Barbie has been loved around the world for over half a century since 1959, and now she is more than just a perfectly figured doll that comes in various themes, professions and ethnicities.
“Barbie is not a character brand; it is a fashion brand that has hundreds of licensees or partners that make Barbie perfumes, Barbie shoes, cosmetics, jewelry, laptops and even hair salons,” Claire Gilchrist, Mattel’s top executive of consumer products in the Asia Pacific region, said in an interview with The Korea Herald last week.
“The world’s first Barbie hair salons are set to open in Korea before the end of this year.”
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| Claire Gilchrist. Image credit: http://nwww.koreaherald.com |
Gilchrist became Mattel’s vice president for Asia Pacific overlooking key brands such as Fisher Price, Hot Wheels, Barbie, Matchbox and Monster High in April. Mattel is the world’s biggest toy company by revenue, although it does not share sales figures.
With over 25 years’ in the global retail and licensing business from Arcadia to Diageo, Walt Disney and Mattel, the British executive is based in Hong Kong and often travels to Seoul for business reviews and key marketing events like the Barbie and Ken Award.
“Like for many other global companies, Asia Pacific has been Mattel’s key growth engine in recent years,” she said.
“In my personal observation, Korean women are incredibly stylish, chic and sophisticated. Teenage and young girls are setting trends and are early adopters of fashion trends, making Korea a key test bed for creators of lifestyle brands.”
All Barbie dolls are made in the U.S., but the fashion items named after her are produced in different countries under license contracts with Mattel.
The primary target market for Barbie hair salons, to be run by local chain and licensee Park Seung-chol Hair Studio, is women in their 20s and 30s, according to Lee Yoon-ji, Mattel’s country manager in Seoul.
Partnering with Barbie can be a major opportunity for local companies to expand abroad since Mattel looks for global best practice that can be adopted in other markets.
Saera, a women’s shoes brand in Korea that joined hands with Barbie four years ago, exported to Japan.
Barbie’s cosmetics licensee in Korea expanded to Japan and is scheduled to launch in China soon.
“The three core tenants of the Barbie brand are fashion, aspiration and cultural relevance,” Gilchrist said.
“She was quite controversial when she was born in 1959 wearing swimsuits, and in the 1960s, girls played with Barbies in ways that were different from now. She has grown into the No. 1 girls’ brand and has retained this fashion position making sure she is culturally relevant to girls of a certain age.”
Barbie, the 17-year old blonde girl from Malibu, is about dreaming big, Gilchrist added.
“Barbie encourages girls to try on different roles, ideas and role play any dream. She’s about dreaming big, empowering big and little girls, which I personally love most about Barbie,” she said.
Barbie has seen more than 130 different careers including astronaut, architect, computer engineer and reporter.
There is the “dolls of the world” collection comprising of Barbies of different ethnicities and costumes, a “fashion” collection designed with famous designers’ own interpretation of Barbie, a collection of Barbies made of silkstone, seasonal collections with new themes such as “fashionista” and “princess,” as well as a collectors’ series among others.
Aside from Barbie, Fisher Price is a hugely popular brand under Mattel for infants and preschool children aged below three years.
“Fisher Price does a massive amount of scientific research reviewing how babies develop cognitively and socially as well as all the different ways a child is exposed to the world,” Gilchrist said.
“We have a new global marketing campaign with the tagline ‘the joy of learning’ that introduces products in different designs and colors, soon to be launched in Korea. It has also changed how we talk to moms. We have redesigned our digital content for communication on the Internet and started a whole new television campaign.”
Fisher Price has a campus-based on the East Coast of the U.S. with a research & development facility where it invests a lot of resources and expertise in understanding children’s development and talking to moms from pregnancy.
Mattel also has toy car brand “Hot Wheels” and a unique doll and lifestyle brand launched in 2010 named “Monster High.”
Slated to launch in Korea next year, Monster High is a set of children of famous monsters that go to the same high school including the daughters of Dracula (Draculaura) and Frankenstein (Frankie Stein).
Targeting “tweens,” or girls aged between eight and 12, the Monster High brand comes in franchise dolls, clothing, beauty, sporting items, and publishing such as storybooks and magazines, as well as electronics and food items, especially confectionery.
“Monster High says to girls in this particular age group who often feel insecure to celebrate your differences, your imperfections and that it is great to be unique,” Gilchrist said.
Mattel also has Max Steel, a line of action figures for boys similar to G.I. Joe toys.
“Mattel will continue to develop new intellectual property, toys and franchised consumer products,” the executive said.
She attended “Barbie the Dream Closet,” a marketing event that gives the opportunity to experience the Barbie lifestyle, and the Barbie and Ken Award in Seoul last week. Jessica of Girls’ Generation and U-Know Yunho of TVXQ were chosen as the third real-life Barbie and Ken of Korea.
With over 25 years’ in the global retail and licensing business from Arcadia to Diageo, Walt Disney and Mattel, the British executive is based in Hong Kong and often travels to Seoul for business reviews and key marketing events like the Barbie and Ken Award.
“Like for many other global companies, Asia Pacific has been Mattel’s key growth engine in recent years,” she said.
“In my personal observation, Korean women are incredibly stylish, chic and sophisticated. Teenage and young girls are setting trends and are early adopters of fashion trends, making Korea a key test bed for creators of lifestyle brands.”
All Barbie dolls are made in the U.S., but the fashion items named after her are produced in different countries under license contracts with Mattel.
The primary target market for Barbie hair salons, to be run by local chain and licensee Park Seung-chol Hair Studio, is women in their 20s and 30s, according to Lee Yoon-ji, Mattel’s country manager in Seoul.
Partnering with Barbie can be a major opportunity for local companies to expand abroad since Mattel looks for global best practice that can be adopted in other markets.
Saera, a women’s shoes brand in Korea that joined hands with Barbie four years ago, exported to Japan.
Barbie’s cosmetics licensee in Korea expanded to Japan and is scheduled to launch in China soon.
“The three core tenants of the Barbie brand are fashion, aspiration and cultural relevance,” Gilchrist said.
“She was quite controversial when she was born in 1959 wearing swimsuits, and in the 1960s, girls played with Barbies in ways that were different from now. She has grown into the No. 1 girls’ brand and has retained this fashion position making sure she is culturally relevant to girls of a certain age.”
Barbie, the 17-year old blonde girl from Malibu, is about dreaming big, Gilchrist added.
“Barbie encourages girls to try on different roles, ideas and role play any dream. She’s about dreaming big, empowering big and little girls, which I personally love most about Barbie,” she said.
Barbie has seen more than 130 different careers including astronaut, architect, computer engineer and reporter.
There is the “dolls of the world” collection comprising of Barbies of different ethnicities and costumes, a “fashion” collection designed with famous designers’ own interpretation of Barbie, a collection of Barbies made of silkstone, seasonal collections with new themes such as “fashionista” and “princess,” as well as a collectors’ series among others.
Aside from Barbie, Fisher Price is a hugely popular brand under Mattel for infants and preschool children aged below three years.
“Fisher Price does a massive amount of scientific research reviewing how babies develop cognitively and socially as well as all the different ways a child is exposed to the world,” Gilchrist said.
“We have a new global marketing campaign with the tagline ‘the joy of learning’ that introduces products in different designs and colors, soon to be launched in Korea. It has also changed how we talk to moms. We have redesigned our digital content for communication on the Internet and started a whole new television campaign.”
Fisher Price has a campus-based on the East Coast of the U.S. with a research & development facility where it invests a lot of resources and expertise in understanding children’s development and talking to moms from pregnancy.
Mattel also has toy car brand “Hot Wheels” and a unique doll and lifestyle brand launched in 2010 named “Monster High.”
Slated to launch in Korea next year, Monster High is a set of children of famous monsters that go to the same high school including the daughters of Dracula (Draculaura) and Frankenstein (Frankie Stein).
Targeting “tweens,” or girls aged between eight and 12, the Monster High brand comes in franchise dolls, clothing, beauty, sporting items, and publishing such as storybooks and magazines, as well as electronics and food items, especially confectionery.
“Monster High says to girls in this particular age group who often feel insecure to celebrate your differences, your imperfections and that it is great to be unique,” Gilchrist said.
Mattel also has Max Steel, a line of action figures for boys similar to G.I. Joe toys.
“Mattel will continue to develop new intellectual property, toys and franchised consumer products,” the executive said.
She attended “Barbie the Dream Closet,” a marketing event that gives the opportunity to experience the Barbie lifestyle, and the Barbie and Ken Award in Seoul last week. Jessica of Girls’ Generation and U-Know Yunho of TVXQ were chosen as the third real-life Barbie and Ken of Korea.
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