External environment
A STEEPLE analysis will be used to examine the external environment Mattel operates in today.
Social
The growing support for equal rights around the world and the empowerment of women has shaped business operations around the world. Many movements concerning diversity and multiculturalism have also become worldwide issues addressed in society. The Body Positivity movement, the basic idea of “all bodies are good bodies”, has become an increasingly discussed topic in the past few years, pressuring companies to display a more realistic view of peoples bodies, especially women’s. As Barbie has been criticized mostly for its proportions, the new Fashionistas line gives Barbie a more realistic body, to represent the diversity
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Many organizations and movements have begun demanding companies and the mainstream media to represent people of all colors, body sizes, sexualities, etc., as the ‘new normal’ compared to the thin, straight and white considered the ‘normal’, especially in Western societies. Mattel launched its first African American Barbie doll in 1967, but after being criticized of having Caucasian features, hence not selling well, it was pulled off the shelves. The following year Mattel launched the Christie doll, Barbie’s African American friend who had more African characteristics. One way the new Fashionistas line is made more diverse, is giving the dolls 7 different skin tones. The importance of awareness of cultural diversity is especially apparent when multinational companies market the same product in different countries, with specific goods and services depending on the country, in order for it to appeal to the local consumers. This also includes changing the brand name to avoid offending the local consumers. In a Time article, Mattel said …show more content…
With increasing concern for ethical business behavior, customers are more loyal to companies with ethical business practices (figure 11). Ethical business behavior and diverse ethical business model is especially important to MNCs, due to the unified values of global consumers. Mattel publishes an annual Code of Conduct, which outlines their responsibilities towards internal and external stakeholders, as well as a Global Citizenship Report, first published in 2004, every 2 to 3 years. The core values of Mattel are centered around the word “play”, with four core values, “we play fair, play with passion, play to grow and play together”. Mattel was named one of the “World’s most Ethical Companies” by Ethisphere Magazine in 2015 and was included in Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s “100 Best Corporate Citizens” list in
Cinderella Article titled “What’s Wrong with Cinderella” written by Peggy Orenstein, covered five areas about the “Princess” trend in the 21st Century. Orenstein states facts, feminist views and third party, reasoning to support and oppose her views on the princess craze. The opposing data does not prove there are long or short term health or well-being effects or damages from the data collected. Orenstein gives an inter-dialogue with the pros and cons of marketing to young girls on its health effects and its well-being damages to young girls that experience the princess craze. Orenstein agrees young girls are not allowed to be themselves.
P.P.P.O. challenges the beauty culture with embracing people for who they are without promoting products to gain self worth through the validity of society. Understanding that one campaign is in the capital market and the other is advocating for marginalized groups of people we continue to break down the root of appearance ideologies in correlation of power division within society. These standards
An action program is created so management can take corrective action to close the gap between the goals of the company and performance. It answers the questions on what will be done, when will it be done, who will do it and how much will it cost (Kotler & Armstrong, 2016, p. 57). The marketing plan will guide the company throughout the year and help achieve goals that are set. Mattel’s CEO, Georgiadis has an aggressive plan to refresh the franchise and improve both the offline and online experience (Berr, 2018). This encompasses management to work together and find new processes and procedures to update the way the company does business and how the toys are being made.
In such a way that, Barbie has displayed multiple career paths, offered in various ethnicities but always displayed in the same way and with the use of Logos and Ethos. Although the whole idea behind the Barbie doll was to encourage young girls to be able to dress Barbie how they wanted to with the various wardrobes, it was not until quite recently that Barbie was able to hold more “leadership like” rolls in society. With advertisement of the Barbie doll, gender equity closely intertwined with the portrayal of the doll. “Consistent with other commercial advertising formats, males were found in the leadership and authority roles, while females were generally portrayed in more passive roles. When women were the only individuals in the advertisement, the ad copy usually reflected a biased message toward the abilities and function of the women in their roles as professionals.”
Standards for girls in today's society The American society set standards for girls and young women to follow. Companies are selling products and sexualizing girls at a young age. It's bringing in the culture norms of today’s society. To solve the problem, they should utilize diverse models to advertise many of the products.
Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” takes a sarcastic approach to backlash at society and send the reader a message about what beauty really is. In “Barbie Doll”, A Barbie doll is used to show and symbolize what society views as what a female should aspire to become “perfect”. “Barbie's unrealistic body type…busty with a tiny waist, thin thighs and long legs…is reflective of our culture's feminine ideal. Yet less than two percent of American women can ever hope to achieve such dreamy measurements.”
Although Barbie has conveyed many beliefs through the clothes and jobs she has had, the most controversial belief has been body image. Since first being brought out into the world, Barbie has had an unreasonably shaped body, with a small waist and large breasts. All of Barbie’s body features have impacted the way society expects women to look. But in 2016, Barbie had a dramatic makeover, she was released in different heights and body shapes, making her more suitable to the way women actually look. Barbie’s new look has made a positive impact on young girls and potentially society’s unrealistic expectations of
Men and women nowadays are starting to lose self-confidence in themselves and their body shape, which is negatively impacting the definition of how beauty and body shape are portrayed. “...97% of all women who had participated in a recent poll by Glamour magazine were self-deprecating about their body image at least once during their lives”(Lin 102). Studies have shown that women who occupy most of their time worrying about body image tend to have an eating disorder and distress which impairs the quality of life. Body image issues have recently started to become a problem in today’s society because of social media, magazines, and television.
Disney and its employees are tasked with protective the Disney brand around the world and encouraging the shipping of continuing value. The main aims of Disney’s are satisfying the financial needs of the shareholders. However, Disney goes beyond satisfying for shareholder needs and locations a strong emphasis on moral conduct that affects each households and the environment. The moral standards at Disney do not just apply to the employees, but it also on the Board of Directors. Disney’s “Code of Business Conduct and Ethics for Directors” governs the actions of the Disney board, holds them to high moral standards and makes them accountable for actions taken on behalf of the company.
Your decisions to comply with society’s view of “beauty” are no longer subconscious, but rather are more conscious-driven decisions. Barbie’s slender figure remains idolized; however, it has evolved from a plastic doll to a self-starving model that is photo-shopped on the pages of glossy magazines. You spend hours in front of a mirror adjusting and perfecting your robotic look while demanding your parents to spend an endless amount of money on cosmetics and harmful skin products to acquire a temporary version of beauty. Consider companies such as Maybelline, which have throughout the ages created problematic and infantilizing campaigns and products for women. More specifically consider the “Baby Lips” product as well as the company slogan, “maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline,” that reiterates the male notions of beauty to which women are subjected.
In 1998, people did not realize what they were doing to girl’s confidence and ability to feel beautiful in their own skin. They were showing the world what women could now look like through photo shop. For many years this trend continued, fortunately, in the year 2015 everything changed for the
2. The company has pop-culture connections and has license to make use of popular characters like Barbie, Hot Wheels
Barbie's body image can is naturally unachievable and
In 2013, Victoria’s Secret launched a campaign advertisement called “I Love My Body”. When I first heard about it, I was excited to finally see some positive body image promoted by VS. However, the advertisement was the complete opposite of what I had expected. This advert was created to promote and persuade females of middle to high economic status from young adults to middle age to buy the seven styles of products from the lingerie collection Body by Victoria, as well as to promote self-acceptance.
Segmentation, Targeting and positioning, also known as STP are an essential part in marketing today. This model is important for generating marketing communication strategies and it aids the marketers to prioritize schemes and deliver personalized and pertinent messages to diverse audiences. This approach is audience oriented rather than product focused in terms of communication, which results in conveying appropriate messages to the members who are more commercially appealing. Segmentation benefits the managers in finding out the area on which they have to concentrate on in terms of geography, demographics, social factors or behaviors.