Pelin Geyik - Kerem Sezer - Sophie Tremblay - Isidora Rodriguez Valenzuela

Agenda● How did Barbie’s journey start?● Evolution of Barbie campaigns:

○ 1950s-1960s, A Grown Up Doll○ 1970s, Look Straight!○ 1980s, We Girls Can Do Anything○ 1990s, Fab & Rad○ 2000s, Difficult Times

● 2016, The Fashionistas● Future Brand Strategy

How did Barbie’s journey start?

● How did Barbie’s journey start?

How did Barbie’s journey start?➔ Ruth Handler observed her daughter playing

with a life-sized, shabbily dressed papers dolls.◆ Role plays, acting as an adult.

➔ The idea of a small adult doll➔ She found a German doll which resembled

the doll she had in her mind.➔ She brought the dolls back to States and

redesigned.➔ An adult doll was born, named Barbie after

her daughter, Barbara.

“My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little

girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices.”

Ruth Handler, the co-founder of Mattel

Barbie: 1950s -1960s, A Grown Up Doll➔ Finally a doll of “grown up girl” figure

◆ “Barbie is small and so petite, her clothes and figure look so neat.” ◆ A beautiful working girl, with fabulous clothing and multiple

successful jobs.➔ Symbol of the profound changes in standards and gender roles in

American culture. How ?◆ 1950s: Popular culture emphasized women’s appearances and

the beauty and cosmetic franchises expanded at rapid rates. ◆ 1960s: The emergence of the second wave of feminism in

American Culture began.

◆ Fight of women for being equally treated in the workplace and the family.

➔ Barbie became the embodiment of what women in the 1960’s worked so hard to achieve - equality to men in the workforce.

Barbie: 1970s, Look Straight! ➔ The rise of disco

◆ The Beatles released the last LP◆ The birth of new music genres & vibes

● Commercial Pop, Funk Jams, Hip-Hop, Punk Rock

➔ Beauty & style in 1970s◆ Bell-bottoms and “Sweet Sixteen” ◆ Long straight hair◆ “Sun, surf, sand”: Relaxed, tanned, care-free Barbie.◆ Barbie as an international star

● “1975 Winter Olympics”, “The Athlete of the Year”, she appeared as a swimmer, skater, skier in foreign markets with the appropriate gold medal around her neck.

➔ Women's liberation and the sexual revolution◆ “Live Action Barbie”: the most posable Barbie doll ever

made● High hopes of portraying women's new freedom.● Sparkling blue eyes faced-forward for the first time.

Barbie: 1980s, We Girls Can Do Anything➔ 1974: Instability in America caused almost bankrupt for Mattel.➔ New CEO, John Amerman decided re-invention was

the key◆ Keeping up with the changing trends in terms of the roles

of women in the world as well as the different cultures and traditions of nations around the world.

➔ 1980s: The perception of women changed: career-oriented◆ Women joined work force all over the country◆ For many families, it became necessary for women to work.

➔ ‘We girls can do anything’ had a significant impact on the comeback of Barbie.

➔ Feminists critized, Mattel quickly responded.◆ Change from a fashion icon to a women of substance.

➔ Barbie represented the changing stereotypes of the traditional women.◆ From nurse to doctor, teacher to astronaut, air-hostess to pilot, secretary to a

credit-card touting and a briefcase-bearing power executive

Barbie: 1990s, Fab & Rad➔ 1992: Year of the Women in politics

◆ 24 new women were elected into the House of Representatives and Barbie made her first presidential campaign debut.

➔ “Fab Five” of the 1990s ◆ Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer, Naomi

Campbell, Christy Burlington: Image of extremely glamorous, fast-paced femininity.

◆ Big Hair ● Sporty, career-minded, into bright colors● Big hair” craze and loud fashions of the early 90s

➔ Barbie gets controversial◆ “Barbie was supposed to say by ‘Math class is tough’

under pressure from the heartless controlling patriarchs at Mattel.”

◆ Foundation of ‘Barbie Liberation Organization’ ◆ Barbie Summit

Barbie: 2000s, Difficult Times➔ Barbie continued to invent cultural figures.➔ Realization of the need for innovation and technology

◆ Barbie movies, customization through website, online communities

➔ Apparel business➔ Barbie was number one selling toy until 2002.

◆ Competition with Bratz➔ However, sales of Mattel’s Barbie showed almost

constant decrease.◆ Girls switched attention to more edgier figures such Monster

High.◆ Children are more interested in technology.◆ Parents support more interactive figures like Dora the

Explorer.◆ Kids grow up much faster than they used to, and they move

on faster.● Barbie’s core demographic used to be between the

ages of 3 to 9 but is now a more narrow 3 to 6.

Barbie: 2016, The Fashionistas Campaign➔ Barbie finally comes in different shapes and sizes

◆ 4 body types◆ 7 skin tones◆ 22 eye colors◆ 24 hairstyles

➔ ‘’We believe we have a responsibility to girls and parents to reflect a broader view of beauty.” (Evelyn Mazzocco, Senior Vice-President of Barbie)

➔ British study (2006) found that girls exposed to Barbie reported lower body esteem and greater desire for a thinner body shape than those who had been given dolls reflecting larger body types or no dolls at all (CNN, 2016)

Barbie: 2016, Consumer Feedback

➔ Mattel was hoping this new collection would boost sales, after their sales dropped by 14% last October

➔ The company’s shares increased by 6% shortly after the release of the Fashionista campaign

➔ Barbie sales rose to 0.5 percent to 327.6 million in the fourth quarter

Barbie: 2016, Results

Barbie is finally becoming the iconic

doll through which delivers the

philosophy behind.

“My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices.”Ruth Handler, the co-founder of Mattel

Future Brand Strategy

Future Brand Strategy: #SameSexFamilySets➔ LGBT community on the rise➔ Increase of same-sex couple adoptions➔ Out of the 594,000 same sex couples in the US,

almost 20% of them have children

➔ Position Barbie as a diversity-friendly brand➔ Coherence with the co-founder’s mission ‘’A

woman has choices.’’➔ Market opportunity’

Future Brand Strategy: #TomboyStyle→ “A girl who dresses and sometimes behaves the way

boys are expected to”.

→ Barbie with masculine features such as short hair and with masculine cloth.

→ Goal: tomboy girl’s identification with the brand and the product.

→ Tomboy star Barbies: role models.

Shiloh Jolie Pitt

Future Brand Strategy: #STEM Barbies

→ Barbie is constantly catching up with technological innovation but should go even further: Education

→ Girls in a crucial stage of learning: OPPORTUNITY

→ DIY Barbie packs

→ Girls will get to develop their ingeniering habilities to build Barbie accesories

Source: Playthings 2016 Specialty Toy Store Survey

Thank you