Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Mattel Goes Back to Marketing 101

On the eve of her 50th birthday, Mattel's world-famous doll, Barbie is scheduled for an extreme makeover.

Several marketing mistakes,from inconsistent logos to an obsessive focus on secondary merchandise items have damaged the Barbie brand and stalled sales during the past decade.
Enter new general manager Richard Dickson,who vows to return to the original model for Barbie/s success- stay head of the trends and set new ones. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Dickson confessed that Mattel had misplaced priorities when it was pushing items such as Barbie golf clubs.

Dickson plans to return the doll to her root to make it a hot item with older girls, who are opting for video games and other trendy items. A renewed focus on the fundamental marketing model that propelled barbie to its initial success.

You could say that we lost our way. Frankly, we were distracted and we were also hit by the competition. We had lost a whole piece of the business, the older girl.

Now, I'll be the first to admit, I'm not familiar with doll brands (thand goodness), but after a little research, I discovered that Bratz dolls are essentially a skanky, goth verison of barbie. An article by CNN included this priceless description from  Tasha Curry-Corcoran, mother of a Six-year-old Sierra 

Bratz are trashy: They wear too much makeup. Their clothing is too short; their boots are too high. They look like prostitutes. That's why we don't have them in our house.

What's Mattel's solution for the competition? Challenge it,one-on-one.

Mattell sued Bratz maker, MGA Entertainment, for intellectual property rights. (one of its former designers joind Bratz) A jury awarded $100 million to Mattel. In an order, Judge Stephen G. Larson wrote that MGA would be "permanently enjoined" from making, producing or licensing the dolls. The judge also ordered MGA to transfer all dolls and associated products to a location of Mattel's choosing.

Mattel's plan reminds me of some important points in Allen P. Adamson's book, Branddigital, which emphasizes the  importance of balancing a single idea with the ability to make rolling adjustments. If they adhere to those principles, Barbie might make a serious comeback.

Posted By Matt O'Hern at 08:56 AM
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