Case Study: Mattel's Brand

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Today, Mattel’s brands include Barbie, Hot Wheels, Monster High, WWE, Disney Princess, DC Universe, Matchbox and Mattel Games (Mattel, 2014). Barbie is still among their top rated brands, which now followed by their Monster High doll collection (Mattel, 2014). For the last six years, Mattel has been named one of FORTUNE Magazines “100 Best Companies to Work For” (Mattel, 2014). Additionally, Mattel was named one of Corporate Responsibility Magazine ‘s “100 Best Corporate Citizens” and a 2013 “World’s Most Ethical Companies” by ethisphere.com (Mattel, 2014). There are 30,000 people employed by Mattel, and their products are sold in over 150 nations (Mattel, 2014). Mattel’s strength is in its established brands. Barbie and Hot Wheels have both been around since the 1960’s (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). These two brands are known around the world and provide for about 65 percent Mattel’s profits (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). Weaknesses were found in Mattel’s global manufacturing structure. Mattel has always strived to set standards for responsible manufacturing (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). However, the checks and balances were not set in place to detect flaws in their system (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). Because of this, they came upon troubled times when lead paint was found in their toy products (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). Mattel has opportunities in the technology sector. They have already made strides to leverage their established brands with websites for children, such as Barbie.com and HotWheels.com (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). There are several threats to Mattel’s business, including increased competition in the doll market. They even found themselves in a legal battle with one of the top Barbie competitors, the owners of Bratz... ... middle of paper ... ...t message out to the public and combat the negativity. For instance, focusing on the fact that Barbie has successfully tried almost every career, rather than showing off her impossible figure in a smutty magazine. References Aguilera, R. V., Rupp, D. E., Williams, C. A., & Ganapathi, J. (2007). Putting the S Back in Corporate Social Responsibility: A Multilevel Theory of Social Change in Organizations. Academy Of Management Review, 32(3), 836-863. doi:10.5465/AMR.2007.25275678 Campbell, J. L. (2007). Why Would Corporations Behave in Socially Responsible Ways? An Institutional Theory of Corporate Social Responsibility. Academy Of Management Review, 32(3), 946-967. doi:10.5465/AMR.2007.25275684 Ferrell, O.C. & Hartline, M. (2011). Marketing Strategy. 5th edition. South-Western/Cengage Learning. Mattel (2014). Retrieved from http://corporate.mattel.com/#&panel1-1

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