THE MARKETING ENVIRONMENT OF BARBIE DOLLS

      Barbie has been the most popular doll since her creation. However there are certain factors that might affect the marketing environment of Barbie dolls. For example, Barbie does not count with her own store, so the doll is sale in many different retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target. Another thing is that with the downturn of the economy the competitions have been selling cheaper dolls which had made it difficult for the marketing of Barbie dolls. In addition, this era of new technology is making children opt for iPods, computer video games, etc, instead of choosing a toy as a Barbie doll. However, these difficulties in the marketing environment of Barbie do not mean that marketers are not working very hard to satisfy the costumers.

      Mattel keep its Barbie doll timeless and trendy. The doll has filled the fundamental need that a girl can enjoy, that is to playing growing-up. As the time pass Barbie change; we have many workers Barbie that have inspired girl to become professional in a career. In the big list of those professionals Barbie we have nurses, teachers, doctors, pilots, singer, artist, astronauts and more. Also, we have different ethics Barbie dolls such as Hispanic and Asians. Girls with Barbie have different option to choose. It is estimate that two Barbie dolls are sold every second and that the average American girl owns eight versions of Barbie. That is something that makes us stronger in the competition.

         A success in Barbie dolls can be accredits to Jill Barad, who worked as a marketing director for Barbie and CEO in the 1997. One of his movements was to make of Barbie image a constant one. He worked with a campaign called “WE GIRLS CAN DO ANYTHING”. It was a success and Barbie sales went up to $100 million within a year. On the other hand, Mattel relies on Barbie approximately 40 of its profits, and that was when Eckert’s decided to configure the doll. First, Barbie was given a slightly wider face that made her look less “waifish”. Second, Mattel stepped up its merchandising effort in stores. One example, is the 200 Barbie boutiques in Toys ‘R’ U. Third, the company segmented its further by marketing different styles of Barbie of different age groups.

Also, Mattel pursued conservative growth opportunities that carried minimal risk. The company has become a slower-growing but more stable consumer-products company rather than a volatile, hit-driven toy company. As a result sales bounced back, with total worldwide revenue up two to percent to $4.67 billion worldwide. The company seems to be back on track even with this bad economy affecting.