Marketing Barbie's Latest Makeover

Iconic Barbie, the doll beloved by boomers and still on toy-store shelves after more than 50 years, is getting a needed makeover. Despite her high fashion forays, and several museum displays devoted to her fashionista variations, Barbie has been criticized for her unrealistic, ultrathin body type and shaped feet that fit only in high heels. 

Facing increased competition from many other dolls, sales of Barbie dolls dropped 20% from 2012 to 2014, prompting parent company Mattel to add new diverse product variations for 2015 (a wider range of skin tones and hair styles).

In 2016, Mattel has introduced even more faces and shapes to update the Barbie product line. Barbie now is short or willowy, slim or curvy, to appeal to a wider target market and better reflect the diversity of the toy buying public.

Some of Mattel's Barbie ads in the past year have emphasized the aspirations of girls, aiming to associate the brand with dreams of career possibilities. Other ads focused on fashion and expressing individuality. Will Barbie's latest marketing makeover reverse the sales slide?

The Marketing Force in Marketing the Force

Hundreds of thousands of brand fans worldwide were involved in Force Friday on September 4th, a day devoted to marketing Star Wars movies and merchandise.

From Disney and Hasbro to Toys 'R' Us, Target, and beyond, retail and manufacturing partners jumped on the Force Friday marketing bandwagon to market merchandise tied to the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, due for release in December.

Mattel, which is making Hot Wheels tie-ins, worked with Uber to send out Dodge Charger cars decorated like Storm Troopers so fans could ride in brand style. Even Major League Baseball got involved, with a light-saber duel after the first pitch in a NY Mets/Florida Marlins game on Friday.

Disney began its movie promotion a year in advance, and promoted #ForceFriday as only one in a series of marketing activities leading up to the new movie's debut. Social media was a huge element in Force Friday, including a coordinated multi-city "unboxing" event for YouTube.

Many stores (and websites) planned for midnight promotions, building buzz by including guest appearances and other special events tied to Force Friday. The stars of the show: New merchandise keyed to new characters and new technology to be fully revealed in the new movie. Brand community was a major part of the appeal to customers, with costumes and entertainment and photos and more. In short, the marketing force is strong for this new Star Wars movie and its merchandise.

Toy Fair Time: First Look at 2015's Newest Toys

Want to know what you'll see on store shelves come November? The wholesale Toy Fair (which just completed its NYC run) offers an early look at what 13,000 toy retailers from around the globe are buying for the holiday season.

Lots and lots of dinosaurs, for a start, thanks to the upcoming release of the new Jurassic World movie, one of the sequels to the wildly popular classic film Jurassic Park. And, as Fortune notes, generic dinosaur toys can be produced without being licensed from Jurassic Park's owner, Universal Studios. At the same time, LEGO licensed dinos for its new Jurassic World brick set, introduced at the Toy Fair.

All the usual suspects had exhibits at the fair, including Mattel and Hasbro, plus many up-and-coming firms. In addition to new Barbies and Furbys, watch for new Marvel comics superhero toys, drone-type playthings, Star Wars tie-ins, even fake snow. Really.

For more news, follow Toy Fair on Facebook or Twitter.

Mattel's Marketing Strategy for Digital Natives

Today's youngsters are digital natives, which is why Mattel is retooling its marketing to fit their behavior and interests.

Iconic toys like Barbie have nostalgic appeal, to be sure, especially among parents who played with Barbie and Ken as children. Still, Barbie has lots of company (meaning competition) on toy store shelves, including the incredibly popular Frozen sisters from Disney.

In addition, the target market for Barbie and similar fashion dolls is becoming narrower because girls are moving onto more grownup toys earlier than in the past.

Now, with Barbie's sales down for the third consecutive year, and company profits drooping, Mattel is using updated technology for Barbie's 21st century makeover.

The latest Barbie models have ToyTalk technology, allowing them to "converse" with girls. "The most requested thing that kids have wanted to do with Barbie, and Mattel's done unbelievable amounts of research over the course of decades, is to talk to Barbie," says ToyTalk's CEO. Supported by an aggressive product development schedule, Hello Barbie will be on toy shelves late this year, if all goes well.

Another classic Mattel toy, the View-Master (see photo above), is also getting a 21st century make-over. It will be introduced with virtual reality apps (a Mattel proprietary app and others available on Google Play) for more compelling images. The original View-Master was introduced in 1939. This new, affordable VR version will repurpose some of the existing images. Will digital natives go for it?

Marketing Toys to Mom AND Dad

Toy companies realize that before youngsters are old enough to have an allowance or shop on their own, Mom and Dad (and Grandma and Grandpa) make most toy purchases. No surprise, then, that toy marketers are reaching out to adults, explaining the underlying appeal of their products and tweaking marketing to fit the decision-making considerations of both Moms and Dads.

Mattel is conducting consumer research with mothers in relation to its Big Wheels toy cars. "By talking to Mom, we are extending out the conversation to the actual purchaser," explains Mattel's vp for the North American boys' toys and games unit. Because most Moms didn't play with Hot Wheels when they were kids, they don't "get why cars, engines, and all the shapes and crashing and smashing are so cool," he adds.

So Mattel has hosted breakfasts for Moms, contacted Mommy bloggers, and used social media to spark dialogue, with the aim of turbo-charging Hot Wheels sales. Already, Hot Wheels has 1.1 million Facebook likes and 15,500 Twitter followers. An app is in the works to suggest which Hot Wheels purchases parents/grandparents can make to complement the cars and trucks already in the hands of their youngsters.

Meanwhile, understanding that Dads (and Grandpas) grew up with building block sets, while Moms (and Grandmas) grew up with Barbie, Mattel and Mega Blok have teamed up to create Barbie Mega Bloks (right). The idea is to leverage the venerable Barbie name and personality with building sets that play to the spatial thinking strengths of block sets.

Lego's extremely popular Lego Friends for girls (below) have helped pushed that Danish company's sales up 25% during the product line's first year on the market. Yes, the sets build on Lego's famous block reputation but also offer unique colors, characters, and story-telling possibilities that appeal to girls in particular.

Initial public reaction was mixed, with some Moms worried that pink blocks and cute characters bordered on gender stereotyping--but the unexpected sales success of Lego Friends suggests that girls like the product and parents like that their girls are building with blocks.

Crayola Leverages Its Brand

Everybody remembers coloring with Crayola Crayons...the brand name and its colors are iconic. And that's why Crayola is licensing its brand for all kinds of imaginative products.

For example, you can color your nails with Crayola's latest brand extension (above), mini-nail polish in vivid colors like robin's egg blue and cotton candy pink. Or you can temporarily streak your hair with Crayola Hair Styx, with a three-pack of colors for streaking (Wild Blue Yonder, Electric Lime, and Razzmatazz) or Hi-Lights in two colors (Jazzberry Jam and Blue Bell). Or clip on colorful Crayola hair accessories.

Crayola has teamed up with Mattel to use brand names like Hot Wheels and Barbie on art supplies and markers with Crayola's crayon names. Coming soon: baked goods with Crayola Crayon colors, to be launched in 2013.

What's next for Crayola?

Mattel's Apptivity: iPad as Toy Launching Pad

It's no secret that youngsters are attracted to the touch-screen ease of iPads. They're playing games (not just Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja), and visiting brand Web sites, at the very least.

Mattel has a new and intriguing idea for marrying the world of branded toys with the world of touch-screen tablets: Apptivity toys. The combo of a physical toy (a car or branded character) paired with an iPad app is intended to engage kids and build on their fascination with the toys and the iPad.

For example, kids can use the special Apptivity Hot Wheels car (shown above) to race on an iPad "race track," winning points and becoming a hot-shot driver. The electronic touchpoints on the car communicate with the iPad screen, so the app (free from iTunes) knows what you're doing with the car as you steer it left or right, avoiding obstacles and picking up speed. (See the news video from this week's Toy Fair, where new toys are introduced, for hands-on demos.)

If you're a Fruit Ninja fan, use the Apptivity ninja character to go after your opponent on the iPad screen. Same with Angry Birds. And on and on. The possibilities for pairing a branded toy with an iPad app open new opportunities for extending play to the digital realm. But will parents buy the toys and lend their iPads to their youngsters?

Baby-Boomer Barbie

To celebrate Barbie's 50th birthday (March 9), Mattel is sending the famous doll on an international expansion tour. It's opening a new Barbie store in Shanghai, a 6-story store that sounds something like the American Girl stores in NYC, Chicago, and other major US cities. Since Mattel bought American Girl in 1998, it makes sense for the toymaker to apply successful tactics to other product lines (like Barbie).

Forbes recently interviewed Barbie about her special birthday. The Economist thinks Barbie's conservative look and fashions may help Mattel weather the economic storms ahead. Fiat has even created a special Fiat 500 for the doll's birthday party, with Ken at the wheel.

Today's Barbie is tech-savvy, right at home in her online home. To see more of Barbie through the years, including this 1959 image, click here.