Children are being exposed to technology at ever-younger ages, and as a result, they are becoming increasingly more interested in technologybased entertainment, including electronic, video, and online games.

Currently, Mattel has a very limited presence in electronic entertainment. This shift in children’s entertainment preferences is accompanied by a trend toward “childhood compression,” meaning that children’s tastes are maturing more quickly than in the past. As such, Mattel’s target market is shrinking. Particularly worrisome to Mattel is the slow sales decline of Barbie products over the past several years. Barbie is Mattel’s largest, most profitable brand. Even though things seem especially dire for Mattel, there is hope.

By leveraging their existing competencies while acquiring new capabilities through internal development and partnerships, Mattel should be able to develop relevant products and services that positively reposition them in kids’ worlds. From an offering perspective, they should pursue a development strategy which includes the following six subsystems, listed in order from easiest to most difficult to implement:

• Traditional Toy/Game Enhancement
• High-Tech Toy Development
• Imaginative Exploration
• Content Creation and Community
• Mobile Networked Entertainment
• Physical Activity Immersion

To successfully execute elements within these strategic sub-systems, Mattel must make some operational and strategic adjustments. Specifically, they must build their competency in content creation, while partnering with niche knowledge communities, to create a more balanced relationship between their content creation efforts and those of external content providers, like movie studios.

Given their limited experience in technology and software development, they must partner with firms who are experts in these areas to more quickly develop technology-infused products and services which provide richer play experiences. Simultaneously, they must strive to learn from these companies since the knowledge is critical to their future success.

Mattel must also establish a web-based dialogue channel with buyers and users which promotes interaction between them via networks, provides hardware and software upgrades, provides creation tools, and sells new products and services.

Download The Future of Play

PDF format, 5.3MB, 65Pages.

Mattel Strategic Plan

Steve Babitch | Enric Gili Fort | Andy Kim | Pam Nyberg | Albert Wang
Strategic Design Planning Workshop
Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology
Spring 2006

Contents:

Executive Summary
Project Overview
Opportunity Statement
Project Description
Industry Analysis
Introduction
State of the Industry
Mattel Competitiveness
Competitor Overview
Financial Performance
Mattel and Direct Competitors
Mattel and Gaming Software
Competitors
Industry Evolution
Kid Lifestyle Trends
Technology and Play Category Trends
Opportunity exploration
Mattel Analysis
Introduction
Financial Performance
Core Competencies
Innovation History
Innovation Analysis
Current Value Web
Most Recent Digital Products
Most Recent Experiential Efforts
User Research
Research Insights & Principles
Concept Development
Concept Generation
Concept Evaluation
System
Subsystems
New Value Web
Roadmap
Risks & Uncertainties
Conclusion
Appendix

Conclusion:

Although Mattel is currently being challenged by a shift in children’s lifestyle trends and the growth of increasingly more sophisticated play technology, there is hope.

By leveraging their existing competencies while acquiring new capabilities through internal development and partnerships, they should be able to successfully develop relevant products and services for the Tween market, as well as for children of other ages.

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