Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Mattel leaders and experienced a surprising disconnect. While everyone there was
highly aware of Mattels business strategies, not one of us, including myself, could
recite the companys values. It was surprising because we all agreed that Mattels
strength is our company culture, which for generations has been focused on
creating innovative, safe and high quality toys that inspire children to play, learn
and have fun. The disconnect occurred when we realized that our stated values did
not reflect our cultureor visionand therefore were not memorable. This
prompted a team of employees to spearhead an effort aimed at defining our values
to capture the spirit of Mattel today, and serve to guide the companys future
course.
At the end of 2004, I participated in our Global Leadership Seminar with other
Mattel leaders and experienced a surprising disconnect. While everyone there was
highly aware of Mattels business strategies, not one of us, including myself, could
recite the companys values. It was surprising because we all agreed that Mattels
strength is our company culture, which for generations has been focused on
creating innovative, safe and high quality toys that inspire children to play, learn
and have fun. The disconnect occurred when we realized that our stated values did
not reflect our cultureor visionand therefore were not memorable. This
prompted a team of employees to spearhead an effort aimed at defining our values
to capture the spirit of Mattel today, and serve to guide the companys future
course.
Now, a decade since the inception, Mattel continues to evolve as a responsible
company by promoting
broader efforts, including collaboration within the toy industry to develop a common
code of manufacturing principles
We have also begun to develop a long-term Global Sustainability Strategic Plan that
will help us maximize our energy efficiency, minimize waste and produce Mattel
products in a manner that is more environmentally sustainable. In the process of
advancing our environmental stewardship initiatives, we have realized cost savings
and greater product innovation that will ultimately help to maintain Mattels
leadership position in the industry.
1. Along with the economic decline in Europe and US, Chinas economy is
slowing down as well. What is Mattels strategy to sustain its profitable growth?
Compared to some other sectors, the toy industry tends to be somewhat recession
resilient and proved that in the latest economic downturn. Parents and grandparents will
likely sacrifice in order to provide what children want specifically during the holidays.
In addition, toys are at a fairly low price point. And despite a rough economy, the toy
industry in Europe actually grew last year. Mattels global business is comprised of not
only a portfolio of brands, but also of a portfolio of countries and customers, all of which
These efforts have been quite successful at Mattel and we look forward to sharing more
publicly with the launch of our forth Global Citizenship Report later this fall.
5. What are the challenges of marketing toys outside the U.S. in such countries as
Brazil?
Brazil is a shining star in our country portfolio. However, it wasn't always this way. Our
business was small and challenged from a profit and scale standpoint. We made a
number of changes to our business plans to bring discipline to our relationships
throughout the supply chain. Although we faced many short-term challenges, our
patience for the long-term paid off. We also invested wisely in our core brands, such as
Barbie, Hot Wheels and Fisher-Price, to create brand equity and a strong consumer
franchise. Finally, we were consistent in our execution of these strategies over time. The
results have been very impressive. Today, Mattel is the No. 1 toy company in Brazil,
Brazil is now our second largest country outside the U.S. and Brazil has strong
momentum across our brand portfolio. As for the future, and as we say in Brazil: the
next Brazil is Brazil!
We know how to grow businesses around the globe, and we are making investments for
the long term, by adhering to four core principles:
Continue to invest in our brands to establish them as the premier brands in the
market; and
This process works for us and the result is a global footprint that provides us with a
strategic competitive advantage. We are excited about the opportunities we have to
continue to build our presence in emerging markets.
6. As children become more familiar with electronic gadgets such as iPad, do you
think the toy industry is going to shift toward electronic games?
This is a very interesting discussion point because about 12 years ago, some
speculated that the toy industry as we know it would disappear because video games
were going to completely take over. Today, the global toy industry is actually is 22
percent larger than it was in 2000. And the video game industry has literally matured
with a much older user demographic, with the average age gamer being 37, and almost
30 percent of all gamers being over age 50 (according to the Entertainment Software
Association).
The bottom line is that play is important throughout our lives, but it is crucial to a childs
development. Play helps to develop cognitive, physical and social skills, as well as the
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