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With Liv and Moxie Girlz, Spin Master and MGA aspire to take his reign to the Mattel doll
This was supposed to be the year that Barbie finally regained its crown as the queen of toys.
After many missteps, Mattel Inc. thought it had found a way to convert back to the iconic doll in possession must for girls of all ages, and also boost the slumping revenue of the company. The company has spent millions to promote their new Barbies "Fashionista" and even hired a choreographer to create a dance in a video that had its premiere at a popular morning television program in America, "Today Show" and was uploaded to YouTube.
But the latest Barbie hit the shelves after two dolls that could threaten its resurgence, experts say the industry. A product that is perhaps one of the toy makers more fashionable in North America, Spin Master Ltd. The other was created by Mattel designers resent that after a legal battle took away the rights of Bratz dolls.
In this way, is creating a hostile fight in the business of the wrists that would shame GI Joe.
Inside Mattel's design center in a high-security facility near its headquarters here in El Segundo, guards checked the laptops and briefcases executives visitors to enter and exit. A group of women with an uncanny resemblance to Barbie high heels, hair up, shining jewels gathered here last month at the Pink Room. He prepared battle plans for the new Barbie, who wears outfits inspired by the catwalks and has 12 movable joints that would allow the girls to put the doll in poses of supermodel.
A few miles away in the studio in Los Angeles from Spin Master, which is headquartered in Toronto, the designers were having trouble finding ways to stuff their dolls Liv-those that go beyond Barbie to have 14 movable joints-in boxes for display in stores faster. "If the head of one wrist is bent, or if your hair covers his face, the presentation is destroyed," explains a company spokesperson.
Meanwhile, at the headquarters of MGA Entertainment Inc. in Van Nuys, California, former planning Bratz designer accessories that girls can color for the new line of dolls from the company, Moxie Girlz.
The target shooting game has begun. "Fashionistas Barbies even bring a hairbrush," says founder and chief executive of MGA, Isaac Larian.
The battle for the hearts and minds of girls comes at a crucial time for Mattel. Sales of the company, 20% of which comes from the Barbie brand which sells U.S. $ 1,300 million, have been stalled for several years, and 2008 earnings fell 37% to $ 379.6 million. Last week, Mattel said the third-quarter revenue declined by 8% and net profit fell 3.5%. Barbie sales worldwide fell by 8%.
Barbie is still the best-selling doll in the world. Since March, Mattel's shares have climbed steadily along with the broader market, due in part to the expectation of investors for the revitalization of Barbie, analysts say. But some analysts have doubts, and have argued in public reports that Mattel has struggled to implement their strategies, even without extra competition.
Mattel pulled the boat out a few months ago to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Barbie. These efforts helped boost sales in the first quarter, but Barbie again lost momentum, and sales fell 15% worldwide in the second quarter.
Since its debut in 1959, Barbie has remained an icon of fashion and culture for girls, always wearing the latest styles from her hair style of Jacqueline Kennedy in the 60s to the executive suits 80.
Hard to beat
Over the years, other companies tried to keep a significant chunk of market share from Barbie, but Mattel always gave battle. With 45 different product lines, from linens to luggage, Barbie remains a major brand. But analysts estimate that sales of the doll in the world reached a peak of U.S. $ 1,900 million in 2002.
In 2001, Mattel found serious competition in MGA Bratz dolls, which had a spoiled attitude, thick lips and provocative clothing. Although many parents the thought too suggestive, girls adored her features disproportionate and defiant.
When sales took off Bratz, Mattel tried to launch her own line called Flavas modern, with disastrous results.
Bratz participation in the market for fashion dolls that Barbie had long dominated grew to about 50% by 2005. Mattel released a new line of Barbies that did good sales but typecast as a Barbie doll that appealed mostly to very young girls, according to several analysts.
After a climactic court battle that Mattel won the rights to MGA Bratz, and at a time when girls lose interest in the dolls and are turning to iPods, video games and the Internet, the continued decline in sales this year . While in the U.S. sales of action toys for children rose 7% during the first eight months of 2009, sales of dolls fell 5%.
The makers of dolls do not give up, even MGA, which is still recovering from multibillion-dollar legal battle with Mattel. The AMS design team spent nearly a year to create Moxie Girlz, a less provocative version of Bratz, with long, flowing hair, modern garments and accessories that can be colored by hand.
To create a niche different from Barbies to last fashions sleepers and Bratz, Spin Master has created a doll in the style of the average adolescent. The four models of dolls actualize what is happening in their "lives" through video diaries on a website called Livworld.
Richard Dickson, brand manager at Mattel Barbie, does not seem affected by the new rivals. "We were born in 1959 and thousands of brands have come and gone. I appreciate the competition, but Barbie doll has remained the number one in the world."
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