The Parent Bloggers Network

Kids Love Animals. Kids Love Personalization.
Billy Blue Hair is a personalized educational DVD. In Why Do Giraffes Have Long Necks?, Billy’s adventure looking for his dog Doogie takes him to visit several different animals. Billy talks to the viewer throughout the way, cheerfully giving facts about each of the animals. A fun educational video on its own should be news, but our bloggers found that the personalization was a big draw.

One blogger emphasized how important the personalization is for her daughter: “…being one of six, getting a DVD with her own name on it was a big deal, a very big deal.” She went on to explain the name-on-the-box was such a hit that, “she was entertained even before watching the actual Billy Blue Hair video.” Indeed, another blogger had this experience as well, “My son] was immediately intrigued when I told him this new DVD was made especially for him. He beamed when he saw his name on the DVD case.”

One blogger’s son has a name that is unusually spelled, so receiving something personalized is rare; but since Billy Blue Hair’s database included his name in the traditional spelling (and pronounced correctly) the video could be personalized: “[My son's] name sounds like a more common name… Billy Blue Hair can customize the spelling of the name: the DVD comes with a personalized cover and a personalized title screen on the actual program. As long as a name in the database sounds like your child’s name, you can purchase the personalized DVD with any spelling.”

So the DVD cover and title screen personalization was a hit with our reviewers. Fortunately, the video itself is worthwhile. Reports one reviewer, “Every time Billy said his name, my son giggled and said, “How does he know that?!” This, combined with the beautiful shots of animals swinging in the trees, looking silly for the camera, made this a DVD that satisfied him beyond the novelty of hearing his name.”

Another explained, “Four year old boys can be fickle, and Billy speaks fairly fast. He rattles off many facts before moving off to another locale to search for his dog, but he frequently works [my son's] name into his monologue. The overall effect was very succesful; [my son] was completely hooked. He sat, eyes glued to the screen, until the credits rolled.”

Another reviewer observed a similar long attention span from her son: “[His] attention didn’t waver. He was fascinated by the animals and definitely glad that Billy kept saying his name. He watched the whole thing several times over before moving to a new activity… The nature tidbits are broken up by Billy’s storyline, which helps maintain interest. Billy talks to the kids, so keeps them involved in the learning process.”

The kids enjoyed their personal DVDs, but our bloggers admit Billy Blue Hair was not a name they were familiar with. Notes one reviewer, “In a video world dominated by the Baby Einstein mafia, it’s easy to forget that there’s a real variety of educational entertainment out there. Billy Blue Hair is one of the small fish in the market.” Another talks about the success of the Billy video, but notes [My daughter] definitely enjoyed the DVD, but I’m not sure Billy deserves the credit. I think she really dug all of the animal footage. Oh, and hearing her name. Not even Blue’s Clues or Dora address her by name.” One reviewer’s daughter was initially hesitant, “…she’s not sure if she likes it. It seems to move slow and the boy, Billy, talks funny.” But personalization saves the day, “…soon enough she is really into the video. It helps that Billy mentions her name often and each time she turns to me surprised and says, ‘He just said my name mommy!’” Seems like the new kid on the block made some friends.

A few of our reviewers had some concerns.

Two bloggers had comments about the level of instruction. One explains, “Billy’d be going along just fine, speaking at a kid’s level, and then all of a sudden he’d launch into a description that sounded like it was straight out of Encyclopedia Britannica. I got the gist of it, but I’m pretty sure it would go right over most kids’ heads.” Another thought, “I would say that the language can be over a five year old’s head at times, but Billy kept my daughter entertained” The first blogger agrees, “I’d rather have her watch something that she might not fully comprehend yet than something that’s completely dumbed down.”

One blogger talked about the limits of personalization, “Ironically enough, [my younger son's] name is more common than [the son for whom the video was personalized,] and yet it is not part of Billy Blue Hair’s database of over 400 names.” She explains, “Honestly, some of the names in the database seemed very unusual, while some of the more “common” names I would have thought would be included, aren’t. Thankfully there is a “request form” on their website so perhaps they will add more names to the possibilities.”

Billy Blue Hair also has a “standard edition” which is non-personalized. Since many of our bloggers remarked upon the quality of the nature footage and facts sprinkled throughout the show, the non-personalized DVD would likely be a hit with kids, too; but our reviewers also can’t deny the appeal of personalization.

Check out Billy Blue Hair to see if your child’s name is included in the database; if not, request it, or consider the “standard” (non-personalized) edition of Why Do Giraffes Have Long Necks?”

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