Mattel, Inc. is the largest toy company in the world. This company designs, to manufacture, markets, and distributes a large amount of different toy products to over 150 countries worldwide.
From Picture Frames to Mattel Toys (1945-49)
The founders of Mattel, Inc were Elliot and Ruth Handler 1945, where they lived during a fast changing postwar time. Handler started with designing light fixtures and soon started making furniture, which they sold out of their garage. They extended their product into making giftware and costume jewelry, and this soon became a $2 million enterprise. To remain competitive, Elliot wanted to change his direction into a new business approach. Ruth Handler decided to hook up with her old friend, Harold “Matt” Matson, and they together started Mattel Creations, with Elliot as the designer for the products. Mattel, the name, came from mixing Matson’s last name with Elliot’s first name. Matson soon became ill, and had to leave the company.
With the scrap left over from making picture frames, Elliot started on his first dollhouse furniture. Some of their first toys were the “birdy bank”, and the “make-believe makeup set” and these products helped the Handlers break even with their expenses and costs. The first hit product in the toy industry was the “Uke-A-Doodle, a miniature plastic ukelele, and soon to follow was the plastic piano with raised black keys.
There were some lessons that the Handlers had learned in the toy industry in the beginning, and that was that child participation was very important for any quality toy and that children should be able to interact with a toy and want to play with it for long periods of time. Also, they had learned that a toy with lasting appeal stood for a basis for...
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...cisions were made and the company was forced to pay $122 million to settle cases with lawsuits filed by the shareholders who felt there again was misleading information on the company’s success. Hard times took a positive turn when the company focused on Blockbuster toys like Harry Potter, Spongebob Squarepants, and Diva Starz. Mattel continued to sell hot wheels and Barbie, their all time best sellers. Moving on with new generations, Mattel partnered with computer game and toy companies and continued to be a growth company, besides their few obstacles. Eckerd continue to run the company and followed the improving bottom-line approaches rather than top-line. Mattel continues to grow faster in international sales compared to their competitors. The company has made its footprint into history as being the largest toy manufacturer, seller, and distributor in the world.
In Chapter 2 Toys Aren’t Us Elkind explains how most children have too much and can not focus on what is important. “All of these changes have impacted the personal, and social skills, attitudes, and values children acquire from toy play” (Elkind, 15). When Elkind mentions changes he means how toys
Madurodam has been the smallest city in the Netherlands since its inception in 1952. Its tributaries and canals measuring no more than a finger’s width. Its ornately crafted Dutch gabled houses would make amiable summer residences for rodents. Its immaculate portrayal of railway lines would have any train-spotter paralyzed with awe. This war-monument-turned-amusement-park steals the imagination of children and adults alike. There is a certain human tendency to associate affection with objects of a reduced size. Maybe it is this affection that serves as the reason almost all of the toys we make for children, as Roland Barthes puts it, “are essentially a microcosm of the adult world [...] reduced copies of human objects,” (“Toys” 689). One might argue that toys of this kind allow for the child to more quickly adjust to the conventions of the world they are about to be members of, but does such ritual conformity repress creative freedom, a birth right of every child?
The Walt Disney Company is a multi-billion dollar enterprise that controls and maintains vast interests in various multimedia companies in the United States and around the world. What started as a simple love for children’s entertainment of a sample cartoonist soon became a revolutionary icon in the world of entertainment and business.
These past few years haven't quite been all fun and games for John Eyler, chairman and CEO of Toys "R" Us. Shortly after joining the company in January 2000, Eyler set about revamping Toys "R" Us to better compete in the marketplace while brushing up the company's image. But a downturn in the economy together with the effects of 9/11, not to mention the West Coast port lockout, wasn't part of the plan.
Through numerous innovations, acquisitions, and other strategic moves The Walt Disney Company has grown tremendously from the animation company that
Toy World, Inc is a manufacturer of plastic toys for children, founded in 1973 by David Dunton. In the past, the company's production schedules had always been highly seasonal, reflecting the seasonality of sales. Jack McClintock, president and part owner of this company, is considering a proposal to adopt level monthly production for the coming year.
The toy picked for the toy evaluation in child and development psychology class was a Transformer for the suggested age of 3. A brief description of the Transformer will be given to identify the characteristics and how they are suitable or not suitable for the recommendation age listed. The toy will be analyzed on specific qualities that relate to how it can foster growth of the child and be evaluated on what the necessary abilities are needed to play with the unit. This toy will also be evaluated as it pertains to how the child would play with the car and if the child would be able to grasp the concept of the Transformer. Other cognitive concepts will be applied to how the Transformer is used and if the child would be able to understand the Transformer. The fine motor skills and gross motor skills used to play with the Transformer car will be another topic of discussion. In addition, the toy will be reviewed to how or if it would be shared within a social environment and if an adult would be able to participate in teaching the child.
Any cartoon, animation, park, or product with Disney’s name attracted to it will automatically increase the popularity of that product. Brand recognition is extremely important to creating a long term company and returning customers. Even though Disney just started out creating animations and movies, they were able to find success in theme parks, cruises and many other areas because of their brand name. Having a reputation can have negative consequences, creating subpar products will impact the brand name, and that is why the quality of Disney’s products is essential to keeping a strong brand
P’kolino’s story is all about passion for superior products and how they can change people’s lives. Founded by Antonio Turcos-Rivas and J.B Schneider, the Company’s goal is: to “make better products to improve play at home”. In the course of developing safe and quality products, implementing and marketing other strategies, P’kolino Company aims at improving children’s play thus , improving sales by $51million (Bygrave and Andrew, 2008). The Company’s goal was comprehended during their MBA’s study. During their study, the two entrepreneurs began a thorough research and development project with more than twenty international design students.
The company’s specialty is selling educational, nonviolent toys, for birth to 12-year-old children. In fact, Kazoo 's focus on selling toys that meet this criterion has won it a loyal clientele which means that she has provided another easiest way for the children to learn and able to activate the children brain waves to learn quickly and provide a great support for educational institutions. Even the company focuses intently on customer service, from free gift wrapping to free parking. So whether it’s a baby crying or a customer who can’t find an item in the store, the company works hard to accommodate its customers in every way
Toys R Us Inc. revolutionized the toy industry more than four decades ago with its big-box, low-price stores. Toys R Us may be synonymous with toys, but also has its fastest-growing business in Babies R Us, which sells children's clothes, furniture and accessories. The company opened new stores and planned to build new additional Babies R Us stores.
The Disney Company can be said to be the king in the entertainment industry. It has been running for almost a hundred years now and from the way things are currently it will be for a long time. With its mission statement as a guide for the operations at Walt Disney Company, they are bound to become a force to reckon with in the entertainment industry
From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to today 's global corporation, The Walt Disney Company continues to proudly provide quality entertainment for every member of the family, across America and around the world. One of the key statements in the text states, “Disney’s greatest challenge today is to keep a 90- year- old brand relevant and current to its core audience while staying true to its heritage and core brand values.” (Kotler, Keller, 2012, p. 179) Diversification has been one of Disney’s smartest business decisions. Today Disney has ventured into various industries such as studio entertainment,
Disney has a rich history and an even brighter future due to the smart decision making of the managing body. Throughout its history Disney has been heavily involved in acquisitions, keeping up with the industry trends and even starting new ones through its parks and resorts segments.
The Walt Disney Company is one that provides a broad spectrum of goods and services, making it extremely unique. The company divides themselves into five main categories: Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, Walt Disney Studios, Consumer Products, and Disney Interactive. These five factions do different things from producing movies to running theme parks. The Walt Disney Company, an oligopoly as few firms exist with the same relevance in society, continues to prosper and have positive revenue in all recent annual reports. While costs of production may be extreme and expensive, The Walt Disney Company brings in major profit continuously. Holding a major share of the market, Disney is a very powerful and very relevant company.