Marketing Strategy and SWOT Analysis of Mattel

During the growing-up stages, it is significant that children use toys from trusted brands and companies. Those mustn’t be harmful to the kids and only bring a smile to their faces. One of the most loved companies in the world in this sphere is Mattel. It holds brands like Fisher-Pricce, African Girl, Barbie, Hot Wheels, UNO, Thomas & Friends, and MEGA. This blog will run an in-depth analysis of Mattel’s marketing tactics to gain a better understanding of its success. We will focus on the company’s mission, vision, archetype, SWOT analysis, and segment.

First, we will examine Mattel’s mission and vision statements.

Mattel’s mission statement is as follows:

“Our mission is to create innovative products and experiences that inspire fans, entertain audiences, and develop children through play.”

The company aims to produce “innovative products and experiences” that show its commitment to creativity and originality. This implies that the company considers itself on the edge of its industry, always coming up with new, unique offerings.

There are three groups mentioned in the statement: fans, audiences, and children. This suggests a broad consumer base and stakeholders. That includes those passionate about their products and live entertainment experiences, and mainly kids who are key target customers of such goods.

Through its mission, the company wants to inspire fans while entertaining audiences. It can be deduced from this that the firm sees itself not only as a product provider but also as an inspirer or entertainer of its clients.

The mission statement focuses on play as being critically important in child development. This company identifies with education and child development by committing itself to grow through play alongside children, showing its broader social responsibility than mere fun stuff.

This statement is concise and transparent, making it easy to understand and remember. In short, it tells what the company does best by expressing its core purpose and values.

The vision statement of the company is below.

“To empower generations to explore childhood wonder and reach their full potential.”

The vision statement’s main objective is to make future generations stronger. It shows a broad, continuous dedication to helping people of different ages gain control over their lives and maximize their potential.

The vision statement emphasizes curiosity, imagination, and discovery as essential components in personal development by encouraging people to dig deeper into the magic of childhood. It also implies a liking for magicalness and enthusiasm in childhood.

The overall aim of the vision is for individuals to reach their full potential. By using ‘generations,’ the vision statement suggests that it is long-term oriented regarding impact and sustainability while indicating that change must be made permanently for both present and future generations. This vision statement follows others in being concise and transparent, making it easily understood.

Following this, we are going to uncover the archetype to which Mattel belongs.

To do so, we are going to analyze the below Instagram post.

This post advertises the new RecRoom addition to the Masters of the Universe. The latter is a Mattel-made franchise that is planet and sword-themed.

The caption is solely introducing the game characters, and the photo showcases them visually.

This franchise is meant to ensure that kids enjoy the moments of their childhood with full enjoyment encouraged through play.

The visual aspect of the post, on the other hand, speaks of the company’s fun-loving culture to ensure that it invites consumers to the picture.

With those points in mind, the archetype Mattel belongs to is the Jester.

What do we know about the Jester?

Desire: to partake in each moment with complete enjoyment

Aim: to lighten up the surroundings and enjoy a fantastic time

Strategy: play, be witty, make jokes

These are the messaging levels of the archetype.

Level One: indifference, boredom

Level Two: life as a competition, entertainment

Level Three: brightness utilized to mislead others, get out of danger, and discover routes around barriers, transformation

Level Four: Life experienced at the moment, experiencing one day at a time

The Jester archetype might provide a good identity for brands:

• Whose items deliver a reason for individuals to feel like they belong
• Whose utilization assists people in having a fantastic time
• Whose item pricing is low to average
• created and marketed by a business with a fun-loving and laidback corporate culture
• That demands to stand out from self-centered and overconfident sentiment brands.

Brand archetypes: Why are they significant in practice?

Why do brand archetypes matter in the actual world?

Businesses differ regarding the importance of different communication tactics across various media and objectives. But conventional branding underpins all these messages.

Archetypal branding is utilized to make originality and clarity in brand messaging stand out and be understood.

The impact of the chosen archetype that your organization is capable of depends on the archetype theme.

Being a hero is essential for one archetype, while another highly regards learning. Marketers can combine their ideas by drawing on archetypes to create more effective messaging.

To gain more insight into how to turn your brand’s message into something more helpful, see “8 Steps to Complete Archetypal Branding.“

Next up, we are going to discuss the SWOT analysis of Mattel.

Strengths

Substantial brand portfolio: Among the well-known toy brands that Mattel represents is Kitty. Some of the most famous brands of kids’ toys in its stable are American Girl, Hot Wheels, and Barbie. Therefore, Mattel has a competitive advantage because it has efficiently built many solid global brands.

Global presence: Mattel’s distribution network is strong worldwide and has many customers. In 40 countries, Mattel’s products are distributed through e-commerce and offline stores. A colossal distribution network enables Mattel to minimize business risks and diversify its activities.

Licensing agreements: Mattel has entered into strategic licensing agreements with various entertainment companies to promote its brand, allowing it to utilize trademarks and characters. For instance, Mattel has intentionally partnered with Disney to enable Mattel to interact with known Disney characters. These ties have resulted in Mattel’s more robust brand portfolio and increased income.

Weaknesses

The concentrated base of customers: Mattel counts on Walmart and Target to sell many of its products, with a total of about fifty percent (50%) of Mattel’s net sales in 2015 coming from the ten most significant customers. Such reliance on a few big retailers constitutes business risks and undermines Mattel’s bargaining power.

Toxic Toys Scandal: In 2007, when a European businessman stumbled upon some proof of (the use of) lead-based paint in Mattel toys, many of their products had to be called back. Besides, according to Mattel’s research, the company’s other items might also have similar problems. Consequently, Mattel recalled around one million toys. These kinds of incidents erode customer trust and harm corporate reputation.

Opportunities

Altering technology influences demand: Toys and games that are technologically advanced have been in high demand since the onset of technology; thus, new market trends have emerged. Therefore, companies must go digital to satisfy their clients by making sure toys and games are modernized or by giving them a technological touch.

Increasing demand for games and toys: The market for toys and games is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 6% in the next half a decade, maintaining its current good trends. Mattel may benefit from any potential growth in the toys and games market.

Cost-saving program: Mattel has implemented a cost-reduction plan to improve profitability and operational efficiency. The corporation restructured some employees and enhanced outsourcing and offshoring operations to save money. These measures could increase the company’s profits.

Threats

Instabilities in the currency exchange rate: With operations in more than 40 nations, foreign clients account for roughly 43% of Mattel’s net sales. Because it distributes to other countries and invests in overseas companies, Mattel is impacted by changes in exchange rates.

Counterfeit and duplicate items: Mattel has developed numerous well-known brands. That is the reason behind the abundance of duplicate and counterfeit items from famous brands, such as Hot Wheels and Barbie. Products like the above are particularly abundant in China. Those products harm Mattel’s revenue and brand image.

Stringent government regulations: The company’s compliance costs are heightened because of its products. The company is given additional attention since toys are created and manufactured for kids’ utilization. That is regarding the utilized materials and product design. Additionally, depending on the area, those regulations could alter.

Lastly, we are going to identify the segment that Mattel belongs to.

For this section, we are going to watch a short video.

This video is advertising Matchbox, which has the name since its toy product boxes look similar to the ones that used to be sold.

The video focuses on the Moving Parts collection, amongst the first diecast toy vehicle lines constructed with sustainable materials and packaging.

This vehicle line is a toy representation of modern-day electric cars in collaboration with those automobile companies. The brand aims to utilize 100% recyclable material in its products by 2030, creating a better future for children.

The family-centric attitude is one key aspect that can be removed from this video. It is not solely showing a mother and a child but using a product that is not harmful to the environment.

The second hint that can be taken is to lead the activity time indoors instead of outdoors. Ensuring valuable time at home for kids is accompanied by Matchbox.

With those points in mind, we can infer that the segment Mattel has chosen to target is Traditionalists.

Lifestyle and values:

Guiding their family through life is the most important thing.​

Traditionalists are no longer driven to advance in their professions.​ They think they have the responsibility of bringing up children well​. They also must fulfill their duties before thinking about self-happiness or achievements.​

The children are at the center of what they do.​ That includes bringing up kids and educating them to succeed in life. However, although they are strict with their kids, declining their requests occasionally becomes challenging.

Traditionalists aim for a life that is calm, organized, and steady. ​For this reason, commitment and long-lasting relationships must be established.​

This segment makes plans. ​Obstacles should be avoided as much as possible​.

Family is another central aspect of traditionalists. They give each member of this family an assignment. Examples are cleaning, tidying clothes, and other home jobs.

This segment does not solely define itself on its appearance, even though maintaining neatness and an attractive look is essential​.

They dress nicely based on their taste but still take on an elegant, youthful style. They do not follow the fashion or trends that would require expensive clothes to buy for them compared to others around them​.

Traditionalists ensure that everything is comfortable around them in their homes. The home appearance has a lot to do with their identity.

Food plays a significant role in their homes as well. They strive to ensure that the household eats nutritious meals cooked freshly daily​.

Avoiding being obsessive concerning the food’s organic or eco-friendly nature may help broaden children’s dietary selection while reducing mealtime stress​.

Leading an honest, hardworking career life is very important for Traditionalists. This almost feels like being part of a “team” where approval from peers matters.

Attitude towards shopping:

Traditionalists enjoy different kinds of shopping and periodically go shopping.​ They buy clothes that are comfortable rather than fashionable.​

However, this segment relishes buying and sometimes bursts out into spontaneous purchases.​

They quickly catch up with the early launches in their fascination for new products and brands.​ ​Traditionalists avoid being loyal to one brand only. Having more products is more important than quality. This segment prefers buying essentially economic goods.

They may occasionally buy premium brands of children’s products. Traditionalists like special offers and are sometimes bargain hunters.

Other interesting facts:

• Cooking together as a family, going on holidays, and spending evenings quietly at home are some of the most loved activities.
• They like staying indoors for fun activities, including watching movies, family films, and cartoons and entertaining visitors at their place.
• They care less about arts, foreign cultures, or extensive reading.
• Do not have any interest whatsoever in artistic or adventurous pursuits. However, for their children’s reading habits, they specifically concentrate on books that deal with natural science.
• They rely heavily on traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio for news updates, entertainment, and planning leisure time.
• Internet is used below average with only emails and job searching.
• The television serves as their primary source of information and amusement upon arrival.
• The radio is used more than the average, especially during car journeys, because of the music channels.

That concludes the blog about the fantastic toy-brand acquired company Mattel. We discussed its different marketing aspects to unravel its future goals and why it is trusted and successful. Stop by our main website for more informative and valuable content.