Why Has Barbie Been So Successful - Case Study Example

Entrepreneurship Table of Contents Case Study 3 Why Has Barbie Been So Successful 3 Barbie Is Hardly a High-Tech Product, but Has It Been Innovative 5 The Lessons for Product Innovation 7 Business Plan 10 Executive Summary 10 Business Idea 10 Strategy for the Success of Products and Services 11 Target Market: UK 13 Competitors Analysis 15 Entry Strategy 15 Legal Environment 15 Marketing Strategy 16 Risk Analysis 16 Financial Plan 17 References 19 Case Study Why Has Barbie Been So Successful Barbie is a brand name for a doll, which was launched in the year 1959 in New York at the international Toy Fair. The US based company named Mattel Corporation has purchased above 1 billion Barbie dolls or toys in the initial stages. The company has increased the annual sales of Mattel Corporation therefore, Barbie become one of the valuable toy brands in the world. As for the description of the doll, Barbie looks like an adult as well as independent doll with an exaggerated female figure along with blonde hair and pouting lips. However, by producing variety, designer of Barbie products i.e. Mattel provides the information related to fashion designs and the lifestyle that are prevalent in the resent years (Burns, n.d.). Every year, Mattel Corporation produces 150 different types of Barbie doll in the market. The hair structure and quality of the doll change on the basis of the role played by Barbie including doctor, surgeon, fashion model and pilot among others. Mattel has worked hard and ads more on to the basic Barbie doll for the extension of the brand. Barbie has also been quite successful owing to the aspect that variety of the looks and roles of the product are quite distinct from one another. Barbie doll is also famous for attracting a large population of young girls and the same continues to prevail in the long run since it is regarded as a global favourite doll (Burns, n.d.). Barbie has also become an icon in the international market as she is still in a number one position when compared to the other dolls in the marketplace. Through implementing innovative ideas, Mattel makes variety of Barbie dolls with new face, new hair style and new looks, which make it different form dolls of other brands within the marketplace. By launching Barbie doll in the market, Mattel provides the information about recent fashion trends as well as lifestyle and helps the young girls to improve their lifestyle which has further contributed towards the success of the brand. Due to the success of Barbie doll, the revenue of Mattel Company has also increased in a considerable manner. Mattel Corporation has implemented several strategies to make the brand as one of the prominent in the world (Burns, n.d.). Barbie doll influence the heart of young girls of various countries of the world. One of the major reasons for the success of Barbie doll is with regard to the good quality and new looks of the doll, which has positive impact on people as well as the market altogether. Barbie doll also expand the business in several countries effectively, which also helped the brand to become successful. Though Barbie products are innovative in nature, they are not same like other products, which can create problem during the play time. Therefore, this particular aspect influence parents of young girls to buy the products of Barbie doll for their children (Ahern, 2010). It is one of the reasons of the success of this particular toy. Another reason of the unprecedented successful of the brand relates with the fact that the doll can easily attract the customers and satisfies the demands of the customers. New looks and designs as well as new hair style of the Barbie products can easily attract the young girl to purchase the same, which is one of reason of success for the company. New technology has been used in producing the new model Barbie doll through which Barbie products can succeed and develop itself within the global toy industry (Ahern, 2010). The industry focuses on creativity and innovative ideas to produce the Barbie doll and these ideas acts as an important reason for the success of Barbie doll. The brand of Barbie doll has the ability and power to enter into the new markets and increase the market size to get a good market position owing to the credibility of the products. Another reason that has ensured success for the brand includes its participation in various large scale events throughout the world, which further helped in the development of the Barbie doll (Leeman, 2010). The employees of Mattel ensure utmost creativity in their work process with new design to meet the needs of the customer primarily young girls, who are the most prominent customers of the company. Young girls and their attraction towards the brand of Barbie also play a significant role in the success of the product. With regard to the success of the company, Ban increase in profit has also been seen year by year for Mattel Corporation, which helps the company to achieve competitive advantage. The sale of the Barbie doll products has increased significantly year by year, which also contributed towards augmenting international profit of the brand. This aspect has been one of the prime reasons for the success of the company (Leeman, 2010). Barbie Is Hardly a High-Tech Product, but Has It Been Innovative Barbie though not being high-tech products still has been quite innovative. This has been largely owing to the implementation of new strategies, technologies and innovative ideas from the management. By applying innovative ideas along with the hard work of the human resource and technical teams, Mattel Corporation has introduced 150 varieties of Barbie doll products in the market according to the demands of the market. These 150 varieties of products are the most successful set of products as they are being made in accordance with the demands of the customers throughout the world. Without innovation, it is not possible to produce different types of Barbie doll every time with new looks and hair style that can attract people or the buyers (Thomke & Hippel, 2002). Innovative ideas and technology are essential to improve the quality of the products, which further requires the implementation of advanced technology. This will also result in improving the quality of Barbie doll products at large. Better quality of the Barbie doll products also increases the credibility and the number of customers in the market, while ultimately augments the level of profit of the business and the industry altogether. The hiring process of people in this type of industry should include selection of the candidate with utmost innovative ideas knowledge of using advanced technical devices for the development of the design of the product. In recent trends, every people have the ability, power and the innovative approach to perform well towards attaining the goals of the organization (Thomke & Hippel, 2002). By performing well, as well as applying new ideas, employees can also improve their career growth within the organization. Managers of Barbie doll industry conduct meeting before introducing new products in the market within the industry. During the meeting sessions, every employee place their own ideas from which the managers choose the best possible one that can ensure better result for the business in a significant manner altogether. It is one of the strategies of Barbie doll industry to produce products by applying innovative ideas towards delivering distinct products for the customers (Thomke & Hippel, 2002). Though Barbie toys are not seen as high tech products, the prevalence of innovation in the same is highly apparent. This can be seen in the variety, design and creativity within the products. Creativity as well as idea of the minds of people within the business plays an important role in the innovation of the products. The managers and the employees of Barbie, produce different type of Barbie doll for the different countries to enter into the new market with utmost efficacy and effectiveness. The hair style of Barbie products have also been changed significantly over the years of its existence, which can further be seen apparently in the looks and designs of the Barbie products (Cross & Smits, 2005). The dress up of the doll has also been changed based on the characteristics of the doll, which can be possible only with the prevalence of creativity and innovative ideas of the managers and the employees within the organization. Barbie products are also seen as innovative products owing to the fact that they are constantly featured in Barbie movies and animated video, which are among the innovative ideas of the staff members. With the help of computer animation program, the staff members of Barbie make new design to produce new model of Barbie doll according to the demands of the market. The other products of Barbie include Barbie cosmetics, sports products, home furnishing and books, which are also made by implementing creative ideas and imagination of the staff members (Cross & Smits, 2005). The staff members of Barbie industry are qualified and are highly experienced with regard to creativity as well as innovativeness. Apart from the aforementioned aspects, knowledge sharing within the workplace is also regarded as important in ensuring innovation and creativity within the workplace of the company (Gamache & et. al., n.d.). The Lessons for Product Innovation Product innovation means the entire process of introducing new products into the market, which involves in design as well as development of products, production of products, advertising, distribution and selling of the products. Therefore, product innovation involves the entire process starting from design of products to selling of the products in the market. Therefore, the managers as well as employees of the organization should maintain the entire process efficiently to introduce the new products in the market. The owner of Mattel Corporation also focuses on the hard work as well as innovation process for the improvement of the products (Mattel Inc, 2013). Mattel should focus on the design of the products as well as demands of the customers for the innovation of new products delivered in the market. Subsequently, the company should produce the product by using advanced technology and involve in proper advertising and promotion of the same within the marketplace. Correspondingly, Mattel should also focus on increasing the number of distributor channels in the market for selling the products to increase the profit of the business within the industry. The company uses new approaches, tools and techniques for innovation in products, which can satisfy the demands of the customers as well as market along with improving the market position of the business at large (Mattel Inc, 2013). With regard to product innovation, Mattel should survey the market successfully and discuss with other members in the lower level of the business for the innovative ideas as well as strategies for ensuring attractive design of the products at large, which make the product different from that of other industry. Mattel should also associate with diverse range of suppliers in the market to get wide range of material for producing innovative products and satisfy the requirements of the customers. For product innovation, Mattel should also improve the quality of products along with increasing its credibility of amid the customers in the market. Customers play a significant role with regard to the economic growth and sustainability of the business at large (Ogle, 2007). For the improvement of the product, the employees of Barbie along with Mattel Corporation should implement new and advanced technology, which helps to enhance the quality of the products and its design at the same time. Again with regard to product innovation, Mattel should also focus on the entire operation of the production of products as well as manufacturing cost associated with the same. For the improvement of the product, the company should also focus on campaigning the same in the market in a significant manner altogether (Ogle, 2007). With the help of the global campaign, the popularity of the products can be increased that can further attract more and more customers in the marketplace, which can yield benefit in terms of development of the industry. Mattel and the employees of the Barbie industry should also focus on TV program for the promotion and should apply marketing strategy for the innovation of the products. The company should also intend to hire people who have creativity and imagination for designing products because creativity is an important aspect for the improvement of the products. The company and its employees also have to concentrate on increasing the popularity of the brand name with regard to innovation of the products (Enotes, 2015). Knowledge sharing can also act as quite effective with regard to meet the increasing demand of the customers of getting innovative products and services at large (Enotes, 2015). Business Plan Executive Summary This paper mainly focuses on devising a business plan for a proposed business to be initiated within the fashion industry of UK market. Correspondingly, a survey and analysis of UK market has been conducted to enter the fashion industry in the UK market with due understanding of the behavior of the target customers within this industry. It also focuses on marketing strategies for the promotion of the products and the brand name of the industry along with the entry strategy to enter into the UK market. This study also explains the risk factors that can be faced by the fashion business while entering into the UK market. Business Idea The business idea, which has been selected for setting up a new business, is the fashion business. As per the recent trends, the business of fashion industry has expanded their business growth in various countries. In this study, any new fashion business unit needs to apply major strategies to enter into the UK market and also for the development of the products with the target market. Notably, the fashion business sector is a competitive industry with the involvement of various large numbers of players. Therefore, prior to initiating a business, a proper business planning needs to be framed in accordance to the structure of the market. . The business plan of fashion industry involves conducting survey of market to understand the nature and preferences of the customers, which are most important for the development of the business at large (Islam, & Khan, 2013). Before starting the new business related to fashion industry, the people who are involved in the same need to emerge with a proper business plan, which must be inclusive of the financial highlights that needs to be taken into consideration. With the help of a proper business plan, the proposed business could be able to comprehend the budget cost along with other specific aspects that are associated with the business operations at large. In this particular business plan, aspects relevant to marketing activities, competition of the UK fashion industry and the risk associated with conducting the business among others (Islam, & Khan, 2013). Strategy for the Success of Products and Services For the success of the products as well as services to be offered to the customers, it will be important for the company to implement advanced technologies and applying innovative ideas along with better marketing strategies when compared to the rivals. The products should be produced based on the needs of the market as well as customers. In recent trends, customers seek to get good quality and good designer products at affordable prices within the fashion sector of UK. For the success of the products as well as services, various domains of the company of fashion business should reduce the manufacturing cost of the products commendably. Therefore, in order to ensure a commendable entry into the UK market. The proposed business will need to sale the products with affordable prices and attract the attention of more and more customers. The management of the proposed business in the fashion industry of UK should also maintain good relationship with the suppliers for the availability of the designer products in the market along with better relationship with the customers for selling more products (Nguyen, n.d.). For the success of the products as well as services, there should be good communication system so that managers, employee and suppliers are can communicate with each other significantly. The fashion industry can be changed quickly based on the changes of fashion of the people. Correspondingly, for the success of the products, it is necessary to deliver the same in the market on time and before the changes of fashion trend of the people. The proposed business should also focus on raising the awareness of the customers and the design of the products for the development of the same at large. The design of the products is also deemed to be important in this particular sector for differentiating the products and develop a proper brand image for the business within the marketplace. The transportation facility of UK market is deemed to be quite good (Nguyen, n.d.). Therefore, the delivery of products can be reached to the destination on time within the UK market. Better collaboration as well as integration among the people working for the company in the UK market is also another strategy for the success of the products. By implementing new supply chain strategy and direct source, the success of the products can be possible because supply chain strategy is one of the major strategies for the success of the clothing products of the proposed business in the UK market (Islam, & Khan, 2013). The brand name also plays a significant role in increasing the popularity of product’s name and determines its presence in the market. The brand name signifies the design and symbol as well as the position of the product in the market. The symbol of the product helps the customers to identify and differentiate the same from other similar products, which they want to purchase. The management of the proposed fashion business should develop external communication process such as magazine and TV show for the promotion of the products through which people can know about new products. Furthermore, for the success of the products, management of fashion business should target the new market in several areas of the UK market where they can easily enter and hold good market position. Correspondingly, the management of the fashion industry also need to focus on improving the quality as well as design of products according to the demands of the customers for the success of the products in the UK market (Baykal, 2011).The management of fashion business should also provide proper training to the newly joined employees related to the products design, product quality and how to sale the products to the customers in an efficient manner. One of the major strategies for the success of the fashionable products is to improve the reliability and the efficiency of the products. It increases the trustworthiness of the customers regarding the products and hence they could be influenced to make the right decision with regard to the purchase the products (Baykal, 2011). Target Market: UK The target market for the proposed business is the is the customers of UK and the neighbour places since the customers in this particular market are more advanced as well as fashionable and the income level of the people is also high. In this regard, better marketing strategy is one of the important strategies to attract the customers and to develop the business in a better manner. Notably, people in the UK market are very advanced and fashionable. They always wear the modern dress and are up-to-date with the latest prevailing trend. This aspect further provided a better scope for the business to develop and sustain in this particular market (Kanagal, n.d.). Therefore, the UK market is the best market for the development of fashion business. Fashion industry focus on introducing new designer clothing products in the market based on the demands of the same. This aspect will also need to be taken into consideration by the proposed business (Bandinelli1 & et. al., 2013). The fashion industry of the UK market is one of the most creative owing to which to assure utmost success, the management of the proposed business will need to consider creativity as an important part. Before introducing the business in the UK market, it is necessary to conduct survey of the market effectively in order to understand who can be the target customers for the success of the new business and the type of products can be delivered for the UK market to attract more customers. The business will also need to conduct survey of products of other business in the UK market, to understand the nature of competition and likewise design its business products comprehensively (Bandinelli1 & et. al., 2013). The UK market is one of the best markets for growing fashion business because the people of UK have sensible knowledge with regard to the fashion industry. Several facilities availed in the UK market for new business start-ups in fashion industry include success of new business such as the online facility, better regulation process and the international business opportunity among others. Furthermore, the market also has high availability of suppliers in the UK market with regard to raw materials needed for producing the products. The technologies that prevailing in the UK market are also advanced through which the quality of the products can be improved and the demands of the customers can be fulfilled. By satisfying the demands of the customers, the profit of the company can be increased and the success of the company can be a possible aspect in the future (Reibstein, 2002). Apart from that the income level of the people of UK is also quite high. Therefore, they can afford high price of product as well. It is one of the advantages for the proposed fashion business for the development of the same in UK market. Furthermore, within the UK market, there are also large potential neighbouring markets, where the fashion business can expand their business to increase the growth of the business. Therefore, it is apparent that UK market is quite appropriate to select for the success of a new fashion company. Competitors Analysis The major competitors for the proposed business within the fashion industry of the UK market can be Burberry, Jack Wills, Lee Cooper, C & A and among others. The competitors of the fashion industry in UK market are very effective and hence the company will need to emerge with better strategies to compete with the same. Competitors of fashion industry can create problem in the success of the other fashion company including that of the proposed business (Kanagal, n.d.). Entry Strategy Entry strategy includes the process adopted by companies to enter into a new market for increasing the popularity of the brand name and expands the business in the same. There are several common strategies through which the fashion industry can enter into the new market of UK and grow the business. These strategies include franchising, joint venture, alliances and outsourcing among others. For fashion industry joint venture is the good strategy to enter into an unexplored new market. Joint venture means the association of two or more parties to start and execute a business in a new market. To enter into the new market of UK, the proposed business will need to enter into joint venture with the existing players within the UK market (Kanagal, n.d.). Legal Environment Legal aspects of UK market involve several regulations such as consumer law, health and safety law and employment law or labour law among others. The company of UK market need to follow these laws within their operations. Employment law or labour law is quite important to be adhering by the company for operating in the fashion retail industry. Employment law assess the legal rights of the employer, which the company have to follow to sustain in the longer run. (Middleton, 2012). Marketing Strategy For the success of the product and the development of the company, the proposed business within the fashion industry should implement proper marketing strategy. The proposed business within the fashion industry needs to focus on advertising and promotion of the products and services at large. Advertising can be done through magazine, digital promotion, mass media promotions and social media promotions among others. The company should also focus on TV show program for the promotion of the brand name as well as the products at large (Middleton, 2012). Risk Analysis A new business always faces certain risks while entering into a new market because the management of the company do not have any knowledge about the market initially. The new fashion business can face the risk of lack of supplier availability in the UK market. The company can also face the risk of not been able to attract the customers because the company does not know about the demands of the customers as well as the market. Other risks that can be faced by the fashion business in the UK market can be the threats from the existing companies of the UK market (Enterprise Nation, 2015). Financial Plan Financial plan involves the planning of start-up cost, break even analysis and estimating the profit and loss of a company. Correspondingly, the proposed business needs to plan out about the start-up cost before starting the business along with the affirming the break even analysis with the help of estimated values. The industry also needs to prepare the profit and loss statement to know the profit as well as loss of the company that the company can determine in its future operations. The financial planning of the proposed business is provided hereunder. Figure 1: Start Up Cost Figure 2: Break Even Figure 3: Profit and Loss References Ahern, K., 2010. Barbie Case Study. Word Press, pp. 1-22. Bandinelli1, R. & et. al., 2013. New Product Development in the Fashion Industry: An Empirical Investigation of Italian Firms. International Journal of Engineering Business Management, pp. 1-9. Baykal, J., 2011. Differentiation Strategies in the Fashion Industry. Degree of Bachelor in Business Administration, pp. 6-59. Burns, P., No Date. Case Studies in Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship and Small Business, pp. 1-2. Cross, G. & Smits, G., 2005. Japan, the U.S. And The Globalization of Children’s Consumer Culture. Pennsylvania State University, pp. 874-890. Enotes, 2015. Which Is the Best Innovations Made In Barbie Doll Business. Homework Help. [Online] Available at: http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/which-best-innovations-made-barbie-doll-bussiness-145623 [Accessed March 8, 2015]. Enterprise Nation, 2015. Market Place. HR Government, pp. 1-2. Gamache, J. & et. al., No Date. Premier Toy Brands. Today and Tomorrow, pp. 1-12. Islam, M. M. & Khan, M. A., 2013. Branding of Clothing Fashion Products: Fashion Brand Image Development by Marketing Communication Approach. Research Journal of Engineering Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 28-33. Kanagal, N., No Date. Role of Relationship Marketing in Competitive Marketing Strategy. Journal of Management and Marketing Research, pp. 1-17. Klemperer, P., 1995. Competition when Consumers have Switching Costs: An Overview with Applications to Industrial Organization, Macroeconomics, and International Trade. Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 62, pp. 515-539. Leeman, J., 2010. Export Planning. Business Process Management, pp. 1-2. Mattel Inc, 2013. Mattel, Inc. And Subsidiaries. Report, pp. 3-112. Middleton, R., 2012. The 5 Key Strategies of Attracting High-End Clients. Action Plan Marketing, pp. 1-31. Nguyen, V., No Date. Analysis of the Luxury Goods & Apparel and Footwear Industries. Department of Marketing, pp. 1-23. Ogle, R., 2007. Introducing Innovation Barbie. Harvard Business Review. [Online] Available at: https://hbr.org/2007/07/introducing-innovation-barbie [Accessed March 18, 2015]. Reibstein, J. D., 2002. What Attracts Customers to Online Stores, and What Keeps Them Coming Back. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 465-473. Thomke, S. & Hippel, V. E., 2002. Customers as Innovators. Harvard Business School, pp. 5-11. Read More