‘We stopped looking into the future’: Mattel boss on how the toy maker reinvented Barbie
Dickson: “We created brand content money can’t buy”
Iconic US toy brand Mattel – manufacturer of the Barbie doll – went back to its roots as a creations company to re-engage children with short attention spans and their ambitious parents.
Mattel president and COO Richard Dickson told delegates at the Adobe Summit in Las Vegas that the 70-year-old toy manufacturer was forced into action after a revolution in children’s play saw it competing with media and technology companies. Viewed through the prism of child development, the brand’s product suite became outdated.
He said: “At some point we stopped looking into the future. The toy had become global intellectual property. You have to have play with purpose.”
Declining sales took the company on a path of rapid reinvention with the most significant changes being made to the Barbie doll and the introduction of different skin tones, facial features and body shapes.
Dickson said: “For Barbie to succeed, girls had to love her again and mums needed to like her a bit more. These dolls reflect the complex world girls experience today. They’re more relevant than ever.”
The changes saw Barbie trending as a topic on social media and the introduction of a talking doll saw Time Magazine label it the most advanced in a new generation of artificial intelligence toys.
Dickson added: “We had created brand content through product innovation, content that money can’t buy. Creative, bold decisions sparked a conversation that’s changing the perception of the brand and Barbie is leading again.”
He said the company had taken inspiration from its founders, who didn’t think they were a toy company but a creations company that was design-led. “Our founders weren’t toy people, they were designers and inventors.”
Martin Lane
Martin Lane is a guest of Adobe at the Summit in Las Vegas
What about we start a list here.
PEOPLE OR THINGS WE DONT WNAT TO HEAR ABOUT ONCE MORE THAN EVEY 5 YEARS.
Here’s a start:
1.Barbie
2 Harold Scruby and the pedestrian council
3 Any football until winter
Off you go…
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I just want to express how comical I find it that this broad shouldered, square jawed, slicked back guy named–of all things–RICHARD DICKSON is in charge of Barbie.
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………and the replacement for the Ken Barbie is, you guessed it : Wanker Barbie. There is also Full of Shit Barbie, and Lobotomy Barbie.
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