Read a great article today in this month’s Inc. Can’t find it on Inc.com yet, but it’s on p. 90 in the April issue. The article covers 30 classic examples of innovation. This is such great stuff. Just a bunch of tidbits on how to change the game in your business and industry.

We’re launching a new product right now, so I was really interested in the sales related stories. God I love great promotion.  Below, a funny story I just had to read up more on…

Before the TV show Barney and Friends became a knock-out annoyance on the everyone’s radar, there was the unknown “Barney and The Backyard Gang,” a video series created by the Lyons Group.  Actually, Barney was created in 1988 by Sheryl Leach, and was the only product of the Lyons Group, a privately held company in Allen, Tex.

The clever thing was the marketing genius here.  They couldnt get the retarded Dinosaur in a single store, so they sent free tapes to area preschools to create buzz.  The creater had created it for her children, and I imagine was pretty passionate about it’s possible success.  Then they hired telemarketers to call on stores to stock it.  Once stocked, they sent a list of stores where parents could go buy the tapes to the schools they shipped the tapes.

Barney became the best selling toy in 1993, selling over $500 million in products.