Company Profile
Mattel
Mattel - always raising the bar It’s fair to say that Mattel enjoyed a stellar 2023, with the pop culture phenomenon that was the Barbie movie bolstered by strong performances with hero brands including Hot Wheels, Polly Pocket and Monster High, and categories including Games. Toy World editor Rachael Simpson-Jones paid a visit to the company’s Slough UK HQ to catch up with Michael Hick, vice president UK & Ireland, Benelux & Nordics, and Kelly Philp, senior director marketing, to find out what comes next.
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t's something we’ve heard a lot from our contributors and interviews in this issue, but when even Mattel notes what a challenging year 2023 was for the toy industry, you know it’s true. Michael says: “Following +22% growth from 2019 to 2022, the global toy industry was down in the third quarter 2023, per Circana, and we expect the industry to decline mid-single digits for the full year. However, we believe the toy industry is a growth industry and expect it will continue to grow over time: after all, toys and play remains a significant part of life for kids and families.” As tough as it may have been for the industry, 2023 was the Year of the Barbie Movie. While everyone at Mattel knew all along that Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster was going to be something special, it’s fair to say both Kelly and Michael were taken aback at just how hard Barbie-mania gripped the nation. Unsurprisingly, for anyone familiar with Greta Gerwig’s previous directorial successes (2019’s Little Women and 2017’s Ladybird among them), the movie tackled big themes of equality, love, parenting and beach, and, in line with the brand ethos, becoming anything you want to be. At the time of writing, Barbie – the highest grossing movie of 2023 - had just been nominated for a staggering nine Golden Globes, making it the second most-
nominated film ever. “We could never have enjoyed this moment without re-engaging with our brand purpose,” explains Kelly, when asked how Mattel, which partnered with Warner Bros. on the film, managed to pull off such a remarkable feat. “This movie has been years in the making, ideating and waiting for the right talent and partners. There was no better combination of talent, creatives and leaders to have delivered this incredible movie. As one of the world’s most recognisable icons, Barbie has never been more relevant than she is today. The work we’ve done allows us to speak to Barbie as more than a doll.” She continues: “I don’t think anyone could have foreseen the way the world embraced Barbie in the summer, to have predicted the cultural phenomenon the film became. When you hand over your IP to such talented people you have to trust their creative vision and allow them the space to do what they do best: we had to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Greta, Noah [Baumbach] and Margot [Robbie] had their own Barbie story to tell, and we knew the brand was in a place where telling that story would resonate with fans and underscore our own brand values, as well as welcome a whole new audience to the brand.” Mattel’s senior leadership has spoken previously about
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the company’s desire to be successful in a way that creates a bigger pie for the whole toy industry to have a slice of, and the movie has certainly done just that. Anecdotally, Michael tells Toy World that he heard from multiple retailers following the release of the movie that consumers were visiting to shop for Barbie, then purchasing products across multiple other categories too, both online and in-store. A carefully curated ‘surround sound’ approach to brand awareness, encompassing the entire cinematic release window, drove footfall to retail: as reported on by Toy World last year (check out our September 2023 issue to see the full article), this included over 160 retail partners, multiple innovative activations and live events that, combined, made the phenomenon impossible to miss. “We pride ourselves on working closely with our retail partners,” says Michael. “Our dedicated retail activation team comes up with some of the most innovative campaigns in the world, which bring our brands to life at retail in ways previously unseen. This is a key focus for us: the opportunity to introduce theatre and magic to the retail experience.” Of course, 2023 wasn’t just about Barbie, despite her ‘She’s everything’ strapline. Kelly highlights the rollout of the company’s Monster High toy range and TV movie Monster High 2 (currently available to stream on Paramount+) as a particular high point of the year, saying the property picked up some serious momentum last year thanks to the fantastic results generated by the content, which continues to capture new fans. Hot Wheels, meanwhile, continues to go from strength to strength, alongside Mattel’s licensing partnerships with Pokémon and Jurassic World. Games has also been a top performing category for Mattel. The company has seen phenomenal success with Uno: Uno No Mercy was a sold-out smash hit. Mattel’s growing position as a partner of choice to major entertainment companies will see new introductions from Disney and Universal as well as ongoing development within Mattel’s Pokémon, DC Super Friends and WWE licences. There’s also an exciting new launch on the way for Batwheels, based on Warner Bros.’ new animated preschool content. Mattel’s rich portfolio of brands offers plenty more besides for the months ahead. Early this year, an all-new animated children’s series, Hot Wheels Let’s Race, will debut on Netflix, and Hot Wheels Legends, the ultimate car competition, returns as Mattel continues to excite its adult collectors (a growing segment for the company, and indeed the industry in general). A new ‘Challenge Accepted’ brand campaign also promises to engage even more parents
