Barbie in Shanghai | 04/06/2009 2:15 pm

With New Store, Mattel Hopes Chinese Women Will Give Barbie a Boost

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

Does Mattel want to turn professional Asian women into Barbie-loving girls?

Whereas the iconic Barbie products are considered toys here in the United States and typically are marketed to prepubescent girls, Barbie-maker Mattel began targeting women in their 20s and 30s in China with its brand-spanking-new six-story flagship store in Shanghai.

The dolls are already collectors’ items in the United States, with even 80-something-year-old grandmas holding on to plastic beauties, but Mattel hopes women earning their own paychecks in a country with 1.3 billion potential customers will help boost lagging sales. And what better time to try to boost the Barbie brand and expose her to more world markets than the year she turns 50?

"Chinese consumers barely know anything about Barbie except that Barbie is a pretty doll," Laura Lai, general manager of Barbie Shanghai, told The Washington Post. "We’re targeting girls of all ages — no matter whether they are six years old or 60 years old."

Read more about: Barbie, Barbie World, China, Dolls, Mattel, News, Shanghai, U.S.

5 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Expanding the Barbie market - that’s what business is all about, right?

By Green Tears on 04/06/2009 2:31 pm

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Well, if Hello Kitty (from Japan) can succeed for young women all over the world, why not Barbie?

(PS: I love my Hello Kitty contact lens kit, but would not buy the condom holder…. who thinks of that stuff anyway?)

By nanchan u on 04/06/2009 3:13 pm

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nanchan, Hello Kitty has "Rock Star" status in Japan and now China. If that could happen to "Barbie" why not?

"Japan’s tourism ministry on Monday named global marketing phenom Hello Kitty as its choice to represent the country in Chinese mainland and Hong Kong where she is extremely popular among children and young women.

Officials hope attracting that fan base will lead to a bigger flow of tourists into Japan, and closer to their goal of attracting 10 million overseas visitors every year under the "Visit Japan" campaign.

Last year the number of foreign tourists traveling to Japan hit a record high of 8.35 million, up 60 percent since the government began the marketing effort in 2003.

Arrivals from Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, who accounted for 16.5 percent of visitors to Japan last year, are poised this year to become the second-largest group of tourists after South Koreans.

At a press conference, Sanrio Co. President Shintaro Tsuji called Hello Kitty’s new appointment "an honor" and pledged to "work hard to attract many visitors."

Designed in 1974 by Sanrio, Hello Kitty first appeared on a plastic coin purse. Her image today has become one of the most powerful brands in the world, adorning some 50,000 products in 60 countries.

In China, Kitty-fever has already broken out.

A multi-million-dollar musical featuring Hello Kitty opened earlier this year in Beijing and is in the midst of a national tour. "Hello Kitty’s Dream Light Fantasy" is then scheduled to travel to Malaysia, Singapore and the U.S. over its three-year run. "

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/21/content_8222282.htm

By deber B on 04/06/2009 3:20 pm

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I wonder if the Barbies have Asian features?

When I was in China a few years ago, I noticed people on the street seemed to be mad for anything American. They wore the most inappropriate tee shirts. I’m sure they had no idea what the shirts said or the graphics represented. A young business woman who was assigned to me for a day carried a Playboy purse and I know for sure she didn’t know what that logo means. I met another young woman who was a budding fashion designer. Her dream was to have Wal*Mart pick up her line. She’d never heard of any other American retail establishment. Sort of odd that Barbie will be our retail and cultural ambassador—right up there with Starbucks and KFC!

By Lee Harrison on 04/06/2009 4:58 pm