In what Mattel, the toy company is describing as its most comprehensive and cohesive global marketing strategy, the Barbie brand is being redefined.
"It's very much about unveiling the next chapter for Barbie and celebrating the future," says Reidin Goode, senior marketing manager for Mattel Canada's girls division. "It's an extension of the brand into lifestyle categories."
As Barbie turns 50, Mattel Inc. is unveiling its most comprehensive and cohesive global marketing strategy, redefining the Barbie brand. While Mattel cites the statistic that a Barbie doll is sold every three seconds somewhere in the world, and while the doll evokes images of 8-year-old girls dressing their Barbies, Mattel is on the verge of launching initiatives that will target women from 18 to 65 in hopes to lure an adult demographic.
Town Shoes will introduce Barbie Shoes — in real-life sizes. The three shoe styles — Barbie pump, party and platform — will feature pink soles adorned with a sketch of Barbie's face. The d'Orsay party shoe has a pleated satin heel, while the stiletto pump comes in fuchsia, black patent and a zebra print that echoes Barbie's original 1959 black-and-white striped bathing attire. The target market: generations of women who grew up with Barbie, spending myriad hours slipping her teeny, tiny doll feet into those itty, bitty shoes.
Other Barbie partners include Cake Beauty, the Canadian bath-and-body product maker. The company is launching a line with a vintage look at Sephora shops across the country, from Gotta Hand It to Her hand cream to Sugar Coated, a brown sugar scrub.
Mattel's Ms. Goode says the fashion and beauty extensions are logical and legitimate, "The Barbie business in many ways mirrors the fashion industry, and we know that Barbie affects three generations — women as old as baby boomers and as young as 10. We wanted to leverage that."
Mattel believes, Ms. Goode says, that if Mom is accepting of the brand at age 40 or 45, and she purchases some of the new branded products, and the brand is still seen as relevant and cool to the kids, it will be a win all around.
It’s a risky experiment that will create cultural noise, but the segment of the targeting audience may be small and fickle.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Re-Branding Barbie
In what Mattel, the toy company is describing as its most comprehensive and cohesive global marketing strategy, the Barbie brand is being redefined.
"It's very much about unveiling the next chapter for Barbie and celebrating the future," says Reidin Goode, senior marketing manager for Mattel Canada's girls division. "It's an extension of the brand into lifestyle categories."
As Barbie turns 50, Mattel Inc. is unveiling its most comprehensive and cohesive global marketing strategy, redefining the Barbie brand. While Mattel cites the statistic that a Barbie doll is sold every three seconds somewhere in the world, and while the doll evokes images of 8-year-old girls dressing their Barbies, Mattel is on the verge of launching initiatives that will target women from 18 to 65 in hopes to lure an adult demographic.
Town Shoes will introduce Barbie Shoes — in real-life sizes. The three shoe styles — Barbie pump, party and platform — will feature pink soles adorned with a sketch of Barbie's face. The d'Orsay party shoe has a pleated satin heel, while the stiletto pump comes in fuchsia, black patent and a zebra print that echoes Barbie's original 1959 black-and-white striped bathing attire. The target market: generations of women who grew up with Barbie, spending myriad hours slipping her teeny, tiny doll feet into those itty, bitty shoes.
Other Barbie partners include Cake Beauty, the Canadian bath-and-body product maker. The company is launching a line with a vintage look at Sephora shops across the country, from Gotta Hand It to Her hand cream to Sugar Coated, a brown sugar scrub.
Mattel's Ms. Goode says the fashion and beauty extensions are logical and legitimate, "The Barbie business in many ways mirrors the fashion industry, and we know that Barbie affects three generations — women as old as baby boomers and as young as 10. We wanted to leverage that."
Mattel believes, Ms. Goode says, that if Mom is accepting of the brand at age 40 or 45, and she purchases some of the new branded products, and the brand is still seen as relevant and cool to the kids, it will be a win all around.
It’s a risky experiment that will create cultural noise, but the segment of the targeting audience may be small and fickle.
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