Barbie Gets a Makeover

The folks at Mattel are giving Barbie a major makeover. According to a December 24, 2008 Wall Street Journal article, “Building an Edgier Barbie to Revive Franchise Sales,” “Mattel Inc. executives have begun a sweeping makeover of the doll’s marketing in advance of her birthday. The company wants to return the doll to her roots, doing everything from revamping the corporate structure that oversees Barbie to changing the way the doll is photographed for ads. The goal: “To make Barbie fashionable again with older girls, who are dropping her for other, edgier playthings like video games.”

Richard Dickson, the new General Manager for the brand, was impressively candid in his assessment when he stated "You could say that we lost our way." The choice of Dickson to manage the brand is extremely interesting.   He has a resume that includes stops with sophisticated brands like Estee Lauder and Bloomingdales. 

This background gives credibility to his stated intent to make Barbie more attractive to Tweens by presenting a more sophisticated image. “’In the future,’ Mr. Dickson says, ‘the company plans to anchor the brand more firmly in the world of fashion.’ Mockup ads for 2009 include close-up shots of Barbie’s face and show the doll posing as a model in what Mr. Dickson says is a deliberate nod to fashion magazines like Vogue.”

I like Mr. Dickson’s direction but still want to hear how he plans to build bridges to the vast majority of the world’s girls who are of color and therefore look nothing like Barbie. Good for Mattel for shaking it up. Are they shaking it up enough? We’ll find out.