Mattel-Barbie Doll Target Market

Mattel-Barbie Doll Target Market

Introduction

In 1959, the co-owner of Mattel Inc, Ruth Handler invented Barbie. As a teenage fashion doll Barbie was launched at the American Toy Fair in the city of New York (Bellis, n.d.). In the toy history, Barbie is the most selling doll. It transformed from a college student to a mermaid, from president to an Olympian. It has given countless moments of joy to many girls around the world (Edwards, n.d.). For the marketing of Barbie dolls, Mattel's marketers aimed to present it as a role model; therefore, they focused on the prevailing trends of the American society, particularly the urban & the sub urban lifestyles. Having the latest cars, trendy accessories & fashionable clothes, the Barbie doll correctly represents the lifestyle that most of the young girl dream of & relates to them (www.universityhonors.umd.edu).

Discussion

Target market of Barbie

The clearly demarcated target market for Barbie doll is the young girls of 3-12 years of age brought up in an urban or suburban lifestyle. Demographically the target market is female, falling in the age bracket of 3-12 years. Psycho-graphically the target market belongs to an urban or suburban lifestyle because Barbie's accessories, the newest cars & the clothes all reflects a suburban or urban culture.

Fundamental characteristics of target market

The target market for any brand must have five fundamental characteristics. The target market must be measurable, accessible, sustainable, differentiable & actionable. The target market for Barbie doll, which is young girls of 3-12 years of age, fulfills all of these 5 requirements.

Measurable:

The target market must be measurable in order to quantify the forecasted results of different strategies. The number of young girls in the world & particularly USA can be measured through population census & other governmental data. Also, the urban & suburban population is measurable. Approximate data can be obtained for this target market which can assist in devising the marketing strategies & also the production & operations. The sales can easily be forecasted for the target market of Barbie dolls because of the census which reveals the number of females below 14 years of age.

Accessible

The target market must be easy to access. The target market for Barbie doll is accessible because girls of this age belonging to an urban or suburban culture watch televisions, read children magazines, go out with their parents for shopping & playing. So they can be accessed either by electronic, print or outdoor advertising & promotions.

Sustainable

Target market must be upholding & lucrative. Around 19% of the whole US population is females below 14 years of age (www.census.gov). This shows that the segment is large enough to be profitable. Moreover, young girls always gets attracted by the toys & specially dolls, so this segment is sustainable as there always will be a market to serve for the purpose.

Differentiable

The targeted segment must be differentiable & distinguishable from the other segments. The target market of Barbie doll is quite differentiable gender wise, age wise & lifestyle ...