Abstract

The case talks about US-based toy manufacturer Mattel Inc.’s (Mattel’s) campaign of 2015 to address the problem of falling sales that its flagship brand Barbie was experiencing. The campaign aimed to revamp the popularity of Barbie among its target audience and to promote a positive message about the Barbie doll. The case starts out by providing details about the company and the products it sold other than Barbie dolls. It then documents the rise of Barbie dolls and the advertisements launched by Mattel to influence the target audience, which included school-going girls, pre-teens, and teenagers. The case describes the fall of Barbie due to growing criticism and tough competition from various brands like Bratz dolls and Disney’s popular Frozen line. It then discusses the newly launched campaign and provides insights from experts on whether the new campaign will be able to change the perception about the doll and help Mattel revive its fortunes.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• To understand the evolution of a brand.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of an advertising campaign In bringing about a change in the perception about a product.

Keywords

Mattel,Barbie dolls,Toy industry,Advertisement and Communication,Brand management,Marketing campaign,Brand evolution,Brand Decline,‘You can be Anything’,Brand Repositioning