Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Developing and Managing Products



  Barbie products  can be considerate as the most innovative. The company is always putting into the market new things. Mattel likes to be innovative, we know this because with Barbie they have changed her face through the passing decades and there are Barbie products coming into the market most of the time. A product can be new to anybody who does not know about it, however in the case of Barbie is difficult to find a person who do not know about this doll. Barbie is very popular as cause of the innovation the company always trying to launch new Barbie lines and products. When we see any of those old Barbie commercials it make us think that our mothers play with the dolls, that we played with 
them and that in the future our daughter will collect or play with them, also.
        In 2003-2004 Mattel launched the first wave of Cali Girl. These dolls became the highest selling Barbie doll that have been created. The success was thanked to the new development and design of the doll which catches the attention of the consumers. I still can remember my Cali Barbie and my Cali guy. I wanted to collect all the dolls but I could not do it. I like to remember my childhood because it was a moment of playing, running around and asking mommy or daddy to buy a new Barbie doll. On the other hand, as we know Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. This of making high profits from their products is cause by the new product development process. With this process the company examine the product and the market before the toys are to be launched in the market. For example, Barbie is a doll that have growth through every generation. The doll never fall because is always changing and that what consumers like.


                               THE CHANGE IN BARBIE DOLLS 

        When a Mattel is to make one of those new Barbie lines or products they have to follow first the steps of the new product development process. The first one is the New Product Strategy which lead them to different ideas of the product they creating. The second, is the idea Generation this idea deals more with the need for consumers and customers. Then we have the Idea Screening which is to eliminate ideals that does not help the product. Then, we have the Business Analysis which is when the business is study and where they get calculations of demand, profits, etc. In the development the company make the prototype of the product. Then, we have Test Marketing where the products or the toys are introduced to the market in limited proportions. The last stage is the Commercialization, where the big production, inventory, shipping, etc, start. The production of Barbie would not be possible without following these steps, that why many companies fails.
       Barbie dolls and accessories do not have problem to sell into the big retails or smalls because even when the company follows the process of development they still need to make advertisement and promotion. So, that way the market is targeted and the product be known by the consumers.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Integrated Marketing Communication


    Barbie dolls they are very popular, however, the reason is that Mattel.Inc always integrated marketing communication. This helps the company to coordinate the advertisements, sale management, public relations direct marketing and sales promotions. Thank to this method Mattel base it advertisement strategies on national, sub-cultural  demographic segment. Mattel try to make sure that people knows about their products not only nationally but also internationally. whereas, many companies are facing international advertisement problems, not including Mattel.Inc, which advertise Barbie and other product correctly. There is not a single person who does not know about any new product that Mattel takes out to the market. The reason is that Mattel have advertisement media variations around the world. These Variation in advertisement helps a company a lot. It is very important to target the consumer correctly. For example, Mattel make commercials indifferent languages so that the audience can understand the commercials.

                                       BARBIE OF THE WORLD


     Girls and collector do not care about the look of Barbie at all. This simple dolls have lead to an innumerable series of Barbie merchandise. Barbie is a doll which have cross boundary globally and for those reason Mattel have implemented a big sale promotion nationally and globally. So, that way Barbie have become popular through the passing decades.we can say that by giving so much promotion to a doll make the price of the product to increase. However, this is not the case of Mattel which always accommodate the price of their products. Another, promotional mix that have help Barbie dolls become so popular is the public relation that the company have implemented.They always trying to have good communication with the press and other medias so that way the can communicate message to consumer, general public, etc. I can tell that Barbie have participated in more fashion shows than some top models out there. This technique is also used internationally because Barbie is a doll that crossed different borders.
     Mattel.Inc is a toy company with many goals to accomplish specially with Barbie dolls brand.To achieve these goals they used three strategies which are: informing, persuading and remaining. Most company used this technique to sets goals but Mattel is one of those that always used this steps. First, inform the general public by presenting a Barbie product, it might be in a commercial, blog, webpage, fairs etc. This catch people attention specially consumers and then persuasion can be implemented by making people thing that the product fulfill their needs which is to make a girl play with Barbie. After, the consumer is persuade or not the sales associates or in any commercial or promotion the information is given. When some sale associate try to persuade you and do not succeed their last task is to reminding the people, consumers or general public about where hey can find the product.It also happens with the commercials and other promotion that as a conclusion they mention the stores where the products can be found. On the other hand, this technique is also similar to AIDA concept of marketing, which require that the sale person attract the Attention, create Interest, kindle Desire and take Action. Most company work differently with this concept, however when using AIDA they work very similar because at the end they just want to sell. 
  Barbie is not a complicated doll to sell but today days is becoming difficult to achieve some goals as cause of the competitions and the advances in technologies. These are the only factors that are affecting Barbie sales. However, Barbie still being number one selling with an average of three dolls every two seconds.






                        BARBIE DOLLS SELLING TECHNIQUE



Monday, November 12, 2012

Product Concept


     When people think of Barbie dolls they think that they are tangible products. Tangible goods because they can be used and touched. They can also be an intangible good because they are used to make our girls and collectors happy. When we classify Barbie dolls as a product we can say that they fall on the category of Shopping and Unsought product. It is Shopping and Unsought because the consumer makes the effort to buy it and there are always new things and products coming out which require strong advertising to persuade and get the attention of the consumers. 
         Mattel always try the best they can to satisfy consumers. That is why Barbie have a lot of demands and not only Barbie but  others Mattel's products. In Barbie dolls and accessories we have many items to sells to our consumers. There is a great variety of products that make consumers happy. For example, we have the dolls, the cloths, the house, her boyfriend and friends, and much more. In addition Mattel have clothes for grown little girls and furniture to decor a girl's room as is pleased. Barbie doll have have many item to choose from. The product line of Barbie dolls is very expendable that is why many people become collector of any Barbie lines. For example, the holiday Barbie dolls is one of the most famous. Can you imagine how  many Barbie doll a collector need to collect from the time of the production of this line? is not difficult to calculate 2012 from 1959. There might be around hundreds of Barbie dolls. A Barbie doll line is what give support to Barbie brand because many consumers have many options to choose from. 

      Barbie Brand is one of the most recognizable in the world because everybody know what Barbie is. The name of the doll is used as the brand name and the symbol to represent the product. However, in the case of Barbie many people by just seeing a doll or a picture knows that it is a Barbie doll. In that matter the company does not need to worry because the brand of this doll is very popular. It is difficult to not find somebody that does not know about these dolls.
    Some time people will see in retails worker from Mattel. Inc working in Barbie area. the reason for this is that the company does not want to risk loses of the product. The dolls are well packet and maintained, however, is better if one of the worker know more about the product. That is why the company want to employ a person who have experience with the product, so that he/she might teach the employees of any company about the product. Also they can assist costumer better.Barbie products have to be well packed and labeled so that the dolls or accessories can look well and persuasive. Also, they have to have the instruction in its packet so that the consumers can used them well and do not get harmed. In addition, all Mattel's products have warranties this can certify the quality of the company's product. It is Mattel job to satisfy it consumers and buyers.

                          Barbie Shop at the of America