Description
ban and failure of Barbie in Saudi Arabia, success factors of Fulla about how it adapted itself to Arab lifestyle and values.
Barbie in Saudi and the Middle East
[Document Subtitle]
[Author Name]
SUBMITTED BY:
[Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document.]
Table of Contents
Mattel Toys .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Mattel Toys: Product Portfolio ........................................................................................................ 4 WHAT IS BARBIE? ................................................................................................................................. 6 Barbie in Arab World: Saudi Arabia Case ..................................................................................... 9 Reason for Ban and Failure in Saudi Arabia ....................................................................................... 10
1) Muslim Values......................................................................................................................................... 10 2) Launch of Fulla ........................................................................................................................................ 10 Advertising for Fulla ................................................................................................................................... 11
Why Barbie Failed and Fulla Didn’t ? ........................................................................................... 11 General Public Opinion ..................................................................................................................... 12 Solution:.................................................................................................................................................. 13 What Mattel can do ? .......................................................................................................................... 13
Modify doll features:................................................................................................................................... 14 Themes suited to Arab Lifestyle:................................................................................................................. 15 Making use of technology i.e. .com, social networking sites, blogs, etc. ................................................... 16 Promoting Arab Values ............................................................................................................................... 17 Launch Barbie Video games and board games ........................................................................................... 20
CONCLUSION: ........................................................................................................................................ 21 REFERENCES: ........................................................................................................................................ 22
Mattel Toys
Mattel Inc is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. It was founded in 1945 by Harold "Matt" Matson and Elliot Handler (hence the name "matt-el"). Handler's wife, Ruth Handler, later became president, and is credited with establishing the Barbie product line for the company in 1959. Today the Barbie line is responsible for more than 80% of Mattel's profits. Mattel closed its last American factory, originally part of the Fisher-Price division, in 2002. By 2007, Mattel's toys were primarily manufactured by subcontractors in China. Mattel announced its Global Manufacturing Principles (GMP) in 1997, designed to set safe and fair treatment of employees. In 2003, Mattel issued its first Global Reporting Initiative report to publicly assess the success of the GMP and commit to improvements. Simultaneous to this report, Mattel issued their 2004 Corporate Responsibility report, the first to be issued by a toy company.[citation needed] From both the 2004 and 2007 reports, a majority percentages of Mattel-owned facilities are regularly audited, it can be seen that Mattel has room to expand its supply chain auditing. Following the high-profile recalls of 2007, Mattel appointed Geoff Massingberd as Vice President of Corporate Responsibility, to lead development and implementation of programs business integrity. As the world's largest toy company, Mattel's global workforce is diverse by any measure, be it ethnicity, race, religion or gender. However, Mattel doesn't see diversity in such limited terms. Rather, Mattel is committed to a broader global perspective. More importantly, we have a business imperative to think globally. Today, nearly half of Mattel's sales come from outside the US. And in the future, Mattel's greatest sales potential will be from its growing international markets.
3
Diversity and inclusion are an integral part of our business strategy, and help ensure that we are able to continue meeting our customers' evolving needs. Our Office of Global Diversity provides expertise and guidance, but diversity and inclusion are everyone's responsibility at Mattel. I personally own our goals, strategies, and results for customers, employees and the communities in which we live and work. We apply this mindset strategically to ensure our workforce is diverse and is able to apply a broad range of knowledge, experience, perspectives and insights to meeting our customers' evolving needs.
Mattel Toys: Product Portfolio
Infants Preschool Blue's Clues™ American Girl® Disney Games American Girl® Books Disney® American Girl® Magazine Dora Explorer™ the American Girls Collection® Fisher-Price® Baby Gear Barbie Consumer Products Fisher-Price® Barbie Doll of DC Universe™ Blokus Blokus Batman™ Battle Force 5™ Barbie® Collector Batman™ Barbie Style Avatar the last Airbender Barbie Consumer Products Apples to Apples Avatar the last Airbender and Girls Boys Grown-ups
Infant Toys Fisher-Price® Preschool Toys Fisher-Price® Rescue Heroes™ Geo Trax™ Grow to Pro™ Laugh Learn Little People® Matchbox® Kids Mickey Mouse Miracles Milestones Pixter™ Power Wheels® See 'n Say®
the World Barbie Style ESPN Toys DC Universe™
Barbie® Collector
Hot Wheels®
Fisher-Price®
BarbieGirls™ Barbie™
Hot Wheels® Shop.com? HotWheelsCollectors.com™
Fisher-Price® Baby Gear Hot Wheels® Shop.com? HotWheelsCollectors.com™
& Barbie™ Pink Justice League™ Ticket Party Bitty Baby® Blokus Magic 8 Ball® Master or Prey
Magic 8 Ball® Masters of the Universe®
Disney Games
Masters of the Universe®
Matchbox® Collectibles
& Diva Starz™
Matchbox® Kids
Mattel Games and Puzzles
Dora Links ello™
Mattel Games and Puzzles Matty Collector™
Matty Collector™ Othello™
Magic Ball®
8 Max Steel™
Outburst®
Sesame Street®
Mattel Games Mind Flex™ and Puzzles
Radica™
5
UNO®
Matty Collector™
MyMeebas™
Rebound®
ViewMaster™ Winnie Pooh
My
First Othello™
Scene It?™
Dollhouse The My Scene™ PictionaryMan™ Scrabble® (International)
Othello™ Outburst® Pixel Chix Radica™
Radica™ Rebound® Scene It?™ Scrabble® (International)
Snorta!® UNO® View-Master™ Xgames Finger Sports
Shining Stars® Snap n' Style Tumblin' Monkeys™ UNO®
Tyco® R/C
UNO® Xgames Finger Sports
Xtractaurs
WHAT IS BARBIE?
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler (1916–2002) is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. Barbie has been an important part of the toy fashion doll market for fifty years, and has been the subject of numerous controversies and lawsuits, often involving parody of the doll and her lifestyle.
Ruth Handler watched her daughter Barbara at play with paper dolls, and noticed that she often enjoyed giving them adult roles. At the time, most children's toy dolls were representations of infants. Realizing that there could be a gap in the market, Handler suggested the idea of an adult-bodied doll to her husband Elliot, a co-founder of the Mattel toy company. He was unenthusiastic about the idea, as were Mattel's directors. Mattel acquired the rights to the Bild Lilli doll in 1964 and production of Lilli was stopped. The first Barbie doll wore a black and white zebra striped swimsuit and signature topknot ponytail, and was available as either a blonde or brunette. The doll was marketed as a "Teen-age Fashion Model," with her clothes created by Mattel fashion designer Charlotte Johnson. The first Barbie dolls were manufactured in Japan, with their clothes hand-stitched by Japanese homeworkers. Around 350,000 Barbie dolls were sold during the first year of production.
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Barbie was one of the first toys to have a marketing strategy based extensively on television advertising, which has been copied widely by other toys. It is estimated that over a billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide in over 150 countries, with Mattel claiming that three Barbie dolls are sold every second. Barbie has become a cultural icon and has been given honors that are rare in the toy world. In 1974 a section of Times Square in New York City was renamed Barbie Boulevard for a week. In 1985 the artist Andy Warhol created a painting of Barbie.
At the end of the 1990s, the timeless Barbie, an 11 1/2" doll, is America's number one best-selling toy in the market. Mattel Toys, Inc., the largest manufacturer of toys in the US, has produced Barbie since 1959. But very little is known of its business and design aspects of Barbie's story. In the 1998 $31 billion toy market, Mattel has nearly $4.8 billion in sales. Barbie is responsible for more than one-third of those sales. In 1997 alone, Barbie represented 80% of sales in the doll segment.
In 2009, Barbie celebrated her 50th birthday. The celebrations included a runway show in New York for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.[6] The event showcased fashions contributed by fifty well-known haute couturiers including Diane von Fürstenberg, Vera Wang, Calvin Klein, Bob Mackie, and Christian Louboutin.
Barbie in Arab World: Saudi Arabia Case
Barbie is a well established brand worldwide as we have seen in the start of the report.But the things didn’t go very smooth when Barbie entered Arab world. In 2003 after its launch Barbie was banned in Saudi Arabia. In September 2003 the Middle Eastern country of Saudi Arabia outlawed the sale of Barbie dolls, saying that she did not conform to the ideals of Islam In Middle Eastern countries there is an alternative doll called Fulla which is similar to Barbie but is designed to be more acceptable to an Islamic market. Fulla is not made by the Mattel
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Corporation, and Barbie is still available in other Middle Eastern countries including Egypt.In Iran ,Sara and Dara dolls are available as an alternative to Barbie.
Reason for Ban and Failure in Saudi Arabia
1) Muslim Values
Barbie was banned in Saudi Arabia because she promoted values not shared by society.In September 2003 the Middle Eastern country of Saudi Arabia outlawed the sale of Barbie dolls, saying that she did not conform to the ideals of Islam. The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice stated "Barbie dolls, with their revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West. Let us beware of her dangers and be careful”. The Arab world especially Saudi Arabia considered Barbie to be totally Anti Islamic therefore not suitable for the young girls of the middle east.
2) Launch of Fulla
Fulla was created as an alternative for Barbie to reflect Muslim values. She is named for a fragrant jasmine flower found only in the Middle East. Her personality was designed to be "loving, caring, honest, and respects[ing of] her mother and father. She's good to her friends. She's honest and doesn't lie. She likes reading. She likes, rather, she loves fashion." Fulla has two friends, Yasmeen and Nada, as well as a little brother and sister. An older protective brother is in development for her, as well as a teacher and doctor Fulla, which are two careers that Fulla's creators believe to be respectable. Fulla will not have a boyfriend, because Muslims do not believe in romantic relationships out of wedlock. ] Fulla's creators believe that Muslim parents become angry by the Western-inspired changes in views on sexuality and on the role of women, meaning that Fulla is supposed to show traditional Islamic values and social order. She does, however, have many costumes, in addition to the hijab, that reflect the everyday wear of Muslim girls nowadays in Middle Eastern countries that conform to Muslim values, yet are still considered fashionable in the West.
Advertising for Fulla
In Saudi Arabia, animated commercials display Fulla's life, such as showing the doll saying her prayers as the sun rises, baking a cake to surprise her friend, or reading a book at bedtime. The scenes are "designed to convey Fulla's values" and show what behavior Fulla is promoting. Often, her commercials begin with her singing in a high voice in Arabic: "She will soon be by my side, and I can tell her my deepest secrets". Another series of commercials advertises her to be family-oriented, showing a group of Syrian actresses who display Fulla silverware, stationery, and accessories. Fulla's commercials often promote modest outfits, as one of Fulla's commercials had warned, "When you take Fulla out of the house, don't forget her new spring abaya!"
Why Barbie Failed and Fulla Didn’t ?
Fulla and Barbie are alike in many ways, such as in size, height, and popularity, that Fulla is sometimes nicknamed a 'Muslim Barbie'. Differences between them include lifestyle and appearance. Fulla's activities mostly include shopping, spending time with her friends, cooking, reading, and praying. Barbie dolls come in a wide range of hobbies and careers. According to the brand manager at NewBoy, there will
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be a doctor and a teacher Fulla in the future, as "these are two respected careers for women that we would like to encourage small girls to follow." Although they both have a wide range of clothes, furniture, jewellery, and other equipment, Fulla's outdoor clothes do not include swimwear or anything similarly revealing. Skirts are longer than kneelength, and Fulla's shoulders are always covered. Compared to Barbie's curves, skinny legs, and large breasts, Fulla has a smaller chest, is skinnier, and may be younger than Barbie. While the standard Barbie has blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin, the standard Fulla has dark hair, brown eyes, and olive skin. Despite this, they are both criticized "for presenting the same unrealistic idea of beauty... a certain image for women to conform to." Fulla was actually once described to be the
physical antithesis of Mattel's Barbie. Fulla was designed to promote Muslim values and be a role model for Muslim girls worldwide, whereas Barbie is targeted to Americans. Fulla has no male companion whereas Barbie has Ken.
Although illegal, Barbies, the creation of California-based Mattel Inc., are found on the black market, where a contraband doll could cost $27 or more.
General Public Opinion
"It is no problem that little girls play with dolls. But these dolls should not have the developed body of a woman, and wear revealing clothes," al-Merdas said.
"These revealing clothes will be imprinted in their minds and they will refuse to wear the clothes we are used to as Muslims," the sheik said.
Women in Saudi Arabia must cover themselves from head to toe with a black cloak in public. They are not allowed to drive and cannot go out in public unaccompanied by a male family member.
Other items listed as violations on the site included Valentine's Day gifts, perfume bottles in the shape of women's bodies, clothing with logos that include a cross, and decorative copies of religious items — offensive because they could be damaged and thus insult Islam.
An exhibition of all the violating items is found in the holy city of Medina, and mobile tours go around to schools and other public areas in the kingdom.
The muttawa act as a monitoring and punishing agency, propagating conservative Islamic beliefs according to the teachings of the puritan Wahhabi sect, adhered to the kingdom since the 18th century, and enforcing strict moral code.
The muttawa patrol the streets of the kingdom, preventing men from mingling with women, enforcing strict Islamic dress for women, chasing worshippers late for prayers, and punishing shop keepers who stay open during prayer hours. They sometimes work with a police officer who can enforce legal punishments on people deemed violators.
Solution:
Based upon the research and further investigation on this issue we have concluded that the declining sales of Barbie dolls in Saudi are very much a cultural problem. Barbie being a US based global corporate worked with the philosophy that they can exist in every market whether it is Japan or Saudi and still be the same, without adding the cultural context.
What Mattel can do ?
Recently Barbie was seen in a new makeover,a fulla Barbie.
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One of the world's most famous children's toys, Barbie, has been given a makeover - wearing a burkha. Wearing the traditional Islamic dress, the iconic doll is going undercover for a charity auction in connection with Sotheby's for Save The Children. More than 500 Barbies went on show yesterday at the Salone dei Cinquecento, in Florence, Italy.
Makers Mattel are backing the exhibition which is the work of Italian designer Eliana Lorena. The auction is part of Barbie celebrations for her 50th anniversary this year. The UK's biggest Barbie fan Angela Ellis, 35, has a collection of more than 250 dolls.
Barbie can take the following steps:
Modify doll features:
Present She dresses up with minimal cloths which is ok in the western culture Expected Bikini and mini skirts need to go. Minimal body should be exposed .In addition to the overdress; girls should be given an extensive wardrobe for the dolls. This includes jeans and
colorful headscarves worn by younger woman.
Head is usually open reveling different hairstyles which a girl in the west would love to do Being blonde and red head is quiet common in the west Girls in the west have eyes of varied shades and its perfectly normal to experiment with the colors of the eyes with lenses
Covering of the head with a scarf would display a strong religious symbolism.
Barbie should have black hair because no women has any other hair color This same will not hold true for the people in the Arab world. Here a black eye would be considered good. Person with any other eye color would be considered evil.
Prominent Body features are acceptable in the western society. In fact it represents a confident and independent women who is a go getter Hand rings, bracelets, tattoos etc are very much part of young western girl
Arab parents would want their children to be sober and hence less encouraging in imitating their western counterpart.
Giving simple handbags or a prayer rug and a scarf would be a more acceptable accessory for a girl.
Ken is Barbie boyfriend which is quiet cool from the perspective of these girls
Having a boyfriend is simply a no no. Ken could be introduced as a protective brother or some other doll complementing Barbie as a protective father, husband or a teacher.
Themes suited to Arab Lifestyle:
Creating a range with her brand-new range of Pink World dolls and room sets is a good start.
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The ranges of contemporary pink play sets can have all modern-day amenities to live lounge and entertain in. Girls should be able to set up their own house with cool modular furniture for every room and an oversized closet to stash all their favorite fashions for Barbie. Example: A Ramdan Theme
A kitchen stocked with fruits and nuts
Fancy scarfs,prayer rugs , hijab and jilbaab and dress
Barbie during month of ramadan drawing room sets with guest dolls small market selling cloths and fruits.
Making use of technology i.e. .com, social networking sites, blogs, etc.
Barbiegirls.com is the Mattel entry into "Dolls 2.0"--dolls coming to life in virtual, Second Lifetype worlds on the Internet. Aspects of Barbiegirls.com are wonderful--the graphics, the Barbie avatars, the look of the town. However, I find the site (so far) is much duller than similar sites like Webkinz because the "games" found in Barbie World aren't really games but more like short activities in which you earn the same amount of "B Bucks" no matter how well or badly the task is completed.
Promoting Arab Values
Mattel has changed its geocentric marketing approach to a more polycentric approach realizing that the customers cultures across different cultures are entirely different than the normal American culture that they are promoting. With the developed markets of the Western world already saturated, any growth for the Barbie brand has to come out from the less developed countries of Asia, Latin America and all. And those markets being entirely different from the stereotypical Western market, Barbie will have to be sensitive to these new cultures to avoid any backlashes like what happened in Japan regarding the size issue and in Saudi Arabia where they were considered not modest. In the Arab world, Barbie has to move from its free, stylish, modern, women’s liberation kind of image to that of a honest, loving and caring, fun-loving, cultured, modest yet extremely beautiful girl who respects her father and mother for the Arab world. Even while being sensitive to the Arab culture, it still has to be consistent with the associations with brand Barbie of beauty, role model, fun loving etc. All marketing communication has to be integrated with this concept in the Arab world with advertisements and all showing Barbie in a family setting rather than with her boyfriend, riding a car, sun bathing etc. Barbie’s whole look has to be modified to that of a typical Arab girl and a perfect role model for the aspirations of the typical Arab girl which she can identify herself with rather than showing her the American dream and American lifestyle. For that, Barbie might have to be converted from a blonde, fair girl with flowing hair to a brunette with dark eyes instead of the typical blue eyes and also undergo a change in her whole physique which itself was considered a little outrageous by the Eastern communities and as one which as
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promoting anorexia.
The transformation would be something like what is shown below.
Barbie in a burkha would be the best statement of having moved to the Arabian stables and having a Barbie dressed in different hues of burkhas would go along with the fundamental concept of energy and fun in a Barbie as well. Customizations of accessories will also have to done and there would definitely be more chance of selling a pink prayer rug in the Arab world rather than trying to sell a swimsuit accessory or sorts. Such customization would appeal to the customers and they would be able to relate to it more as well. With all this transformation, Barbie should not lose its fun part and the soul behind that doll which is what every girl wants to become when she grows up. And for that, the wardrobe while being modest should have enough variants and be colorful to attract maximum adoration. The wardrobe of the Arab Barbie could be something on the lines of what is shown below.
The whole transformation would move Barbie from a symbol of western cultural imperialism into one that reflects local Arab and Muslim culture. With sustaining their own cultural identity is becoming an issue for all cultures in this phase of the heightened globalization where the whole world is moving to one globalised culture, as any parent in the world, Arab parents are also fearful of their kids forgetting their own traditions and falling prey to the American or global traditions which are being pushed into every household across the world. Such a trend is very clear in the recent years, with people preferring to wear their culture and religion on their sleeves and getting extremely protective of their cultures. So even in markets where Barbie dolls would have sold well in the recent past, the new trend of change in culture is
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going to impact their sales. This is even in the TV shows and sitcoms in the Arab world where Western shows were a hit initially to be robbed off their prime positions in recent years due to the advent of the localized sitcoms which the average consumer can easily relate to. Considering all these factors about the Arab culture and how family oriented they are; the individualistic and free spirited Barbie would be against their local culture and a Barbie who is more of fun loving, adhering to family traditions and values, and playing with her friends, cousins and siblings rather than hanging around with her love interest would be more preferred by the local consumers. The wardrobe also would have to consist of two different genres: one for wearing inside the house, which would be more focused on comfort and not on modesty which would be the most important factor in outside clothes. Also the prayer rug would convey across the image of a Barbie who believes in Islam and a practicing Muslim again reinforcing the Arab ideals.
Launch Barbie Video games and board games
With a worldwide trend of kids moving away from dolls and towards more interactive games and towards the personal computer with their new acquaintance with the computers which have now become accessible to even kids, Barbie also will have to keep in this trend and follow where the customer is going rather than holding on to its dying forte. Interactive video games as hand held devices or through Playstations or through computers can actually ensure a whole round involvement of the kids with the Barbie concept. A video game themed on the development of Barbie’s life through different stages in her life where she grows up through different adversities into a role model girl who becomes a teacher or doctor (identified as the preferred jobs for girls in Arab world) and gets married finally to the most ideal prince could be the self actualization of the dreams of the typical Arab girl. The whole setting done in the Arab world in lines with the Arab ideals, themes, culture and religious sentiments would ensure that the parents also are happy about inculcating their Arab cultures easily in their kids. It might also increase the lifespan of the kids who are hooked onto the Barbie theme for more years as they grow up into their teenage years.
CONCLUSION:
Changing western perception in the Arab world among young girls: Customization as per the perception: "Mattel markets a group of collectors' dolls that includes a Moroccan Barbie and a doll called Leila, designed to represent a Muslim slave girl in an Ottoman court." research shows that young girls in middle east started liking the following qualities of that of Barbie : "fun, charismatic, determined, outgoing and every girl's best friend. Her message to little girls is that they can be anything they want to be" In the Middle East it has been found that more little girls still begin to prefer Barbie over Fulla. Little girls have said Fulla isn't fun, she doesn't do a lot of things, her clothes are boring and she isn't very pretty. Barbie on the other hand can do anything, she is exciting and Middle Eastern girls say they wish they could do everything. The desire to do everything comes from their exposure to western lifestyle and media. Where a women does not only want to be a teacher or a doctor but maybe a fashion designer and a model. Hence we believe an amalgamation of cultures will do the trick for Barbie. There is always good in every culture and a mix of good from both cultures would pave way for better sales in Saudi and the Middle East.
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REFERENCES:
Websites: o o o o o o o Books: o o o Consumer Behavior: Building Marketing Strategy (Mcgraw-Hill/Irwin Series in Marketing) by Del I. Hawkins and Kenneth A. Coney New Consumer Marketing: Managing a Living Demand System by Susan Baker BOOM: Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer -- The Baby-Boomer Woman by Mary Brown and Carol Orsborn http://www.parapundit.com/archives/001251.html http://www.stormfront.org/forum/archive/index.php/t-87401.html http://hubpages.com/hub/Middle-Eastern-Barbie http://www.counterpunch.org/portis01022009.html http://hubpages.com/hub/Meet-Fulla--the-fully-dressed-Barbie http://womensissues.about.com/b/2009/03/09/after-50-years-what-is-barbiesimpact-on-girls-and-women.htm http://collectdolls.about.com/od/barbiemodern/gr/barbiegirls.htm
doc_982484469.docx
ban and failure of Barbie in Saudi Arabia, success factors of Fulla about how it adapted itself to Arab lifestyle and values.
Barbie in Saudi and the Middle East
[Document Subtitle]
[Author Name]
SUBMITTED BY:
[Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document.]
Table of Contents
Mattel Toys .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Mattel Toys: Product Portfolio ........................................................................................................ 4 WHAT IS BARBIE? ................................................................................................................................. 6 Barbie in Arab World: Saudi Arabia Case ..................................................................................... 9 Reason for Ban and Failure in Saudi Arabia ....................................................................................... 10
1) Muslim Values......................................................................................................................................... 10 2) Launch of Fulla ........................................................................................................................................ 10 Advertising for Fulla ................................................................................................................................... 11
Why Barbie Failed and Fulla Didn’t ? ........................................................................................... 11 General Public Opinion ..................................................................................................................... 12 Solution:.................................................................................................................................................. 13 What Mattel can do ? .......................................................................................................................... 13
Modify doll features:................................................................................................................................... 14 Themes suited to Arab Lifestyle:................................................................................................................. 15 Making use of technology i.e. .com, social networking sites, blogs, etc. ................................................... 16 Promoting Arab Values ............................................................................................................................... 17 Launch Barbie Video games and board games ........................................................................................... 20
CONCLUSION: ........................................................................................................................................ 21 REFERENCES: ........................................................................................................................................ 22
Mattel Toys
Mattel Inc is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. It was founded in 1945 by Harold "Matt" Matson and Elliot Handler (hence the name "matt-el"). Handler's wife, Ruth Handler, later became president, and is credited with establishing the Barbie product line for the company in 1959. Today the Barbie line is responsible for more than 80% of Mattel's profits. Mattel closed its last American factory, originally part of the Fisher-Price division, in 2002. By 2007, Mattel's toys were primarily manufactured by subcontractors in China. Mattel announced its Global Manufacturing Principles (GMP) in 1997, designed to set safe and fair treatment of employees. In 2003, Mattel issued its first Global Reporting Initiative report to publicly assess the success of the GMP and commit to improvements. Simultaneous to this report, Mattel issued their 2004 Corporate Responsibility report, the first to be issued by a toy company.[citation needed] From both the 2004 and 2007 reports, a majority percentages of Mattel-owned facilities are regularly audited, it can be seen that Mattel has room to expand its supply chain auditing. Following the high-profile recalls of 2007, Mattel appointed Geoff Massingberd as Vice President of Corporate Responsibility, to lead development and implementation of programs business integrity. As the world's largest toy company, Mattel's global workforce is diverse by any measure, be it ethnicity, race, religion or gender. However, Mattel doesn't see diversity in such limited terms. Rather, Mattel is committed to a broader global perspective. More importantly, we have a business imperative to think globally. Today, nearly half of Mattel's sales come from outside the US. And in the future, Mattel's greatest sales potential will be from its growing international markets.
3
Diversity and inclusion are an integral part of our business strategy, and help ensure that we are able to continue meeting our customers' evolving needs. Our Office of Global Diversity provides expertise and guidance, but diversity and inclusion are everyone's responsibility at Mattel. I personally own our goals, strategies, and results for customers, employees and the communities in which we live and work. We apply this mindset strategically to ensure our workforce is diverse and is able to apply a broad range of knowledge, experience, perspectives and insights to meeting our customers' evolving needs.
Mattel Toys: Product Portfolio
Infants Preschool Blue's Clues™ American Girl® Disney Games American Girl® Books Disney® American Girl® Magazine Dora Explorer™ the American Girls Collection® Fisher-Price® Baby Gear Barbie Consumer Products Fisher-Price® Barbie Doll of DC Universe™ Blokus Blokus Batman™ Battle Force 5™ Barbie® Collector Batman™ Barbie Style Avatar the last Airbender Barbie Consumer Products Apples to Apples Avatar the last Airbender and Girls Boys Grown-ups
Infant Toys Fisher-Price® Preschool Toys Fisher-Price® Rescue Heroes™ Geo Trax™ Grow to Pro™ Laugh Learn Little People® Matchbox® Kids Mickey Mouse Miracles Milestones Pixter™ Power Wheels® See 'n Say®
the World Barbie Style ESPN Toys DC Universe™
Barbie® Collector
Hot Wheels®
Fisher-Price®
BarbieGirls™ Barbie™
Hot Wheels® Shop.com? HotWheelsCollectors.com™
Fisher-Price® Baby Gear Hot Wheels® Shop.com? HotWheelsCollectors.com™
& Barbie™ Pink Justice League™ Ticket Party Bitty Baby® Blokus Magic 8 Ball® Master or Prey
Magic 8 Ball® Masters of the Universe®
Disney Games
Masters of the Universe®
Matchbox® Collectibles
& Diva Starz™
Matchbox® Kids
Mattel Games and Puzzles
Dora Links ello™
Mattel Games and Puzzles Matty Collector™
Matty Collector™ Othello™
Magic Ball®
8 Max Steel™
Outburst®
Sesame Street®
Mattel Games Mind Flex™ and Puzzles
Radica™
5
UNO®
Matty Collector™
MyMeebas™
Rebound®
ViewMaster™ Winnie Pooh
My
First Othello™
Scene It?™
Dollhouse The My Scene™ PictionaryMan™ Scrabble® (International)
Othello™ Outburst® Pixel Chix Radica™
Radica™ Rebound® Scene It?™ Scrabble® (International)
Snorta!® UNO® View-Master™ Xgames Finger Sports
Shining Stars® Snap n' Style Tumblin' Monkeys™ UNO®
Tyco® R/C
UNO® Xgames Finger Sports
Xtractaurs
WHAT IS BARBIE?
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler (1916–2002) is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. Barbie has been an important part of the toy fashion doll market for fifty years, and has been the subject of numerous controversies and lawsuits, often involving parody of the doll and her lifestyle.
Ruth Handler watched her daughter Barbara at play with paper dolls, and noticed that she often enjoyed giving them adult roles. At the time, most children's toy dolls were representations of infants. Realizing that there could be a gap in the market, Handler suggested the idea of an adult-bodied doll to her husband Elliot, a co-founder of the Mattel toy company. He was unenthusiastic about the idea, as were Mattel's directors. Mattel acquired the rights to the Bild Lilli doll in 1964 and production of Lilli was stopped. The first Barbie doll wore a black and white zebra striped swimsuit and signature topknot ponytail, and was available as either a blonde or brunette. The doll was marketed as a "Teen-age Fashion Model," with her clothes created by Mattel fashion designer Charlotte Johnson. The first Barbie dolls were manufactured in Japan, with their clothes hand-stitched by Japanese homeworkers. Around 350,000 Barbie dolls were sold during the first year of production.
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Barbie was one of the first toys to have a marketing strategy based extensively on television advertising, which has been copied widely by other toys. It is estimated that over a billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide in over 150 countries, with Mattel claiming that three Barbie dolls are sold every second. Barbie has become a cultural icon and has been given honors that are rare in the toy world. In 1974 a section of Times Square in New York City was renamed Barbie Boulevard for a week. In 1985 the artist Andy Warhol created a painting of Barbie.
At the end of the 1990s, the timeless Barbie, an 11 1/2" doll, is America's number one best-selling toy in the market. Mattel Toys, Inc., the largest manufacturer of toys in the US, has produced Barbie since 1959. But very little is known of its business and design aspects of Barbie's story. In the 1998 $31 billion toy market, Mattel has nearly $4.8 billion in sales. Barbie is responsible for more than one-third of those sales. In 1997 alone, Barbie represented 80% of sales in the doll segment.
In 2009, Barbie celebrated her 50th birthday. The celebrations included a runway show in New York for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.[6] The event showcased fashions contributed by fifty well-known haute couturiers including Diane von Fürstenberg, Vera Wang, Calvin Klein, Bob Mackie, and Christian Louboutin.
Barbie in Arab World: Saudi Arabia Case
Barbie is a well established brand worldwide as we have seen in the start of the report.But the things didn’t go very smooth when Barbie entered Arab world. In 2003 after its launch Barbie was banned in Saudi Arabia. In September 2003 the Middle Eastern country of Saudi Arabia outlawed the sale of Barbie dolls, saying that she did not conform to the ideals of Islam In Middle Eastern countries there is an alternative doll called Fulla which is similar to Barbie but is designed to be more acceptable to an Islamic market. Fulla is not made by the Mattel
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Corporation, and Barbie is still available in other Middle Eastern countries including Egypt.In Iran ,Sara and Dara dolls are available as an alternative to Barbie.
Reason for Ban and Failure in Saudi Arabia
1) Muslim Values
Barbie was banned in Saudi Arabia because she promoted values not shared by society.In September 2003 the Middle Eastern country of Saudi Arabia outlawed the sale of Barbie dolls, saying that she did not conform to the ideals of Islam. The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice stated "Barbie dolls, with their revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West. Let us beware of her dangers and be careful”. The Arab world especially Saudi Arabia considered Barbie to be totally Anti Islamic therefore not suitable for the young girls of the middle east.
2) Launch of Fulla
Fulla was created as an alternative for Barbie to reflect Muslim values. She is named for a fragrant jasmine flower found only in the Middle East. Her personality was designed to be "loving, caring, honest, and respects[ing of] her mother and father. She's good to her friends. She's honest and doesn't lie. She likes reading. She likes, rather, she loves fashion." Fulla has two friends, Yasmeen and Nada, as well as a little brother and sister. An older protective brother is in development for her, as well as a teacher and doctor Fulla, which are two careers that Fulla's creators believe to be respectable. Fulla will not have a boyfriend, because Muslims do not believe in romantic relationships out of wedlock. ] Fulla's creators believe that Muslim parents become angry by the Western-inspired changes in views on sexuality and on the role of women, meaning that Fulla is supposed to show traditional Islamic values and social order. She does, however, have many costumes, in addition to the hijab, that reflect the everyday wear of Muslim girls nowadays in Middle Eastern countries that conform to Muslim values, yet are still considered fashionable in the West.
Advertising for Fulla
In Saudi Arabia, animated commercials display Fulla's life, such as showing the doll saying her prayers as the sun rises, baking a cake to surprise her friend, or reading a book at bedtime. The scenes are "designed to convey Fulla's values" and show what behavior Fulla is promoting. Often, her commercials begin with her singing in a high voice in Arabic: "She will soon be by my side, and I can tell her my deepest secrets". Another series of commercials advertises her to be family-oriented, showing a group of Syrian actresses who display Fulla silverware, stationery, and accessories. Fulla's commercials often promote modest outfits, as one of Fulla's commercials had warned, "When you take Fulla out of the house, don't forget her new spring abaya!"
Why Barbie Failed and Fulla Didn’t ?
Fulla and Barbie are alike in many ways, such as in size, height, and popularity, that Fulla is sometimes nicknamed a 'Muslim Barbie'. Differences between them include lifestyle and appearance. Fulla's activities mostly include shopping, spending time with her friends, cooking, reading, and praying. Barbie dolls come in a wide range of hobbies and careers. According to the brand manager at NewBoy, there will
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be a doctor and a teacher Fulla in the future, as "these are two respected careers for women that we would like to encourage small girls to follow." Although they both have a wide range of clothes, furniture, jewellery, and other equipment, Fulla's outdoor clothes do not include swimwear or anything similarly revealing. Skirts are longer than kneelength, and Fulla's shoulders are always covered. Compared to Barbie's curves, skinny legs, and large breasts, Fulla has a smaller chest, is skinnier, and may be younger than Barbie. While the standard Barbie has blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin, the standard Fulla has dark hair, brown eyes, and olive skin. Despite this, they are both criticized "for presenting the same unrealistic idea of beauty... a certain image for women to conform to." Fulla was actually once described to be the
physical antithesis of Mattel's Barbie. Fulla was designed to promote Muslim values and be a role model for Muslim girls worldwide, whereas Barbie is targeted to Americans. Fulla has no male companion whereas Barbie has Ken.
Although illegal, Barbies, the creation of California-based Mattel Inc., are found on the black market, where a contraband doll could cost $27 or more.
General Public Opinion
"It is no problem that little girls play with dolls. But these dolls should not have the developed body of a woman, and wear revealing clothes," al-Merdas said.
"These revealing clothes will be imprinted in their minds and they will refuse to wear the clothes we are used to as Muslims," the sheik said.
Women in Saudi Arabia must cover themselves from head to toe with a black cloak in public. They are not allowed to drive and cannot go out in public unaccompanied by a male family member.
Other items listed as violations on the site included Valentine's Day gifts, perfume bottles in the shape of women's bodies, clothing with logos that include a cross, and decorative copies of religious items — offensive because they could be damaged and thus insult Islam.
An exhibition of all the violating items is found in the holy city of Medina, and mobile tours go around to schools and other public areas in the kingdom.
The muttawa act as a monitoring and punishing agency, propagating conservative Islamic beliefs according to the teachings of the puritan Wahhabi sect, adhered to the kingdom since the 18th century, and enforcing strict moral code.
The muttawa patrol the streets of the kingdom, preventing men from mingling with women, enforcing strict Islamic dress for women, chasing worshippers late for prayers, and punishing shop keepers who stay open during prayer hours. They sometimes work with a police officer who can enforce legal punishments on people deemed violators.
Solution:
Based upon the research and further investigation on this issue we have concluded that the declining sales of Barbie dolls in Saudi are very much a cultural problem. Barbie being a US based global corporate worked with the philosophy that they can exist in every market whether it is Japan or Saudi and still be the same, without adding the cultural context.
What Mattel can do ?
Recently Barbie was seen in a new makeover,a fulla Barbie.
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One of the world's most famous children's toys, Barbie, has been given a makeover - wearing a burkha. Wearing the traditional Islamic dress, the iconic doll is going undercover for a charity auction in connection with Sotheby's for Save The Children. More than 500 Barbies went on show yesterday at the Salone dei Cinquecento, in Florence, Italy.
Makers Mattel are backing the exhibition which is the work of Italian designer Eliana Lorena. The auction is part of Barbie celebrations for her 50th anniversary this year. The UK's biggest Barbie fan Angela Ellis, 35, has a collection of more than 250 dolls.
Barbie can take the following steps:
Modify doll features:
Present She dresses up with minimal cloths which is ok in the western culture Expected Bikini and mini skirts need to go. Minimal body should be exposed .In addition to the overdress; girls should be given an extensive wardrobe for the dolls. This includes jeans and
colorful headscarves worn by younger woman.
Head is usually open reveling different hairstyles which a girl in the west would love to do Being blonde and red head is quiet common in the west Girls in the west have eyes of varied shades and its perfectly normal to experiment with the colors of the eyes with lenses
Covering of the head with a scarf would display a strong religious symbolism.
Barbie should have black hair because no women has any other hair color This same will not hold true for the people in the Arab world. Here a black eye would be considered good. Person with any other eye color would be considered evil.
Prominent Body features are acceptable in the western society. In fact it represents a confident and independent women who is a go getter Hand rings, bracelets, tattoos etc are very much part of young western girl
Arab parents would want their children to be sober and hence less encouraging in imitating their western counterpart.
Giving simple handbags or a prayer rug and a scarf would be a more acceptable accessory for a girl.
Ken is Barbie boyfriend which is quiet cool from the perspective of these girls
Having a boyfriend is simply a no no. Ken could be introduced as a protective brother or some other doll complementing Barbie as a protective father, husband or a teacher.
Themes suited to Arab Lifestyle:
Creating a range with her brand-new range of Pink World dolls and room sets is a good start.
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The ranges of contemporary pink play sets can have all modern-day amenities to live lounge and entertain in. Girls should be able to set up their own house with cool modular furniture for every room and an oversized closet to stash all their favorite fashions for Barbie. Example: A Ramdan Theme
A kitchen stocked with fruits and nuts
Fancy scarfs,prayer rugs , hijab and jilbaab and dress
Barbie during month of ramadan drawing room sets with guest dolls small market selling cloths and fruits.
Making use of technology i.e. .com, social networking sites, blogs, etc.
Barbiegirls.com is the Mattel entry into "Dolls 2.0"--dolls coming to life in virtual, Second Lifetype worlds on the Internet. Aspects of Barbiegirls.com are wonderful--the graphics, the Barbie avatars, the look of the town. However, I find the site (so far) is much duller than similar sites like Webkinz because the "games" found in Barbie World aren't really games but more like short activities in which you earn the same amount of "B Bucks" no matter how well or badly the task is completed.
Promoting Arab Values
Mattel has changed its geocentric marketing approach to a more polycentric approach realizing that the customers cultures across different cultures are entirely different than the normal American culture that they are promoting. With the developed markets of the Western world already saturated, any growth for the Barbie brand has to come out from the less developed countries of Asia, Latin America and all. And those markets being entirely different from the stereotypical Western market, Barbie will have to be sensitive to these new cultures to avoid any backlashes like what happened in Japan regarding the size issue and in Saudi Arabia where they were considered not modest. In the Arab world, Barbie has to move from its free, stylish, modern, women’s liberation kind of image to that of a honest, loving and caring, fun-loving, cultured, modest yet extremely beautiful girl who respects her father and mother for the Arab world. Even while being sensitive to the Arab culture, it still has to be consistent with the associations with brand Barbie of beauty, role model, fun loving etc. All marketing communication has to be integrated with this concept in the Arab world with advertisements and all showing Barbie in a family setting rather than with her boyfriend, riding a car, sun bathing etc. Barbie’s whole look has to be modified to that of a typical Arab girl and a perfect role model for the aspirations of the typical Arab girl which she can identify herself with rather than showing her the American dream and American lifestyle. For that, Barbie might have to be converted from a blonde, fair girl with flowing hair to a brunette with dark eyes instead of the typical blue eyes and also undergo a change in her whole physique which itself was considered a little outrageous by the Eastern communities and as one which as
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promoting anorexia.
The transformation would be something like what is shown below.
Barbie in a burkha would be the best statement of having moved to the Arabian stables and having a Barbie dressed in different hues of burkhas would go along with the fundamental concept of energy and fun in a Barbie as well. Customizations of accessories will also have to done and there would definitely be more chance of selling a pink prayer rug in the Arab world rather than trying to sell a swimsuit accessory or sorts. Such customization would appeal to the customers and they would be able to relate to it more as well. With all this transformation, Barbie should not lose its fun part and the soul behind that doll which is what every girl wants to become when she grows up. And for that, the wardrobe while being modest should have enough variants and be colorful to attract maximum adoration. The wardrobe of the Arab Barbie could be something on the lines of what is shown below.
The whole transformation would move Barbie from a symbol of western cultural imperialism into one that reflects local Arab and Muslim culture. With sustaining their own cultural identity is becoming an issue for all cultures in this phase of the heightened globalization where the whole world is moving to one globalised culture, as any parent in the world, Arab parents are also fearful of their kids forgetting their own traditions and falling prey to the American or global traditions which are being pushed into every household across the world. Such a trend is very clear in the recent years, with people preferring to wear their culture and religion on their sleeves and getting extremely protective of their cultures. So even in markets where Barbie dolls would have sold well in the recent past, the new trend of change in culture is
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going to impact their sales. This is even in the TV shows and sitcoms in the Arab world where Western shows were a hit initially to be robbed off their prime positions in recent years due to the advent of the localized sitcoms which the average consumer can easily relate to. Considering all these factors about the Arab culture and how family oriented they are; the individualistic and free spirited Barbie would be against their local culture and a Barbie who is more of fun loving, adhering to family traditions and values, and playing with her friends, cousins and siblings rather than hanging around with her love interest would be more preferred by the local consumers. The wardrobe also would have to consist of two different genres: one for wearing inside the house, which would be more focused on comfort and not on modesty which would be the most important factor in outside clothes. Also the prayer rug would convey across the image of a Barbie who believes in Islam and a practicing Muslim again reinforcing the Arab ideals.
Launch Barbie Video games and board games
With a worldwide trend of kids moving away from dolls and towards more interactive games and towards the personal computer with their new acquaintance with the computers which have now become accessible to even kids, Barbie also will have to keep in this trend and follow where the customer is going rather than holding on to its dying forte. Interactive video games as hand held devices or through Playstations or through computers can actually ensure a whole round involvement of the kids with the Barbie concept. A video game themed on the development of Barbie’s life through different stages in her life where she grows up through different adversities into a role model girl who becomes a teacher or doctor (identified as the preferred jobs for girls in Arab world) and gets married finally to the most ideal prince could be the self actualization of the dreams of the typical Arab girl. The whole setting done in the Arab world in lines with the Arab ideals, themes, culture and religious sentiments would ensure that the parents also are happy about inculcating their Arab cultures easily in their kids. It might also increase the lifespan of the kids who are hooked onto the Barbie theme for more years as they grow up into their teenage years.
CONCLUSION:
Changing western perception in the Arab world among young girls: Customization as per the perception: "Mattel markets a group of collectors' dolls that includes a Moroccan Barbie and a doll called Leila, designed to represent a Muslim slave girl in an Ottoman court." research shows that young girls in middle east started liking the following qualities of that of Barbie : "fun, charismatic, determined, outgoing and every girl's best friend. Her message to little girls is that they can be anything they want to be" In the Middle East it has been found that more little girls still begin to prefer Barbie over Fulla. Little girls have said Fulla isn't fun, she doesn't do a lot of things, her clothes are boring and she isn't very pretty. Barbie on the other hand can do anything, she is exciting and Middle Eastern girls say they wish they could do everything. The desire to do everything comes from their exposure to western lifestyle and media. Where a women does not only want to be a teacher or a doctor but maybe a fashion designer and a model. Hence we believe an amalgamation of cultures will do the trick for Barbie. There is always good in every culture and a mix of good from both cultures would pave way for better sales in Saudi and the Middle East.
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REFERENCES:
Websites: o o o o o o o Books: o o o Consumer Behavior: Building Marketing Strategy (Mcgraw-Hill/Irwin Series in Marketing) by Del I. Hawkins and Kenneth A. Coney New Consumer Marketing: Managing a Living Demand System by Susan Baker BOOM: Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer -- The Baby-Boomer Woman by Mary Brown and Carol Orsborn http://www.parapundit.com/archives/001251.html http://www.stormfront.org/forum/archive/index.php/t-87401.html http://hubpages.com/hub/Middle-Eastern-Barbie http://www.counterpunch.org/portis01022009.html http://hubpages.com/hub/Meet-Fulla--the-fully-dressed-Barbie http://womensissues.about.com/b/2009/03/09/after-50-years-what-is-barbiesimpact-on-girls-and-women.htm http://collectdolls.about.com/od/barbiemodern/gr/barbiegirls.htm
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