rely more than ever on our computers to supply us with the information we need. Chances are every piece of data you might ever rely on to make an important decision has been reduced to a digital format and resides somewhere on your computer's hard drive.
10 Great E-Commerce Businesses You Can Start Now
If you've been thinking of starting a business on the web but you're not sure what type of business to start then this article is for you. You could be wasting valuable time trying to make your first move.
7 Tips on How To Prepare for Business Events
Are you scratching your head after business events wondering why you aren't finding prospects? Whether it's your first or 100th event, here are some tips on how to prepare for your next event that can make the difference between scratching and smiling. These tips will help you save time, money, create memorable impressions, and increase connections.
Sales Marketing: 10 Tips On How To Promote Yourself And Generate Sales
A lot of people are insecure about buying something or doing business with strangers.To make people feel comfortable to buy from you or do business with you, give them a little information about yourself or business.
Plan Your Success In Seven Ways
Many businesses lose money yearly because they don't think creatively about the future.  They run their businesses doing what they think they should: dealing with customers, dealing with problems, ordering for their business, and paying their expenses.
Your Leadership Shopping List
'Tis the season to give. And finding the right gift to give the people on your team can be challenging.
Seven Steps to Achieving Your Dream
"Vision is the spectacular that inspires us to carry out the mundane." -- Chris WidenerCan achievement be broken down into steps? Well, it isn't always that clean and easy, but I do know that those who achieve great things usually go through much of the same process, with many of the items listed below as part of that process.
Famous Business Strategies
Either simply a looker-on or a player in the world of business, you see millions piling into the accounts of world's most famous businessmen and naturally the question pops "How?", wondering what is the alchemy they've discovered? Yet, there is no magic here - it's mostly pure strategy. And what it takes to spot it and make it real.
Surviving When Clients Arent Rolling In
As the holiday season starts to settle in, the workload for many Micro-Businesses can slow down.Service-based businesses in particular consider this a slow time of the year.
11 Things Small Business Owners Can Learn From Michael Dell
1. Think Big - In college, Michael Dell said he wanted to "beat IBM.
Seven Keys to Get Out of a Rut
Rut -- a routine procedure, situation, or way of life that has become uninteresting and tiresome..
Never Sell Again: Get Repeat Business and Avoid the Need to Prospect
If you're a business owner, you know that repeat business is critical to your success. It also makes your life much easier because you can count on ongoing business without having to continuously find new prospects and convince them to hire you.
The 10 Benefits of Cross Cultural Training
Cross cultural differences can and do impede upon communication and interpersonal relationships. In the business world this occurs daily, where people from different cultures interact and are expected to perform and make decisions.
Ten Tips on Delegating Work
One way to manage your time more effectively is to delegate work to others on your staff or to contract workers you hire for specific projects. How often I hear such comments as, "It takes too much time to delegate.
Entrepreneurs - 7 Business Mistakes You Must Avoid
Many mistakes can be made in business and if you are able to avoid some of them by reading and taking note of these warnings, then the time taken to put these together will be worth while. Here are some business mistakes that are common to many entrepreneurs.
Top Ten Reasons to Write a Sales Letter for Each Product? - Part 1
Authors/publishers are great at getting their books written. Entrepreneurs know their products.
Event Planning: Seven Best Practices Successful Planners Use
Do you plan events for the corporate world like product launches, conferences, seminars, etc? If so, check out these seven practices of successful event planners.It's easy to dismiss these points thinking they're trivial.
Increase Exposure, and Profits With Powerful Memorable Business Cards Using These Ten Strategies
Your business card is a valuable piece of real estate and a powerful tool for making a connection and starting a relationship that can show your potential clients the valuable solutions you can offer them.1.

Comments   0