Does Mattel’s Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover?

Case Analysis Report

Submitted To -

Prof. Rajarshi Debnath Submitted By-

(Group1)

Shubham Gautam - 301049

Ankit Agarwal 301065

Mohit Singh - 301076

Mahek Kalra- 301082

Sampreet P Joshi -301098

Viranchi Mishra - 301108

1. Introduction

Ruth and Elliot Handler, a married couple, and Harold "Matt" Matson made the decision to
launch a new business in 1944. They named it Mattel, a combination of Matt and Elliot, and the
company started selling picture frames in 1945. Later, miniature furniture fashioned from picture
frame scraps was added. The Handlers made the decision to concentrate solely on toys after
Matson left Mattel in 1945. Barbara Millicent Roberts, better known by her stage name Barbie,
was born. Barbie, according to Ruth Handler, was created with the idea that a young girl might
become anything she desired. Barbie has always stood for the idea that women have options.

Mattel ranked as the second-largest toy and game producer in the world in 2015. Fisher-Price,
American Girl, and Mattel brands made up the company's three main brand portfolios.3 Popular
brands like Power Wheels, Winnie the Pooh, Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer, and Barney
were featured in the Fisher-Price portfolio. The American Girls Collection and American Girl
Today were both parts of the American Girl brand line. Barbie and other doll-related apparel,
accessories, houses, vehicles, and other lifestyle components were all manufactured under the
Mattel brand. One of the most recognisable toys in the world was the Barbie doll, manufactured
by Mattel Inc. and released to consumers about 60 years ago. Barbie was once again in the
spotlight as customers blasted the toy for offering a limited and unrealistic view of how women
should appear, how they should dress, and the occupations they should seek. However, both
the industry landscape and consumer preferences were changing. Was there a place for Barbie
in 2015 or was this the end of the line for the legendary doll? Both sales and public opinion of
the doll were declining. What steps could Mattel take to change the situation?

2. Mattel and Toys and Game Industry upto 2014

“Mattel is a company of outstanding brands, people and values.”

Constant focus on developing the brand image through new products has helped Mattel to
achieve new heights, their proven leadership in brand management — whether it be a
50-year-old iconic brands like Barbie or an up-and-comer like Monster High — combined with
the global reach, makes it the strategic partner of choice for anyone owning toyetic intellectual
property. During 2011, the brand created a new North America Division and Global Brand
Teams. This new structure recognizes the opportunity to move decision-making for the U.S.
business closer to the retail customer and toy consumers. Additionally, it gives the brand teams
the ability to approach the business and creative process more globally, recognizing the growth
potential outside the U.S. as more consumers join the middle class in Latin America, Eastern
Europe and Asia.

The toy industry is very creative; therefore, they recognize that even with the best brands in the
industry, people drive the results. Because of the short product development cycle and the need
to create hot new toys every year, great talent has the ability to quickly and significantly impact
the business. Mattel is fortunate to have world-class talent across all functions and geographies,
and is well-positioned to continue to attract and retain the best talent. In fact, in 2012, Mattel
was again named among FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” — for the fifth year in
a row. To succeed in some of the new category growth areas, brand continue to develop its
existing talent by focusing on skills training, sound resource allocation and global assignment
opportunities to better develop their leaders. Recognizing the fast pace of change in brand
management, toy technology and the digital world, we will need to grow the creative and
business leaders of tomorrow, and we are committed to that end.

Over the last decade, the culture has evolved successfully; but like all great companies, the
need to continue the evolution of the culture in order to remain competitive. Mattel’s continued
success will be based on finding the optimal balance between continuity and change, and it
needs to keep pace with where the industry and kids are going. They will do this by leveraging
the brands,insights, creativity and know-how across all divisions and geographies — something
the brand calls as “One Mattel.”

3. Main Issues with the Barbie

3.1 Misalignment of the brand image with the message it communicates: Mattel, and
Barbie in particular, had faced plenty of criticism over the years — in fact, few toys had sparked
as much controversy in their lifetime as Barbie.43 The factor that had perhaps sparked the most
controversy about the doll was the long-running debate over whether Barbie was an appropriate
toy for girls,role model for young females. Indeed, most of the debate and criticism revolved
around its impact on the development of girls and young women, ranging from concerns about
teenage pregnancy to educational and job success. The most generally held criticism about
Barbie, though, was her bodily aesthetic.
Some Barbie goods drew criticism for their representation of Barbie's intellect. Concerns were
raised once more when Barbie became a computer engineer in Barbie: I Can Be a Computer
Engineer, a print and ebook published in 2014. Barbie's representation in this narrative does not
match the brand's concept of what Barbie stands for.

3.2 Product design reflects how a beautiful body should look: The original Barbie was slim,
tall, and blonde. Barbie, if she were human, would have a 16-inch (41-centimeter) waist, a
waist-to-hip ratio of 0.55, and weigh 110 pounds (50 kilograms); also, her shoe size would be 3-
a number that did not exist in the United States. The likelihood of having a comparable physical
form to Barbie in real life was less than 0.001%, and when Barbie's proportions were compared
to those of ordinary women, models, sports, and anorexic women, models had the shape that
was closest to Barbie.
Some Barbie items and advertisements fueled greater criticism of Barbie's unrealistic physical
image. In 1963, for example, a Barbie Babysitter came with a book titled How To Lose Weight,
which advised "DON'T EAT! ”
3.3 Lack of Uniformity in the Product: Lack of Uniformity in the product, failed to integrate
business strategy into market positioning. as customer demand for dolls with realistic body
proportions grew With this rising popularity in mind, entrepreneur and artist Nickolay Lamm was
inspired to design "an ordinary Barbie" – a doll with average features and proportions.With this
philosophy in mind, Lamm proceeded to crowdsource the funding needed to construct the doll,
reaching his target of $95,000 in just over 24 hours.59 The Lammily doll was produced in 2014.
She was shorter than Barbie, had brown hair, wore minimum makeup, and had an average
waistline.

4. Changing consumers and retailers

The mindset of consumer always changes over time and successful MNCs are the one who
understands these changes and creates strategies accordingly. But in the case of barbie, it feels
like Mattel didn't grasp the changing consumer mindsets. There was a backlash from different
parts of the world regarding the entire concept of barbie. Some people tried to make the barbie
alternatives as well

Nickolay Lamm, an entrepreneur and artist, was inspired to create “an average barbie” doll,
which was everything that the original barbie was not portraying like realistic body standards,
features like scares and freckles etc. the main motto behind this doll was average is beautiful.

Besides the consumers, retailers were also changing the way they looked at the children's toy
markets. Many influential retailers like Target started to arrange their toy section areas by toys
theme rather than gender. These changes could be the by-product of the changing consumer
attention toward gender stereotypes and concerns around gendered marketing.

5.Reasons for negative impact on society

5.1 The Barbie Body: Barbie is positioned to show a perfect body, which has a 0.0001%
probability of occuring naturally. This affected the mind of girls that if she has to be perfect, she
has to look like Barbie. This led to an unwarranted fear of being overweight, distorted body
image which had to be maintained through starvation or too much exercise.For example, in
1963, a Barbie Babysitter came with a book titled How To Lose Weight with the advice "DON'T
EAT!”

5.2 Racism: Barbie reinforced racism on the basis of skin colour. It also demonstrated that only
tall and white girls are accepted by society, which impacted girls of different races, caste and
creed.
5.3 Criticisms regarding portrayal of Barbie’s intelligence: Some Barbie products drew criticism
for their portrayal of Barbie's intelligence. Mattel, for example, released Teen Talk Barbie in the
early 1990s, a Barbie programmed with pre-recorded phrases and statements. Teen Talk Barbie
was rebuked for some of the recorded phrases, such as "Math class is difficult! " "I'll need
Steven and Brian's assistance to make it a real game!" "As the plot of the book progresses, it
shoecased that Barbie creates viruses on computers, loses her homework, and needs the
assistance of her male coworkers to correct her errors. It showcased that girls are meant for
fewer specified professions and they do not have the capabilities to be an Engineer or enter into
professional careers which requires analytical skills.

6.Recommendations

6.1 Create realistic products: The Barbie Fashionistas Line should be expanded by Mattel,
and along with the new features, more realistic qualities should be introduced to the Barbie dolls
in order to better capture the essence of an American girl. There should be a lot of racial
variation in terms of clothes as well. A good effect on the brand's reputation would result from
this.
6.2 Break the gender stereotype: Through the Barbie Moschino web advertisement, the
Barbie brand has also challenged gender preconceptions associated with toys. However, it is
advised that Mattel extend and increase the cultural variety, racial diversity, and shattering
gender stereotypes throughout the world. Despite the fact that Barbie was created by a female
entrepreneur, it was now necessary for the brand to dispel gender stereotypes and advance
ethnic diversity in all nations, particularly in Asian nations.