Bratz vs. Barbie: The Power of Strategic Innovation
In her book - The Power of the Purse: How Smart Businesses Are Adapting to the World's Most Important Consumers - Women, Fara Warner describes how the MGA's Bratz line of brash, but fashionable, dolls toppled Mattel's Barbie — by focusing on consumer behavior.
Says Warner:
- Don’t allow personal history or preconceived ideas of women — in this case, young girls — to overshadow insight from consumers.
- Read, listen, and respond to correspondence from consumers — not their parents. MGA used this strategy to create a line of boy Bratz.
- Consider the consumers’ whole world, not just the time when they are using the product. This strategy was used to expand Bratz beyond dolls and clothes.
- Move with consumer trends, not industry timelines. MGA creates new clothing lines for its dolls every three to six months, not just once a year.
Read this chapter — Toppling Barbie: Bratz Predict the Future — from her book.
The Bratz example serves as a powerful reminder that companies like Mattel cannot afford to rest on their laurels, but need to selectively forget the past, as Vijay Govindarajan would say.
Fara has also started a blog. Her introductory post is here.
Maybe there's a place for an environmental girl doll one of these days — perhaps a Jane Goodall do-good activist doll? I mean why do toy companies focus on girls, malls and fashion? All right, I know the answer... it was a rhetorical question.