The Falling Empire

The End of an Era
and our childhood
by: Hannah S.

Mattel Toy Company was founded in 1945, the year the second great war ended; and the people responsible were Harold Matson, Elliot Handler, and Ruth Handler. Their company has been around and kicking for around 73 years! Their value proposition according to their website is, 

1. Its reputation and industry standing, with the Company established as a leading toy manufacturer both domestically and internationally, having a track record for manufacturing high-quality and safe products;

1. Its broad range of products, with the Company owning and selling an extensive portfolio of products targeted at boys and girls of all ages, including third party licensed products and unique, proprietary products;

1. The strength of its core brands, with the Company controlling a number of popular, market-leading toy brands, including Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Polly Pocket, Barbie, and Fisher Price;

1. Its commitment to innovation, with the Company dedicating a significant portion of its resources to researching and developing products new and innovative products for its customers; and

1. Its international reach, with the Company serving a large domestic audience, as well as significant numbers of customers internationally, including across Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific.

Mattel is famous for their innovation of the Barbie doll. When the blonde haired lady first came out she was ideal for teaching young girls how to fix hair and dress properly. Of course the doll has taken many forms throughout the years but the goal is still to impact young girls. They also sell toys for young children (Fisher Price) and board games. I am sad to say that their star has lost some of her shine. In this last year alone doll sales have gone down 6% in their own words, "Kids are losing interest in traditional toys." 

According to Claudia Assis, a reporter from Marketwatch.com, shares of Mattel Inc. MAT, -3.64% fell 7% late Thursday after the toy maker swung to a surprise loss in the fourth quarter and its North American and global sales took a dive. Mattel said it lost $281.3 million, or 82 cents a share, in the quarter, versus profit of $173.8 million, or 51 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, Mattel lost 72 cents a share in the quarter, versus adjusted earnings of 52 cents a share a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 16 cents a share on sales of $1.69 billion. "We are optimistic about stabilizing revenue in 2018 anchored by our key power brands, entertainment partnerships and exciting new launches," Chief Executive Margo Georgiadis said in a statement. Mattel pinned the sales decline in North America on tighter retailer inventory management, "certain underperforming brands," and the Toys "R" Us bankruptcy filing, the company said in the statement. Sales of its American Girl Brands, which offers products tied to the dolls directly to consumers, fell 21% in the year and 23% in the quarter.

Toys R Us made up a whopping 10% of Mattel's sales and even worse the company has been over throne by Hasborow toys. Hasborow got the Disney princess dolls and with them came a huge slap into second place toy retailer.
One example of Mattel's desperation to market their brand is their television show called "The Toy Box" Inventors brought their toys on the show to be judged by kids and whoever won got their toy made and produced by Mattel. What a great way to show consumers that the kid's opinions are number one priority?
(How do you think they could improve their brand?)
(Do you think traditional toys are dead?)
(What can their marketing team do to improve their sales?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik2DsG6pUhw

Week 2 listening exercise

 I selected Wal-mart in Dallas Oregon. Its value proposition is better products at lower prices and they're trying to sell house goods and personal products, makeup, shirts, toys...etc.  The Dallas Oregon Wal-mart is notorious for its slow service and moody staff who would rather scratch a monkey's butt then show someone where the coffee is. People have also commented on the recent remodel of the store and how un-beneficial it was to the shoppers and lack of regard for customer safety regarding the motor scooters. Another example of their disregard happened just recently with the recall of salmonella infected eggs which effected not only Wal-mart but other stores such as Safeway.
"I know very well this store knows about the egg recall! It’s all over the news and it’s even on WALMART.COM! I was in there today and the shelves are FULL of the bad eggs! When someone gets sick and slaps you with a lawsuit, maybe you’ll take the recall seriously." 
I have to agree with these people because I have also experienced the poor service and melancholy attitudes of the staff. I don't want to support a business that doesn't value me as a customer. 

I think the biggest problem facing the brand is the face representing it.People know that Wal-mart is considered the empire of evil, here's an example of their poor attention to customer need,
 " #Walmart thank you for the problems this week. I'm happy to report that we are now going to be shopping at #Meijer instead😊! You might be a few pennies less but to blame manufacturers and push the cost off on your consumers is just about the worst thing. I'm not sure I can see your recent policies as a good thing... instead of honoring something as simple as a 0.50 cent coupon located on products right there in your store, you prefer to lose at least $1,000 a month. Great business practices, especially when your own employee says that since you won't be reimbursed for coupons that you will refuse to honor them and eat the cost and instead blame the manufacturer. Why allow the coupon to even be placed on products that are on your shelves? Way to just be that greedy. Keep your fifty cents and rude employees, and I'll happily hand our 1000 minimum a month to another store."👍\


Everyone knows about "the people of wal-mart" and everyone has seen those people at least once. I personally have worn my red and white striped pajamas into the store because I figured that there was someone worse then me roaming around in the store (and when I am sleepy I really don't care what other people think)

 There isn't anything you can do about the layout of the store but you could regularly train your employees in sensitivity and good customer service; which are skills that are sadly dying out with the new generations. I honestly can say from experiencing these things personally that that would solve most of their problems but regardless of these things people are still going to shop there. 

"The Elon Musk of assisted suicide"

When I was young and impressionable I watched a TV show called "Futurama" and on this show they introduced us to a thing called the suicide booth. The suicide booth in most ways was just a fancy murderous phone booth but the main idea was that someone who hated their life had the power to take it. I do not agree with anything regarding self harm or suicide. As someone who has been directly affected by suicide I think it is very unfunny to poke at and make jokes about it.
This brings me to my disturbing discovery of a man who has made a machine that assists people with suicide. He claims himself to be the "Elon Musk of assisted suicide" which makes me think that he has just made a joke of himself and his invention. Doctors do not refer to themselves as God when they find a cure for an illness. They celebrate the advancement of knowledge in the medical field and start administering the cure. It's not a look at me I am awesome moment, doctors aren't doing it for themselves but for their patients. I feel that this man has forgotten that it isn't all about him and maybe he hasn't grieved for a family member or friend lost too soon to suicide. 

If you want to take your life and you have one of these pod-like machines all you have to do is enter a code and take a test (a self set code) once you're in the pod it will fill with nitrogen until the oxygen levels drop to five percent and you pass out then eventually die once all the air is sucked out. If you get cold feet after setting the code you can wait for a full day and the procedure will be cancelled. 
Apparently this is a more peaceful way for people to take their own lives.
 I do not agree with this invention for a couple reasons.
1. We should treat the mentally ill instead of tying the noose around their neck.
(Suicide is an epidemic that has affected families longer than you can count on your fingers and toes. I believe that if this machine is not only real but an option for depressed people we will lose even more loved ones to mental illness.)
2. I can understand medically assisted death but we know this isn't going to be used for that.
(Are the people who smoke weed using it for medical purposes? That was why we legalized it right? This is the same situation. Are all the people using this machine justified, are they dying, are they sick? In short, no.)

Now I want to give you some background info about this seemingly unhinged man.
 He is a seventy year old doctor from Australia and his death machine is called the "Sarco" He, being a doctor, has experienced the heaviness of medically assisted death and it was not pretty or peaceful for the patient. Having the best intentions Dr. Philip Nitschke created Sarco to give terminally ill patients a peaceful way of ending their life. It wasn't until recently either that Australia voted to legalize euthanasia in hospitals.
I hope that this machine is used only in hospitals where it is needed so that people can have peace before dying.
- Hannah Skyberg

TOPIC 1: ABOUT YOU -- Who's who in BA223-Principles of Marketing this term:

*I was prompted to enroll in this course because working for my families business has exposed me to the world of salesmanship and it was required for my degree.

*I'm not a business major or a marketing major I am a graphic arts major.

*I am a psychology nut and marketing plays with human psychology as if it were an old best friend. *I'm looking forward to learning anything and everything about marketing so I can help my grandparent's hardware store.

*I enjoy books and drawing cartoon characters. I enjoy books like The Shinning by Stephen King (or anything by Stephen King) and I adore Shakespeare! I also love having kitchen dance parties with my mom.