Global competitive positioning analysis across geographic contexts

Branding

Barbie

Brand Introduction

Barbie is a well-known style doll brought to existence by the U.S. toy-company called Mattel, Inc. And was started in 1959. The brainchild behind Barbie is Ruth Handler who happened to be American businesswoman. She has been recognized for coming up with the doll through an inspiration of a German doll known as Bild Lilli. Barbie has turned out to be the figurehead of a brand of Mattel dolls as well as accessories, together with other family members and collectible dolls. Barbie presence has been felt in America as well as other neighboring countries and this made it significant component of the toy style doll market for a period of not less than fifty years. It has also been the topic of several disagreement as well as court cases, repeatedly concerning distortion of the doll as well as its lifestyle.

Purpose and Category

A good number of researchers of Barbie are neither totally pro-nor against it in their point-of-view on the purpose of the doll. A number of them are of the opinion that Barbie was made for female to have an inspired passage, but others hold the view that Barbie was destined to incarcerate as well as limit female within a definite role. A good number concur with the inventor, Ruth Handler, that Barbie was a representation of the independent ladies; on the other hand, others are of the contrary opinion that she was somehow restricted to a traditional female's position which was in the 1950s and 1960s. The inventor of Barbie, (Ruth Handler), was of the thought that girls could be in a position to be a sign of themselves upon the doll as well as use it to sharpen their thoughts. In Susan Stern's production (Barbie Nation), we get Handler's thought in relation to Barbie. Handler say "I saw these little girls playing grown up and I knew that the only dolls available on the market were baby dolls where the child is limited to playing mommy, or toddler or companion dolls where the child is limited to playing with a girlfriend." Susan Stern (1998) holds the thought that there was never an adult doll with which a child could justly dream her dreams in the early 1950s. Barbie targeted the children in the age of 3-9, although over the last decade or so, the variance has reduced in size to an age bracket of around 3 -- 6.

Competitors

Barbie has enjoyed a massive loyalty and was termed the long reigning queen in the world of doll. The completion suddenly emerged which left Barbie push into the fight for her life. However, Barbie's challenger's give the impression of being not anything similar to the blue-eyed, blond-haired or long-legged style icon. Standard wise, they lack that original beauty that the aging diva has. Among the competitors are Monster High dolls, vampy teens that happen to be designed after the offspring of monsters like Dracula as well as Frankenstein who bears neon pink as well as green streaks in their hair. They are dressed in platform heels as well as miniskirts with skulls on them. These said dolls tend to gain grounds in opposition to Barbie. A good example of this comes from Maddux household in Portage, Wis., where Olivia, who is 10, has been a loyalist of Barbie for nearly five years now, but just a year ago, she added Monster High dolls to her mix of Barbie. Nevertheless, Barbie is still holds a bigger stake in the doll market and the Mattel franchise annual turnover can be estimated to $1.3. However, it is proper to note the Barbie's sales drop which has occurred for four consecutive quarters, even though the by and large doll class is up 6% year-to-date.

Strengths of the competitors

One of the main strengths of Monster High dolls is its' unique price that makes it cover wider market as many people opt for the friendly prices. Secondly, Monster High dolls have a wide market presence which means it can easily make more sales and increase its profitability. Thirdly, Monster High dolls usually have strategic marketing plans which are always captivating and effectively pass through the marketing campaign message.

Weakness

Monster High dolls main weakness is drawn from the fact that it only deals in low end, technologically advanced and stylish mobile phone handsets, which only appeal to tech savvy consumers who have high disposable income. Through this strategy the company has neglected a potential market segment that prefers less sophisticated phones that are cheap but genuine and durable.

Opportunities

The untapped market segment presents an opportunity for Monster High dolls since it can design dolls that are less sophisticated hence low prices. Consequently,

Threats

Monster High dolls main threats are the rival companies such as Barbie and vampy teens which are continually developing their products for the sake of capturing wider market segment. Secondly, low quality dolls which are easily produced making them cheaper than the high quality dolls and they may attract potential customers who are just willing to spend less to own the brand regardless of its authenticity.

AmToy

Strengths of AmToy

First, AmToy has successfully grabbed the market with its soft toys presented with a mixture of accessories. Second, AmToy also managed to avail crayons as well as extensive assortment of preschool building block toys. Thirdly, this company enjoys well-built brand evenhandedness of American Greetings and finally, AmToy has managed to dig deeper and had a wide presence across the United States.

Weakness

AmToy also has a number of weaknesses and the first one is on target audience, it had a undersized target group (preschoolers) which never given it a good run in the market. Second, AmToy's mainly focused on dolls this never further limited its market target audience and finally, lack of an extensive product portfolio.

Opportunities

AmToy successfully managed to penetrate the market and maintained a well founded brand name throughout stages of its existence. Due to their brand statue it is in a better position to make bigger its product line further and finally, it is also in a better placed to leveraged on the American Greetings brand name

Threats

Amtoy's major threats are only based on other toys for their target audience which are preschool toys as well as those who came up with the outdoor game for this has been pushing it down.

International branding is concerned with well-known global brands such coca cola, red bull shell etc. These brands have received an international acclamation and recognized. According to Keller (2003), going international mainly results from severe competition in the domestic market, greater international markets and opportunities that are limited in domestics settings. Global brands also enjoy economies of scale with a reduction of the costs. Due to globalization, many brands thus can easily and effectively take advantage of the mobility of customers. Also by spreading globally the brands are in place to diversify risks unlike when there are concentrated in the same place. (Riezebos, 2003)

If we could look at Barbie in the context of its internationalization policy, it justifies the fact that Barbie has already conquered domestic markets and the only logical thing for it to do is explore a not so crowded market by going internationally. Internationalization of Barbie is also brought about by the need to diversify, and to capture its ever mobile customers. As a result, Barbie is in a good position to create a consistency of its image, it is also in place to enjoy power and scope, it has gained the ability to pull great ideas in a short time and efficiently, and to enjoy lower marketing costs. Barbie is able to work against the challenges of going global by being in position to cater for the different needs and of its customers, to survive the legal environment and different marketing institutions, it is also able to survive in the competitive global environment and to adhere to the different administrative procedures.

As we witness the various changes happening in the market place, the companies are also busy working to change their marketing strategies. As we witness the various changes happening in the market place, the companies are also busy working to change their marketing strategies. Philip (2009) Consumer trends are the major cause of the shifting market trends. Among the observable market trends are seen in Barbie where trends are demanding more uniquely designed products.