I thought I had the best job in the world yesterday when I went to the Toy Fair at Olympia which was advertised as ‘the only dedicated toy, game and hobby exhibition in the UK’.

Working in Consumer PR sometimes means doing PR for some rather dull products (I won’t drop names here) so my inner child and I were really looking forward to get closer to the toy industry, well-known as fun and innovative.

No doubts the products were amazing and entertaining (see my new friend from The Puppet Company) but having done and gone to a couple of shows myself, I thought the stands were slightly disappointing.

Yes it was a trade show and obviously the objectives were different than for a consumer one but most exhibitors clearly lacked imagination when it came to stand design and display and used the usual, safe methods: all products stacked on the shelves, posters on the walls and sales representatives with notepads, ready to take orders.

One of the only stands which was standing out was Playmobil where exhibitors actually made an effort to play with their products and create something eye-catchy.

Possibilities are endless when you have the chance to work for fun products such as plush toys or electronic games so industry experts, don’t be afraid of getting creative! We are all kids at heart, right?