Barbies House at Times Square Toys R Us

The Entrance of Barbie's House in New York City Times Square

 

Ch 3. Ethics & Social Responsibility

The Toki

Ethics and Social Responsibility is usually an issue with Barbie Incorporated. There were instances that producers come up with doll that would be considered inappropriate to sell to children throughout the years. Recently,  there was a doll released called Tattoo Barbie that came with a storm of controversy. Some parents call the pink haired, tattooed barbie a "bad example" for children. However there are parents who support this unique doll, especially some who have tattoos and/or pink hair themselves. Fortunately, this doll is actually marketed to adults as a collectors item, is not distributed in toy stores.

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Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

In Mattel's mission statement says "to show girls to express yourself and be able to show people that your not afraid to show your true self." This is mainly geared towards young girls ages 5 to 12 years old. When Barbie was first launched in 1959 it did not do so well and by the end of the 1960's nearly filed bankruptcy. Mattel made a $12,000 toy survey which included several observations of children playing with the doll. They even constructed interviews to them along with their parents about the product. This has helped with their advertising campaign which lead to TV commercials, making this teen doll a household name. Today, the product includes the famous doll, and the variety of designs for the accessories, and clothing. All this observed and managed by their product. The company distributes the doll many in stores as well as online websites such as itself. Even though the company is under Mattel, Barbie is its own brand separate from the big toy company. It has never used aggressive marketing strategies because they have always believed in the value of the brand. This doll have endorsed many famous celebrities and companies throughout the years even promoted by them. However they are using their marketing mix it has made the company very successful with 40 countries representing this doll, 3 dolls sold every 3 seconds, and being the number one doll property in the United States, Barbie is doing this right compared to other doll companies.

Brief History & Mission Statement

Mission Statement
"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 creator of the Barbie Doll)

Brief History

Ruth (Co-Founder of Mattel/ Created the first barbie dolls) Handler and husband Elliot Handler (Co-Founder of Mattel) 

Ruth and Elliot Handler founded the most well-known toy company in the world, Mattel Creations in 1945. The idea for the barbie doll first came up on Ruth's mind that same year inspired by watching her young daughter Barbera and friends play paper dolls. These girls would use them as make-believe adult or teenagers then make-up their roles as cheerleaders, college students, and even adults with careers. That is when Ruth immediately realized children who create these pretend roles as grown-ups is an important part of becoming older. She also wanted to change the traditional niche of three dimensional dolls of babies and toddlers around the time. Fourteen years of designs later Mattel finally released the brand new teen-aged fashion model at the annual Toy Fair seen for the very first time May 9, 1959. Ever since then, Barbie is still finding new ways to inspire girls from one generation to the next with a long professional resume along with large social network around the world.
Information from http://www.barbiemedia.com/about-barbie/history.html