The Story of Webkinz World
At Ganz, we study the gift and toy marketplace to figure out what consumers want. We asked ourselves ‘what do children love?’ Here’s what we came up with: • Dress Up. Kids have always loved playing dress up with dolls • Building Blocks • Virtual worlds that mimic the real world • Memory games to challenge kids and adults alike • Nurturing a ‘baby’—both girls and boys like to be the ‘parent’ • Collecting—cards, toys, music…you name it and kids will collect it We then asked ‘Where are young people spending their entertainment time?’ More and more, kids are going to the Internet. Why? It’s interactive. Instead of passively watching television, the Internet gives kids choice. They can play games, chat with friends and express themselves. They decide how to have fun. We started with a line of adorable plush toys that we called Webkinz™.
So the question now became how could we enhance the interactivity of the Internet for kids, to create a safe, challenging and entertaining site for both boys and girls, where they would feel at home. Each Webkinz pet carries a secret code that can only be revealed after purchase. After logging into Webkinz World, (www.webkinz.com), kids enter the code, adopt and name their pet, and are invited into a virtual world where they feed and care their new pal, dress it, take it to the vet, play games and do trivia quizzes with other Webkinz members. With the code as their key, kids can join Webkinz World without giving out any personal information such as their e-mail, last name or phone number.
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Adopting a Webkinz, naming it, feeding it and taking it to the vet…it’s like having a real pet! But there’s so much more to Webkinz World! Kids can create unique spaces for their pets, choosing color, wallpaper, design themes, furniture and more. They can add bathrooms Neutral Happy Excited (that work!), gardens, functioning kitchens and even exercise equipment!
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The Story of Webkinz World
Webkinz members can also safely ‘chat’, using KinzChat™. KinzChat is constructed messaging— pre-written sentence options that are selected and sent from one member to a ‘friend’. Members choose from over 900 sentence options to construct their own questions, comments and conversations. Members can issue challenges for games, invite pals to hang out and watch TV in their room, or talk about their pets. KinzChat gives kids flexibility and lots of topics! Everyone enjoys a little retail therapy, and we’ve got a lot of cool stuff to take care of your pet and decorate your room. We have our very own virtual store - the W Shop. Kids earn KinzCash by playing games, doing small jobs and answering questions in Quizzy’s Corner. Another way kids can earn Kinzcash is by visiting our Arcade. The games in the Arcade are all kid-friendly and lots of fun. Kids definitely love our games, and the best part is; we’re always adding more! Quizzy’s covers school subjects, so kids have fun and learn at the same time. And since Quizzy’s is THE best place to earn KinzCash, kids are encouraged to keep learning. We’ve mixed trivia, memory and general knowledge in a fun, all-ages format. To ensure that Webkinz World is a place that kids WANT to visit every day, we’ve created daily events that make earning Kinzcash even more exciting. Our ‘Today Activities’ page shows kids a day’s worth of special events. There may be extra bonus play on games, W Shop coupons to cash in, daily draws and much, much more.
We have a very creative team of artists, writers, animators and game developers who are adding new and exciting features to Webkinz World every week. For example, we created a “Dress your Pet” feature that allows users to buy clothes and dress up their Webkinz! The Tournament section allows kids to challenge other members to games and kept rack of their scores, while we encourage members to suggest new room design themes, invent recipes and write stories and poetry for Webkinz Newz. We think Webkinz World is one of the best sites on the Internet for kids ages 6-13 (younger kids may require assistance with some site features). It is highly interactive and completely safe and secure. Kids can learn to care for a pet, and most importantly, use their imaginations. Webkinz, The Hottest Toys With The Coolest Website!™ Contact: Susan McVeigh Communications Manager, GANZ One Pearce Road Woodbridge ON L4L 3T2 (905) 851-6661 x375 susanv@ganz.com
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