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Dols of Mattel - Challenges on the Global Markets

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Mattel ­ Case Study ­ Dolls facing new challenges on the global market I. Executive Summary Mattel produces and sells various toys around the world and among these Barbie fashion doll is the flagship. This product was criticized from more aspects from other cultures of Aisa where the lifestyle Barbie represents is not commonly accepted. On the other hand privacy issues were raised by parents regarding the digital marketing activity of Mattel, as rights of children are related in this market. Mattel needs to consider whether these challenges are related specifically to the lifestyle Barbie represents, whether the lifecycle of Barbie can be expanded in a changing global environment. Or the issues are the signs of a general change regarding …show more content…

The future of the Star brands are hard to estimate, as these have a short history so far. Mattel acts well in the pre­school market, thanks to Fisher Price (acquired in 1993, and also HIT was aquired in 2011).3 Looking on the brands above, a change can be detected on the brand developement appeared in the last years. Before 2000 toys used to spring from entertainment (Batman, Simpsons, etc.). Nowadays (as the example of Max Steel represents it) entertainment is made to supports the toys.1 This new communication approach was also applied on Barbie dolls from 2003, when the sales decreased significantly: animation film was created with the character of Barbie and its friends. Focusing on Barbie brand its major elements of its brand equity can be presented the following way:

Regarding brand loyalty I would like to add, that as Mattel offers products for more age groups, if a customer is influenced with good experiences earlier, that might generate further consumption from the portfolio. On the other hand the girls abandon the toys quicker than last century, which weakens brand loyalty. Regarding perceived brand quality it is important to note that children are the users, but parents are the buyers, meaning two group need to be targeted. It might be an interesting research to examine outcome, transformation of perceptions if the children and the parent has different

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