Jamie Biesiada
In October, the most fascinating piece of mail came to my house: the Amazon Holiday Kids Gift Book.
It's a physical catalog with stories, games and my 4-year-old's -- and every 4-year-old's -- favorite, stickers. (Do you think Amazon will comp me some Goo Gone to get the residue off the bathroom tiles?)
Of course, it's also filled with toys you can buy on Amazon.
It's not new: Amazon has been sending a holiday catalog since 2018. But I guess you really start to notice these things when your kids are the right age to engage -- and circle what they want to put on their holiday wish list (it's a big year for Barbie in our house). It strikes me as such a smart piece of marketing.
Signature Travel Network is poised to create a similar marketing piece for its members with the Ready. Set. Go! family travel magazine that will debut in May.
"It's rooted in connectivity and creativity and kids' point of view," said Christine Conklin, Signature's vice president of marketing. "It is made for the whole family. The intention behind it is multigen travel."
Think, Conklin said, of a child inspiring their grandparents to book a bucket-list trip for the whole family after going through the pages of the magazine.
Indeed, Amazon's mailing is one of many she and her team have cited as inspiration for Signature's new mag. When I caught up with Conklin earlier this month at Signature's conference in Las Vegas, the team was still in the early stages of production.
"We're literally coming in with our Highlights magazines, and I'm bringing in my Target Christmas magazines," she said. "You know, everything that I get in the mailbox that I think, 'This is great.' Are we going to do stickers? Are we going to have a postcard that they can customize and send out? At the end of the day, there's so much that we're brainstorming."
That goes right down to whether pages should be perforated so they can be easily ripped out and handed to grandparents.
The idea of children as influencers within a family isn't exactly new. Advisors often create gift packs that are destination-themed for them. But targeting kids this early in the planning stage is a smart approach, and it's clearly resonating with the industry.
While Signature only planned for one Ready. Set. Go! in 2026, the response Conklin has received from suppliers and members alike has been so positive that there will be at least two in 2027 and possibly even a companion piece later in 2026.
There's another thing parents will particularly like about the magazine: It's not another screen, and it won't encourage the use of screens with QR codes all over. That is very intentional, said Conklin, a mother of six who is fighting the good fight against the almighty screens. I empathize and love anything nondigital that keeps my kid's attention.
Perhaps that's another reason I liked Amazon's catalog so much: It took my daughter at least two separate 20-minute sessions to look through, while I was able to do other things.
Imagine a world where that happens, but your kid gives a coloring page to grandma, who is inspired to book a multigen, bucket-list trip that will hold little attention spans better than any TV show. A dream!