Friday, March 6, 2009

Barbie Continues to Be Relevant After 50 Years

Recently, Pierce Maddie Public Relations wrote an article about how Mattel continues to successfully brand Barbie in order to make her relevant for young girls and the fashion industry. Barbie has had many jobs over the years as a doctor, teacher, veterinarian and so many more. Mattel has found a way to create brand awareness and an iconic status for Barbie for over 50 years by creating an approachable image and positive message to girls all over the world.

It's important to make brands relevant to consumers, especially with today's economy making consumers question what's truly important when it comes to shopping. I think some of the most important ways to keep brands relevant would be to keep the brand image simple and clear to the targeted audience, align the brand with the overall PR strategy and find the interests of the targeted audience that are parallel with the brand.

Mattel has mastered brand relevance with the creation of Barbie and I'm sure the beloved doll will continue to have a powerful impact on young girls and the fashion industry.

3 comments:

LauraN said...

barbie is amazing. I still have all of mine stored away at my parents house so when i have little girls they can get them. The only problem that i have with barbie now is how much "sex appeal" she has now days. A few years ago they revamped her so that her hips were skinnier and her,ahem top half, was much larger. Why do the creaters feel like that must do this? Let little girls be little girls and not push the "ideal body Image" on them so early.

Anonymous said...

lol Im pretty sure the next thing to come out will be dollar general barbie. How to budget in a failing economy. I have to say though, I'm pretty impressed that Barbie has actually lasted as long as it has.

KendallCape said...

I think Barbie is great, I would much rather see a young girl playing with Barbie than with the newly popular "Bratz" dolls. I know they are just toys but at least Barbie has jobs, friends, family and is relatively classy. It is nice to see girls aspire to be like her than something titled "Bratz." Although, I do have a problem with the physical stereotypes reinforced by Barbie and the problems it causes with young girls, but thats a whole other issue.